Comcast horrors

[radfringe]

our old cable company was Adelphia, and as you know Adelphia went under and was bought out by Comcast

last Friday we got a notice that the rates were going up - again

we had just the basic cable, but they did have a deal for $2 more you could get the "Digital Starter package" with Movies On Demand and the digital cable/converter box

considering the switch to all digital is coming down the road, and we would probably need the converter box, and most likely when digital becomes the "thang" converter box rental cost would increase - so we decided to go with this new package

We take a run to the cable office, sign up for the new package, get the box/cables etc, come home and set it up

thhhhhhhhhhhhtttt - didn't work no picture etc, I check the cables and all the connections and they are all plugged in correctly

so we call customer service - they send some signal - ok so now we have the channels, but the rest of the features we were suppose to get aren't working

another call - this time we are told it would take up to 24 hours for the signal to connect

we wait - 24 hours later on Saturday - still nothing, another phone call, and some signal is sent and we're ok, things are working

Sunday - nothing again except the channels - no features no On Demand - another phone call, stuff working again

Monday - it's out again, this time we drive to cable office to turn in the box and cancel the extended digital package - they convince us to let them send out a technician - amazingly he arrives within an hour - changes the cables/splitters coming from pole and those coming into house. reconnects everything and it's all working

Tuesday it's fine - but Wednesday, Thursday and last night - it's all crap again. 2 to 3 phone calls to the help desk each day, my partner has our account number memorized by now and we put the telephone number on speed dial

in total we have made close to 20 phone calls to the helpdesk and local cable office in a week

today is their last chance - the help desk person we talked to last night suggested getting a new cable box - so we will bring the box we have back to the cable office and demand a new one

meanwhile - we will be checking out Direct TV as I have some questions about it

- We live in NE PA and are concerned about snow/ice build up on the receiver, so it would have to be mounted where we can reach it easily in the winter

- I read on their FAQs about it being connected somehow to the land-line phone, also use of the phone while watching TV could cause interference with reception - we are not about to install a 2nd phone line for the TV

[seemunkee]

1. You'll enjoy this article

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/17/AR2007101702359.html
Taking a Whack Against Comcast
Mona Shaw Reached Her Breaking Point, Then for Her Hammer

Hammer time: Shaw storms in the company's office. BAM! She whacks the keyboard of the customer service rep. BAM! Down goes the monitor. BAM! She totals the telephone. People scatter, scream, cops show up and what does she do? POW! A parting shot to the phone!

[Rabrrrrrr]

5. Those comcast idiots should know never to piss of a military nurse.

Every military nurse I've ever known has been a tolerate-no-bullshit-from-anyone-not-even-God cut-to-the-chase personality, and all have been also very kind and caring.

But for God's sake, man, don't piss one off.

[cathandler]

2. We have Dish satellite in Colorado at 8500 feet.

Snow and ice are not really a problem. If that stuff does accumulate, just take a broom and whack it off. It's certainly much more reliable than any cable we had when we lived in Denver.

[radfringe]

3. we went to local comcast office

demanded new box and remote

brought it home, hooked it up, waited the 20-30 minutes - actually closer to an hour

turned it on and thhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhttttt

that's it - tomorrow we are going to visit my partner's brother and his family - so on Monday we are checking out DirectTV and DishTV and as soon as we can get one or the other installed - Comcast is being canceled

[grasswire]

4. Direct TV is bundled with our phone service...

....the DSL internet service and also unlimited long distance. We pay $145 per month for all of that, and it includes three TV boxes. Never have had a minute's trouble with the system or the equipment. The charges come on our phone bill. Slick.

[racaulk]

6. I wish I had the words to describe how much Comcast sucks!

I have *never* had a good experience with them. If your service is working fine and you don't need anything at all, then Comcast is great. But when you have trouble with your service, want to add or remove programming, or you're moving and want to relocate your service, they can be the worst company to have to deal with. Sh*tty customer service, the contractors that do their service calls are always late, phone calls and messages go unreturned, etc. Customer service reps will give you direct numbers to call them back, but when you do, you reach a totally different person and have to start over from square one with whatever problem you're having.

I feel your pain, they are the worst!!!

:mad:

[tigereye]

7. we had to get rid of their internet service, it was terrible and went out all the

time, like after a rain storm. :wtf:

We now have FIOS/ internet - it's wonderful.

We have the basic cable, since Comcast is the only player and it's ok. But I would love if we could pick just a few cable channels that we want for a reasonable price. It goes out periodically and I have to unplug from the box and plug it back in. Makes no sense.

[radfringe]

8. we called their "helpless" desk

demanded to talk to supervisor

they are sending out a technical specialist on Monday to check things out

in any event - whether or not the technical specialist fixes the problem or not, we are going to get info on the dish systems and will probably switch to that and dump comcast

[sueh]

9. Here are the answers to your questions, radfringe...

You definitely want the dish mounted where you can get to it easily to remove snow and ice. We do that for our own customers. The primary reason installers put dishes on roofs is because that is the easiest and fastest place to get line of site and to run lines to the rooms where receivers are going.

The phone line requirement is for two things. 1) To encourage people order lots of PPV movies using the remote rather than calling in the order. 2) So DTV's system can dial (call) into the modem inside the receiver and retrieve PPV movies and events that have been ordered for billing purposes.

Watching the satellite while talking on the phone will NOT interfere with the satellite reception. Your satellite picture WILL NOT go out while using the telephone. DTV has so way too much gobbedly-gook in their fine print that causes much confusion for the customer.

One other thing you must do when choosing your service is to find out just how much your monthly bill is going to be for the basic package and any premium movie services you will want once the promotional period is over. Also, keep in mind additional receivers are charged 5.00 per month, and there is a seperate charge for HD packages if you are going to get any HD receivers. It is easy to get caught up in all the free-free-free that DTV offers. Many people get sticker shock when the promotion period is over and they get a bill for $100.00 or more.

Hope this helps. There are some of the things I tell my own customers. I've been in the biz for over 20 years. I try to help people get what they want, but it gets harder and harder since the small dish now is all about trying to get as much $$ from the customer as they can.