Dump Comcast?

[Anonymous]

My two-year agreement is coming to an end, and the bill is going up $80+ a month. So I just tried calling to get a lower rate, got switched around several times, on hold forever, and then I finally got a rate for somewhat reduced services for about what I'm paying now, but when I asked exactly what the reduction was, he hung up on me. Total of 24 minutes wasted. I tired to get to a "customer retention" department, but could never get transferred to one, if such a thing exists.

So I have an offer in the mail from Fios for basically what I have now (although I don't really have a handle on their TV packages) for $49 a month, which is great, but I know their fees have always been exorbitant, and their billing is almost always wrong. Can anyone tell me what they are paying in fees for a DVR, taxes, etc.? I know I can call Fiosabout it, but I don't know if I'll get a straight answer. I'm in Montgomery County.

Ugh. Why must we go through all these hoops every two years?!!!!

[Anonymous]

I hate Comcast, and I go through the same thing every year or so. We played this song and dance not yet a week ago. My threshold is $150 per month for phone, internet, and two HD DVRs. Somehow, with all sorts of smoke and mirrors, I am able to hold them to that price. Sometimes I'm threatening to cancel and I ultimately get transferred to "customer retention," who is authorized to give me better deals than customer service. Other times they find a new promotional rate. One time I wasn't bluffing about canceling, or at least going down to phone and internet only. For the rest, I was going to subsist on Netflix, I was so angry at them.

They're a bunch of clowns. If you have a deal from FiOS, be willing to cancel, and mean it, and you'll probably get the rate you want. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

It's a monopoly and that's why you have to jump through hoops every 2 years. And worse, you'll have to pay a disconnect fee and a reconnect fee. It's shit.

[Anonymous]

They are all horrible and expensive after the first two years. Had the same experience with Comcast and Verizon. Comcast took eight months to release my last over payment ($250) because they claimed they didn't receive the equipment back (which we hand delivered to their Rockville office).

[Anonymous]

Cancel the account. They will call the next day with the offer you're looking for.

We did this after a very long saga of issues. We weren't getting service, and I didn't wan tto cancel the account until service was restored and we got our credit for the outage. When we finally did cancel, they called the next day (and every day after that for five days) with some offers we actually might have considered. But by then we already had DirecTV installed.

[Anonymous]

Cancel the account. They will call the next day with the offer you're looking for.

We did this after a very long saga of issues. We weren't getting service, and I didn't wan tto cancel the account until service was restored and we got our credit for the outage. When we finally did cancel, they called the next day (and every day after that for five days) with some offers we actually might have considered. But by then we already had DirecTV installed.

I wouldn't be so sure of them calling that quickly. We cancelled our account and we didn't get a call back for weeks until someone in Comcast asked why we cancelled and tried to get us back. In any case, it wasn't an empty threat for us. We had gotten tired of cycle of exorbitant price increases after promotional periods expired, and cancelled cable altogether, and we're happy with our Roku+Netflix+Hulu Plus life (about 20$/month).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Cancel the account. They will call the next day with the offer you're looking for.

We did this after a very long saga of issues. We weren't getting service, and I didn't wan tto cancel the account until service was restored and we got our credit for the outage. When we finally did cancel, they called the next day (and every day after that for five days) with some offers we actually might have considered. But by then we already had DirecTV installed.

I wouldn't be so sure of them calling that quickly. We cancelled our account and we didn't get a call back for weeks until someone in Comcast asked why we cancelled and tried to get us back. In any case, it wasn't an empty threat for us. We had gotten tired of cycle of exorbitant price increases after promotional periods expired, and cancelled cable altogether, and we're happy with our Roku+Netflix+Hulu Plus life (about 20$/month).

We are cancelling Comcast to pursue this life tomorrow. Can't believe it took us this long!

[Anonymous]

OP here. It's not just TV. I will also need an Internet provider, and getting Internet alone seems fairly pricey. I don't care about the phone, but most packages seem to be cheaper if I add in the phone.

[Anonymous]

When I cancelled the cable with comcast a few weeks ago, they didn't ask any questions and immediately cut off my cable. As in during the call, no end of billing cycle cut off date. So if you do call to cancel, be prepared.

[Anonymous]

OP here. It's not just TV. I will also need an Internet provider, and getting Internet alone seems fairly pricey. I don't care about the phone, but most packages seem to be cheaper if I add in the phone.

yes internet alone can be fairly pricy (those friendly cable monopolies), but it's possible. we still save about 90$/month by not having Comcast cable and phone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Cancel the account. They will call the next day with the offer you're looking for.

We did this after a very long saga of issues. We weren't getting service, and I didn't wan tto cancel the account until service was restored and we got our credit for the outage. When we finally did cancel, they called the next day (and every day after that for five days) with some offers we actually might have considered. But by then we already had DirecTV installed.

I wouldn't be so sure of them calling that quickly. We cancelled our account and we didn't get a call back for weeks until someone in Comcast asked why we cancelled and tried to get us back. In any case, it wasn't an empty threat for us. We had gotten tired of cycle of exorbitant price increases after promotional periods expired, and cancelled cable altogether, and we're happy with our Roku+Netflix+Hulu Plus life (about 20$/month).

I don't remember the timing on when they called to try to get us back, but we've also switched over to the Roku model and haven't looked back. Between MLB network, NHL network, hulu plus, and amazon prime we get pretty much everything we want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's a monopoly and that's why you have to jump through hoops every 2 years. And worse, you'll have to pay a disconnect fee and a reconnect fee. It's shit.

They were a monopoly until FIOS came around. Both companies are terrible liars and will say anything to get you to sign up. But Verizon will at least provide fast service if you need it. Comcast thinks fast is 2-4 weeks. Verizon was there in 24 hours when a power surge damaged our power supply during hurricane Sandy.

[Anonymous]

FIOS is way better than comcast. Not that either are amazing but comcast is the worst.

DH flat out refused to give comcast money anymore when we moved in together a few years ago. We have TV through Dish and internet through Verizon for about ~150 bucks a month. I think it might be able to be cheaper if we went to comcast but I just want to put out a note saying that our quality of life has improved significantly not squabbling with comcast every few months about a bill issue, a bill getting raised or just service going out and being on hold with their crappy customer service department for four hours and then sitting around waiting for them not to show up for two days. It is so much better that I would actually pay significantly more to just never have to talk to them again.

[Anonymous]

I was teleworking a few weeks ago when Comcast "forgot" my modem. I tried everything to get internet and the guy on the phone did too. He then sent a technician in. The tech arrives and sees that Comcast had the wrong modem number for me. He imputed the correct one and I had internet again.

And then I got charged $40 for the privilege, plus a day of annual leave because I couldn't telework. Eff Comcast

[Anonymous]

I am someone who totally regrets dumping comcast for fios! Their on demand, guides, searching for shows to dvr, etc. all suck big time! I literally will google what network a show is on & time rather than use FIOS search options. I don't find the internet all that faster. For instance, comcast had all the old seasons of HBO and other shows. Fios only has the current season.