4 ms·

I really dislike Comcast I wish there was a viable competitor for Internet in my area.

by pmorici 13y ago

shakeel_mohamed 13y ago
+1
nathancahill 13y ago
Yes. Going to post a write up shortly on how I waived the $250 installation fee for 105 Mbps internet.
fernly 13y ago
Specifically why? Because I am really tired of DSL and comcast is the only broadband I could get.
- GabrielF00 13y ago
  Monopolistic tendencies. High prices. OK quality. Terrible customer service. They're repeatedly ranked among the worst companies in the US in customer service and they've actually gotten lower scores than the IRS in the American Consumer Satisfaction Index. In the ACSI Comcast's Internet service gets a score of 62 - the lowest of any ISP measured.[1] The IRS gets a 75 for individual e-filers and a 64 for self-employed and small business filers (scores are lower for big business and paper filers)[2]. [1]http://www.theacsi.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=149&catid=&Itemid=214&c=Comcast&i=Internet+Service+Providers http://www.theacsi.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=art... [2]http://www.theacsi.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=149&catid=&Itemid=214&c=Comcast&i=Internet+Service+Providers http://www.theacsi.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=art...
  - fernly 13y ago
    Yeah, I am aware of their customer satisfaction ratings. I've no intention of switching away from DirecTv for enterntainment TV, but I pay $39.95/month for 3Mbs download, just tolerable for one video stream with nothing else going on. Seems like every couple months AT&T sends me a splashy brochure begging me to sign up for U-Verse but when I actually tried, it was, "oh, soooo sorry you are just that tiny bit too far from a central office for us to promise anything better than 3Mbs..." (in their own customer demo center the video on display was clearly posterized and pixellated -- not confidence-building). So I am kind of driven to consider "xfinity" for internet only. (Or moving. Perhaps to Europe.)
    - namityadav 13y ago
      I just switched from AT&T U-verse to Comcast 30Mbps because my newly purchased house can't get U-verse. However, almost everything (streaming, gaming, downloads, etc) has been poor since I switched. Usually at the 1Mbps mark. Major internet speed tests show my speed as 30Mbps, but unpopular ones show my speed as 1Mbps. As if Comcast is throttling everything else, and giving very high priority to major speed test servers. I've talked to their customer service multiple times, but no luck. Oh, and this is after spending at least a total of 5 hours (I had to call them 7 times. Yes, I was counting!) with their customer service over the past few months trying to get them to mark my newly purchased modem from Amazon as my own modem, and stop charging me a modem lease fee. If there was even a single competitor that could provide me even decent internet service, I'd switch to them today!
mcpherrinm 13y ago
Really? I am new to the US but I have been really happy with my Comcast. Self install was easy and quick, billing has always worked out fine, and while not super affordable, 50mbit is the fastest internet I've ever had at home. IPv6 too!
- hueving 13y ago
  Are you still on an introductory rate? Wait until you see the 'real' prices and after that and you will start to being the path to hating your cable provider.
  - existencebox 13y ago
    There's a trick to this. When signing up on the promo rate, make sure to discuss any terms of extending the promo/getting it reissued. One of two things will happen. A. they will say "that'll be easy, just ask before it runs out and we can fix it" or B. They will say "we can't do that"; in which case you ask if you can cancel and restart your service to re-get the special deals and they'll get confused, potentially ask a manager, and then say "I guess so." (they'll first make a huff about if your card appears in the system making you ineligable for the new deals, but you can fix this by either making enough of a huff, or using your spouses/your own alternate card, for example, I have a visa and a master card.) In either case, when your deal is about to run out, call them up again, ask for the extension. There's a chance they may _just give it to you_ if the attendant is feeling very friendly, but usually you have to ask to get sent to customer retention (the magic words in all of this) and then tell retention EXACTLY WHAT YOU SAID INITIALLY WHEN YOU BOUGHT THE SERVICE THAT EXTENDING IT WAS POSSIBLE. I don't know whether it's verifiable, I just know that this pattern works, and I'd rather not be lying to them, so I always make sure to ask on the front end. Every time I've done this, in this manner (over the last.... 6-12 renewals?) I've gotten the initial price again, slight deviations from this script result only in a partial time extension/no extension at all. Long story short version; you know comcast is terrible when you have enough experimental data to draw out some crude state diagrams of how to get around their terrible support. (I also have decades of stories of getting charged for them to repair nonworking internet that was their own fault, lying about services I asked for, charging me for services I didn't sign up for, and taking up what is at this point probably man-weeks of my life just trying to resolve billing and service issues.) Man. This did not set out to be such a rant, guess there was really some latent Comcast hatred in there...

I really dislike Comcast I wish there was a viable competitor for Internet in my area.

by pmorici 13y ago

I really dislike Comcast I wish there was a viable competitor for Internet in my area.

shakeel_mohamed 13y ago

nathancahill 13y ago

Yes. Going to post a write up shortly on how I waived the $250 installation fee for 105 Mbps internet.

fernly 13y ago

Specifically why? Because I am really tired of DSL and comcast is the only broadband I could get.

GabrielF00 13y ago
Monopolistic tendencies. High prices. OK quality. Terrible customer service. They're repeatedly ranked among the worst companies in the US in customer service and they've actually gotten lower scores than the IRS in the American Consumer Satisfaction Index. In the ACSI Comcast's Internet service gets a score of 62 - the lowest of any ISP measured.[1] The IRS gets a 75 for individual e-filers and a 64 for self-employed and small business filers (scores are lower for big business and paper filers)[2]. [1]http://www.theacsi.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=149&catid=&Itemid=214&c=Comcast&i=Internet+Service+Providers http://www.theacsi.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=art... [2]http://www.theacsi.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=149&catid=&Itemid=214&c=Comcast&i=Internet+Service+Providers http://www.theacsi.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=art...
- fernly 13y ago
  Yeah, I am aware of their customer satisfaction ratings. I've no intention of switching away from DirecTv for enterntainment TV, but I pay $39.95/month for 3Mbs download, just tolerable for one video stream with nothing else going on. Seems like every couple months AT&T sends me a splashy brochure begging me to sign up for U-Verse but when I actually tried, it was, "oh, soooo sorry you are just that tiny bit too far from a central office for us to promise anything better than 3Mbs..." (in their own customer demo center the video on display was clearly posterized and pixellated -- not confidence-building). So I am kind of driven to consider "xfinity" for internet only. (Or moving. Perhaps to Europe.)
  - namityadav 13y ago
    I just switched from AT&T U-verse to Comcast 30Mbps because my newly purchased house can't get U-verse. However, almost everything (streaming, gaming, downloads, etc) has been poor since I switched. Usually at the 1Mbps mark. Major internet speed tests show my speed as 30Mbps, but unpopular ones show my speed as 1Mbps. As if Comcast is throttling everything else, and giving very high priority to major speed test servers. I've talked to their customer service multiple times, but no luck. Oh, and this is after spending at least a total of 5 hours (I had to call them 7 times. Yes, I was counting!) with their customer service over the past few months trying to get them to mark my newly purchased modem from Amazon as my own modem, and stop charging me a modem lease fee. If there was even a single competitor that could provide me even decent internet service, I'd switch to them today!

mcpherrinm 13y ago

Really? I am new to the US but I have been really happy with my Comcast. Self install was easy and quick, billing has always worked out fine, and while not super affordable, 50mbit is the fastest internet I've ever had at home. IPv6 too!

hueving 13y ago
Are you still on an introductory rate? Wait until you see the 'real' prices and after that and you will start to being the path to hating your cable provider.
- existencebox 13y ago
  There's a trick to this. When signing up on the promo rate, make sure to discuss any terms of extending the promo/getting it reissued. One of two things will happen. A. they will say "that'll be easy, just ask before it runs out and we can fix it" or B. They will say "we can't do that"; in which case you ask if you can cancel and restart your service to re-get the special deals and they'll get confused, potentially ask a manager, and then say "I guess so." (they'll first make a huff about if your card appears in the system making you ineligable for the new deals, but you can fix this by either making enough of a huff, or using your spouses/your own alternate card, for example, I have a visa and a master card.) In either case, when your deal is about to run out, call them up again, ask for the extension. There's a chance they may _just give it to you_ if the attendant is feeling very friendly, but usually you have to ask to get sent to customer retention (the magic words in all of this) and then tell retention EXACTLY WHAT YOU SAID INITIALLY WHEN YOU BOUGHT THE SERVICE THAT EXTENDING IT WAS POSSIBLE. I don't know whether it's verifiable, I just know that this pattern works, and I'd rather not be lying to them, so I always make sure to ask on the front end. Every time I've done this, in this manner (over the last.... 6-12 renewals?) I've gotten the initial price again, slight deviations from this script result only in a partial time extension/no extension at all. Long story short version; you know comcast is terrible when you have enough experimental data to draw out some crude state diagrams of how to get around their terrible support. (I also have decades of stories of getting charged for them to repair nonworking internet that was their own fault, lying about services I asked for, charging me for services I didn't sign up for, and taking up what is at this point probably man-weeks of my life just trying to resolve billing and service issues.) Man. This did not set out to be such a rant, guess there was really some latent Comcast hatred in there...