Thinking of signing a deal with the devil (Comcast)

[San Juan Sun]

I'm to the point where my need for DirecTV is over, since I won't be needing the Mtn anymore. So I'm thinking of switching to Comcast. We currently have Comcast phone/internet.

I hate DirecTV's DVRs, and the fact that a modest breeze causes me to lose signal. It seems like the lineup for the Comcast package looks good for me, the wife, and the ninos (anyone have the Disney movies on demand?).

Anyone have any thoughts about current Comcast service?
Do they make you sign an 12 or 24 month contract?
Anyone know how to get a deal from them?

BTW, after all these years, I just noticed that Comcast is now offering the Mtn in SE Michigan. Three freaking years too late.

Edit: biggest question of all... do they have BYU TV?

[old_gregg]

i'm signing up tomorrow for the $69.99 (for the first six mos) no contract option. we only need one non-dvr hd box, and i think we'll probably go with it. but comcast has been really shitty to deal with; i called before the previous tenants of our apartment discontinued, and they wouldn't even give me information about the plans on the grounds that the promotion might change in three days. xfinity is evil.

as bad as they suck though i really do not want to put a dish on the side of the house. plus, the place is already wired for comcast.

[San Juan Sun]

i'm signing up tomorrow for the $69.99 (for the first six mos) no contract option. we only need one non-dvr hd box, and i think we'll probably go with it. but comcast has been really shitty to deal with; i called before the previous tenants of our apartment discontinued, and they wouldn't even give me information about the plans on the grounds that the promotion might change in three days. xfinity is evil.

as bad as they suck though i really do not want to put a dish on the side of the house. plus, the place is already wired for comcast.

I had Comcast about 4 years ago, and they weren't great. Not surprised to see things haven't changed.

On the other hand, my DirecTV equipment sucks, their customer service has been spottier the last year or so, and they wouldn't give me a deal for NFL Sunday ticket like they gave a bunch of other loyal customers. And they won't give me a deal now either.

I wish I didn't like TV so much. I'd love to drop it all together.

Nobody's customer service is worse than Qwest though.

[CardiacCoug]

On the other hand, my DirecTV equipment sucks, their customer service has been spottier the last year or so, and they wouldn't give me a deal for NFL Sunday ticket like they gave a bunch of other loyal customers. And they won't give me a deal now either.

I have to agree that it seems like DirecTV's customer service has gone down lately. I have paid an insane amount of money for DirecTV over the past 5 years (sorry for the Humblebrag?) and it used to be that every time I called they would give me a break on Sunday Ticket or the basketball or baseball packages. And they wouldn't charge me for new DVRs, etc.

A few weeks ago I called because one of our remotes wasn't working -- they used take care of stuff like that for free and this time the guy charged me $25 for a new remote. When I told him they always just gave me that stuff for free in the past he said I needed to buy a monthly "protection plan" to get a free remote now.

Still not enough to get me to switch to Comcast though.

[Katy Lied]

I like that comcast's customer service is open 24/7.

[il Padrino Ute]

I had Comcast about 4 years ago, and they weren't great. Not surprised to see things haven't changed.

On the other hand, my DirecTV equipment sucks, their customer service has been spottier the last year or so, and they wouldn't give me a deal for NFL Sunday ticket like they gave a bunch of other loyal customers. And they won't give me a deal now either.

I wish I didn't like TV so much. I'd love to drop it all together.

Nobody's customer service is worse than Qwest though.

From last year: Comcast sucks

My money is on Comcast retaining its title.

[old_gregg]

the deed is done. comcast wanted to charge me $50 to have some schlub come plug in an ethernet cable, and $7/month to rent a modem i can hopefully buy for much less than that. i declined both offers, and now am in need of a modem.

my question is, will any cable modem work as long as it is docsis 2.0? i'd prefer a modem that is also a wireless router, so let me know what all y'all use.

[San Juan Sun]

My deed is done too.

I ended up going with Comcast. I'm on a month to month contract, got a higher tier package with several extra goodies, got my internet speed jacked way up, and saved $40 a month.

[Scott R Nelson]

I have DirecTV at home and Comcast at the temporary apartment that I'm using right now. Navigating DirecTV is so much better than with Comcast. The controller that DirecTV includes is well thought out and can be easily worked in the dark, because you can feel where all of the right buttons are at. With the Comcast controller I have to look at the controller to find the "previous channel" button. It's also much easier to look at what's on the other channels with DirecTV than with Comcast. And I can still see a smaller version of what I'm watching, while Comcast only plays the sound. I still dislike Comcast and put it in fourth place among the four choices available in most places (uVerse being the other one).

And for the record, I haven't lost satellite reception on mine during the two years or so that I've been using DirectTV. I would occasionally lose Dish Network when I had that.

[old_gregg]

my first experience with comcast customer service was unacceptable. i called for them to add my modem's mac address on their end, and the girl not only put in the mac address wrong, but put that i have an entirely different make of modem. after 40 minutes on the phone with a different rep, she said she would "put in a service ticket" and it would be fixed within 36 hours. great way to treat a new customer... i always have 30 days to cancel.

another thing i'm going to bitch about are the "self install kits." they charged me $10 for a splitter and piece of coaxial cable. it is mind blowing that this isn't the kind of thing included with a new account.

[Flystripper]

my first experience with comcast customer service was unacceptable. i called for them to add my modem's mac address on their end, and the girl not only put in the mac address wrong, but put that i have an entirely different make of modem. after 40 minutes on the phone with a different rep, she said she would "put in a service ticket" and it would be fixed within 36 hours. great way to treat a new customer... i always have 30 days to cancel.

another thing i'm going to bitch about are the "self install kits." they charged me $10 for a splitter and piece of coaxial cable. it is mind blowing that this isn't the kind of thing included with a new account.

They do nickle and dime you to death. If I could have a dish at the place I am renting here in IL, I would never have left Directv.

[San Juan Sun]

The saga continues. It so turns out that I'll be taking Comcast up on their 30 day money back guaruntee. Here's why:

Strike 1: The installer gave us a used receiver/DVR and remote. The receiver wasn't reset or refurbished, it still had old recoreded shows from the previous owners. It also was still recording shows that they had set up, like Glee, and I ended up missing Deadliest Catch.

Strike 2: As I mentioned, the remote was used. How do I know? There was a bunch of food (looked like dried spaghetti sauce) in between the buttons.

Strike 3: When I called to complain, the Comcast jerk acted like this was my fault.

Strike 4: They guy sent out to fix the problem never showed up. and never called. Wasted a bunch of my wife's day because she had to hang out at the house waiting for them.

Strike 5: We called back and got another appointment. The installer was two hours late with no phone call. He did eventually show up, with brand new equipment to boot.

Strike 6: Through all this, we don't have the programming we are supposed to have.


So today I called up AT&T and they're hooking me up with their best TV package, nice internet, and phone for $35 less a month than Comcast. Like Boyd K packer says, I knew what that Comcast snake was when I picked it up. Serves me right I guess.

[old_gregg]

i called comcast yesterday fully intent on canceling (we really don't watch enough tv to justify spending as much as we do). figuring i'd test the waters and see if i could get what i considered to be outrageous demands met in order to stay with them, i told the cancellation lady that qwest was offering an hd dvr with no upgrade fees and no additional monthly cost, and that my bill through them would be $20 cheaper per month (which was an outright fabrication, of course). she asked if i would stay if they could meet that, and she made it happen. the good news is we still don't have a contract and can get out whenever.

[Surfah]

i called comcast yesterday fully intent on canceling (we really don't watch enough tv to justify spending as much as we do). figuring i'd test the waters and see if i could get what i considered to be outrageous demands met in order to stay with them, i told the cancellation lady that qwest was offering an hd dvr with no upgrade fees and no additional monthly cost, and that my bill through them would be $20 cheaper per month (which was an outright fabrication, of course). she asked if i would stay if they could meet that, and she made it happen. the good news is we still don't have a contract and can get out whenever.

In my experience it's always who you talk to. You can get one CSR who doesn't give a crap. Or you can get another who will give you the world. Usually though I get the former and am so incensed by my dealing with them that it's not worth it to try and deal with another. I tried your tactic with AT&T (with real savings though from a competitor) thinking that they'd throw me a bone with 5 years of being a customer. Nope. The CSR didn't even make a counter or any offer to retain me. So I cancelled my service on the spot.

[filsdepac]

i called comcast yesterday fully intent on canceling (we really don't watch enough tv to justify spending as much as we do). figuring i'd test the waters and see if i could get what i considered to be outrageous demands met in order to stay with them, i told the cancellation lady that qwest was offering an hd dvr with no upgrade fees and no additional monthly cost, and that my bill through them would be $20 cheaper per month (which was an outright fabrication, of course). she asked if i would stay if they could meet that, and she made it happen. the good news is we still don't have a contract and can get out whenever.

That's crazy because I did the exact same thing and got the exact same result ($20 less/month). I used AT&T as the other party, but same result. I also told them I'd get Showtime for free from AT&T, so he threw that in. So now I'll be watching The Franchise next week.