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October 04, 2005
Why I Hate Comcast, And Have a Loathing for Bellsouth Too
So, what have I tried in my adventures in affordable and desirable media consumption?
I've tried over-the-air TV with Bellsouth for the internet connection. That sucked because the 'net connection was slow (torrent files averaged about 40kps), and the TV reception was horrible. We made Casselberry stand in the middle of the room with one arm at a 45-degree angle one Saturday afternoon so that we could see the OU players in color. Plus, I had to pay for a landline phone in order to get the DSL. I didn't use the landline phone. Not once. I didn't even have a phone to plug into the jack. $25 a month, just for the phone that I never used. The DSL? $45 for a 256kps connection.
Comcast had a special so I switched to them. I got the Digital Plus package and the broadband cable. The net connection is speedy. The channels are nice. But when the trial period was up, I couldn't figure why I should pay $130 a month for 300+ channels that I didn't really have time to watch. Entourage Season 2 was over, and Lost was on network TV. So I downgraded to Limited Ghetto cable, and kept the cable modem. We're still talking $60 a month. So I figure hey, why not add HDTV and Fox Sports World. That just adds another $12, and I get my football and soccer. So I call. The Comcast "Customer Care Representatives" lady pretty much thought I was an idiot, and had never heard of Fox Sports World. Nor could she be bothered to look it up to see if it was available, or explain why I couldn't order it, or care that I was asking for a package that Comcast offers on its web site. But I'm a savvy consumer, and would not give up. So I look up some more packages, and find Cable Latino. That way I can get ESPN and Fox Sports Espanol. And brush up on my romance language. Comcast gets ringed again, and a different "Customer Care Representatives" lady accepts my order.
The wife just called. The cable guy came by, and couldn't hook up the Fox Sports World Espanol channel because we don't have the right plan. This despite three different, ahem, "Customer Care Representatives" assuring me that, "no, no problem, you can order that Cable Latino package with your current plan. Yeah, you can also get the HDTV channels too with the plan. Yep."
No soccer, no football, and no HDTV for me. Not even in Spanish. Argh. Of course, I could pay $120 a month, upgrade to "Preferred Basic", and grab the Cable Latino plan. But that's $120 a month for two channels and a 'net connection. Sorry kids, I'm still middle class. That's 1/4th of my monthly rent.
Comcast, you suck. And I have two more blog entries that explain why.
Man, these blog entries are therapeutic. I'm still disappointed, though.
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Posted by Noel at 05:41 PM
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Comments
So what you do is just stick with the "limited ghetto cable" and download the shows the next morning to watch at your convenience. It's what I do with Battlestar Galactica, and we even get the channel in question. Why watch the ads when the network wants you to, when you can watch with no ads when you want to?
Cheaper than TiVo, and you don't have to pay for the extra channels.
Posted by: ryan at October 4, 2005 06:58 PM
thats funny because my current Bellsouth connection rate is almost 2.5megs per second. Guess you where not pressing the right buttons ;)
Posted by: James at October 4, 2005 08:09 PM
My Comcast experience is even worse. We get less-than-basic cable, just so I can have the "fast" connection that is "always" on. I've traded out modems, and still the same problem. The "Customer Care" people try to tell me that it's in my wiring (which may be true, because we have trouble with basic channels 11-13, 24, and others I can't remember cuz it's been so long since they came in) -- but I had the same problem with the internet connection IN A DIFFERENT HOUSE IN A DIFFERENT PART OF TOWN WITH A DIFFERENT MODEM.
Plus, when you call to have a guy come out and check for interference, he never shows up. Just now, trying to get to your entry from the Chattablogs page, I had to wait thru two offline-back-online cycles where the modem just sits there and blinks at me (the "Cable" light). I'm posting now before I lose it again.
COMCAST, YOU SUCK!
Posted by: joe public at October 4, 2005 08:50 PM
cable companies don't tell you that most cable broadband connections are shared and therefore they fluxuate in speed.
Posted by: James at October 4, 2005 11:32 PM
Wow, it's not just my nerves that are firing angrily at our unfriendly regional communication monopolies.
Ryan, as far as downloading shows, I do to a limited degree. I'm really only watching ~3 shows right now. I can get one of them in no matter what (Lost), and BSG & Entourage torrents are easy to get. If regular shows were the only thing I was wanting TV for, you're perfectly right. But, as I'll detail today, live sports are really what I'm after...
James, I don't know what Bellsouth hooked you up with, but all I could convince them to give me was a bellsouth-throttled 256k connection. The upgrade to 2mbps was another $25 or something.
Joe, their service is spotty. Our techs have been nice, but I can tell that you are completely at their mercy.
James, you are right was well. I've noticed a drop in connection speed when Peyton Manning or that nasty orange college team plays.
Posted by: Noel at October 5, 2005 09:19 AM
I pay the big bucks for big bandwidth its worth it to me.
Posted by: James at October 6, 2005 06:00 PM
We hate the stupid company called COMCAST. Unfortunately there is a stupid monopoly in Arlington County (VA) and only COMCAST provides high speed and cable TV.
Again, WE REALLY HATE COMCAST!!!
Lincoln Towers - Arlington VA.
Posted by: Daniel and Heidi at July 26, 2006 08:01 PM
I made the mistake of switching from DSL (COVAD) to Comcast Business Internet Service this past July. The install when great and the service worked great for about a week. Then everyday at around 2:00 p.m. EST the service went down. I called for service each day and they sent a repair guy out the next morning. Of course when he got here it was working so they did nothing. After a few calls they sent a lineman out who said the incoming signal was to strong and he turned it down. This kept it working for about 2 weeks, now it is down each morning requiring the modem to be reset, this keep it working for about 10 mins.
I have called customer no service as well as the sales dept all to no avail. Today 8/24/06 they had an 8-11 a.m. appt. It is now 2:10 p.m. and still no show. Comcast did call once and say he was on his way; this was about 3 hours ago. They also called and left message that they were sorry they missed us and to call them back if service was still an issue. We have been here since 7:30 a.m. No one missed us they just did not come.
More calls to Customer no Service and sales, they told me 20 mins ago that someone was still on the way. I just do not think they are coming nor do they care. They also informed me that they service 90% of the business calls the same day, I must be in the 10% failure rate as they have never showed up here the same day, it has always been the next day.
I just wished I stayed with my slower but 100% more reliable DSL!
Posted by: Beja Customs Brokers at August 24, 2006 02:24 PM
I've been working with ComCast for over a year now. I work in a call center. When your pissed off, and nothing's working, i'm the guy who gets the brunt of it. The service you recieve from any given agent is like a doctor. They may word things differently, may have interpreted policy differently (we ARE human) and may have more working experience than others, but we do the best we can. Unfortunalty we don't have individual extentsions (or else i'd give you mine).
Try to kind of see things from our side. Of the 50+ calls you take in any given shift, 40 of which are incredibly pissed off, and occasionally ignorant, are itching to rip your head off. So unfortunately, if you call toward the end of any given shift, we may not be in the best of moods, but we do our job. Which is exactly what it is.
And last of all, its a free call. Which is why its sometimes a long wait to get through. In front of you is a grandmother who bought her first pc, wants to know how to work her email, but can't exactly see the monitor, and panics over everything. We are patient. We try to be thorough. And if its not a Comcast product, we can't help you. Internet problems? Unplug mdm for 20 seconds, restore power. You should be good to go. I'll post basic Trouble Shooting Tactics later. Hope yaw'll enjoy it, and spread the free advice. Or wait on the phone :)
Posted by: Brian at January 26, 2007 06:25 AM