Comcast why I hate them
 

ok, so I haven't even had them a year.....today notified my bill will be about $10 more than previous. Called Comcast...had a pleasant rep but she told me that they did an audit of accounts and noticed I wasn't paying the HD technology fee....but good news they were not going to back bill me, just bill me from now on. Or I could turn in my HDTV DVR to a standard one and not get HD. This is ridiculous when you can get HD over the air....I was quoted a price for everything and now they add a new fee...then they tried to get me to buy their security system...told them my dogs do that and I don't have to worry about them adding on more fees (well maybe a treat now and then)

I hate them too. There is nothing that makes my blood pressure rise quicker than having to deal with Comcast.

Timely Note
 

Bonnevie, your note was real timely. I received my August bill and it had an annoying problem. Last month they told me to pay a certain amount and ignore what was on the July bill. I did. This month I received a bill that included an amount they said I did not pay in July (which was the amount they told me to pay and they added $9.50 late fee. I have not had a late fee on a bill in the last 50 years. This morning I went to the Direct TV office in The Villages, set up one of their plans which I wanted and they will install the system on Thursday and I will return the Comcast hardware. A value of TOTV is that I also sent out a note this morning asking who had Direct TV and how did they like it. All came back liking it. That did it..I ordered Direct TV and am throwing Ccmcast out. I have had Comcast for quite a few years and they have always been terrible including Customer Service. :ho:

Should Add
 

I should have added that it was relatively easy to change from Comcast to Direct TV. The Direct TV people take care of everything except returning the Comcast boxes. They were easy to deal with.:clap2:

Oh, no, another Comcast thread.

If you've gotten by for almost a year without paying the HD fee, consider yourself fortunate. We have 2 HDs and pay about $7.99/mo.for EACH. You're right--they don't tell you about that when you sign up for their deals (the price of which also don't include all kinds of fees and taxes).

Here where I live in PA, it is clearly a monopoly--zero competition. In TV, at least there are other options.

If you own your own modem and/or router, be sure to watch your bills since rental costs may show up out of the blue. When you call to dispute, they apologize and take it off. If you don't notice it, you pay. But...how did it get on there in the first place? They can tell by looking at your account what equipment is customer owned.

FWIW, Comcast here and Comcast in FL are like two entirely different companies. It would be so nice to be able to turn off here and turn on in FL in one easy call, but forget about it. If you think one Comcast account is bad, try having two.

I will say that their technology has improved over the years and is superb. Sadly, poor customer service and ever-rising costs continue.

Can you tell me what your cost will be for Direct TV and what are you doing about internet? Maybe we'll switch.

Costs
 

Naneiben, A lot depends on the product you buy. If you don't want Movie Preimum Channels, (e.g. HBM, Cinemax, Showtime) you can save $30 per month, What I would call a very expanded channel selection would be about $130 per month. You can still keep Comcast Internet/Phone for about $20 each. The package is called "XTRA Package". Of course while Comcast charges $17.95 per month per DVR, Direct TV provides what is called "Genie" which provides up to 5 TV's DVR + a bunch more of advantages. The price will go up the second year but not reach the Comcast amounts. The best thing to do is to call on Direct TV on 441. They are about 4 doors down from Comcast offices. I sat with them for about an hour today to understand the offerings and hands down they are good. A major concern was to be sure they made it a "turn key" installation and they do. :ho:

We had (HAD) Comcast for our internet and it was the biggest mistake we have made (so far...the day isn't over yet). They overcharged us every month and then when we called to complain, instead of refunding our money, they said they would let us out of our contract for half of the penalty fee of $110. After a few choice words and carefully placed adjectives, we paid the $%*&# $55.00 and ran ! Horrible people to deal with. They might as well be Congress!!

Same situation happened to me last month. I haven't gotten this month's bill yet, so I don't know if I'll have a late fee. Every month, when the bill arrives, I take a deep breath before opening. It's always a different amount (higher) and wrong. I have to call just about every month. This last time, I just deducted to overage (again) after I got "disconnected" from customer service. I hate them, but the installation fee was high and I just hate to disconnect and start up with a new company, who may, or may not, be any better...

They Count On
 

Casita37: This is exactly what Comcast counts on. God knows I have spent alot of years not changing because of the disruption it makes to our lives. It took what I think was allegedly close to fraud to cause me to leave and I am very happy that I finally took the right step. Comcast counts on customers being reluctand to change and they have made it an art to know how far to stretch them. It is no wonder they were voted the 2nd worst customer service company in the nation. Pretty much says it all.:throwtomatoes:

If you have the opportunity to switch to Bright House, jump at it. There is no connection fee, and their customer service is superior. I'm in my fourth year with them and have never had a billing issue.

Two times in four years they had a system wide failure that was resolved in a few hours, but that has been my only service interruption.

I started out paying $80 per month for cable, internet and phone with unlimited long distance. That monthly charge has increased by $10 per month each year, until now paying $120 per month.

Unfortunately, BH is only available is areas south of CR466A from what I understand. I do not work for BH or have any connection, other than being a very satisfied customer.

As soon as Brighthouse is available in Lady Lake, I'm done with these thieves.

We, too, have had multiple and continuing problems with Comcast. I called "Corporate" at 215 665 1700 and finally got satisfaction. We are snowbirds, currently away from TV, and will find another provider when we return in early Oct.
Maybe if enough of us complain and leave Comcast, they'll clean up their act!

the thing was, my original quote included the HD fee. so basically, they are now changing my plan...which they can do...

Come on people let give you my account number and we both can get 10 dollars a month off our bill for 10 months PM me

😻
 

Oh no, I'm jumping on the I hate Comcast bandwagon again. Since I last replied to one of these Comcast threads, and it was maybe only a month or so ago, I have had at least 3 issues with them. I won't go into the boring details of what they were but after several days without service I was told I would get a $20.00 credit for my inconvenience (no service and a lot of time with them on the phone). Also credit for the time I didn't have the service. Now do you think I received that? Nope, and it was no surprise to me. I saw the bill and really just didn't even want to open it. Not only did I not receive those credits but my bill was $25.00 higher. I thought nooooooooo please do I really have to call them. Turns out I went off the bundle in the same month - although I did not get my credits and of course they had no record that I was to get them. My bad of course for not taking the name of the person in the Phillipines who said I would get the credit but I was so burned out on that call I just didn't do it. I am now on a new bundle but believe me that took some doing and in all their Comcast-speak, I will be a few dollars less than my last bundle. Even they told me to pay the bill I have and wait for the credit on the next bill. They know their limitations. I would drop them but we will be moving to TV within the next several months so I will do my best to hang in there. I have been a Comcast customer for 15 years and what do you get for that? Nothing. On the other hand, we will have Brighthouse in TV. Yay. We had it installed in July and either I or they did not put us on a vacation hold so I received a bill for a full month. I called them, spoke to someone in this country, and was told they will now enter it in and to disregard the bill. I cannot wait for the day that I can tell Comcast that we no longer want their service.

Too funny, NOT! We just received a notice today from Comcast stating that they hoped we were enjoying our service, but they noticed we hadn't been paying the monthly fee on our router. Good reason, we purchased our router and were never leasing from then. We called and the rep said we were indeed not leasing the modem. But as Comcast often does, we will probably have the $7.00 show up on our bill next month. I am sure this isn't over...

Comcast is well documented as the poorest customer service cable company on the planet. I took all my equipment back and made a switch months ago.

However, from my experience with two cable companies here and two in Illinois sooner or later you find poor customer service from all of the cable companies. I don't care for government regulation but that may be the only answer to rising rates.

Oh, and it doesn't matter what state you live in it's equally as bad. Why wouldn't it be, it's not handled locally or even most times in this country! As I have said in a previous post, I could write a book. Another thing besides what I wrote about above, right now I am having a problem with my e-mail and the way the keystrokes are coming out. I called, they couldn't help. They were then going to move me up the pay grade and I would hear back from someone NO later than 24 hours. Four or 5 days later someone called (which was amazing), seemed like it was fixed with the refresh but nope it's not. I haven't even called back. I don't have it in me - yet. Maybe they know that and it cuts down on the calls.

This is for Directv not comcast But I will say they bumped my internet up to 75.00 called complained and they dropped it to 36.00 for the nwxt year.

PennBF...Be VERY sure that you keep your receipt that they give you when turning in your equipment, and hold on to it ....I have been billed for hundreds of dollars for claimed un-returned equipment, and been called by a collection agency...even after I was told by the clerk at the desk that all my equipment was turned in, and confirmed again 30 days later by phone call, after I received a bill for said equipment. It took me over 4 months (and hours on the phone numerous times) to get it straightened out.

Great technology for TV, and Internet, but absolutely the worst customer service of any company I have every dealt with, bar none.

Agreed on the equipment statement. That too happened to us after our move from Colorado to Illinois. Fought that one for a year. It may be resolved as it's been several months but hey you never know. I will keep the next set of paperwork and maybe put it in a safety deposit box or under 24- hour security when we leave Illinois to come to our new home in TV. At most we have 361 days which is just 12 more Comcast bills. With all my rants, do you think I can do it?

We had ComCast for 4 years prior to moving here. We had an internet/cable package. No movie premiums, no sports packages, no HD, no digital recorders and so on. We never had a single problem with them in the 4 years that we used them. Their internet was vastly superior in speed to anything that's offered locally and we were happy. Because of where we live down here we cannot use them, but we would take them in a minute if it was available. So we don't hate them.

Thanks
 

Thanks everyone for the clues when I return the equipment and cut off the service. I will make sure to follow all of the advise..!!!!!:BigApplause:

Maybe there's hope; just record everything. If you ever get to speak to a human

Comcast subscriber refunded after recording apparently proved bogus charges | Maine News

One more interesting article
Why Is Comcast So Terrible? - The Atlantic

Direct TV IS the way to go ..first I was a Bright house subscriber in Orlando ..but cannot get it here due to the fact Comcast has a "Monopoly" here..which i think is totally absurd..but there is a way around it """""DIRECT TV..which gives you the football package free the first year

Cable companies are by law considered to be a municipal utility just like the gas or electric company and are granted a monopoly by the regulating municipality whether it be county, city or township. Citizens of that municipality are free to bring service complaints to the attention of the municipality that issues the franchise which MUST be considered when the governing municipality re-issues their franchise. (every 5 years or so) If you have problems with ComCast then you should find out what governing entity controls the franchise and make SPECIFIC complaints to the proper department.

It's interesting to me that Comcast and Time Warner are now working on a merger. I was a Time Warner customer for many years in Upstate NY, and my every contact with them ended with frustration at some level. Now they want to merge with Comcast, which I've suffered with for two years now (but to give the devil its due, Comcast has been marginally better than Time Warner). Here's a quote from Comcast vice-president David Cohen: “This transaction is all about increasing competition and creating more consumer benefit as a result of gaining additional scale”. Ha! How in the world could this guy ever think he could convince me that a merger of two cable "giants" could possibly increase competition? If anything, Economics 101 says that statement is simply untrue. Now the political process of merger approval starts. If they've lined the right pockets, it will go through.

Just a note. When we first moved here over 12 years ago we had a great cable service called Clearlink! It was cheap and no problems. It was I believe owned at that time by the developer. After a few years they were sold to Comcast, it went downhill from there :(. Unfortunately where I live Marion County I can only get Comcast, Direct a Tv or Dish but now finally a century Link Prism.We just signed to get Prism bye bye Comcast who just raised my bill to $190 and no DVR's or premium movie channels like HBO etc,

One more comment after my previous 2 rants.....on the news here in the Chicago area they reported that Comcast was laying off 100+ in one Illinois town and another 100+ in another. Let's see, where could those jobs possibly be going? I sense India or the Phillipines.

Folks - if you have an issue with Comcast and/or the merger, let the SEC and FCC know about it. The combined company would control 60% of the cable and related markets. Consumer Union is looking for people to sign on to its opposition. Talk about a monopoly!

We have direct TV and love the service. Problem is we need internet service. Currently we have COMCAST which I hate. ($40 per mth) Any suggestions of alternative internet carriers?

Got my bill today, and yep....late fee!! Also still at the higher rate. The rep I talked with today didn't even offer to do anything except waive the late fee. I told her I would be looking elsewhere and she basically said "fine".

Said there was nothing noted in my account about credits, even though I told her the reps names and numbers. She said they didn't make a note, so as far as she was concerned, it never happened.....my words, not hers.

You know, they say you need to get negative people out of your life.....bye-bye Comcast! Will be reading all threads about this before Aug. 25, when my month runs out.

Could have Written
 

Casita37, I could have written your note as I had about the same problems. I put off month after month calling and complaining about the amount I was being billed only to have them give me a $20 credit after hours on the phone. It was one abuse after another !! The straw that broke the Camel's back was this last time when they really went out of control. I had it, got in the car and drove to Direct TV office's and signed up. I have since talked to a large number of Direct TV users and it appears I made the right decision. I did hear a couple of complaints out of the many that gave me good reviews BUT none of their problems even came close to matching Comcast. The ones who have had minor Direct TV problems should sign up with Comcast and see what problems really are..!! .:bowdown:

Good Day
 

Today was a good day as the install tech for Direct TV spent most of the day talling the Direct TV in our home. I had it with Comcast and could not tolerate it any longer. Read in the Drudge Report about the Comcast customer who was left on the phone waiting for 3 1/2 hours to cancel Comcast and after that length of time he got the message they were closed for the day. I was impressed with the quality of Direct TV's HD and picture and will now take the time to understand their system which looks darn good. :pepper2: