Comcast Charges
 

Noticed on my Comcast bill that they stated charging $1.99 for each free DTA adapter. I called the billing department and referenced their own web site which said:

such charges are not applicable for digital adapter service outlets existing on accounts prior to July 1,2012).

The web site is https://digitalnow.comcast.com/About...al_Update.aspx

They took the charges off my bill.

Thanks for the heads up. I'll be calling them myself later today. I'll go a step further and get a refund for the month I've already paid for.

Talked with them today. Unable to get charges removed. What's your secret ?.....

It has to be approved by a Supervisor and you have to reference their quote on the web site.

I just called and they refused to remove from my bill. They are using the standard copout "this is a corporate decision and we cannot change it. The state of Florida is affected not nationwide which is why the website has not been changed". I then asked to speak with a supervisor who reiterated the same crap. They said it was included in the Jan 15th rate change notification but I cannot find it, and the point I tried to make was that these adapters were sent because they went from analog to digital and they were free. If they were going to start charging for something they gave us for free, we should have received a notification in the mail, not sneak it into a 14 page mini-printed foldout which I need a magnifying glass to read. This is borderline immoral and their arrogant behavior is reprehensible.

What are my options besides a satellite dish? I'm ready to switch but do not want dish.

To bad it didnt work out. Guess I just got a hold of the right person at the right time.
I tried hooking up my digital tv direct without the adapter so I could turn it in but I didnt get all the channels I get with the adapter so I hooked it back up.

My suggestion is to go with Directv and get away from all the stupid charges that Comcast comes up with.

Dealing with Comcast here is the most frustrating experience I have ever watched my sweet husband endure...Steam always came out of his ears.

We like our Verizon for internet and phone and we now are satisfied with Direct TV.

I think you can buy comcast adapters online then turn yours in. Comcast is such a pest!

I can not find any online to buy and if you could, would Comcast activate it.

I called and had little success until I was connected to Jennifer in Customer Appreciation?? (not sure exactly if that is what the department was called) and she looked into my account.

She gave me a $10 discount for the current bill and supposed to be a $10 discount for a year and then we will look into the matter again. We have 2 adapters. I told her that I hope they could get things worked out or I would have to look into Direct TV. She didn't like that very much and I said I hope I didn't have to do it because we have been customers for years even before we moved to Florida.

Cable TV
 

I always have to make a deal with Comcast whether it's in TV or in VT. Never fails. It's a pain twice a year but we save money. I also found out that Brighthouse (top rated by Consumer Reports) are in sections of TV. We've had friends in Melbourne that think they're the greatest.
Steve & Deanna

I have contacted Comcast frequently regarding billing, service, setup help, etc. I have always come away satisfied. I called them the other day about my bill which showed a substantial increase. Not only did the increase disappear, the final result was a decrease plus the addition of a premium channel. I guess I am lucky and get to talk to the right people.

Most of these people from Comcast are minimum-wage jobs and could care less about customer Satisfaction they are cursed yelled at by customers they have no impact upon the rules If you treat them with kindness and caring attitude that you should every person They will bend over backwards to make your bill reduced as they see it as a way of getting back at their employer. If you don't get what you were hoping to get , be nice and hang up and call back again you will finally find somebody that will give you what you want If you say you're thinking about getting a dish they will refer you to another department they will try to get you to retain your subscription that is another good leverage . The most important thing is to be nice to them.. If you are harassing customer ,they can put it in your file. Then when you call you will automatically get instant NO! The real advice is " just be nice"

This is the first time I've called Comcast and not gotten a bill reduction. They are hanging tough on the digital adapter charge. I hope everyone calls to at least protest. It is maddening to deal with them. We have the triple play. Has anyone found a wireless connection that is as fast as Comcast? We need to change providers before I blow a gasket.

Sure would like to hear comments (pro/con) about Brighthouse for cable TV in The Villages. Will be moving to Sanibel soon.

Gene & Kathy

they are ridiculous
 

I always had comcast bundled service, in two states for many years. When I moved here two yrs ago I used them again. About 1 yr into it I decided I didn't need a landline and decided to go purely cell..I called Comcast and asked to be "unbundled". They said fine and that my bill would go up. I don't remember the exact amount but it seemed to be around 40 bucks more, (for less service). I promptly disconnected every one of their services and went satellite, Dish, and it is by far one of the best decisions I've ever made here..There is a reason the are rated one of the the worst large companies in the US in customer service. I am not going to pander to any one of their employees to get fair service nor am I ever going to "shop around" looking for a "nice" employee willing to do their job. Darwinism will prevail eventually and they (Comcast) will disappear.

I called today about the charge for the DTAs. The rep I spoke with was polite and obviously reading from a script. They are now saying the charge is new "for our area". There was supposed to be a notice in the November bill. However, if you signed up for billing by email, you didn't get the notice. "Sorry". Their website now shows that the DTAs are free if you had them prior to July 2012 with an asterisk that leads to a statement that pricing may differ in some areas.

All I got was a 3 month credit for the charges and an offer to be transferred to the retention people. No thanks, been there, done that.

I took a shot at Comcast yesterday.

My bill went from $152 to $197 so I called to find out why and was told that my 2 year "discount" had expired. I remember a 1 year rate increase when I subscribed but not a 2 year increase. Anyway, after threatening to drop them the manager gave me another deal for 2 years for $141 plus tax. After 2 years I'll have to pay more again but I'll deal with that then. I got no where when I argued the adapter charge.

It might help if you have success with Comcast to reference the person you spoke with so the rest of us could also be successful. Tried the "i'm going to switch to sattelite" recently and basically was told "sorry to hear that". You definitely need to get to the right person, but sometimes that is easier said than done. So please share name with the rest of us. Thanks.

My bill went up $30.00, could not get a real person. Their message states they are avaialable 24 / 7. Guess what, the billing department only works during business hours. How the H do you speak to a person. I will be getting a new service!

All I can tell you is that her name was Mary. I called the number on my bill and asked to speak to a manager because I was getting nowhere with the customer service rep. Remember, they are holding all of the cards so be polite and tactful. I simply explained that I need my bill to be more in line with my budget of I would be forced to either reduce my service or switch providers.

I just moved in to Fernandina area and selected Brighthouse. They had the teaser rate of $107 with phone, internet, television and free premiums for 3 months. By the time I got what I wanted, two televisions, sports package, and high speed internet the bill was over $150. Then I learned phone would be additional $12. Before I got my first bill the price went up so now my service... two weeks after moving in... is $190.

I'll be disconnecting Brighthouse even though it's the fastest internet I've ever experieneced; and connecting Direct or Dish for television and another internet service.

Brighthouse has a 60Mbps internet, but it's pricey. I think stand alone it's $80+ a month.

...I HATE Comcast...long story short, it used entrapment to attempt to fine my son $1000...didn't work...I HATE Comcast.

You need to be a little more direct and not sugar coat things. Just what exactly are you trying to say? :icon_wink::icon_wink:

Just called Comcast, (a totally frustrating experience)
Here's what their website now states:

such charges are not applicable for digital adapter service outlets existing on accounts prior to July 1, 2012). Certain markets may have alternative pricing

Of course, we are in their "certain markets" area.
They said as a courtesy, they would remove this month's charge, but it would be on all future bills and will not be removed.

Thanks very much for the tip. I called Comcast, spoke with a very discourteous rep who refused any help. I then called back, spoke with a very helpful rep who apologized for the first one's lack of service. She spoke with a supervisor, said the charges will no longer appear on my bill, gave me a credit for the $3.95 I had already paid, AND gave me a $20 credit as a gesture for the bad service I had experienced.

I got my two DTAs taken off my bill because I'm a long time customer. Seems they want to sneak this into the bill. If you don't see it, you keep paying it.

Don't matter who you talk to - all these calls are "call-distributed". First I talked to someone in Ft. Myers, then it was someone in Mississippi. It's where ever the call is routed (seldom locally).

A friend of mine had his bill go up 3 times in one year (no change of service) - an increase of 49%. He's now on Direct TV and they keep calling him begging him to come back with those teaser rates you see on TV.

Skip

It's almost as if Comcast is on the road to self destruct. However, you can get some "horror" stories from those who have "other service providers of Internet, phone and television service as well. It's an industry almost as necessary as other household utilities. When deregulated, competition was suppose to make costs to consumers less. Anybody paying less? Yes, you can get a "deal" for a few months then your monthly rates go through the roof. So, you go through the hassle of changing service providers only to find the details are in the very very fine print. "These capitalists generally act harmoniously and in concert , to fleece the people.". Abraham Lincoln

After reading all this, I called Comcast in disgust, prepared to give up our digital starter service at $65.95 per month plus $3.98 for the two adapters and make do with the lowest level of service. We've had the "free" adapters at least since 2011, probably since 2010. No matter how I argued, the digital adapter fee was not going away. My husband has been ready to can them for two years but I like to be able to get weather and news.

So, in dealing with "Crystal," I read to her the current price list effective January 15, 2013, that stated that adapters are free with digital economy service at $34.95 per month, and requested they switch us to that service, even though we'd lose TCM, HGTV and a couple of other channels we like. First, she denied the language in the printed brochure and tried to upsell us but I insisted on downgrading versus signing on to any of their "promotions." We were truly disgusted to the point where we were willing to get the lowest level of service and still keep the internet.

However, the result of being a "long-time customer," was that we came out with a rate of $29.95 versus $62.95 for TV. Imagine our surprise when we turned on the TV and the only things we had lost were "Music Choice" and "On Demand," neither of which we used.

They gave us a credit of $75 for the month of Feb. If whatever buttons she pushed stay pushed, our TV cost will be minimal and I'm happy to have TV going into the summer storm season!

I called Comcast and even though I have been a longtime customer, no matter what I said to Jim, he just insisted that everyone had to pay this fee. He refused to put me through to a supervisor, and I mentioned to him that I get my bills online and that I was never notified of the change. He said that it didn't matter, that Comcast could do what they wanted and that for years that Comcast had been paying for the boxes at their expense and now they were passing the cost along to the customers. I said are you refusing to put me through to your supervisor and he said "yes", that he couldn't put frivolous calls through. Really, I kept my cool, and I mentioned that other customers had the charge removed from their bills, and he said that an auditor would find the errors and add it back in and that the employee would be fired for that. He said he had already seen someone fired. Talking to Jim was soooo frustrating and you would think I was talking the money out of his pocket. I told him when my contract was up with Comcast in June I would be shopping around. (we signed up for two years and got a Visa card).

This guy was arrogant and had a attitude like he was sick of explaining this.

Good luck to the next person who tries, but if Jim answers your call, please hang up!

If you get nowhere, hang up and re-dial, you're bound to get a new person in a new place. Their rate sheet doesn't mention charges for DTAs.

The only way to get through to Comcast is to complain to the county that licenses them. It's quite possible that all the houses in sumter county could be switched over to Bright House when their license expires if we complain loud enough to the licensing authority.

Skip

Within two day's you're bound to get a "phone survey" for that call you made. Just be honest and "disappointed" in Comcast contact reps.

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