Internet/TV Ripoff
 

Moved to The Villages about 4 years ago. For Internet/TV/Phone, subscribed to Comcast for their bundle for 2 years. Price seemed reasonable although I that the price would increase. Don't remember the monthly price, but it was approx. $120.
In the beginning of 2015 the price was $162 per month, in 2016 it was $191 per month, in 2017 it was $216 and now in Feb. 2017 it has been raised to $249 per month.
Note that I have the very same service today that I had when I first signed up. The price since 2015 has increased over 50%, outlandish!!! As part of my service I have two extra outlets, not boxes, simply connectors, originally I was charged $1.99 each, per month, now they are charging $5.99 each per month, a 300% increase.
I understand that if you are unhappy with the bill that if you call, they will discount it somewhat, that is no way to run a business. Unfortunately, there is little or no competition and we are all stuck with a monopoly gone wild.
I'm sure that other Int./TV/phone companies are doing the same thing, I'd appreciate any of you providing your experiences.

We switched to Comcast almost a year ago. We are locked in to the $154.60 a month rate. Excellent service. Super fast download speeds (81 mbps), sometimes it dips to 75. We have a DVR and one additional box. This rate also includes phone service. We had Centurylink, and switched after what turned out to be literally monthly bill changes. No regrets.

I don't know which Villages you are in. For the areas south of 466A, you have a choice of 5 vendors for TV:

Comcast
CenturyLink
Dish
DirectTV
Spectrum (aka Brighthouse)

and 3 vendors for internet:

Comcast
CenturyLink
Spectrum

plus cellular networks if you are inclined to go that way.

If you switch, you will wind up with a "new customer deal". You can also call up Comcast and tell them you want "the new customer deal".

You can also "cut the TV cord" and receive the network affiliates from Orlando via an antenna and stream other material from Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, etc. for lower cost. You obviously need internet access for that.

For phone service, buy a Voice-over-IP box such as Ooma if you can't get by with just cellphones. The monthly charge will be about $4.

Absentee owner here, south of 466A. Have had Comcast since Nov of 2014. Since inception I have only had 3 months where the bill has been the exact same amount. I literally talk to Lisa Jones, customer care manager at least once every month about billing problems. What started as $106 per month is now $199 per month (but is being readjusted to $161 as of our discussion this morning). So far, Comcast has fully reimbursed me for 4 full months of service and has partially reimbursed me for an additional 3 months. One of my seasonal renters spent $107 in prepaid cell phone service to talk to Comcast customer service to get the wi-if to talk to her PC. Turned out that since she had Comcast set up on her PC from home, it was conflicting with her trying to connect with Comcast here in TV.

So, no complaints here . . . .

When we first moved to the villages we had comcast -lasted with them 6 weeks & been with centurylink for the last 4 years--great service

Go through your new bill with a previous one, line by line. My new bill showed them billing me for 3 more DVRs than I have, for $60 a month!
A visit to the Summerfield Comcast office led to that 'mistake' being corrected and my new bill (for the next two years) is actually a few cents less per month than it had been.
Bring printouts of the new and old bill. The young lady in the office was quite helpful and friendly.

If you should ever cancel your Comcast contract be very watchful. Given my experience with them, that may try to claim you owe them for those 3 "extra" DVRs, and then that you never turned them in when you cancelled service. BrightView has been fabulous.


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Several related Threads on this subject. Long story short---we had Comcast (worst customer service ever) and currently are very pleased with Brighthouse/Spectrum. I'm not a fan of government regulation but these companies might be a candidate.

Call up Comcast threaten to leave over high bill, they will typically offer a much better deal to keep you. Also, look over your bill very carefully, ours was creeping up, and I noticed a charge for NBA games, I do not watch basketball, called them, they reversed the charges for four months ($189), and assured me that NHL will stay on, BTY, with our X1 package, total of 4 TVs, 105 meg internet (I checked the speed), and phone, bill is below $190, and will drop back at the end of the hockey season.

Phone Service only
 

You should consider NETTALK. Phone
serve is VOIP. I pay $39.95/year. Free calls anywhere in US and Canada.

cut the cord
 

I cut the cord because of similar billing issues with Century Link. I had an antenna installed in my attic to pick up free TV and signed up for AT&T Direct TV Now. The Direct TV now costs me $35 per month for two TV's (or two devices). It is a month to month charge and I can cancel at any time without penalty. My understanding is that the $35 price will not increase.
My solution is far from perfect. We get ABC, CBS and a myriad of other "free" stations using the antenna in the attic. NBC is spotty. Sometimes it comes in and some times it does not. The AT&T streaming service requires an internet connection. My internet costs about $30 per month through Comcast. The AT&T service is what I would consider "beta". Currently it's buggy/flaky. When it works (most of the time) it's great but they are still working the bugs out. I will stick with them until they get it 100% right (hopefully soon). I expect it will get much better soon or they won't have a product to sell.

You have to stay a little calm, and as I have been advised on Comcast chat when I hit a stone wall

"Thank you for being a loyal customer, to assist us further with our concern you need to get in touch with our loyalty department at 1-800-934-6489 8am-5pm your local time."

This is also called the retention desk. The voice menu you get when you call asks about moving and other issues, but just keep saying operator and you will get a human. Ask if you have been connected to the loyalty department. Have them look at your record and see you have been a Comcast customer for years, always paid on time and tell them you want to continue two more years at exactly the same rate you have been paying for the last two years and that will make you happy and reward you for your loyalty.

At least for me it has worked. I am paying the same rate as I got several years ago. The little fees for equipment keep going up, but the base cost for triple play is the same. So they can, and they do provide this deal. They know it is cheaper to keep a customer than to get a new one.

One more cost savings option. You are probably paying 10/mo for a modem. You can buy your own compatible model. Log in to your Comcast account and find your way to:
Support >XFINITY Internet >Equipment >Approved Equipment for XFINITY Internet and XFINITY Voice

What device will work depends on your setup.

With Comcast, be careful when you own your own modem. Several years ago my bill went up and discovered they started charging for a modem. It took months to convince them we owned our modem and get a credit. Only resolved after contacting a Comcast VP. We are now with Spectrum (Bright House) and pleased.

Have you or any others had better success negotiating new bundle/contract prices in person at Summerfield vs calling the 800# and dealing with the loyalty/retention people?

I didn't think the local office had the authority to negotiate in person.

My 2 year contract is up in a couple of weeks and I dread that call to beg, cajole, threaten them to keep my rates in line with prior contract.

Like the products, hate the company!


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Watch the changes after the two year contact. There will be price changes. We've had contact for as long as we have lived here almost 11 years ago.