I knew about the 24.95, but I thought it was actually a service call for them to come out to your house...how on earth can they justify charging you 24.95 just to tell you A) something you already know and B) that a service technician will be out to help....ya'll sure it isn't a charge for the technician to come out? And the $4 convenience charge for online payment is total crap...that I didn't know about. I suppose I'll have to stick with Comcast for now (getting cable at a discount)...though I'll probably switch to Dish or Direct or AT&T when we buy a home a few years down the road....hell I might even decide to switch sooner....for the same price I can get a landline and DSL and not have to hassle with Comcast...s*** DSL can't be any slower than superfast roadrunner
Total rip off. Paying online actually saves them money. It's MUCH more expensive for them to hire customer reps to do the work than to have an automated computer do it. They charge you for it because they know you want it.
In general I wouldn't mind paying more for a service if the quality was much better. But in this case, Comcast's overall service is worse. I've had countless outages of tv and internet ever since the switch.
how long does it take for dish or direct tv to install service once an order is made? i'm going to cancel comcast but i'd hate to wait a week with no cable/internet.
Some Uverse news in this new article: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5180125.html Customers sort out cable rate increases Those with top-tier digital services likely to see biggest increases By BRAD HEM Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle The Comcast cable television rate increase that took effect Monday adds 6.1 percent to the average bill, according to the company, but as customers open their bills, they may find there's no such thing as average. The company's before-and-after rate schedule indicates customers with big appetites for top-tier digital services are likely to see larger increases. Those with basic service should be closer to average. The company declined to comment on the specific changes that showed up in rate sheets sent to customers. When Comcast cable television customer Ron Shimkus first looked down the list of new prices the Houston cable provider was about to start charging, he thought it was worse than it turned out to be after he got an explanation from the cable company. While still hefty by Shimkus' standards, the rate increase added $40 to his monthly bill instead of the $100 he first feared. "It's not as bad as I thought because of the package I have," said Shimkus, whose bill is rising to $160 a month. His service includes all five premium movie channels and three DVRs for his high-definition TVs — hardly the average customer. Comcast's basic Digital Starter package went down by a penny a month, but other digital packages increased by between $5.01 and $12.01 in Houston. The monthly cost of a la carte movie channel rates for HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, The Movie Channel and Starz went from $10 to $19.95. The company's most popular package, Digital Classic, increases by $5.01 a month. While implementing larger increases for digital packages, Comcast dropped the cost to have cable TV installed by $4 and the cost to install a new outlet by $2. The company also cut the monthly digital cable box rental fee from $6.75. It dropped the monthly equipment rental charge for DVRs by $3.01, although the cost for the high-definition DVR service increases to $12.95 from a range of $6.95 to $9.99. The company said in a previous statement that the increase was needed to offset more than $200 million in spending Comcast has made to improve network reliability and service since taking over the Houston market from Time Warner Cable on Jan. 1. The changes included increasing the number of high-definition channels, installing a new network monitoring system, hiring 200 employees and increasing its on-demand platform from 1,000 hours to as many as 9,300 hours of programming. It makes sense for Comcast to lower rates for installation because it shows the company wants to increase its customer base, said Steve Effros, a private cable industry consultant who used to work at a cable trade association. Comcast probably doesn't need to worry about losing customers like Shimkus because they are so dedicated to using the service, Effros said. Shimkus said he's considering his options. He has been getting sales pitches from one of Comcast's newest competitors, AT&T. Nationally, the traditional phone companies, led by Verizon and AT&T, have been building infrastructure with the goal of luring video customers away from cable companies. "They've been sending me a lot of mail," said Shimkus, who already gets phone and Internet service from AT&T. "I'll have to do some comparison shopping." On Monday, AT&T announced that its U-Verse TV and Internet service is now available to more than 400,000 homes in the Houston area. It was the first time the company said how widespread the service was available, but it would not say how many customers have signed up. It was not a coincidence that the announcement came on the same day that Comcast rates went up. "We're happy they're raising prices. That's good for us," said Ed Cholerton, AT&T vice president and general manager for the Houston market. Alan Breznick, senior analyst at the independent telecommunications research firm Heavy Reading, said Comcast should be worried about AT&T competition in Houston because Comcast is new here and might not have developed brand loyalty among consumers yet. "It's common for cable companies to raise rates once a year," he said. "But the phone guys are definitely taking some fraction of their customers away. It's got to be on Comcast's mind."
I hate Comcast. I also hate ATT and Verizon, but I must confess that I am investigating their solutions. Verizon has TV and internet service called FiOS. Check them out here: Verizon FiOS TV Verizon FiOS Internet Access. So far, it looks like U-verse and FiOS are not available in my area (inner loop, just west of the Heights). I'm gonna keep looking. I might end up splitting my internet and TV service providers. I might choose to get satellite for TV and get somebody else to provide high-speed internet.
What??? Are you saying they are going to charge customers just to call them? That cant be right! Plus, how can they charge you a fee to come out to fix their problems. I understand if its an inside wiring issue but what if the problem is their fault?
Obviously a lot of people are ticked about this, because I can't get through to their customer service right now.
I am on hold with their Live Chat to cancel the damn premium channel package...just to start with...I have been #2 in the queue for the past 15 min!!
I'm used to being able to talk to a rep within a couple of minutes. That was by far the longest hold time I've ever experienced. I canceled my HBO service ... dude was like "well, you can have two premiums for $22", and I told him "with all these other increased charges you guys are slapping me with? hell no!". I also made sure to inform him that I would be giving AT&T a call. Online checker says U-Verse isn't available at my address yet, but I'll have to call them to confirm. This is ridiculous. $20 for HBO?
I dont think it costs money to call them. Its a service call charge for them to come out to your house to fix THEIR problems...atleast thats what it better be.
alright well I have HBO AND Showtime... So I need to make a decision right now! DirecTv or Dish! I guess I have to flip a coin.
I am looking at Dish and it doesnt seem to be that much cheaper than cable. Package + DVR + HD ... ok so they have more channels but would I really watch them all? How do you get a good deal on satellite?
i've put in 4 different addresses around houston, and it all returned with "service not available". must be the site.
I hope so because it doesn't work for my address either. Of course, my address changes every few months (post office can't seem to decide what it should be) so perhaps that's why. I, too, have had it with Comcast.
Just about to call to cancel HBO. While it kills me to not get to watch Inside the NFL, $20 a month is total BS. I'll re-up when they come out with a new season of Entourage and Flight of the Conchords in about 6 months. F*cking comcast. I'd cancel if Direct TV worked when it rained
