Comcast Cable Questions

[Jennifer in MI]

Ugh. I hope you get something worked out. Keep us updated!

We fight with comcast nearly every month about our bill. We had signed up for service for $109 (phone, cable, internet). They keep changing our package. This last time they started billing us for a DVR that we didn't have! Then, they told me that we shouldn't be getting digital cable and they wanted to back charge us for the previous months! It took them THREE months to take a $50 charge off my bill for the repair man to come to my house to fix my cable. Each phone call is at least 40 minutes. We now start off asking to speak with a manager.

I want desperately to drop them altogether. But our email is Comcast and we've had this address for years. Ugh. I'm counting down the days until Google comes out with TV (this fall - right?). I can't wait to drop tv and phone!!!!

 

[hipchickie]

BTW...forgot to mention that 1/2 down the page was absolutely nothing about basic cable. The link went to digital preferred and digital premier and nothing else. Aren't they just wonderful...

Yeah, I think the link worked but it went to a different zip code specific site for you - on my page I have prices and much more options listed

I am thinking of dropping down to basic with phone and internet, and getting netflix ...if I do that it is cheaper, even though I am currently on a triple play that I was able to get for $99/month

 

[Noah]

I also had a nice promo price for triple play and after a year, the price soared up. I negotiated with them and downgraded the tv channels and even the phone (to the limited instead of unlimited). This has helped me to keep the price down but we will see what happens next year.

 

[pixiewings71]

I dont have knowledge of there basic tv package, We had comcast, bill was 160 a month. We stopped everything but the internet. We use netflix and hulu. We ar very happy with it. I dont miss tv. Netflix is only 9 dollars a month. So we are saving about 105 a month. I look at it as there are so many ways to watch stuff like you normally would from the internet, so even a basic package would not be worth it to me. Hope this helps you a little bit. Jo

This is exactly what we did! We had the triple play and we paid $155 a month, we cancelled the home phone and dropped to the lower internet and lowest cable package, we are now paying about $44 a month. Over $100 savings right there.

I know that to keep the same level of internet we had with our cable package it was going to go up to $60-something to have only internet. I downgraded to economy for $40-something per month. I would like to switch to something else just to be rid of comcast...prices are ridiculous! Unfortunately, there is not currently another internet provider in my area. I am considering a wireless aircard instead. My DH as one from sprint that is $60/mth. I read an article about a less expensive one w/o contracts the other day, but can't remember which provider it was.

We don't have another high speed wireless provider at our house, I have checked every single company out there and no one has high speed where we live, just Comcast. So to keep the high speed internet we have to stay with Comcast. It's cheaper then a wireless card right now so we will stick with it.

I have Comcast and pay $10.15 a month.

My bill lists it as follows:

Xfinity TV - $10.15

Basic Service - $8.40
Basic Digital Convrtr Pkg - $1.35
Fee's/Taxes - $0.40

I have a suspicion that perhaps I'm not suppossed to be getting the channels I do, but I'm not about to tell them.

HOWEVER, I get somewhere between 50-100 tv channels (all local, Disney, Discovery, History, Animal Planet, Cartoon Network, yada, yada, yada) and about 30 or so digital music channels.

Wow, that's less then what we pay and we have no where near all those channels. Someone definitely screwed up with your service, but in your favor for sure!!

I also had a nice promo price for triple play and after a year, the price soared up. I negotiated with them and downgraded the tv channels and even the phone (to the limited instead of unlimited). This has helped me to keep the price down but we will see what happens next year.

We tried to negotiate with them for probably 3 maybe 4 years, they would never drop our monthly rate. When I lost my job the cable was the first thing to go, they tried to negotiate when we walked in with the cable box but no, we weren't having it so we went with the downgrade. They will try to retain some people but in our case it never worked.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I have spent this evening going over the Comcast website to see the different packages offered, and lets just say I'm nearing the level of irate at the moment with it. Comcast only gives a listing of every channel available, not the channels for each type of package you can choose from.

Okay, I'm not done reading the thread - despite my signature - and you probably already have your answer, but what I did for me, since I don't know your zip code, was, I went to comcast.com/channellineup, then it asked me for my street and zip; then I got a dropdown box that says "select your package type". Basic cable is the third option from the bottom in that list, and the results I got are:

# Channel Name Interests
2 WGBH-2 (PBS) Children & Family
3 Home Shopping Network Lifestyle
4 WBZ-4 (CBS) Local
5 WCVB-5 (ABC) Local
6 New England Cable News News & Info
7 WHDH-7 (NBC) Local
8 Public Access Local
9 Public Access Local
10 Public Access Local
11 NHPTV (PBS) ~ Children & Family
12 WLVI-56 (CW) Local
13 WFXT-25 (FOX) Local
14 WSBK-38 (IND) Local
15 WBPX-68 (ION) Children & Family
16 WGBX-44 (PBS) Children & Family
17 WUNI-27 (UNI) Multicultural
18 WZMY-50 (MyTV) Local
19 WNEU-60 (Telemundo) Multicultural
20 WMFP-62 (IND) Local
21 WUTF-66 (Telefutura) Multicultural
71 QVC Lifestyle
72 WWDP-DT ~ Lifestyle
98 RTPi Multicultural
209 WGBH World ~ Local
217 'GBH Kids ~ Children & Family
229 Trinity Broadcasting Network ~ Lifestyle
237 WGBH Create ~ Lifestyle
283 Leased Access ~ Lifestyle
295 WYDN-48 (Daystar) ~ Lifestyle
296 WENH Explore ~ Children & Family
297 This TV ~ News & Info

I think the reason they don't give pricing for basic cable (only) online is that it's different in every city. If it's not obvious, I'm in the Boston area and there's one city really close to Boston where I know they only pay about $7 a month for basic cable. Here? It's something like $13+

 

[chrisn]

In my area they have "basic", but you have to pry the information out of them. We have the Digital Starter with On Demand for 61.99. Pay about $68 a month for 100 channels..total rip but what do you do.

You can request a Channel Line-up Card that included channel packages and prices.

They also have Limited Basic - 18.95
Digital Economy - 29.95
Digital Family - 35.99

We have internet through Qwest and pay $35. Turned the home phone off. Total waste of $50 a month for years! Everyone has a cell, nobody ever used it or called. Between my house phone and internet changes, I save $50 a month. Wish I could be happy with a cheaper cable package BUT I like my channels!

 

[Colleen27]

Instead of looking at what your current company can offer you, look at what other services might be available in your area. Take a look at Dish Network or DirecTV and AT&T Uverse or Verizon FiOS. Look for their promotional new signup offers. Then call Comcast armed with "This is what Company X can offer me. Can you match/beat it?"

And be prepared for Comcast to say no! We're paying a ridiculous amount for their "digital economy" package (basically channels under 100 on their lineup) and cable internet. When I called today to see what they could do for us on a bundle they came back with $127.95 first year/$149.95 regular price for the same package we can get through AT&T for $84.95 first year/$114.95 regular price. When I explained that we'd gotten a much better price from a competitor and would be switching unless they could match it, the rep's attitude was basically "Who cares, take it or leave it".

So AT&T will be out next week to set up our new service.

 

[Colleen27]

We tried to negotiate with them for probably 3 maybe 4 years, they would never drop our monthly rate. When I lost my job the cable was the first thing to go, they tried to negotiate when we walked in with the cable box but no, we weren't having it so we went with the downgrade. They will try to retain some people but in our case it never worked.

How hard they try is directly related to the number and type of alternative options available in your area, I think. My mom has been successful in negotiating with them to essentially keep her "new customer" promotional pricing for several years, by asking them to match WoW or Uverse package rates. We live less than an hour from her but in a rural area where it is Comcast or satellite - no cable competition - and they are completely uninterested in "persuading" us to stay with better pricing.

 

[Minnie J]

I have basic internet with comcast and pay 25 dollars monthly.

 

[pixiewings71]

And be prepared for Comcast to say no! We're paying a ridiculous amount for their "digital economy" package (basically channels under 100 on their lineup) and cable internet. When I called today to see what they could do for us on a bundle they came back with $127.95 first year/$149.95 regular price for the same package we can get through AT&T for $84.95 first year/$114.95 regular price. When I explained that we'd gotten a much better price from a competitor and would be switching unless they could match it, the rep's attitude was basically "Who cares, take it or leave it".

So AT&T will be out next week to set up our new service.

This is exactly what they told us, but in our case no one can beat Comcast....well they can but not with the same options. We need the high speed internet so we really have no choice.

How hard they try is directly related to the number and type of alternative options available in your area, I think. My mom has been successful in negotiating with them to essentially keep her "new customer" promotional pricing for several years, by asking them to match WoW or Uverse package rates. We live less than an hour from her but in a rural area where it is Comcast or satellite - no cable competition - and they are completely uninterested in "persuading" us to stay with better pricing.

I think you are 100% correct. What sucks for me is I am in the middle of town!!!!!!!! And it's not a tiny town either, what else sucks is about 10 min. from my house is an air force base, the air force base gets all the options that I do not get!! It's really really unfair and Comcast knows it.

 

[kaytieeldr]

In my area they have "basic", but you have to pry the information out of them. We have the Digital Starter with On Demand for 61.99. Pay about $68 a month for 100 channels..total rip but what do you do.

NOT defending Comcast, but I do like numbers . That works out to sixty eight cents per channel. Figure there are an average of thirty days in the month? It's only two cents per channel per day.

 

[redlawyer]

We just cancelled cable entirely. With digital rabbit ears we get the local stations (which include 3 PBS stations). We still have a land line for the kids. We have basic internet with Comcast (not the fastest, the middle one they offer). I was afraid the slower internet would be a problem, but even downloading on Netflix has not been a problem.

Saved us $100 per month!!

 

[andrews_dad]

Anyone else have their DVR changed for Comcast? Their "new" system looks like it was programmed in 1980 rather than 2010. It is much WORSE than the old system as far as speed, ease of use, and .. everything. I've recently started looking into DirectTv. I am really fed up with ComCrap.

 

[Colleen27]

This is exactly what they told us, but in our case no one can beat Comcast....well they can but not with the same options. We need the high speed internet so we really have no choice.

Yeah, that would stink. At least here we have the option of DSL, which isn't exactly the same as cable but is good enough IMO. We had DSL for a long time when we were living in a house where cable wasn't available, and I can't honestly say I've noticed a speed difference between the upgraded DSL and the mid-grade cable internet. I won't settle for slow broadband or dialup, because we stream a lot of movies with our Netflix membership and play World of Warcraft, but DSL was just as good as cable for our purposes.

 

[PIERCEDRN]

From my experience, and several others on a deals site, the best retention offers seem to come from the live chat folks. I whined about my skyrocketing bill and they knocked it down to 140 with 4 premiums.
If you plan on calling to negotiate try that route first.
BOB

 

[StacyMarie]

I just called Comcast 3 days ago about our bill. We had internet and cable with HD channels with no movie channels. My bill was $175.00. I looked up the specials online, called them, and asked them if I qualified for the special. It was internet with cable, HD channels and ALL the movie channels that I did not have, HBO, Cinemax, Starz, Showtime, etc. for $119.00 a month, $50.00 cheaper per month than what I was paying with ALL the movie channels that I was not getting before. Even after the 6-month period, the full price is still $15 per month cheaper than what I was paying for just cable and internet without the movie channels. Who knows how long they have been stealing my extra $50 per month, LOL! I HATE COMCAST!

 

[pixiewings71]

Yeah, that would stink. At least here we have the option of DSL, which isn't exactly the same as cable but is good enough IMO. We had DSL for a long time when we were living in a house where cable wasn't available, and I can't honestly say I've noticed a speed difference between the upgraded DSL and the mid-grade cable internet. I won't settle for slow broadband or dialup, because we stream a lot of movies with our Netflix membership and play World of Warcraft, but DSL was just as good as cable for our purposes.

We are too far from the "hub" so even if we did go with DSL it wouldn't be fast enough. We are just screwed all the way around......ROFL!!!!

 

[momto2inKC]

We have the triple play package through Comcast. We got our bill today and the promo we had expired so our bill went from $115 to almost $200. I called and was able to get another triple play (good for 12 months) for $95. We have digital cable, 2 hd boxes (1 with dvr), phone and Internet, no movie channels.

 

[bumbershoot]

I want desperately to drop them altogether. But our email is Comcast and we've had this address for years. Ugh. I'm counting down the days until Google comes out with TV (this fall - right?). I can't wait to drop tv and phone!!!!

Start changing over your email now, so it's not a big deal when you do change. Change accounts over, let friends and family know, etc etc.




OP, a lot of their ability to negotiate is also based on where the reps are. here in the Pac NW our reps are actual comcast employees (I learned this here on the Dis!), and they have the power to help. In other parts of the country, they are not actually with comcast, but are contractors, and they don't have the ability to help out in those ways.

We have digital cable, a DVR, many stations and Encore, and we're paying around $60. They were bumping it up further and further (and oh I hate this Infinity thing...they introduced it, and now our internet is SLOWER!) and hubby got serious with them, and he got it brought down. We only get it down 6 months at a time, so we try to make sure hubby calls "to cancel" every 6 months on the dot.

But our city actually has its own cable/internet system, and comcast knows that....

 

[niccikatie]

I have Comcast and pay $10.15 a month.

My bill lists it as follows:

Xfinity TV - $10.15

Basic Service - $8.40
Basic Digital Convrtr Pkg - $1.35
Fee's/Taxes - $0.40

I have a suspicion that perhaps I'm not suppossed to be getting the channels I do, but I'm not about to tell them.

HOWEVER, I get somewhere between 50-100 tv channels (all local, Disney, Discovery, History, Animal Planet, Cartoon Network, yada, yada, yada) and about 30 or so digital music channels.

We downgraded to the basic service at our old apartment. The service was downgraded immediately after we ended the phone call. At some point, we found out quite accidentally, they switched the more expanded channels back on. My DH, who is honest to a fault, called them to let them know. They never switched them back off and we were never billed for the difference. It sucks having to pay for those channels now that we moved!

I"m on hold with a Comcast chat rep right now to see if I can get my price dropped.

ETA: That went NOWHERE. They're obviously not interested in retention here,either.