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Sounds like you've been getting a break up to now. I'm paying $13.95 for an HDTV-capable DVR. That's a price increase from $11.95 last year. In your case it sounds like they had made a mistake, which they are now correcting. Check your itemized invoice to make sure they have indeed been charging you less up to now. You should see a line item for Digital Video Recorder.

I hope they haven't been making that mistake on everyone's bill. That would make me the only guy in JC whose been paying the full freight.

Comcast sucks, but what can you do - since DSL depends on the area/demographics... sucks even more if your an Insight Customer transferring over to Comcast -

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Co ... mers-With-Rate-Hike-92387

they even pay people to fill in seats at FCC meetings... (bastards)

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article ... Paid_People_to_Fill_Seats

hopefully, upgrading to DOCSIS 3.0 will ease the pain ;)

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can you please clarify? From your post I think what you are saying is you had a dvr box but was only charged for a regular one?

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The problem with DSL is that it doesn't work in all areas. Verizon sold me DSL 2 years ago. I hooked up the modem and got really shoddy service. So I called them back and they said I was too far from the central office and that my address was not eligible for DSL service. They didn't know why I was sold the service to begin with. So I had to go through the whole process of cancelling and returning the equipment. What a waste of time. Once FiOS becomes available I will be switching.

I really think Verizon is better than Comcast - on all fronts.

I have Verizon DSL and their local phone service.

Sometimes (maybe once a year) my DSL modem hangs up and simple re-setting does not help.

So I call Verizon DSL Tech Support - the wait is usually about five minutes to talk to a tech in Bangalore.

They hand-hold me through the re-booting process, help me establish a new connection and voila! - I am connected again.

Since it only happens relatively infrequently and is taken care of quickly, I don't mind.

But if I had to wait 55 minutes on the phone and get no help, I would blow a frickin fuse.

Guess what? If you have Comcast, your bill is going up. Now.

They have hired a firm to call all their customers and let them know that they made a mistake on the bills. They actually said this. I got my call tonight.

The charge for the equipment - the digital cable box with the dvr that was installed about 18 months ago - is not going up. They made a "mistake" all this time and now they are "correcting" it.

Not to worry, they are not going to charge me retroactively. But the bill is going up to $13.95 a month for equipment. Apparently the equipment charge was either 3.95 or 6.00, depending on your account. You can take half a day off and wait for them to come and install a non-dvr box and avoid the "correction". Or pay it. Verizon not in my building yet. Use connection for tv and internet.

I really really hate Comcast.

on hold for 15 minutes......"we appreciate your patience, all representatives are still working with other customers, please continue to hold for the next available representative...or rather shall we say, uncaring, where-is-my-break, I don't need to help you, I CHOOSE to help you representative....." DID I MENTION I HATE COMCAST?

I mean on hold for 20 minutes...silly me.

25 minutes....

30 minutes....

I can't believe this, now I'm just staying on hold because I can't bear to hang up. Why did I phone? Because they are billing me over $20/month in operator assisted fees because in order to use my long distance 'all-inclusive' plan I can't dial out by myself, the phone lines are always saying "the lines are busy" and won't permit me. So now every month I have to call and request a credit.

35 minutes....

40 minutes....

Battery is running out of phone so now must change phones to stay on hold....

45....yes, I'm a loser to stay on hold but I have a portable phone and I can't wait to tear a strip off of them....

55......I hung up after an hour...phoned back and just kept pressing "0". I HATE COMCAST.

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They claim they have more HD "content". If you count the HD movies On Demand, and the HBO, Showtime, etc.etc. channels that offer HD On Demand products, then technically at any time you have more HD options.

Of course, I'd prefer some more HD Channels over an old movie filmed before HD cameras being available On Demand in HD.

Who here really REALLY hates Comcast?

And what's up with the Comcast radio commercial I heard today on WFAN?

Comcast specifically said they have the most HD channels, period.

More than Directv, more than Verizon, more than anybody.

Directv claims they have 90 HD channels.

What gives?

Is Comcast lying?

From Philly.com:

Attention was called to Comcast's tactic by Free Press officials who attended the hearing. One photographed two seat warmers sleeping during the hearing.

"We are outraged that Comcast would try to stack the deck at a public hearing," said Free Press spokeswoman Jen Howard. "We spent time educating the public about the event and the issue and we did not have to pay anyone to attend," she said.

Bracy, of the Berkman Center, said the group of seat warmers caught her attention when she showed up at the Ames Courtroom at 7:15 a.m. on Monday to prepare for the hearing.

About 35 people - mostly men dressed in jeans and baseball caps; one wore a camouflage jacket - were parked in the first three rows of the auditorium drinking coffee and reading the Boston Globe, she said.

They were "regular Joes" who looked like they could have come from Dunkin Donuts, Bracy said. She was surprised to find them there several hours before the late-morning event. "I thought, great, we're reaching out to new communities."

But Bracy's suspicions of the Internet activists grew when none of them appeared to know about wireless Internet and two in the front row fell asleep during the hearing.

"I mean, they were supposed to be all fired up," Bracy said.

Link

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=10888

Comcast Blocks Public From FCC Hearing

Cable company pays thugs to keep public out of public hearing

By Martin H. Bosworth
ConsumerAffairs.Com
February 26, 2008

An already contentious skirmish between the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Comcast over the cable company's blocking Internet access for some of its subscribers got hotter when Comcast blocked access to an FCC hearing.

The cable company admitted to paying employees and members of the general public to fill up seats in an FCC hearing in Cambridge, Massachusetts Monday.

Playing off a common Washington, D.C. tradition of lobbyists paying "placeholders" -- often poor people and supposedly starving students -- to hold spots in line for crowded Capitol Hill events, Comcast's spokespersons admitted it paid people to do the same for a hearing on the company's actions regarding its interference with peer-to-peer file-sharing services such as BitTorrent.

The placeholders not only held spots in line, but also crowded into the hearing itself, preventing more than 100 attendees -- many of whom had come to speak against Comcast -- from getting inside.

Tim Karr, campaign director of net neutrality advocacy group SaveTheInternet.com, said that "First, Comcast was caught blocking the Internet. Now it has been caught blocking the public from the debate. The only people cheering Comcast are those paid to do so."

"Clearly, Comcast will resort to just about any underhanded tactic to stack the decks in its favor," Karr said, "and yet Comcast still expects us to trust them with the future of the Internet?"

SaveTheInternet.com published an audio file on their blog of what they claimed was an interview with a man who had been paid to show up for the hearing, even though he had no idea what it was for.

The FCC convened the hearing after promising to investigate Comcast for violating the principles of net neutrality, the principle that all Internet traffic should be treated equally. FCC chairman Kevin Martin said that while Comcast has the right to engage in "reasonable steps to manage traffic, but they cannot arbitrarily block access."

"I keep saying that the time has come for a specific enforceable principle of nondiscrimination," said fellow commissioner Michael Copps. "This principle should allow for reasonable network management, but make crystal clear that broadband network operators cannot shackle the promise of the Internet."

"Don't let the rhetoric of some of our critics scare you," said David Cohen, executive vice president of Verizon, speaking on behalf of network providers, "Every broadband network is managed. Our customers want to fight spam or viruses, and they want us to manage network congestion so they can do what they want, when they want at acceptable speeds."

Massachusetts Democratic Congressman Ed Markey spoke in favor of net neutrality as a right of free speech.

"Let me underscore that the Internet is as much mine and yours as it is Verizon's, AT&T's or Comcast's," he said.

Markey, who tried unsuccessfully to pass several pieces of legislation in the previous Congress that would have enshrined the principles of a neutral Internet into law, introduced new legislation earlier this month that would task the FCC to investigate Internet service providers in order to ensure they were not blocking or discriminating against certain types of content.

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/02/comcast_hearing.html

http://www.freepress.net/press/release.php?id=341

I have to admit, after some initial problems with the installation and setup, my Comcast cable and internet service has been pretty good. From a service/reliability standpoint, I can't really complain. Their rates keep bumping up, but that's life.

However, I absolutely HATE their DVR user-interface / software. It is completely brain-dead and can not tell a new show from a repeat. After missing new episodes to the other extreme of getting every repeat in the wee morning hours, I just sucked it up and had it record everything. Now, I have to prune my DVR list before I run out of HD space. I guess you have to lay the blame mostly on the Motorola DVR box and the software, but man, it sucks! My old Time Warner cable DVR software was so much better. I miss it...

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One of the reasons I've resisted getting internet phone service is because the quality is very haphazard, whether you're getting it via Comcast, Vonage or some other provider. Comcast keeps calling me and pushing me to get triple play. I've resisted for the mere reason that I don't want to give one single company that much control over my utilities. I have Comcast cable TV and internet - I don't like any company providing me with more than two services. Even though I pay a bit more, I'd rather keep my Verizon landline phone. Power outages happen often enough around here to keep that phone line as a back-up (I usually use my cell phone for long-distance calls as it's cheaper) - also my home secuirty system uses the phone line. For those of you considering FIOS, if and when it does become available and you decide to get it, DO NOT let Verizon cut the copper phone line to your house. They'll argue that they can provide you with better service via the fiber optic line, but what they're essentially doing is limiting your choices down the road and making it virtually impossible for you to unbundle services.

Oh my god, I SO KNOW THE "I understand your frustration ma'am". Not only that but every time they transfer me to someone else (average 2 people per call) I have to give them my number, address and details again and again - they never inform one another at all, it's like being a broken record.

My recent problem is that my long distance is intermittent, I can't phone out of state without operator assistance. They charge me and then I have to argue with Comcast to take off the fees.

I can't believe this is a business that is IN business. Shameful.

Maybe it's different in Hoboken, but Cablevision on Long Island was a nightmare growing up.

Cablevison in Hoboken is really good, why can they provide cable in Jersey City?

Having lived here for 5 years or so, I've had numerous dealings with Comcast, some good, some bad.

1) I've had them say they would show up, and never show up. Then they take no responsibility for not showing up on the phone and tell me they can't fix my cable for a few more days. I am a calm person and I was enraged but they kept reading the script, "I understand your frustration Sir, but...." over and over.

2) I've had people say they tried to buzz in my building when I know they didn't. I said, "They had my phone number, why didn't they call". The response, "I understand your frustration Sir, but...."

3) I've had technicians not know how to fix a problem, so they call an engineer who comes days later, who says you need a technician, and it goes back and forth.

4) I've ALSO had some great experiences. Once a guy called me and said he was here to fix my cable. I said I was on my way home from work and I'd be there in 5 minutes, he said, "No hurry, I'll wait outside for you". And not only did he wait, he refused a tip saying, "It's my job, don't worry about it".

5) I've actually had 2 guys who refused tips because they said they've inconvenienced me and it's their job to do this.

6) I've also done the "I'm going to switch to Direct TV" move recently and I saved $25 a month on my bill as a result.

Basically I feel that Comcast is no better or worse than any other corporation I've dealt with. There's no responsibility and nobody to answer to because it's basically a monopoly on local cable. They probably give fake names over the phone because saying, "I talked to so-and-so" never gets me anywhere.

Ask people in Manhattan if they hate Time Warner and they certainly do. I know people in Manhattan where Time Warner won't even COME to their door to fix the box, they have to bring it to Time Warner every time.

Ask other people if they hate Verizon and a lot of them do as well.

In fact, I bet you could substitute the word "Comcast" with Verizon, Time Warner, Cablevision, or even other corporations and businesses like Best Buy, AT & T, PSE&G and we've all had the same experiences.

In closing, cable companies in general are awful, big faceless corporations are awful at customer service, and the customers always get screwed.

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I had a surprisingly positive customer service experience with Comcast. I had been having trouble with my TV signal for awhile (picture would freeze, signal would break up, etc.) First time I called Comcast some months ago, they had me unplug the cable box, re-plug it and reset it. The signal would be fine for a few days, but the problems would always come back like a bad rash.

Earlier this week, it was just impossible to watch TV, so I called Comcast Tuesday morning, and told them not to even suggest resetting the box, as that obviously hasn't been working. We made an appointment for someone to come out Thursday morning between 7 and 9 a.m. I really wasn't holding my breath that someone would actually show in that window, and figured I'd give it until noon. Imagine my surprise when the phone rang at 8:30 - it's the cable guy saying he's pulling up on my street. Within half an hour he's discovered damage to the cable line outside that he's fixed, and he's also swapped my box for a newer model. TV signal has been just fine since. I wish I could say Verizon or PSE&G have been as responsive or prompt when I called with problems.

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Haha. Thanks Injc. Yeah I have good ol' Comcast.

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Maybe the problem is that you've been calling Verizon while your service provider is Comcast...

Just kidding.

You got Comcast, not FIOS, right?

My On Demand has been down for two months, and my dvr also goes blank every once in a while. Since then I've called Verizon three times, including last night. Did you know that Verizon can send over a techie who will then charge me to look at the problem? I had her repeat that three times cause I just couldn't comprehend. I told her I'm not paying someone to look at a problem when I've already been paying two months for services I didn't receive. She said she understands, but it's up to the technician to determine my service charge. She can't be serious.

On a fun note, the phone operator told me to unplug my cable box as she sends a signal through to check the problem. I told her I'll be putting down my phone, but didn't tell her I was putting her on speakerphone. There's nothing like being on my hands and knees crawling behind my tv as the phone operator is screaming f-bombs at her co-worker.

To snowflake: Same thing happened to me last year. Sat in my apartment for half the day waiting for a techie, and when no one showed up, called customer service. I was told he knocked on my door and no one answered. Got mad that I wasted the day and left, but found the guy sleeping in his van outside my building. He took off when I woke him up.

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Add me to the list. I'm supposed to get new service today, and they told me that the tech would call before he would show up. Well I went to the bathroom and I guess he knocked on the door and I didn't hear it. I got a message from Comcast that I had to reschedule the appt because I wasn't there. The guy never called! WTF? Well I guess I'm not allowed to take a crap for 3 hours if I am waiting for Comcast.

We are moving in to JC and our building will have Broad Star cable provider. Does anyone know about the BroadStar?
http://www.broadstarmdu.com/

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Call Comcast and tell them that if they don't match Verizon's package you're switching to Verizon.I did and they matched the Verizon deal and I'm still at the 99.00 (triple play) with 14.00 extra for the HBO plus.

They later sent me a letter telling me: I must agree to a 2-year plan or the price will go up and I should call in to do this. I never responded and they called meat home and I told them .."NO" and gave them the old Bronx cheer! They said "thanks, sorry for bothering you" and hung up. I've never heard from them again and I've had the triple play for 99.00 for close to two years. This is why the deregulation on cable, and telephone is so sweet. We now have choices and if they don't match the competitors price....bye, bye, Comcast and vis-a-versa for Verizon.

Alright, I'm really pissed now.

Comcast just jacked up my monthly bill for the three-in-one service (phone, broadband and cable) to about $139.78 a month. Mind you, I'm only getting basic cable. I called their rep and they told me that I will be credited $10.00 per month for savings.

WELL, BIG F'ING WHOOP DEE DOO!

Really, I hope the next administration will pass the Net Neutrality act.

The only other option is Verizon and they are a bunch of crooks like Comcast as well.

*meh*

Woohoo, please Comcast, I hope you have your management reading this - YOU SUCK, no bones about it, you have a smart, competent person here who has suffered at your expense, you truly, truly, truly suck and it's the first company I've ever considered randomly calling your service people and telling you in an abusive manner - you can't get worse than you. It's an example of american decline. I so, so, so can't wait for an alternative. You will never win this customer back. And guess what - I'm a two degree, marketing major, manager and senior vp at one time in this field and I have become the lowest common denominator customer because you have MADE ME THAT WAY. I have NEVER in all my life had such terrible service.

Looking for Comcast alt.

Friday, February 08, 2008

Comcast has started a major controversy online, and the whole mess has me wondering if it's time to switch Internet providers.

Peer-to-Peer (or P2P) applications let people download large files quickly by downloading from multiple hosts at once. Because the system is decentralized, it's mostly used for exchanging illegally reproduced material, such as commercial movies, but it has legitimate uses as well.

That's too much traffic, if you ask Comcast. That's why it began "managing" access, slowing P2P downloads to a trickle and usually blocking uploads completely.

There isn't a lot of competition for broadband access, but you're going to start hearing a lot about a new option called FiOS.

FiOS stands for "fiber optic service" and it can deliver a connection many times faster than cable.

Because FiOS requires running new fiber optic lines, the rollout process is slow, but when it's available on my block, I'll be the first in line.

Another looming alternative is WiMAX, which is essentially a giant field of wireless access over a metropolitan area. In the United States, Sprint is building WiMAX networks through a business unit called Xohm.

WiMAX would allow instant access from not just computers, but digital cameras, video cameras, and any device with a WiMAX chip. WiMAX was originally due to come to the New York area late in 2008, although turmoil at Sprint has likely pushed that back.

Have a tech subject you'd like covered? E-mail Troy Dreier at

loggedon@mac.com.



? 2008 The Jersey Journal
? 2008 NJ.com All Rights Reserved.

From what I have read, FIOS TV is HD at even the basic tier, and its streams are compressed a lot less than cable's because of the bandwidth to spare on their infrastructure. Having seen it, it's really stunning, with almost no compression blocks n fast scenes.