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We had a problem getting DSL. I think it was because we didn't have a verizon phone line installed at the time. They claimed we could use a "dry loop" without having a local/long-distance service and still get DSL, but it never worked out. They sent a guy out to check on it, but he never showed up, I got frustrated, and just went with comcast.

Verizon DSL is available in the area though. You can check here: http://www22.verizon.com/content/ConsumerDSL

Disgruntled with Comcast & attempting to switch over to Verizon...

Does anyone know if Verizon DSL internet is actually available in downtown Jersey City? We're trying to get it connected but have been having problems. I'm not sure if it's that our building hasn't been wired correctly or if it's not available in the neighborhood yet at all? Their customer service people have been useless.

Are Comcast or Verizon the only options for internet around here? :(

Thanks for any tips.

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"640K ought to be enough for anybody. "

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Like I said, it will not affect the *average* user. The cap is to protect the majority of customers. A few high end users in a given area can really bog down the network for everyone else.

If it's not an issue, why are they implementing it? My beloved Roku box let me down for the first time last night when I tried to watch a movie. I checked my cable modem speed and it was so damn slow the CNET test clocked me somewhere around the 384k DSL range. (Altho I just checked here at the store with my business account and I'm getting 2450kbps woohoo)

Mark.

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250 GB is a tremendous amount of data and will not affect the average user. Unless you are someone that downloads or streams HD video all day long it will not be an issue.

What next? charge by the hour?


NEW YORK - Comcast Corp., the nation's second-largest Internet service provider, Thursday said it would set an official limit on the amount of data subscribers can download and upload each month.
ADVERTISEMENT

On Oct. 1, the cable company will update its user agreement to say that users will be allowed 250 gigabytes of traffic per month, the company announced on its Web site.

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The problem with cable TV is they have a finite amount of bandwidth to work with. So you can't just keep adding channels without sacrificing the quality of others (through digital compression). The reason Directv can offer almost every channel in HD is because they have launched two new satellites in the past year which adds capacity for carrying new channels.

What is the rationale of not adding any new HD stations. Does anyone know when more will be added?

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I actually don't hate Comcast (ducking for cover). I have learned to accept mediocrity from cable providers, and all things considered, are any of them any better?

Plus I rarely have problems with my service and when I do, the customer service folks are pretty nice. I've been credited back for days of incomplete service and the like. And my local cable guy is pretty cool and even gave me his number so I could avoid the dispatcher next time. (This sounds dirtier than it is meant to)

I am sure my TV will explode any second now just to prove me wrong...

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Sounds like alot of Bull to me. I've had this issue in the past and they credited my account for the days I didn't have it. I'd make some more phonecalls and demands if I were you...

I have had numerous issues with Comcast (including them billing me for movies ordered on my box BEFORE my service started - presumably from the prior owner - it took 4 calls and about 2 hours on the phone to resolve) and had another one this weekend.

My OnDemand has been down for at least a week. I call Comcast and the lady answering the phone says that it has been down citywide (although sporadically) for a week and a half. She has no idea when it will be up and running again. I asked if there would be a credit on the account and she replied that there would not be because it was a free service.

While that may be true, one of Comcast's biggest selling points is their on demand and they use it to lure people into buying the movie packages. Indeed, their main page trumpets On Demand even though it is currently unavailable. I think that the feature is one that people don't necessarily consider free but a vital feature of the service.

I can't wait for FIOS.

Who here doesn't hate Comcast. LOL...

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If you're getting Comcast internet, don't bother with the self installation kit. They will charge you like $7/month to rent a modem. Go to Best Buy and buy your own for $80. Then just call Comcast and tell them you want to activate the service. You will need to give them the MAC address from the back of the modem and that's pretty much it. I did this setup for my parents last year with no problems.

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If you really want HD, get Directv. I have had them for years and now pretty much every channel is in HD. Overall more channels, and cheaper than Comcast.

I hate Comcast also. We haven't been given new HD stations all year, while Verizon and Cablevision have a million HD stations. I called today, and there is no plans of adding channels in the immediate future.

I called Verizon today, and they said that downtown JC isn't wired yet, and it could take a year for it to complete. Not to mention that the picture quality is sh*t, but the have us by the balls.

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Unfortunately, I could give a damn, since they're more expensive, if anything. I don't need more channels or faster service than cable, I just think $80/mo for online and basic cable is absurd. But maybe I'm in the minority in want cheaper not more, after all, I use a $15 prepaid cell phone!

I called VERIZON and spoke to EVERONE...and at the top of my lungs.

I finally got an answer: they can guarantee FIOS service to all of downtown Jersey City by DECEMBER, 2009.

(How's THAT for a kick in the teeth?)

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On the website it says that kit is only for customers who subscribe to cable television. I will give them a call to confirm. Looks like I may be switching to Verizon.

Thanks!

Ask for the "self installation kit". They send you the modem (if the rommate didn't leave it anyway). Or buy one yourself. Tell them to bugger off about the fee.

My roommate has Comcast internet in her name. Since she's moving out, we are canceling the account & getting a new account in someone else's name.

When I checked the Comcast website today, the installation fee for High-Speed internet was $150.

My question is: Are they serious?? I don't remember ever paying more than $20 for installation. Has anyone subsribed to their internet recently? Is this a typo??

If you blog about Comcast, they will hear you.

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Complaining Bloggers Have a Cable Company?s Ear

By BRIAN STELTER

PHILADELPHIA ? Brandon Dilbeck, 20, a student at the University of Washington, was complaining recently on his blog, Brandon Notices, about Comcast?s practice of posting ads in its on-screen programming guide.

He assumed he was writing for his own benefit. ?It feels like nobody ever really reads my blog,? he said. ?Nobody has left a comment in months.?

Shortly afterward, he received an e-mail message from Comcast, thanking him for the feedback and adding that it was working on a new interactive guide that might ?illuminate the issues that you are currently experiencing.?

Mr. Dilbeck found it all a bit creepy. ?The rest of his e-mail may as well have read, ?Big Brother is watching you,? ? he said.

But Frank Eliason, digital care manager at Comcast, says he was just trying to help.

From a sparse desk dominated by two computer screens in the new Comcast Center here, Mr. Eliason uses readily available online tools to monitor public comments on blogs, message boards and social networks for any mention of Comcast, the nation?s largest cable company. When he sees a complaint like Mr. Dilbeck?s, he contacts the source to try to defuse the problem.

?When you?re having a two-way conversation, you really get to clear the air,? Mr. Eliason said.

Comcast is not the only company trying to reach out to customers online. Using the social messaging service Twitter, Southwest Airlines answers customer questions about ticket prices and flight delays, Whole Foods Market posts details about discounts, and the chief executive of the online shoe store Zappos shares details of his life with 7,200 ?followers.? Many other companies also monitor online discussion groups.

But Comcast is going an extra step by talking back, contacting customers who are discussing the company online.

Odds are they are complaining about Comcast. The company was ranked at the very bottom of the most recent American Customer Satisfaction Index, which tracks consumer opinions of more than 200 companies. Hundreds of customers have filed grievances on a site called ComcastMustDie.com.

Comcast says the online outreach is part of a larger effort to revamp its customer service. In just about five months, Mr. Eliason, whose job redefines customer service, has reached out to well over 1,000 customers online.

Lyza Gardner, a vice president at a Web development company in Portland, Ore., used Twitter to vent about a $183 cable bill last month. (The bill was prorated for almost two months of service.) Her comment ? ?very angry at Comcast? ? set off Mr. Eliason?s search tool, prompting him to type out his typical reply: ?Can I help?? The response caught Ms. Gardner off guard.

?It?s one thing to spit vitriol about a company when they can?t hear you,? she said in an interview. It?s another, she said, when the company replies. ?I immediately backed down and softened my tone when I knew I was talking to a real person.?

As blogs, forums and social networking sites have become pervasive parts of people?s lives, companies have grappled with whether ? and how ? to deal with them. The sites expose hundreds and potentially thousands of other people to the experiences of individual customers.

Brian D. Solis, who runs a public relations firm, FutureWorks, that specializes in social media, said companies like Comcast are ?taking what used to be an inbound call center and turning it into an outbound form of customer relations? that can also help spot problems before they get out of hand.

Still, others agree with Mr. Dilbeck, the University of Washington student, that the online outreach is annoying. ?Comcast Is Watching Us,? declared a blog called Contempt for the World in February, when Mr. Eliason started wading into the comment sections of blogs.

On the whole, though, all the talking back appears to be good for the company?s public image. Mr. Eliason said he remembered only seven cases in which customers have called him creepy, and he believed the benefits far outweighed the occasional awkwardness.

When a commenter makes claims of being mistreated by Comcast, Mr. Eliason contacts the person directly and steers the case toward a resolution. ?Wish me luck @comcastcares,? William Pomerantz, an employee at the X Prize Foundation in Washington, wrote last month as he headed to his new apartment to await his third appointment for a Comcast installation.

Three hours later, Mr. Pomerantz badly needed some luck. The technician had not arrived, a telephone representative had disconnected his call, and Mr. Eliason?s online account was ?strangely silent,? as he complained online.

Mr. Eliason, checking his messages as he rode home on a commuter train, noticed Mr. Pomerantz?s comments and responded: ?I will get someone there!?

Half an hour later, a technician arrived. ?Before he was done, I had two more technicians call and say they were ready to come immediately if I still needed assistance,? Mr. Pomerantz recalled. ?The reaction was a thousand times better than what I was getting by phone.?

Of course, most customers still call when they have problems. If they all started blogging and commenting instead, Mr. Eliason would be quickly overwhelmed. ?This is a channel, but it is not the first step? for customer concerns, he said.

Already the number of online comments are more than Mr. Eliason can handle himself, so his staff has gradually grown to seven people; soon it will have 10.

By acting quickly when customers complain ? even at the oddest hours ? the team has proved that its service is not aimed solely at users with the loudest virtual voices. Noting the thunder and wind late on the night of June 11, richrecruiter, a Twitter user, wrote that he was ?counting down to Comcast outage interrupting tonight?s Phillies game.? Mr. Eliason quickly replied with a brief ?LOL,? short for ?laugh out loud.?

?See, I knew you were listening to me!? the customer answered. By then, it was past 11 p.m.

?Absolutely,? Mr. Eliason replied from his BlackBerry, his wife sound asleep in the bedroom. ?A little tired tonight, but I am still on it.?

article

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Even with 4 major cell phone competitors (Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, and T-mobile) the prices are pretty much the same between all 4 companies. Sure you may be able to get a cheaper phone or a few more minutes, but you still can't get basic service from any of those providers for less than $40/month. Prices will always level off no matter how many companies are competing.

I don't agree with the quote that "every other telecommunications service has dropped in price". If anything prices have gone up. I used to pay $34.99/month for Verizon wireless, now it's $39.99 for the same plan.

Besides, Comcast already has competition from Directv and Dish Network. (I left Comcast 4 years ago for Directv) I know some people can't get satellite, but even when Fios becomes available, it won't be available to everyone. Some buildings won't be wired for Fios, and issues like that. Point is, the prices are still about the same, with Directv being a bit cheaper.

Unregulated MONOPOLY has ALWAYS paid huge dividends.


Two players will help a lot. I know because many years ago I lived in a area that actually had 2 cables to choose from in most of the city...the competition was FIERCE and prices were FAR lower than in surrounding areas with either one or the other cable. Competition was in both price AND service.

I've actually read a few articles suggesting that two competitors may not be enough to really create the price war consumers want, and that while every other telecommunications services has dropped in price, cable subscriptions have increased something like 70% in ten years.

EDIT: Oops, Brewster already posted the quote I was thinking about.

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Unless we actually GET 2 players, we'll never know. I think the AVALANCHE of people in Downtown JC signing up with Verizon when and if they ever get through will prompt some juicy deals from Comcast...and then vice-versa.

Remember, with TWO players, one can always take the 1 year promo and then DITCH them for the OTHER'S one-year promo, ad-infinitum.


To the person who quoted a difference of $4 between basic digital and boxless BASIC basic, for me the difference is more than $20/month! Pushing these boxes up our asses for digital, high def or even WATCHABLE analog is what I MOST hate about Comcast...top of the list of a couple dozen complaints.

Verizon would really be hard pressed to provide a WORSE package...in fact, I think even Exxon Mobil or Blackwater might provide better service.

(I cheered when I read that a woman had taken a hammer to a Comcast office but that's because I misread it in haste...I first though she had taken the hammer to a Comcast officeR.)

for anyone who thinks things will improve with Verizon FIOS

from NYTimes article

?There is a little jostling at the beginning, but it?s not like classical competition where you have 10 guys trying to figure out how to steal each other?s customers,? said Mark Cooper, the director of research at the Consumer Federation of America. ?When you have just two players, they realize it?s not in their best interests to have a price war.?

Comcast's latest trick is to require that a Supervisor approve any credits to your account. Of course a Supervisor is never available to talk to, so they are supposed to call you back within 5 to 7 days. When they don't call you and don't give you your credit, you have little recourse but to just call again. It is a joke. My cable wasn't working, so I had to call for a service call. Instead of crediting me for the time I was out of service (a week), they charged me $25 for the service call and marked it as "customer education." It was customer education that Comcast continues to rip me off. Do the tech people who come to our homes get a bonus for ripping us off?

I liked this story, from earlier this year when they hired seat-warmers to keep the public out of a debate on traffic-managing....

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=4350807



...they are the *worst*...