Comcast is coming out here in two days to give me a new box so I can hook up my reciever and get 5.1 from broadcast. I hope...
I am in utter disbelief at how poorly the Comcast techs are trained. I actually hung up on one earlier... I called to make sure this new box has an optical audio out. She looked up a diagra or something and told me it only had RCAs. I asked if she was sure and she replied that the box also had some other jack in addition to the RCAs. I asked what it was and she told me it was "a little circle, like for headphones or something." :[ This was an actual tech person, mind you.
I must have called 8 times, and only once did I find someone who agreed that true 5.1 isn't going to come through RCAs. The other people all told me there was no such thing as a box with an optical audio out or that "everyone has the box I have and they all get 5.1 with no problem."
COMCAST, WAKE UP! TRAIN YOUR TECHS TO UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PROLOGIC AND 5.1!!!
dsmith901
Unregistered guest
Posted on
You don't have to have an optical connection to get 5.1. Digital connectors come in two flavors (at least for consumer products): optical (toslink) and coax (RCA). So if the digital output on the cable box is a RCA coax then yes you can get 5.1 through it, and IMO it can be superior to optical. This is the same coax out found on most DVD players, and that may be what the Comcast guy was seeing. Why don't you wait and see what you get before you get too lathered up.
POed GUY
Unregistered guest
Posted on
I know that you can get it from coax too. That doesn't make Comcast any less crappy. I asked the techs if they had boxes with coaxes for audio and they still had no idea what I was talking about.
dsmith901
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Actually I agree with you about Comcast techs, but are they any worse than other cable companies?
I have Insight cable and they have upgraded our service alot over the last couple years. I have digital cable with their best Motorola box which has optical digital audio output and S-video and the picture and sound is really very good. It is a close match to any Direct TV or Dish picture I have seen at my Dad's house. It is very expensive but I have about 175 channels and 60 or so movie channels. I just bought a Toshiba HDTV and will convert to Insight's HDTV when more channels become available or for football season.
POed Guy
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Well, Comcast came this morning. The tech didn't even have a new box when he showed up. He had no idea I had requested another box at all. They are supposed to come back today or tomorrow with a new one.
I am not paying for the cable/internet--my parents are. If I were paying for it, at this point I would be ready to switch to satellite.
Comcast can suck a donkey nut.
POed GUY
Unregistered guest
Posted on
I finally bitched enough to a supervisor and supposedly I will get an HD box today even though I don't subscribe to HDTV! BAM! Too bad I don't have an HDTV.
POed GUY
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Well, I got my bill and I'm paying for an HD box. Comcast will be the death of me.
Anyone have any suggestions for Comcast alternatives in Chicago?
thee
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Be careful. Comcast sometimes does not send out a bill and like most of us, we don't pay a bill that does not show up in the mail. Then they send out a bill with 2 months of charges only saying the that the last bill is past due. THe problem is that the new bill arrives only a week before it is due. They suck. So I ended up paying by credit card on line.
I called Comcast 07/14/2004 in the morning to cut my TV service. The operator Todd asked why? I said because I made the switch to Dish Network! He again asked why Dish Network? Because the quality is better, more channels and cheaper price. He said Comcast is actually better then Dish Network because we have more channels, cheaper prices, and better picture quality. I said no you don't not and I don't want to get in a debate about it I'm keeping your internet service and I'm not interested in cable TV. He pushed Comcast on me by saying that I have to sign a contract with Dish Network, and they do not have any phone customer service support. I said I have a choice with them not to sign a contract and I didn't go with their contract service I got the month to month, and they do have phone support for customer service, so would you stop talking about it and cut my TV service off please!
Again he keeps pushing like the little jerk he is and now says that you will have a lot of problems with Dish and we have a $400 buy back program for your satellite equipment to come back to Comcast and give you more channels then what they offer plus a better price. I don't want your cable TV service just drop the dame subject and leave me alone already and do what I asked of you. Are you cutting off the TV service now? I'm in the process of it right now, and would you like to get more channels for less money with Comcast? At this point I blew up on him he was too rude and I have been getting this treatment from Comcast ever since they took over from ATTBI here in Spokane, WA. in which ATTBI didn't pull these stunts.
I told him to f*%* off and leave me a lone and is this what you do to all your Comcast customers to be very rude and talk over them like they are not even there, also is this how they train you to talk to customers? Because if that is the case it is terrible customer service from Comcast! Todd said if you don't stop swearing I will have to cancel this call. I said are you kidding me! I can cancel the call myself if you don't stop harassing me over the cable TV service, and I will hang it up if you don't shut-up about it. Again he says I would like to also let you know that we have a special offer for you on cable TV service Comcast offers the best service in the country. I told him you guys are worst then AOL when a paying customer wants to cancel service! At this point it was no use, I had to hang it up in his face.
I called back rite away and got someone else to verify if they had cut my service, and another operator said someone will come out tomorrow and disconnect the TV service for you, and I gladly said thank you! I got home after work and had one message from that Todd jerk asking me I'm not sure what happened Keith we got cut off some how, and I wanted to let you know someone will come out tomorrow to disconnect the cable TV service.
Stay far away from Comcast they are 20 times worst then AOL when you want to cancel service. Also when Comcastsucks.com gets redesigned, and if you have any problems with them post your story there.
POed GUY
Unregistered guest
Posted on
THANK YOU! I want to switch to satellite.
When I told a guy that, he gave me the same speech about how Comcast is better. What a bunch of jerks.
BenR16
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Well I have the same problem. Yesterday I had Starz! and Encore today my Tivo says I have Lineup change and in place of Starz! and Encore they are giving me TCM. TCM is just another of the many channels I don't care about! I want my Encore and Starz! back. I call customer no-service and speak to Susan who tells me Comcast must have done an audit and determined I shouldn't be getting Starz! and Encore. I tell you are out of your mind I've had it as part of my packages for years. By the way when I look at my bill none of the pacakages match anything on their web site.
Turns out Encore is only available on Digital Service. I tell her I don't want Digital I had the box before and it was a hassle made recording with my VCR a problem and the service wasn't worth it. I also told her since I had Encore yesterday it couldn't be just digital. She said I could get Starz! for another $17.50. I told her when it snows in hell!
I remember someone from Comcast calling me a few months ago to switch to digital and I said no. Now that I remember not too long ago they took away HBO Comedy and another HBO channel putting them on digital service. But they didn't lower my bill. This is the same thing to try and force me to go digital.
This really sucks, they're the only game in town. I really resent their strong arm tactics. Susan told me I could talk to customer retention, when I told her it was time for me to get satellite, saying they were authorized to make better offers on pricing.
I want to thank my congressional representatives and yours for sucking up to this corporate monopoly monster and screwing us to the wall!
Anonymous
Posted on
anyone heard of Voom? Which has more HDTV channels. I was thinking of switching over but wanted to know what peeps are thinking.
Yea I've heard of Voom. Not sure if they got a good rep.
I just think that HD is too expensive right now. Anyone here have it and how much are you paying?
stink
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Ive heard of Voom to. Anyway years ago I dropped my cable because of rising prices and got Dish Network in 1996. I dropped it last month. It was a good service. My only complaint was higher costs each year. Just to much of the same old all the time for me to keep paying. Mabey Ill get it again in 5 years when Im bored. But yeah, martini, HD is way to expensive. Seems to me since the gov is forcing them to all go digital they wouldnt be allowed to jack up the price. But they do...
Ok, so the Gov is forcing everyone to go Digital in a few years, but not for everyone to go HD, right? Because I know that any new tv will run a digital signal but not necessarily an HD signal.
Cycopath
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Comcast rules! No lie. It is so fast! The tech guys are not dumb! (you probly live in a dumb person state) I have had it for 4-5 years and I havn't had one single problem with it, NOT ONE! So you guys are just dumb and pick stupid places to live or something because in Baltimore, Maryland it is the best.
Anonymous
Posted on
TV sucks anyways... but their cable modems blow away adelphia.. count yourselves lucky.. I've been on 3 cable systems and comcast is the best..
A Guy
Unregistered guest
Posted on
aNYONE KNOW HOW to disable the parental controls?
comcast sucks
Unregistered guest
Posted on
COMCAST SUCKS... It all started about 2 months ago when i talked to a customer service rep about getting digital phone. I already have digital cable. It took this guy 1 hour to get everything squared away and then he tried charging me $30 for installation when at the beginning of the conversation there was a promotion for free intall. After talking to several supervisors they agreed to waive the install fee.
Fast forward to today. Oh, here's my fist Comcast phone bill, WITH AN F-ING $30 INSTALL FEE. So what do i do, i call their crappy customer service department who says there are no notes about removing the installation fee. That's not me f-ing problem. Sounds like they have a training issue. Anyways after going up the supervisor (dumb sh!t) ladder i get to a point where there is no one else available but they'll have someone call me in 72 hours. I say fat chance of that ever happening. Even if they do why should i have to try this hard. I'm calling dish network and getting a different telephone provider.
Brian Clark
Unregistered guest
Posted on
I do not know about the guy in Baltimore who said comcast is the best ever. I live in Columbia Maryland and currently (and very unfortunantly) have Howard County Comcast. They can not get crap straight if their life depended on it.
I recently moved into my new house and asked to get my service setup -- a tech came onsite and said my tap was bad and they could fix it in 2-3 weeks. I wait 2 weeks and another person comes back on-site and tells me that the tap is still bad, no one ever came and fixed it and it would be another 2-4 weeks. I get a guy that comes on-site about 3 days later and verifies that the tap is in fact good and there was a bad splitter or wire run somewhere along the line, he fixed it; however he forgot to bring ANY of the boxes so I had to wait longer. I went and got a self install kit for the internet and had that working within 5 minutes (this is the ONE place I do not have a complaint -- they clearly have the best internet service). About 3 days ago, A tech finnaly shows up with the HDTV boxes and other digital boxes. The HDTV box cuts the left and right part of the screen off with black bars and told my wife, who was home at the time, that this is just how it worked in howard county. I verified with a neighbor and a friend that this is in fact NOT how it works and that my box was having problems. I also setup the RCA Coax digital audio out to get 5.1 sound which worked for 30 seconds before I got no volume at all. The 5.1 channel works on on-demand stations but NOT on regular cable at all. I am now waiting for comcast to bring a NEW box tuesday and if its still screwed up I *WILL* be switching to satellite.
Future Ex-Comcast Customer
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Comcast has finally pushed me too far. I'm in Philadelphia, and I've had analog cable since about 1994, and tacked on 3 channels of HBO a year or so later.
September 1, they dropped one of the HBOs for analog subscribers (They also dropped Encore, a pretty decent movie channel-- they were replaced with Turner Classic Movies and The Hallmark Channel, which as far as I can tell is a channel showing movies that were too schmaltzy for Lifetime).
Anyway, I got my first bill after they shed HBO3, and find out they are still charging me $16.10 per month, like I was paying when I had 3 HBOs (all three channels are in fact still listed on the itemized bill). So I call them to ask why I am paying the same money for less service. The CSR tells me that it's not a mistake, and that I shouldn't be surprised if HBO2 goes away in the near fture too, and probably some other channels as well.
It seems that in an effort to force people to upgrade to digital cable, they are reducing the number of premium channels available to analog subscribers. Apparently WITHOUT reducing what we're paying for service. Well, f that!
I promptly removed HBO from my subscription, and as soon as I hung up the phone I started looking into satellite TV. Looks like for about $15 more than the $81 Comcast charges me for "expanded basic" and three^H^H^H^H^Htwo HBOs, I can get a couple hundred channels including most of the premium movie channels.
So congratulations, Comcast! Your shameless greed is costing you a long-time customer. Way to go.
Anonymous
Posted on
Comcast actually has been outsourcing there calls which explains for the stupidity of the techs but there actually in the process of slowly shutting down the outsource centers and brining in new reps. yeah theve had some probloms but give them time.
Anonymous
Posted on
Hi there -- can't wait til comcastsucks.com is online again, BTW ... these sites are great because they let us all reveal the truth about our numerous HORRIBLE experiences with Comcast. If that company had just a shred of good business sense or the slightest interest in treating their customers with just a pinch of common decency, you probably wouldn't have numerous exact hits when you punch "comcast sucks" into a search engine.
At any rate, I'm teed off because not only were the "services" severely overpriced and generally of poor quality the half the time that the "services" did work, but what I'm really mad about is the way they chose to deal with my $20 outstanding balance when I finally left their sorry butts for DirecTV (which is going great, BTW) and SBC Yahoo! DSL.
I went to return my equipment, checkbook in hand, to pay what I figured would be a minimal outstanding balance, and was told by a guy in a plexiglass cage (gee, ya think maybe they've had a few threats?) that I didn't owe them anything that day. So I left, figuring they'd rectify any outstanding balance by sending me a BILL. You know, a BILL, that little piece of mail that I'd been receiving EVERY MONTH WITHOUT FAIL when I was a subscriber. Did they send me a BILL? No, instead I got a threatening letter from a credit collection agency. I have always had excellent credit, and am just hoping that this little episode hasn't tarnished it.
Anyway, sorry to ramble, but I'm just venting. Thanks for reading, and here's to hoping this and the hundred other "comcast sucks" sites can help people steer clear of Comcast, which does, in fact, SUCK.
EX-VERO CUSTOMER
Unregistered guest
Posted on
VENTING!! WE HAVE COMCAST IN VERO BEACH FLORIDA. DURING BOTH HURRICANES THAT HIT MY AREA, COMCAST WAS THE FIRST SERVICE LOST AND THE LAST TO COME BACK ON. DURING FRANCES WE LOST OUR POWER AND TELE FOR 5 DAYS AND OUR COMCAST CABLE TV FOR 14 DAYS. WE HAD IT FOR MAYBE A WEEK AND HERE COMES JEANNE AND SO LONG COMCAST AGAIN. WE GOT OUR POWER AND PHONE BACK THURSDAY, STILL NO COMCAST AND I DON'T EXPECT IT EITHER FOR AT LEAST ANOTHER WEEK AND A HALF MAYBE 2. THEY DIDN'T EVEN OPEN THEIR OFFICE THIS WEEK SO WE COULD PAY OUR BILLS. I WENT THERE THURSDAY AND THERE WERE AT LEAST 10 CARS IN THE PARKING LOT WITH PEOPLE WANTING TO BRING EQUIPMENT BACK. MAYBE THEIRS WAS DAMAGED BY WATER, I DIDN'T ASK, BUT I WAS BRINGING MINE BACK TO CANCEL. I HAD ALREADY CALLED DIRECTV. USUALLY IT'S 5 DAYS FOR THEM TO INSTALL A SYSTEM, BUT NOT HERE, NOT NOW. DIRECTV IS SO BACKLOGGED IN MY AREA, I WAS TOLD 2 WEEKS, OCT.12, THAT'S OK, I DON'T EXPECT CABLE TO BE ON BY THEN ANYWAY. GIVES YOU AN IDEA THAT I'M NOT THE ONLY DISGUSTED COMCAST CUSTOMER. I'M OVER THEM!! ALSO I WANTED TO MENTION, I HAVEN'T SEEN A COMCAST TRUCK OUT ON THE ROAD OR IN ANY NEIGHBORHOOD SINCE BEFORE JEANNE. WERE ARE THEY? ANYBODY?
I called Comcast to see if I could get a box that would send Dolby Digital to my AV receiver. They said "sure, come on in and pick it up." I did, saw there was an optical out, plugged the cable into the box and my receiver....Voila...Dolby Digital displayed on my receiver.
Comcast people in the Philly area are pretty good. Of course, the headquarters is here. Cable TV and Internet Service is 99.99% ON.
ChiTownUser
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Damn Comcast, I am loving DirecTV (less money, better quality, more channels), but now Comcast SportsNet is taking every Chicago sports team. The original deal agreement was to have the channel on the dish too, but now it looks like it's not gonna happen. So basically if I want to watch any Chicago sports team, I will be forced to switch to cable. Man this sucks
Comcast really sucks. They overcharged my and wouldn't admit their error. The first guy told me exact amount to pay off and the amount was in line with the calculation method on their website. WHen I paid that amoun I did not pay much attention on the bill. One month later another bill came in and asked me to pay more. That's apparent error and follwoing employees wouldn't admit that. They are the only cable company in my area. There are alot of rain and Direct TV and Dish network may not be good sometimes.
ChrisJJJ
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Hi, I just got Comcast HDTV/Digital cable and the box. The HD picture is awesome but the regular channels come in less clear than they did with my analog box I used for the first week I had my HDTV. Is there anything I can do about this. I see you guys have had a lot of problems with them but I can't get rid of them cause they are carrying every Sacramento Kings game here in SAC. If I call them is their anything they can do over the phone or will they need to bring someone out to my home. Or is there possibly some tweaking I can do to the Motorola box that will help out the Picture. Or does comcast digital picture simply suck a--. Thanks for the replys
Scotty2Hotty
Unregistered guest
Posted on
You could try an amplifier--I tried that but it didn't help me.
Anonymous
Posted on
Just so that all of you know, Comcast is NOT responsible for the movie channel switch to digital from analog. As of 2006, ALL movie channels are required to be digital per FCC regulations. All TV's manufactured by that time will be digital as well. We don't do it to tick you off, we are REQUIRED BY LAW to do it. I apologize if it bothers you, but there's nothing we can do about it. We actually were required to to this over a year ago and held off because we knew our customers would be upset.
As for some of the comments about customer service, I apologize for that as well. I know I've been to several stores where the service was abhorrant, but I don't blame the store, I blame the employee. I do have alot of co-workers who don't know what proper customer service entails, but I also have alot of customers who don't know how to treat people on the phone. They're rude, obnoxious and use foul language as if it were normal and accepted. If you had to deal with that day in and day out, you would probably be a little testy yourself. (I know, if you don't like it, get a different job...) But I *like* my job and enjoy making sure my customers are happy. Maybe you should call *me* sometime.
m. hearndon
Unregistered guest
Posted on
I called comcast in vero beach.florida to simply find out their address so I could pick up a tv station/channel guide. Between computerized directions on button pushing, and bullshit I was on with a machine, got hung up on, never spoke to a real person, never got the info I wanted and was on for a whopping 20 minutes! UNHAPPY CUSTOMER
Jeannie
Unregistered guest
Posted on
As a new Philadelphia resident I must admit that this Comcast internet service is the worst I've ever had. I lose the signal to my wireless router approximately every 10 minutes. I never had this problem with Cablevision when I lived in NJ. Of course, Comcast techs try to place blame elsewhere (i.e.it must be your router or your computer)
Anonymous
Posted on
damn comcast i cant do anything with the godam parental controls on F!@#$%^%$
I missed a payment to comcast ...they came out and disconnected my service... i payed the same date not realizing i missed a payment...they charged me $126 to have it turn on...they took 5 days to turn my service back on...that was on 10/22/04...on 11/18/04 i had to pay $101 because they forgot something to my previous bill ...is this LEGAL...i can not believe they can do this...what kind of business does this...
fillossofer
Unregistered guest
Posted on
So I had DirecTV and ATTBI cable Internet. All was well. Along comes Comcast and buys out ATTBI. Next thing you know my $39.95/mo Internet bill changes into a $72 bill for Internet and Cable TV. I call them to say I don't subscribe to Cable TV and they say, oh, well the rate for Broadband has changed to $65.95 per month (if you don't also subscribe to cable tv). I'm like, what for? That is almost a 100% increase!?! They blather on with some canned response about spreading maintenance costs across more customers. How was ATTB able to provide the service for $39.95, and they want $65!? So, I tell them I'm going to shop for other Internet service because I am NOT paying $65 - and they should have given me notice of this instead of just putting some erroneous charge on my bill. They ended up giving me a month free so I could look for different service. What do you know - they are the only high speed provider in my area. So I see a Comcast ad for three months of Internet service and premium cable service for $19.95 - so I call and get that. Three months later I called to cancel the cable service, but kept the local channels package for $8/mo. That qualifies me for the $42.95 Internet deal, so now I'm paying $52/mo total (woo hoo!). If they hadn't forgotten to turn off all my premuim channels I'd be hating it. Dumbasses - Comcast SUCKS!
