Really PO'd at Comcast!

85MustangJeff

I have never heard of two cable companies in the same community fighting for business. I can't imagine we would anytime soon either. I'm not sure how it goes, but do companies like Comcast, Verizon and my local Electric Co. NSTAR have certain rights to the poles they string their lines from? The digital transition has already taken to long as it is, it's a lot more than just leaving analog customers in the cold. It is needed so it frees up frequencies for emergency radios (police, fire) and also for wireless equipment. Their are many choices out there to choose from. Off air, satellite if line of sight is achievable, cable, and FIOS in certain areas. Dang I pay Comcast 179.99 a month for every cable channel with Tivo HD in two rooms, PLUS top tier internet and VoIP Phone. I don't find that bad at all to be honest.

JEFF

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bicker

But I have heard RCN refer to Comcast, and Comcast refer to FiOS, and DirecTV refer to Comcast, and so forth. Just because you don't see competition between specific pairs of suppliers that happen not to compete with each other doesn't mean that there aren't other pairs of competitors that do compete with each other.

You aren't a market. You're one customer. There are at least three competitors offering service in every municipality in the country.

We have five suppliers offering subscription television service to folks here in Burlington.

85MustangJeff

You have that many in your area? WOW! Good for you! I wish I had here on the south coast of MA!

JEFF

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crabby_bob

I've looked at FiOS, which isn't available on my street, and Satellite, and am not interested in purchasing either. What I'd like is a choice of cable companies but that won't happen so I've decided to go with OTA. Like I said it's a take or leave it deal and I chose to leave it. It was frustrating not to have an alternative, or more response from Comcast. I dealt with that frustration and am not sorry I gave them back their box.

I hear a lot of complaints about Comcast. That's probably because they're the only cable company allowed to sell service in my town. I tell everyone the same thing. Dump them and go OTA. But they won't and Comcast knows that they would rather keep paying higher and higher fees for more channels they don't watch rather than cut the cord. It's kind of like politics in Massachusetts. We've just had three house speakers in a row indicted on corruption charges but we keep voting the same people back into office. Sigh.

And yet I have no choice but to buy cable service from Comcast. I was never given a choice and I doubt I will ever be offered one. That's why some people get furstrated and post things like "should I hack or trash my cable box rather than return it.?" No, I'm not a market I'm a consumer. Cable companies do not compete for consumers and that does a lot to insulate them from the market forces that make other companies more consumer oriented.

You have 5 cable companies offering service? I'm trying to figure out who at City hall handles the Comcast contract. If I ever find the person I'll be sure to mention that. Hopefully the town isn't signed onto a 10 year contract. Thanks!

bicker

That's the great thing about a competitive marketplace like this: You can consider the options you have (including moving to another part of town, so you have more choices), you can eliminate whichever choices you want, you can favor individual choices based on whatever criteria you prefer, and you can even choose to do without.

Great choice. It's cost efficient, for sure. Each of the choices have their strengths and weaknesses.

Please excuse the clarification: You chose to leave them, actually.

Again, I hate to insist on preciseness, but what you found frustrating is that you didn't like any of the alternatives.

Comcast is the single largest provider. It would be pretty shocking if they were not also the single largest source of complaints.

Do keep complaints in perspective though: People complain because of frustrations similar to the one you relayed. They choose to think of it as just Comcast, but the reality is that they made choices similar to those you made: To not move to part of town where you have more choices; to not accept the offers from any of the other competitors either, because you didn't like them, etc. People would prefer to have everything perfect and practically free. However, what matters is what people actually value, and you can tell what people value not by listening to them talk -- talk is cheap and people use talking for venting frustration -- you can tell what people value by watching what they choose to spend their money on.

I'm not sure what your point was, with regard to the people you tell. It sounds to me that they simply made a different value judgment from the one you made. Reasonable people disagree about things, quite often. Right?

Or one of the others. Again, you made personal choices that eliminated the other options. That doesn't mean that those choices didn't exist. You just decided against them, or made other personal choices that preclude them.

Uh, in a word: No. That's incorrect. The vast majority of mass-market suppliers, both of products and services, operate the same way. That is the nature of the mass-market. You just choose to focus on the impact of it in sectors of the marketplace where the ramifications of it frustrate you.

We have five suppliers offering subscription television service to folks here in Burlington. Two of them are satellite services; the other three are terrestrial.

crabby_bob

It means a lot to know you support my choice of OTA. I agree they all have their strengths and weaknesses. And it would be nice if consumers were allowed to chose not only between different technologies that may or may not suite their needs but also choose between providers of the same technology. Unfortunately that's not allowed for Cable or Fios. It is allowed for Satellite but that's irrelevant if you don't want that technology.

That's correct. I beleive that Comcast could provide a much better product and rather than settle for what they were willing to offer I said no thanks. I don't believe in rewarding bad behavior.

Thanks for the help but you have it wrong. What I found frustrating is that I'm not allowed to find another cable service provider even though there are other companies that provide the same service. Comcast has my town locked up in terms of consumer choice. Without real competition at a consumer level Comcast has no incentive to do better.

I beleive they are telling me the truth because I dealt with Comcast. Comcast can spin it anyway they like but when I hear the same complaints from different people, and it matches my experience, I tend to think the claims are accurate. I agree with your put up or shut up policy but expecting people to move because they don't like Comcast is the most arrogant thing I've ever read on this message board. No offense but it's something you've mentioned twice and it's the attitude projected by Comcast. I'm starting to think it's a reflection of Comcast's corporate culture. It's very frustrating to deal with a company that has that attitude when you know there's nothing you can do to change it. By the way I get a lot of junk mail from Direct TV, Dish TV, and Comcast. I always throw all my junk mail right into the recylcle bin but I tear the Comcast fliers in half first. I know it's childish behavior but it's cathartic.

There was 1 choice missing from the menu. The ability to choose a cable service provider. I didn't really choose to focus on it. It kind of slapped me in the face.

So just to be clear you can choose between 3 cable service providers at your home?

bicker

I won't belabor the point further. It is sufficient to say that you've made a choice. Continuing to deny that you've made a choice, and claiming instead that you had little or no choice is disingenuous.

You missed the point. It isn't a matter of truth. It is a matter of opinion.

No one ever suggested that, and I find it offensive that you would insinuate that I did. What I said is that you've made choices, such as where to live, and by those choices, you have limited your choices with regard to other things.

Again, the point is that consumers need to take personal responsibility for their own decisions and their ramifications, rather than seeking to blame others.

No offense but it's something you've distorted twice and it's the attitude projected by many consumers that hold unfounded expectations. I'll say it again: We have five suppliers offering subscription television service to folks here in Burlington.

crabby_bob

Thanks for the summation of your opinion. I think it corrorborates my opinion so I won't add to what I've already said about Comcast's corporate culture of arrogance. Did you notice that throughout this entire discussion you never asked what it was I wanted from Comcast in the first place? You assumed I was just trying to get something for nothing and didn't care to ask why I dropped them. Neither did they. I don't know if you work for them but you could go far in that company. Best wishes.

bicker

I couldn't care less why you dropped Comcast. It had nothing to do with what I was saying (which was all about how you do have competitors to choose from). I'm sorry you missed the point.

crabby_bob

I knew you couldn't let it go without getting the last word in.

crabby_bob

I'm told my last post is considered bad behavior on a message board. I apologize to everyone who may have been offended. I realize that some things are better left unwritten. If bicker has anything to say that would move this discussion forward I hope he posts it. I won't however keep going in circles.

bwhorton09

I have a similiar situation here with suddenlink as im going to need
a cable box despite having a 40 inch Sony HD plasma set.Basically got the same type of runaround with s-link will likely get box as
digital signal is being turned back into analog as they said analog was "preferred 2 to 1 over digital in my area" BULL!

bicker

I just read up a bit on Suddenlink, and everything I've read shows that they' switching from analog to digital, not the other way around.

Also, doesn't your Sony plasma have an analog tuner in it? I don't remember any of them that don't.

I tried to find a reference to what you said that had been saying, that analog was "preferred" ... and I cannot find it. Can you provide some context it? I'd love to take them to task for saying it...

robertva

As far as "wired" services, there are two competing providers in parts of Virginia Beach, VA. Both distribute signals through fiber, although one coverts to coax using devices that are shared by dozens of residential customers, while the other installs separate devices for each residence.

As far as FCC requirements for "must carry" local broadcasts being available as in the clear SD and HD, I'm wondering if that applies to broadcasters who have waived their free "must carry" status and demanded compensation (cash or advertisements) in exchange for allowing cable (including fiber) providers to put their broadcasts on the systems.

Also:

Splitters aren't created equal. In some cases a generic TV splitter can't handle the higher frequencies some digital cable channels utilize. A device's (ATSC/QAM or cable converter) ability to receive those higher frequency channel might improve if the splitters are replaced with ones specifically marked for digital cable, satellite or "GHz" use. I got such a splitter at a substantial discount (compared to an electronics retailer) at the cable company's walk up payment and customer service center.

I doubt more than one channel will be available on the outputs of a cable converter at a time. If a cable subscriber wants reception on ANY encrypted digital channels they would need to use the converter's remote to tune any signals through the converter box. The cable company probably provides different converter models for SD customers (with S-video, RF and/or composite outputs only) and HD customers (with component, VGA, DVI and/or HDMI outputs). You probably wount see any ATSC/QAM signal through the converter (even if it features an RF out port). To connect a ATSC/QAM signal to the inputs on your TV you will probably need a high bandwidth converter (as I described above) and split the signal between the converter and the TV's QAM compatible RF cable input.

crabby_bob

Thanks for this information. What are the company names? I'd like to do a little more research.