Readers have told us the best way to save money on your cable bill without the hassle of actually switching is to call them up and negotiate… but what should you actually say?
Pre-Game Warm-Up: [More]
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What To Say To Your Cable Company To Get Them To Lower Your Bill
By 4.24.10
Judge Forces Comcast To Pay Customer $5,087
By 4.9.10
“I have researched his issues and based on our records the case is without merit,” wrote a Comcast spokesperson to local news investigator Amy Davis. She was looking into the case of Wayne, whose credit was damaged by Comcast just before he was going to refinance his house. This meant that on top of what he had already paid to lock in a lower interest rate, he had to pay several thousand dollars more. [More]
Comcast Sends Me To A Payday Loan Where I Am Propositioned By A Hooker
By 4.6.10
Here’s a new one. We really thought we’d heard every Comcast complaint out there, but no, this one has a hooker. Reader A. wanted internet but Comcast said it could not hook up said internet because the person who lived there before didn’t cancel their account. In order to prove he was really the new tenant, he needed to show his lease to Comcast. Unfortunately, instead of a proper Comcast office, customer service sent A. to a payday loan in a bad part of town where he was propositioned by a hooker. He is not pleased, and would like to know if Consumerist readers would still sign up with Comcast after the whole payday loan/hooker fiasco. [More]
Charter Communications Rep Says Cable Companies Taking Over All Streaming Video On May 1st
By 3.16.10
The Charter Communications CSR who spoke with Dustin has some pretty astounding news about what’s on the horizon for all of us. It looks like starting May 1st, cable companies will have total, FCC-sanctioned control over streaming video and will take down all competing services. [More]
Comcast's Sarcasm Detector Is Broken
By 3.16.10
As this chat transcript shows, Comcast does not have the necessary bandwidth to detect sarcastic remarks. [More]
Test Your Broadband Speeds For The FCC
By 3.15.10
Last Thursday, the FCC started collecting information from consumers about the quality of their broadband service. If you’ve got a PC that can run Java, you can go to Broadband.gov and run the test now. (The FCC will collect your IP address and physical address, but not your name or email address, reports Wired.) If you’ve got an iPhone or Android smartphone, you can download an app to measure your connectivity and report it. [More]
Leaks: How Much It Sucks To Be A Comcast Customer Service Rep
By 3.12.10
Come, come hither. Step into the flesh of a Comcast customer service rep. Doesn’t it feel nice? Yes, yes. This is what it’s like to work for Awesome Cable Inc. Now you know what they go through, and tricks and tactics for dealing with them. Come my pretty, and let the Comcast mole teach you the ways… [More]
Insider's Guide To DIY Comcast Troubleshooting
By 3.12.10
Why waste another sick day waiting for a tech to never show up when you can troubleshoot it yourself? Tossed over the transom by some anonymous insider, here’s a how to on solving many problems with your Comcast internet, TV, or digital voice, like a big boy. [More]
List Of Subscriber Fees Shows What You Pay For Channels You Hate
By 3.9.10
After the spat between Cablevision and Disney invaded the Oscar telecast last Sunday, the fees channels charge cable companies (who then pass them along to you) have come into the spotlight. All Things Digital posted a list from industry analyst SNL Kagan that shows the wholesale prices each channel charges cable companies for their product. [More]
Xfinity Is Apparently How Long You Must Wait For Comcast To Fix Your Cable
By 3.4.10
Reader Aaron directs us to his recent delightful experience with Comcast’s internet service. The tale begins when he finds the cable that is supposed to be supplying Comcast to his thirsty computer… draped across his driveway. This event causes one of those Kafkaesque situations where the tech guy calls to make sure you are home, even though the CSR said you didn’t need to be home, and then the tech doesn’t show up because he says you said you weren’t home, but you clearly were home, even though you didn’t need to be home…
Aaron says: [More]
Cut The Cable And Watch All Your TV And Movies Online
By 3.2.10
Cutting cable can save you upwards of $500 a year, and Lifehacker shows you how to do it while still getting to watch all your favorite shows and movies online. [More]
Comcast Claims Your Cable Modem For The Nation Of Comcastlandia
By 2.19.10
Jim owns a cable modem. It got old, so he got a new one. Now Comcast has claimed the old one as their property, says it has not been returned, and wants money. Jim does not want to relinquish the money, or the modem, to Comcastlandia and their colonization attempts. [More]
FiOS: Lock In A $20 Per Month Price Increase With A Two Year Contract! Huh?
By 2.17.10
Our buddies over at the CR Money Blog noticed something odd about a new offer from Verizon. You can get FiOS for $89.00 for a year! Sounds good, until you realize that the prices goes up after 12 months– but the contract doesn’t end for another year. [More]
Comcast Employee Found With Throat Slashed — Just A Workplace Accident
By 2.11.10
Police in Branford, CT say they are no longer investigating an incident where a Comcast employee was found unconscious with his throat slashed inside the fenced-off parking lot of a service center. Apparently, the knife-wound was simply a workplace accident. [More]
Comcast Rebranding Itself As "Xfinity"
By 2.3.10
Comcast has decided to give up and rebrand its cable and internet offerings as “Xfinity,” which to us sounds like a company that would make porn. Sorry, but it does. [More]
Other Cable Companies Are Pissed About The Comcast NBC Merger
By 2.3.10
The Comcast/NBC merger probably sucks for consumers, but it sure as hell sucks for other cable companies. Like, for example, WOW!. They are a smallish cable company that competes with Comcast in Chicagoland and in Detroit. [More]
There Is No Power On Earth That Can Correct An Error At Comcast
By 2.2.10
Meet Stacy. Stacy moved into a new apartment. The person who moved out of the apartment had Comcast. Her neighbors all have Comcast. Stacy, however, cannot have Comcast. Why? A clerical error. And another one. And after that, still another. [More]
Why Won't Time Warner Fix The "Old, Overtaxed" Wiring In This Neighborhood?
By 2.1.10
Alex from Rochester, NY, says every year around this time his Road Runner high speed access slows to a crawl, and stays that way until April. It occasionally happens at other times throughout the year, too. Unfortunately, Time Warner won’t fix the problem. Alex says one technician who came out to look at the issue told him, “The wires were installed when Adelphia provided service, and they haven’t been upgraded since.” Another one told him, “The problem has been going on for years, and management knows about it, but enough people don’t complain.” [More]
