One of the most frequent complaints we get about cable installers and techs is the blown-off appointment, wherein the tech claims they showed up at your house and you weren’t there. But here’s a story of a Comcast tech who actually showed up at a customer’s home and then skipped out before completing the job. [More]
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Woman Sues Porn Companies For Threatening To Sue Her Over Alleged Illegal Downloads
By 7.10.12
During the years when the music and movie business began going after people for allegedly downloading copyrighted files, the porn industry did very little, claiming it didn’t have the resources to wage large-scale legal battles. But then someone realized there was money to be made in just threatening people with legal action, and a slew of lawsuits followed. Though many people, even those who claim they are innocent, have just paid up to avoid having their peccadilloes made public, one woman has fired back with a suit of her own. [More]
FCC Tells Comcast It Had Better Get To Marketing That Standalone Broadband Service
By 6.28.12
The Federal Communications Commission has slapped Comcast with a $800,000 fine for not doing its part to market its standalone broadband Internet service. It was supposed to do just that as part of the conditions of its merger with NBC Universal last year. [More]
Judge Sides With Comcast Against “Shakedown” Porn Lawyers
By 6.20.12
Last week, we told you about Comcast’s refusal to comply with subpoenas for lawyers for porn companies who wanted the cable company to identify the customers behind IP addresses believed to have illegally downloaded copyrighted material. Now the judge in the case has sided with the Kabletown crew, quashing those subpoenas. [More]
Offering 'Catch-Up' Service That Leaves Out Episodes Defeats The Point, Comcast
By 6.20.12
Carol has been watching the AMC program “Breaking Bad” using Comcast on-demand. Specifically, the Catch-up service so she can catch up on season 4 before the new season starts next month. This service skips episodes and doesn’t seem to actually be designed to catch anyone up, though…unless that customer is an HD subscriber. [More]
Comcast Tech Saves Sleeping Customer From Fire
By 6.15.12
A woman in Boston says she has a Comcast tech to thank for her being alive today, after he alerted her to a fire in her building. And before you ask, no, the tech did not start the fire. [More]
Ad Watchdog Asks Comcast To Stop Bragging That Xfinity Is “Fastest In The Nation”
By 6.14.12
Despite an FCC study showing Verizon FiOS with the fastest download speeds, Comcast’s ads for its Xfinity internet service proudly claim that it’s the “fastest in the nation.” Now the Better Business Bureau’s ad watchdog has recommended that the Kabletown folks stop being so boastful. [More]
Comcast Not Cooperating With Lawyers Looking To “Shake Down” BitTorrent Users
By 6.13.12
For several years, a small number of law firms have made an awful lot of money by identifying people it believes have used BitTorrent to download copyrighted porn, then nudging those people into paying up rather than having their names be made public. Comcast has decided it doesn’t want to be a part of such behavior and is refusing to comply with subpoenas in these cases. [More]
DOJ Reportedly Investigating Cable Companies For Squashing Online Competition
By 6.13.12
The Justice Department is reportedly engaged in an anti-trust investigation into many areas where the cable TV industry might be acting inappropriately to try and quell competition from online video. Many consumers want to pick and choose what they watch, using services like Hulu and Netflix, whereas cable companies would like them to continue to pay for bundles of TV channels, even some they might not watch. [More]
There Is No Point Asking Comcast Where You Can Buy A Cable Box
By 6.7.12
Consumerist reader Travis is interested in Comcast, but isn’t thrilled about the idea of having to lease a cable box for $9.99/month. So he thought he would ask a Comcast online chat rep about this. That was his first mistake. [More]
Comcast Requires 5 E-Mails To Not Remove Birds From Outdoor Cable Box
By 5.31.12
Imagine that one day you notice that a box from which several Comcast connections sprout has recently become home to a nest of birds. Probably not a good thing for folks’ cable and Internet connections, but it seems like something that should be easily resolved with a simple e-mail to Comcast, right? Well, welcome to Kabletown… [More]
Boston Mayor To FCC: Please Don't Listen To Comcast
By 5.25.12
In April, cable subscribers in Boston were offered a glimmer of hope after the FCC ruled that the city would once again, after a decade of price increases from Comcast (the only cable company in town), be allowed to regulate cable pricing. But the war isn’t over, as Comcast has asked the FCC to rethink its ruling while Boston’s mayor has asked the FCC to just please not listen to Comcast. [More]
Don't Be Attacked By Criminals Posing As Comcast Techs
By 5.24.12
What’s worse than having a bad cable company tech wrecking your house? How about three men posing as cable techs who want to break into your house to rob and assault you? [More]
Comcast Refuses To Believe I Didn't Open An Account When I Was 16 At A House I Didn't Live In
By 5.21.12
We know that some unscrupulous people out there will try to pull one over on a cable/phone/utility company by simply claiming that the person who owes them a big bill is a previous, unrelated tenant. But if you have several documents proving that you are indeed the new tenant, that should be sufficient. Right? Oh wait… this is Comcast we’re talking about. [More]
5 Cable Companies Agree To Share Hotspots, But Will People Use Them?
By 5.21.12
For years, a number of the larger cable-based Internet providers have placed WiFi hotspots around the country for their customers to use when not in the comfort of their own home, but you had to find a hotspot operated by your ISP. Today, five of those companies — Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks, Cablevision, and Cox Communications — have announced that their customers will all soon be able to all use the same hotspots. But will people use them — and will this actually make some of the problems worse? [More]
Comcast: Arson Ain't A Good Excuse For Lost Equipment, So Pay Up
By 5.18.12
It wasn’t enough that a woman lost her apartment in a fire set by an arsonist– including most of her belongings, but then Comcast had to make it all worse by demanding she pay up for the two cable boxes and a router she failed to save in the fire. [More]
Comcast To Remove 250GB Data Cap. Don't Celebrate Just Yet
By 5.17.12
Following the recent news that Comcast would not count any of its own Xfinity streaming video services against Internet customers’ 250GB data cap, the folks at Kabletown have announced they is doing away with that cap — and replacing it with tiered data plans. [More]
Comcast Assumes Woman Caller Doesn't Like Sports But Has A Husband Who Does
By 5.10.12
A wonderful blogger happens to be a woman, a woman who called Comcast to get help with non-working Internet service. So, since we live in a society where all women must be heterosexual and have husbands, those women must also not like sports in the way that their husbands do. Right? Or something. [More]
