While its counterparts (we can’t call them competition, since that doesn’t exist) at other cable and Internet service providers have been drooling over proposed “net neutrality” rules that would allow ISPs to charge content companies for “fast lane” access to end-users, Comcast has consistently maintained that it is the only ISP to hold to the since-gutted 2010 version of neutrality (without mentioning that it’s legally obliged to follow those rules for a few more years). Now the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee is asking Comcast to stick to those rules even after it no longer has to. [More]
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Comcast Sued By Customer Who Says Cable Company Had Him Fired From Job
By 10.17.14
Last week, we brought you the story of former Comcast customer Conal O’Rourke, who lost his job at renowned accounting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers after someone from Comcast called his employer with details of Mr. O’Rourke’s numerous — and valid — complaints about his cable service. Comcast has subsequently apologized for the myriad billing and service problems but maintains it did not intend to have O’Rourke fired, but that has not satisfied Conal, who has filed a lawsuit against the nation’s largest cable company, alleging violations of, among other claims, a federal law prohibiting cable companies from sharing personal information without customers’ consent. [More]
Comcast Sat By As ID Thieves Set Up Multiple Accounts, Ran Up Thousands In Charges
By 10.16.14
A local news report in Nashville about a local man whose ID was stolen and used to open up two bogus Comcast accounts hundreds of miles away in Louisiana has uncovered numerous additional complaints from consumers in the area who say they have also been sent to collections for fake Comcast accounts opened in the same city. [More]
Another City Wants To Stop Comcast From Taking Over Cable Service
By 10.16.14
Weeks after city leaders in Lexington, KY, made it clear that they are not pleased about the promise of being passed around like a hot potato from Time Warner Cable to Comcast to Charter, the City Council of Worcester, MA, is also laying out the unwelcome mat for Comcast. [More]
Cable Lobbyists Pretending To Be Cool Digital Hipsters To Convince Youth That Net Neutrality Is Bad
By 10.9.14
The fight for net neutrality has players from all corners amped up and joining in. Millions of individuals, as well as consumer advocacy groups, internet businesses, internet business groups, cable and telecom businesses, and their trade groups, have all been pressing the FCC toward one decision or another. But now there are some new groups wading in to the morass. They look like millennial, digital-savvy, pro-internet hispters — but their message is straight out of Comcast and AT&T’s playbook. So what’s going on? [More]
Blaming TWC’s Poor Service, City May Deny Transfer Of Cable To Comcast
By 10.9.14
Two years ago, the people of Lexington, KY, became Time Warner Cable customers when the company acquired Insight Communications. Now TWC is being bought by Comcast, meaning Lexington residents would be switched again. But it gets more complicated, as Lexington is one of the markets that Comcast would then hand over to Charter. Four different cable companies in fewer than five years has members of the Lexington city council saying “no more.” [More]
Comcast Eliminating One Annoying Fee By End Of Year
By 10.9.14
Cable companies are notorious for their fees — modems, set-top boxes, HD service, DVR service, repair visits, early termination fees; the list goes on. But Comcast tells Consumerist that it is ditching one annoying little fee over the next few months. [More]
Comcast Apologizes For Customer’s Bad Service But Not For Role In Getting Him Fired
By 10.8.14
The story continues for Conal the Comcast customer who lost his job after the cable company called his employer (which happens to make a lot of money off consulting for Comcast) and provided details about his customer service complaints. Comcast’s new Mr. Fix-It has issued an apology for the year-plus of horrendous service and over-billing that Conal experienced, but still maintains that it didn’t mean to get him fired. [More]
Former Employer Of Man Fired For Complaining To Comcast Speaks Out (But Doesn’t Say Much)
By 10.8.14
Consumer Advocates Urge Justice Dept. To Block Comcast/TWC Merger
By 10.2.14
The FCC isn’t the only agency reviewing the Comcast/Time Warner Cable merger; the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice is all over it, too. And while the full public doesn’t get to have its riotous say with the DoJ the same way we did with the FCC, businesses and consumer advocates can file in opposition (or support). Our colleagues down the hall at Consumers Union, the advocacy arm of Consumer Reports, have now officially chimed in to ask the DoJ to watch out for the interests of consumers, and block the merger. [More]
Comcast Charged For Unlisted Phone Numbers, Listed Them Anyway
By 10.2.14
When you pay to have your phone number unlisted, you would expect that the company you pay would honor this request. You’d also expect that if that company screwed up and accidentally published half of its unlisted customers’ numbers in the state of California, it might notice. This week, the California Public Utilities Commission is holding a hearing to determine if Comcast violated the law when it screwed up and shared more than 74,000 phone numbers, names, and addresses that were supposed to be unlisted, including info for customers who were victims of domestic violence or hiding from criminals. [More]
Comcast Throws Pizza Parties To Woo Seattle Residents; Still Sucks At Its Job
By 10.1.14
You know how the jerk in your office will occasionally do something nice, like buy everyone a round of drinks after work or bring in cupcakes, just to prove he isn’t always horrible? You probably accept the free stuff while knowing that it ultimately doesn’t change the fact that he’s still an awful person to work with. That’s what appears to be going with Comcast in Seattle. [More]
Media Companies Afraid To Show FCC Their Comcast Contracts Because Rivals Might Learn Their Secrets
By 9.30.14
It’s no secret that media companies are pretty worried about the repercussions of letting Comcast and Time Warner Cable merge. But what is a big secret are the agreements that those companies have with Comcast and TWC right now. They’re so secret, in fact, that networks are refusing to share any data with the FCC because they’re afraid their rivals might benefit from it. And that’s a problem, because without that data, the FCC is missing one of the key tools it should have in its toolbox as it evaluates the merger. [More]
Comcast Promises This Guy Is Coming To Fix Your Cable
By 9.26.14
Comcast has an image problem… mostly because its customer service is consistently ranked among the worst — not just of cable companies, but of all customer-facing businesses in the U.S. So maybe that’s not so much an image problem as it is a systemic rot that has been allowed to fester because the company has virtually no competition. So how to deal with this problem? Promote someone and claim that he’s going the answer to all your problems. [More]
You Are Now Watching 93 Minutes Of Netflix A Day, You Lazy Bum
By 9.25.14
Cable companies hate Netflix. They pretend it’s because the streaming video service puts up a fuss about having to pay a toll just to be carried that last mile of the Internet to customers’ homes. But really, as new data shows, it’s because people are now spending an awful lot of time watching Netflix instead of watching TV. [More]
Comcast/TWC Merger Critics: “Comcast Owes Us An Apology” for “Extortion” Comments
By 9.25.14
Comcast had some harsh words this week for critics of their plan to acquire Time Warner Cable. They accused advocacy groups and businesses that have legitimate concerns about the massive transaction of crying wolf with “unfounded,” “unsupported,” and “extortionate” claims. However, Comcast’s attempt to discredit its critics into silence appears to be having the opposite effect, as both corporations and nonprofit groups are firing back loudly. [More]
Comcast: Opposition To TWC Merger Is Just “Extortion”
By 9.24.14
UPDATE: Some groups are now calling on Comcast to apologize for the “extortion” allegation, with former FCC Commissioner Michael Copps saying that “Comcast’s suggestion that we’ve offered to withdraw our opposition in return for favors from the company is absolutely unfounded and untrue.” [More]
