Comcast Sucks!

Forced to deal with Comcast as your only decent (on paper anyway) choice for internet and TV? Then you've probably experienced their horrible customer service and dated equipment. I've been their customer for 18 years. The satellite guys tell me that mine is one of the few properties they've seen that can't get a good line of sight, due to trees. The terrain here allows for only marginal over-the-air reception. Our only internet alternative is Frontier's turtle-slow DSL. So, Comcast has us by the short hairs.

My friend has Dish TV. He's has had features for years that Comcast still doesn't offer (like built-in Slingbox and the ability to download recordings). I was an early adopter of Comcast's Xfinity TV. Three years into it and it's still buggy as hell. The boxes have no internal intelligence, so even changing channels requires communication with their central server. That means that sometimes you can't change the channel, or it takes forever, or it randomly changes, or it just locks up. The answer is always the same - "Unplug it and plug it in again." Yeah, then wait 30 minutes for it to reset and regain the channel directory!

And then there's the billing. You may agree to a fixed plan for one or two years, but they will try increasing it in a few months, or adding some random charges. This month it was $30 for five "self install kits." I haven't changed my service in two years! Four calls later and they still haven't given the promised credit to my account. Maybe that's because they recently moved all their customer billing inquiries to call centers in Mexico. In the past billing has been an issue, but I'd get someone in the U.S. who would usually correct it after one call. No more. Now you struggle to understand the person who promises they'll fix it but somehow doesn't.

My sister in Virginia has Time Warner. She has a wide choice of cable/telephony modems available at retail stores for reasonable prices, so she doesn't have to lease one. Comcast hasn't certified a new cable/telephony modem in years, allowing only a couple of Arris models that can't be bought retail (they say at Best Buy, but try to find one). Unless you're determined, you'll end up paying $9 a month forever for an ancient Arris modem. I managed to buy one used and get that knocked off of my bill, though Comcast tried billed me for three months after I turned mine in.

But how does a company get to the point where their core offering is by far their worst? I know! It's called lack of competition! Google "Comcast Sucks" and you'll find pages of websites devoted to the subject. They have rated #1 in poor customer service for years, but don't seem to care. As the old Saturday Night Live phony AT&T commercial said years ago - "We don't care. We don't have to!" I've come up with another for Comcast. You know the old saw, under promise and over deliver? Comcast's could be "We don't promise sh*t, but we give it to you anyway!"

 

I used to have Comcast and complained occasionally about them.

then I moved and all I can get is Uverse.

they bring new meaning to horrible customer service.

no joke, if I have an issue with Uverse where I have to call, I can expect to waste at least 2 full days and be transferred 12 times to different people, all of whom have no idea what they're doing until finally getting someone who knows something and makes something happen.

one time after wasting 6 hours getting transferred around 8 times, I somehow got transferred to some guy driving a truck and had to call back and start over. seriously, a guy driving a truck.

so be thankful you have Comcast. I would give anything to be able to get Comcast again.

 

I'm using an owned cable modem w/ Comcast bought at Best Buy. It's a Motorola, they never complained about its compatibility.

Recently negotiated a 2 yr deal with them that's saving me $60/month, they even threw in free stuff. I'm not a fan of Comcast as it took me the better portion of a week to get a deal I can live with, but I think they're starting to feel threatened from the cord cutters. That only helps for the next negotiation, hopefully the market will be different in the fall of 2017.

 

I hate Comcast simply for the pricing, but it is reliable. And we just got our new receivers and they are awesome. It was like MaBell, she was easy to hate but the alternatives they created often just fell flat.

 

When you have nothing nice to say..don't say anything at all. Unless it's Comcast then please talk all the crap you want! Comcast sucks on levels that one would think would amount to criminal activity.

I have a very similar story to the OP including the line-of-site problems. Every time I walk into Costco the DirectTV guy jumps on me but I have to tell him "man..I would love to deal with you but hill and trees block your satellite".

I bought my own Arris modem from Amazon a couple of years back to take advantage of better download speeds. I didn't want a Comcast Router/Modem combo broadcasting the Xfinity WiFi from my house and the service center here told me they could only give me equipment that had the built in router. The 'private' equipment worked out very well as far as operations go but it was a total nightmare turning in the old, leased modem. I went to a service center where the greeter there told me to just "drop it in the box outside". I did and that must have meant "cancel my phone/internet" because about a week later they turned them both off. We called in from a cell phone to get it fixed and they just kept transferring us to "new sales"! Sooo frustrating and I too did not get any real help until I got a person stateside to help us!

 

I hate Uverse. It stays off at my house more than it stays on.

 

Had Comcast when I lived in Atlanta, hope to never have them again. G/f's parents have U-Verse. It's not bad considering their phone line actually has issues. It used to be issue free til the past year or so. Now it likes to go out temporarily til you reset it.

 

Don't they all suck? I have Cox and the internet goes does at least an hour every day and can't diagnose the issue even with hardware replacements. They make it sound like I'm on crazy pills.

 

We dumpted comcast a while back and got direct tv which we bundled with Verizon land line and dsl. Dtv has had it's occasonal hiccups but overall has very good hdtv picture quality. Would like to have fios as a tv option but it's never going to be available in this area.so they say.Our only other option is Dish network which doesnt seem worth it to me,for one thing I dont want my roof to look like the top of the Empire State Building with a bunch of dishes.

 

No Comcast available where I live now, and man do I miss it. I had Comcast throughout college, and for about 6 years after that, never had an issue.

Then I moved into a townhouse with a couple buddies from MI, and they outvoted me into direct tv so they could get the nfl package for lions games. Not bad, but I definitely preferred Comcast.

At my new place, my options were time Warner, direct tv, or Verizon fios. I figured hey, Verizon's cell service is considered the best, let's try their cable....it is fucking TERRIBLE.

At my next place, I'll take whatever is available over Fios, including rabbit ears.

 

I have cox and work online all day long.

never have a problem and I like the service. Had it for over 20 years. i would prefer it to be cheaper but thats out of my hands.

 

I hate Comcast. They are capable of more service outages than satellite. We have Uverse. We are mostly satisfied with it. It's just every now and again we have a problem that we know is outside and we always end up needing two service calls to fix it because their automated system will send someone to check connections in the house who can't turn around and fix the outside box.

 

I have comcast in MA and I am a fan, especially after having a programming error with a compuuter I bought at Best Buy. Brand new HP that would just not move off the "waiting for..." screen. ...just froze there. After several trips to Best Buy, I got a new box at Comcast, thinking the problem was an old box. They have a very comfortable store that allows me to interact with a real person. The box resolved the issue for a while and then it started again. The Comcast guy came and ran all kinds of tests. It was the bad programming on the HP computer and not Comcast. The best things about the service was that the clerk at the store arrange a next day visit both times.....and I never got charged for either visit

 

I have Comcast for my tv & internet at my apartment. While the service is fairly reliable, I hate them because of their pricing and their lack of service.

Ideally I'd be able to cancel cable and use Sling for my TV instead, but Comcast is the ONLY option I have for internet in my building, so they have us by the balls & can charge whatever they want. Screw them.

 

I have Metrocast for internet. It is mostly reliable. No earthshaking problems.

 

It could be that the problem is worse in some parts of the nation than in others. We used Comcast/Xfinity in southwestern Florida at various addresses for numerous years and experienced no problems. OTOH, friends in the Puget Sound area detest Comcast bitterly. They complain only about customer service and billing, but when visiting them I have noticed slowness of response even with a new modem. In Florida, we have always used a DVR, while our friends in Washington don't have it. Perhaps that makes some difference.

 

I have TimeWarner, who I have no trouble with as far as speed or quality or offerings. Price is another matter, every year I have to call and bargain with them. This year they raised my rates 100% in a 3 month period. January I'm switching over to DirectTV, alas probably stick with TW for internet.

 

Reading this thread and as a TW customer, I am not looking forward to the merger of TW & Comcast. Except for our time living in VEGAS, we've had TW for over 30 years. I am quite happy with the service on the triple bundle, just not happy with the price, but what can you do except the annual threat to cancel and they lower the bill for a time. Adding Starz to my package is not an incentive to stay! :evillaugh

 

I actually don't have a problem with the service itself. It's the customer service I have a problem with. I recently moved out, and boyfriend kept the cable, which was in my name. Just trying to get the name on the account and e-mail associated with the account changed was 3 phone calls. When we converted to high def, that was multiple phone calls, and a service visit. I also don't understand why for the same service in one city, I was paying $110 a month, and now in a different city (5 miles away), I pay $90 a month - and that includes internet???