Screw You Comcast! (Driving the Slave Drivers!)

[guitar_stitch]

Hello,

I've been a reader, lurker, and student of the ways of frugality for a while.  I never really had much to contribute, so I stayed in the background.  Until now.  ;)

When I was younger, I spent money as I made it.  My parents always told me "Do it while you're young and can afford it", so I did.  I bought cars on a whim, music gear, and junk.  Then life hit.  Given a number of emergencies and stupid decisions, I quickly racked up debt after debt, and started drowning in CC debt.

I turned that around and finally paid off the credit cards and got myself above water and on a path to FIRE.  One thing that has always bothered me is companies that nickle and dime you do death.  A great example is my cable internet provider, Comcast.  They charge $8.00 (!!) every month for the "privilege" of using their crappy modem/gateway.  I paid it, grudgingly.  One day, a quick curiosity lead to a page on their site about Customer Provided Equipment.  I grinned.

As fortune would have it, I was visiting a friend who needed a quick hand with a few things.  I've always been one to help out, so we got to work.  During the course of said work, he asked me if I had any use for an extra cable modem.  *BING* The lights went on.

I got home and started looking at my options for router/WiFi access points to pair with the modem.  I found one on Amazon for just under $100.  Then I remembered that damned credit card....and one of its perks: Reward Points!  I checked the reward site and found that I had amassed more than enough points to purchase a gift card for Amazon, in turn getting the Router.

Tomorrow, the Comcast modem goes back.

I can't help but grin at everything that went into this!

1) I got a modem in exchange for a little bit of assistance for a friend;
2) My cable bill is auto paid on the credit card (reward points!);
3) I used those same reward points to purchase a router to pair with the modem that I was being charged for, thus further stripping Comcast of their $8.00/month tap into my stash.

I love it when I can work the system.  ;)  Now to see what else I can muster up.

[andrea-stache]

When you return the modem, they will hand you a little receipt.  SAVE IT!  File it...scan it and copy it.  Whatever you do...DO NOT LOSE IT!

Next month you will get a bill.  They will still be charging you for the modem rental.  You'll call to correct the issue.  They'll tell you they have no record of your returning the equipment.  Then you can explain ever so nicely that it's odd...because you have the receipt right in front of you and you can calmly recite the numbers to them so they can fix their error and correct their records.  Don't forget to ask for an an account credit of the overage they charged you.

This exact scenario has happened to me for all 3 pieces of equipment I've had to return.  I only learned to save the receipt the first time because I waited in line 20 minutes behind a guy who was claiming he returned something and the woman behind the glass just kept saying without the return receipt, there was nothing she could do.

You can thank me later!!

[Exflyboy]

Even better find your local upstart internet provider and buy a 1MBPS for $30 a month then tell Comcast to screw themselves altogether

As long as you don't need cable of course..:)

[guitar_stitch]

Even better find your local upstart internet provider and buy a 1MBPS for $30 a month then tell Comcast to screw themselves altogether

As long as you don't need cable of course..:)

I need the higher speed for working from home when I can, as well as managing media for my band (side hustle!).  If not for that, I would probably be able to get away with just my cell phone rooted and set up as a hot spot.

[guitar_stitch]

When you return the modem, they will hand you a little receipt.  SAVE IT!  File it...scan it and copy it.  Whatever you do...DO NOT LOSE IT!

Next month you will get a bill.  They will still be charging you for the modem rental.  You'll call to correct the issue.  They'll tell you they have no record of your returning the equipment.  Then you can explain ever so nicely that it's odd...because you have the receipt right in front of you and you can calmly recite the numbers to them so they can fix their error and correct their records.  Don't forget to ask for an an account credit of the overage they charged you.

This exact scenario has happened to me for all 3 pieces of equipment I've had to return.  I only learned to save the receipt the first time because I waited in line 20 minutes behind a guy who was claiming he returned something and the woman behind the glass just kept saying without the return receipt, there was nothing she could do.

You can thank me later!!

I know... I've read the horror stories.  I plan to keep the paper and photograph it.  I've already had more than one strange run-in with Comcast's shady billing and "accidental charges".

[Emilyngh]

Oh, along the lines of the comcast modem receipt (which we've had also had happen to us before-they claimed we hadn't returned things that we luckily kept receipts for)...

Our promotional period just ran out on our Comcast.   I called and got them to offer another deal.   When we were going over the details, the totals seemed higher than it should, and I figured out they were charging us for a modem rental.   Thing is, we've had our own modem and they should have noticed that they thus haven't been charging us for a modem over the last 4 years...

 I pointed out that we have our own modem.   To which the guy on the phone then tried to insist that we ALSO have a comcast modem.   WTF?  All he would have to do would be to look at that month's bill (on the old plan) and see there was no modem charge.   Why in the world would we have our own modem, and then decide (since the last bill when we clearly had no comcast modem) to also get a comcast modem for a rental fee of $8 a mo for the rest of our lives?  Weird, weird, Comcast logic.

[Murr]

When you return the modem, they will hand you a little receipt.  SAVE IT!  File it...scan it and copy it.  Whatever you do...DO NOT LOSE IT!

Next month you will get a bill.  They will still be charging you for the modem rental.  You'll call to correct the issue.  They'll tell you they have no record of your returning the equipment.  Then you can explain ever so nicely that it's odd...because you have the receipt right in front of you and you can calmly recite the numbers to them so they can fix their error and correct their records.  Don't forget to ask for an an account credit of the overage they charged you.

This exact scenario has happened to me for all 3 pieces of equipment I've had to return.  I only learned to save the receipt the first time because I waited in line 20 minutes behind a guy who was claiming he returned something and the woman behind the glass just kept saying without the return receipt, there was nothing she could do.

You can thank me later!!

Just had something similar happen with Verizon. I returned two cable boxes three months ago and they've showed up every month on my bill. I call every month and they adjust the bill but can't seem to actually take them off the bill, guess they are hoping the average Joe doesn't read their bill. If I have to call again next month it will be ugly.

[gimp]

Precisely the reason why I don't let comcast auto-bill me. Because they will sneak in bullshit extra fees. Nope, I'll pay every month and make sure they're only charging me what they said they would.

Tried to charge me for a modem once, I just told them to look again. Disappeared off my bill. I might also have told them they'd never get the money out of me regardless, since I was no longer a customer (true at the time).

I'd love to get another provider, but it's comcast for $30 for 25 megabit or dsl for maybe 2 megabit. Fucking google needs to come over here so I can give them my money instead.

[guitar_stitch]

Precisely the reason why I don't let comcast auto-bill me. Because they will sneak in bullshit extra fees. Nope, I'll pay every month and make sure they're only charging me what they said they would.

I also have them added as a biller in my bank's Online Bill Pay.  As soon as the bill comes out, I review it before they hit my card.

[Jack]

One thing that has always bothered me is companies that nickle and dime you do death.  A great example is my cable internet provider, Comcast.  They charge $8.00 (!!) every month for the "privilege" of using their crappy modem/gateway.  I paid it, grudgingly.  One day, a quick curiosity lead to a page on their site about Customer Provided Equipment.  I grinned.

I'm going to have to add this to my list of things they hate about Comcast: they deliberately try to train their customers to believe that it's somehow "normal" for them to own all your equipment instead of you owning it. They're trying their damnedest to be pre-antitrust-breakup-AT&T, complete with hard-wired, shitty, featureless phones.

Doesn't anybody remember that you used to be able to plug the damn coax straight into the back of the TV, but now you can't? Why does it seem like nobody but me is pissed off about that?!

Precisely the reason why I don't let comcast auto-bill me. Because they will sneak in bullshit extra fees. Nope, I'll pay every month and make sure they're only charging me what they said they would.

I also have them added as a biller in my bank's Online Bill Pay.  As soon as the bill comes out, I review it before they hit my card.

I use my bank's bill pay to auto-pay my Comcast (internet-only) bill, but I have it set to autopay only if the bill is below a set amount so that it will not send the payment and email me instead whenever (not if, when!) Comcast fucks it up.

[ivyhedge]

When you return the modem, they will hand you a little receipt.  SAVE IT!  File it...scan it and copy it.  Whatever you do...DO NOT LOSE IT!

Next month you will get a bill.  They will still be charging you for the modem rental.  You'll call to correct the issue.  They'll tell you they have no record of your returning the equipment.  Then you can explain ever so nicely that it's odd...because you have the receipt right in front of you and you can calmly recite the numbers to them so they can fix their error and correct their records.  Don't forget to ask for an an account credit of the overage they charged you.

You can thank me later!!

^ Andrea is so right. They charged us twice for returned items (and threatened to do so another time). Once, though, they didn't even want me to tell them the return number - just saying I had it was sufficient. All rectified; what a racket.

[ivyhedge]

Doesn't anybody remember that you used to be able to plug the damn coax straight into the back of the TV, but now you can't? Why does it seem like nobody but me is pissed off about that?!

There's nothing preventing you from doing that unless you have equipment without digital tuners on board that meet CMCSA's specs.


When we cut the cable 2.5 years ago, two of our monitors were connected like that. Some of friends still do it with 2-4 year old monitors...

[Jack]

There's nothing preventing you from doing that unless you have equipment without digital tuners on board that meet CMCSA's specs.

Try it some time, then. You'll see...

(1. Comcast encrypts their signal now -- even the channels you could receive with an antenna -- so your normal, perfectly good, standards-compliant QAM tuner is utterly worthless. 2. There are few choices in CableCard equipment, and they're expensive (especially for something that shouldn't be fucking necessary in the first place!!!). 3. Even if you have CableCard equipment, a damn root canal is preferable to the process of actually acquiring a CableCard from Comcast and getting it to work properly.)

[ivyhedge]

There's nothing preventing you from doing that unless you have equipment without digital tuners on board that meet CMCSA's specs.

Try it some time, then. You'll see...

As I said in my post, we have friends who do it now, as we used to do. Call CMCSA to register the monitor's tuner and then remove the box; they'll pass you a decrypted signal (incidentally, this is why even in 2014, folks sometimes find, upon moving into a new apt, that they "have cable": the decrypted passthru was not deactivated). CMCSA has encrypted (and decrypted) their signals thusly for years.

[sobezen]

Awesome - love hearing how other Mustachians are putting a stop to being taking advantage of by internet providers.  I recently moved and ironically not too far.  Previously had Comcast and used my own modem and router with no problems and did not require installation or buying a separate installation kit.  So when I moved I signed up again for internet despite much protesting.  I typically do not even use it at home and if it wasn't for the online university courses I am enrolled in, I could not even bother justifying the expense.  That said, when I called Comcast they informed me they would need to charge me for the new modem and installation kit.  I told their stellar customer service representatives on four separate calls each taking over an hour that I refused to get their modem or an installation kit.  I even had to escalate twice to management because customer service repeatedly attempted to strong arm me into getting both and I was flatly refusing.  After over three hours and fast approaching four hours on different calls and being pass around, I was getting irritated.  In the end my persistent paid off and I did not have to use their modem, install kit and I even got a discount for my troubles.  Sometimes it pays to stand your ground especially when you know customer service is factually incorrect.  Good luck.

[happyfeet]

Fours hours?  That's nuts.  I effing HATE  Comcast.  We have our own modem and router also and I swear they reprogram their system so it will not work.  This last time our internet stopped working they told us we needed THEIR equipment.  Our stuff was like 6 months old.  I just reinstalled my equipment and it worked fine.
Most hated company in America - for good reason.

[Jack]

Call CMCSA to register the monitor's tuner and then remove the box; they'll pass you a decrypted signal (incidentally, this is why even in 2014, folks sometimes find, upon moving into a new apt, that they "have cable": the decrypted passthru was not deactivated). CMCSA has encrypted (and decrypted) their signals thusly for years.

I did call Comcast and ask them to let me use my existing QAM tuner. Comcast refused. Then I filed official complaints to the damn BBB and FCC asking them to force Comcast to do that, and Comcast still refused! The ONLY alternatives were to 1. rent a box (the Comcast-recommended solution) 2. buy a CableCard tuner and rent a CableCard or 3. not have cable TV at all.

(I chose #2 first because Internet+TV was cheaper than Internet-only at the time; now that I've got a good deal on Internet-only service I switched to #3.)

[malacca]

I had my day with Comcast today. My tenant complained about the Comcast signal a month ago (all of my rentals come with cable & internet). Called Comcast and got the run around / untrained & unqualified service personnel for a month.

Finally sent a nasty email to CS - asking them to call me. Got a nice call from an intelligent guy. He scheduled an intelligent service guy (one that worked for directly for Comcast, NOT a contractor). Even called me back to check up on the progress.

Installation guy was pretty knowledgable. I set up cable Internet companies in Asia years ago so I am familiar with the technology & know more than most techs.

I pushed him to test every cable & connector. Turns out the buried cable is bad. We came up with a work around. Finally got it to work reliably.

I have 8 Comcast accounts - all for rentals. I don't have Comcast in my house. Waste of money. 99% of content is shit. IP TV is near free and much better. Don't want my kids watching commercials.

The moral of the story is that COMACT SUCKS.

[ShortInSeattle]

I think it's an interesting case study on how businesses can alienate their customers.  About 8 years ago we decided to decrease our cable from a standard package to the unadvertised basic cable plan. After arguing with us about our decision for several minutes, Comcast said they'd have to charge us for a service call to send someone out to "downgrade" our service.

We decided to cancel cable entirely and haven't missed it. I imagine if they had said "Sure, let me take care of that for you..." we would have remained customers.

[Eristheunorganized]

Doesn't anybody remember that you used to be able to plug the damn coax straight into the back of the TV, but now you can't? Why does it seem like nobody but me is pissed off about that?!

There's nothing preventing you from doing that unless you have equipment without digital tuners on board that meet CMCSA's specs.


When we cut the cable 2.5 years ago, two of our monitors were connected like that. Some of friends still do it with 2-4 year old monitors...

Depends on your market, comcast is encrypting all channels, local or not you will then need a box. It's just rolling out at different times in different places.

Source: I work for comcast.

[Greg]

I'm old enough to remember when the fact that TV content comes with commercials was enough to make it free, broadcast over the airwaves.  When cable came along my family lived on the wrong side of the street, literally... cable service would not go across the street for many years.  Eventually we got it and it was kind of nice, MTV, etc.

Fast forward many years and I'm really too busy to watch TV.  I have internet and so can watch specific shows as needed.  I have a TV for watching movies on DVD.  Comcast won't come down my very long driveway without a $5K investment on my part.  I've called to have them explain what kind of conduit I need to install etc., which is within my ability, I've done it for clients.  They just send out their subcontractor who says $5K and leaves.  They obviously don't want my business.

I spend more of my spare time making things and fixing things.  The downside is that when there's a screen in a restaurant or other more public place I have a hard time not looking at it.

I say if you can do without your quality of life will be much better.

[oldtoyota]

Precisely the reason why I don't let comcast auto-bill me. Because they will sneak in bullshit extra fees. Nope, I'll pay every month and make sure they're only charging me what they said they would.

Tried to charge me for a modem once, I just told them to look again. Disappeared off my bill. I might also have told them they'd never get the money out of me regardless, since I was no longer a customer (true at the time).

I'd love to get another provider, but it's comcast for $30 for 25 megabit or dsl for maybe 2 megabit. Fucking google needs to come over here so I can give them my money instead.

Aggggghhhhh! I pay OVER $70 to that company for internet. A month. Hate them. Hate them. I hope they go out of business.

[oldtoyota]

Fours hours?  That's nuts.  I effing HATE  Comcast.  We have our own modem and router also and I swear they reprogram their system so it will not work.  This last time our internet stopped working they told us we needed THEIR equipment.  Our stuff was like 6 months old.  I just reinstalled my equipment and it worked fine.
Most hated company in America - for good reason.

I have a tagline they can use for free.

Comcast: We Hate You

Or maybe

Comcast: We Can Screw You and So We Will

Or

Comcast: We Hate Humanity