| Hella lot better than Mediacom The problems I have had with DTV are few: Rain fade during severe storms, and, um....I guess that's all. I get the occasional courtesy call to ask how I like my service, and one time when they called, it WAS storming. I jokingly mentioned that the service was great except right at that moment, during a pre-season football game, the rain knocked out my signal. To my surprise, the next bill showed that the rep gave me a free month! In addition, two more words - SUNDAY TICKET!
Now, my experience with Mediacom was quite different. Signed up for a family package at $29.95/mo, and HSI at $29.95/mo. Now, my math skills may not be perfect, but if I am right, that's somewhere around $59.90 per month. This was supposed to be a one year deal. Somehow, when my first bill came, it was for $130.00. Not only that, but when I looked at the due date, the bill was due two days BEFORE I received it. I called, and the rep was nice, said she'd take care of the problem, told me everything was straightened out, just pay the amount I really owed, and it wouldn't count as late. Next month, the bill arrived on the due date, but was still for $130. I called, they said I didn't pay the first month on time, so the deal I had was not valid any more. Feeling trapped, I had them cut back on the services, paid the bill, and went on. After all, I really only wanted the HSI, and SBC said that DSL wasn't available in my area. Within a month, the HSI went from acceptable to a crawl. It never came close to what was advertised, but still I stuck with it because it was almost three times as fast as dial-up. Well, I knew such blissful customer service had to end, and one night as the wife and I were watching TV, the signal went dead, there was a knock at the door, and there was a Mediacom tech standing there demanding payment for a past-due bill - from the VERY FIRST MONTH! I showed him the original contract, and he said he'd settle for a check in the amount of the current bill plus a $25 disconnect fee AND a $45 reconnect fee. I think I remember telling him the only connection that was going to take place was when my foot connected with his ass. I told him to remove the drop to my house or I would, then I called the office and was told that's their policy.
The next day, I called DTV. I was hooked up within 2 days. I also called SBC. Seems like the first rep I spoke with was only partially right - when I called, DSL was not available due to some upgrades taking place, but they didn't tell me it would be available within 2 weeks.
I'll NEVER go back to cable. I still get ads from them, they end up going into the trash. DTV treats me like I am the most valuable person they know, even though I live in a crappy neighborhood full of poor people, and I know they are poor because they tend to live in clusters. Sure, they may have reps named John and Sally who sound more like Rajib and Falguni, but I can deal with that a lot better than Mediacom. Now if they could only teach AT&T how to treat customers... |
