 Geno71 join:2012-12-12 Antioch, IL Reviews:
·Comcast
2 edits | [Rant] Chicago Area HSI: Paying $70/mo for less than 30Mb/s Hi everyone. New here.
I have been a Comcast customer for roughly 10 years, and steadily my bill goes up every year or two, and yet I'm stuck at about 24Mb/s and 4Mb/s UL. Calling and asking to get lower tier pricing for the same speed or more speed for the same pricing is fruitless. Whenever my call gets "bumped up to the special service center", I literally sit on hold for 20 minutes and hang up (which is probably what they're counting on).
I am tired of Comcast's "regional monopoly" pricing. I feel like until other cable companies have access to the infrastructure in our area, Comcast can do whatever it wants. At least in the suburbs this is true. There's no competition of any kind. DSL is not competition. It uses a different infrastructure. Satellite is not competition for the same reason.
Seems like others at this same price tier (in some cases paying $60/mo), in other parts of the country are getting 35-55 Mb/s.
BTW I have a Ubee modem. It's about 2 yrs old. No idea if that is a limiter but thought I'd mention it in case anyone has recommendations for a modem type that will give an "instant boost" over the one I have. |
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 | What model Ubee modem ? If it's not a D3 modem then you are missing out of some extra speed likely. You also should be able to speak to the sales department and get some type of promo pricing. -- »www.VAJeeps.com »www.BronzedBod.com |
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 Geno71 join:2012-12-12 Antioch, IL Reviews:
·Comcast
| Promo pricing isn't the answer because in 6 months I'll end up with the same problem. I either should get some bandwidth relief at the same price, or cost relief at same bandwidth.
Modem: how would I determine which type / model of Ubee modem it is? |
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 | reply to Geno71 Not really a rant, but I was in the same boat, came of a $45/month promo and then the price jumped to $71/month for Ultra. I ended up going with Uverse, I miss the low latency while gaming (gained +25ms), but now I'm paying $30/month (got a bundle promo from ATT + $6/month modem fess also waived) for 18mb/s. BTW Comcast did try to keep me, but wouldn't go lower than $55/month. Will be looking out for any future promo's with Comcast. Good luck. |
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 | reply to Geno71 Promo pricing is very easily obtained every 6 months or every year depending on the length of time the promo is. You're not going to get a price cut unless you call and get a promo added.
Look at the modem info... It tells you want it is. The bottom maybe... -- »www.VAJeeps.com »www.BronzedBod.com |
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 Geno71 join:2012-12-12 Antioch, IL Reviews:
·Comcast
| So how in your experience, does one go about getting a 12 month promotional price without a lot of haggling?
Modem: only the Serial and MAC info is on the bottom. That's why I asked. There's no distinguishing mark or model # AFAICT. |
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 | I've had comcast for 2 years now and have been on promo pricing the whole time. Simply call and ask. -- »www.VAJeeps.com »www.BronzedBod.com |
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 Geno71 join:2012-12-12 Antioch, IL Reviews:
·Comcast
| reply to exComcast Thanks for the story exComcast. I would be happy to settle for $55 a month at the same bandwidth but previous attempts have been ignored. Do I literally have to threaten to leave / leave the service to get it / call in to disconnect?
Hopefully a more adult approach on their part would be possible given how long I've been a customer...  |
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 | Threatening to cancel will not get you anywhere. |
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 Geno71 join:2012-12-12 Antioch, IL Reviews:
·Comcast
| reply to ExoticFish Does the promotional pricing have a particular name? Which package / speed are you getting and at what price, if you don't mind me asking.
So out of curiosity, knowing how some of my conversations have gone (I don't threaten to leave but I do let my unhappiness with current situation be known in a friendly way / not being a loud jerk etc).... if it were you, what would you say exactly after the "how can I help you"? |
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 | Just ask about any promotional offers for your area. They vary. I'm currently on Extreme 105 for $89 a month.
I've only had to call in and say I needed my promo pricing renewed. Reps have never given me any issue with applying what's available at the time. -- »www.VAJeeps.com »www.BronzedBod.com |
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 Geno71 join:2012-12-12 Antioch, IL Reviews:
·Comcast
| So it sounds like, you actually switch service levels along with the promo... vs. getting a "promo price" for an existing package (that you've had for a long time). I think that's the key. I'm not looking to constantly switch packages to get a different price. |
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 | No. I had been on Blast the entire time until last month when I upgraded to Extreme 105. -- »www.VAJeeps.com »www.BronzedBod.com |
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 NightfallMy Goal Is To Deny YoursPremium,MVM join:2001-08-03 Grand Rapids, MI Reviews:
·Comcast
·Callcentric
·Site5.com
| reply to ExoticFish said by ExoticFish:I've had comcast for 2 years now and have been on promo pricing the whole time. Simply call and ask. This right here.
I have never paid full price for Comcast service. I simply call and let them know that Uverse sent me a price quote and they knock my bill down about $20. It works every time. -- My domain - Nightfall.net |
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 | reply to Geno71 I have not paid full price in 5 years but you have to call every year which you said you do not want to do. -- Caddy |
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 Geno71 join:2012-12-12 Antioch, IL Reviews:
·Comcast
| reply to Nightfall So receiving an advertisement from someone else is sufficient to get $20 knocked off your bill? It's surprising to hear that. I'll see what comes of my other inquiries here. If I don't get any help maybe I'll go that route.
Sounding like there may be a problem with my modem and the files that have been sent to it, throttling my speed back when it shouldn't. I have confirmed from others at $70/mo I should be getting close to 40Mb/s easy. So maybe I'll ask for a one-time credit for a free month of service to even things up a bit. |
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 gar187erI do this for a living join:2006-06-24 Dover, DE kudos:4 | have you called in about your speed issue!?!? you say you called in about billing, but how about having a tech out? -- I'm better than you! |
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 NightfallMy Goal Is To Deny YoursPremium,MVM join:2001-08-03 Grand Rapids, MI Reviews:
·Comcast
·Callcentric
·Site5.com
| reply to Geno71 said by Geno71:So receiving an advertisement from someone else is sufficient to get $20 knocked off your bill? It's surprising to hear that. I'll see what comes of my other inquiries here. If I don't get any help maybe I'll go that route.
Sounding like there may be a problem with my modem and the files that have been sent to it, throttling my speed back when it shouldn't. I have confirmed from others at $70/mo I should be getting close to 40Mb/s easy. So maybe I'll ask for a one-time credit for a free month of service to even things up a bit. Lets put it this way. If I can get promo pricing through Uverse for $90 a month, and Comcast is at $120, they will always knock $20 off per month and I will stay with them. All I have to do is call retention and say I am cancelling. If I get a rep that doesn't want to give me anything, I hang up and call back. I have gotten what I have asked for on the first try almost every time though. Once i had to call back a second time.
I also make a note on my calendar to call them back when my promo pricing is over. -- My domain - Nightfall.net |
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 | reply to Geno71 said by Geno71:I am tired of Comcast's "regional monopoly" pricing. I feel like until other cable companies have access to the infrastructure in our area, Comcast can do whatever it wants. At least in the suburbs this is true. There's no competition of any kind. DSL is not competition. It uses a different infrastructure. Satellite is not competition for the same reason. As far as I know, there have never been 2 competing cable ISP's in the same area. Your only hope is that the DSL provider in your area decides to add fiber like CenturyLink has started to do. -- »A pretty good alernative to bit torrent and newsgroups |
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 Geno71 join:2012-12-12 Antioch, IL Reviews:
·Comcast
| reply to Geno71 Update: someone will be looking at the speed issue first (as I understand it) to see if there's a glitch / limiting factor like my modem or the modem file. Will let you guys know what comes of this. At least there seems to be some movement on part of Comcast.
For now my bandwidth remains under 25Mb/s... |
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