Topic '[Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?' in forum 'Comcast HSI' - dslreports.com

Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Wed, 02 Jan 2013 17:33:31 EDT

anon posted : A 9.0% increase on my bill this month...ROFL. Just hung up from CS and told them to pull the plug(cable cut) on the TV side....that's just to start with.

Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Tue, 01 Jan 2013 06:24:05 EDT

RR Conductor posted :

said by Johkal:

DSL in your area is pitiful. I just checked the Windstream offerings and have the following:

3Mbps - 47.99 w/phone - 49.99
6Mbps - 49.99 w/phone - 51.99
12Mbps - 52.99 w/phone - 54.99

Not so bad.

Lol Yeah, true :D AT&T does have a lot faster DSL via UVerse in Ukiah, Willits, etc, but we're too far from the CO (located in Calpella, only about 2 physical miles from our house, but 20,000+ cable feet), which is why we are only being offered the lowest tier, I am betting they finally put in Remote Terminal's around us last summer, otherwise we still wouldn't have DSL available.
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Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 17:55:50 EDT

jaynick posted : Exactly! ;)
Actually when I first got Blast it was 16/2 for $62.95 then for some reason it went down to $58.95, then we got upgraded to D3, 25/4 provisioned. So if in February I get an increase, I don't think it will be that painful.

Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 16:48:36 EDT

Johkal posted : Agreed!

Here's an example:
In 1980 I paid $7000 for a new Z28 Camaro
Minimum wage was $3.35

2012 Camaro moderately priced is $35000

Percentage 1980 to 2012 is 5x

So according to this, minimum wage should be $16.75 (Don't we wish)

Hmmm......Cable doesn't seem so bad compared to this.
--
In God we trust; all others bring data!

Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 14:56:57 EDT

jaynick posted :

said by Seeley:

Self-serving GREED is the obvious answer. They can raise the rates with no remorse.

And what about the oil companies, gas, power, Telco, Auto, groceries etc. ?

Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 12:37:37 EDT

Seeley posted : Self-serving GREED is the obvious answer. They can raise the rates with no remorse.

Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 12:35:01 EDT

outatyme posted : My Bill in Tallahassee, FL went from $54.95/mo to $74.95/mo starting 01/2013 for blast! 25/5 service (no cable/voice).
Would be fine with this price if they would push through the 50/10 / 50/15 upgrade but otherwise I cannot see why I am incurring a $20/mo ($240/yr) (27%) price increase....

Subnote: They should also increase the usage cap by a ratio to the provisioned speed... so markets with 50/10 / 50/15 blast should get more cap since they can eat more bandwidth in the same amount of time.

Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 11:08:56 EDT

plencnerb posted : Yup, you are correct. I apologize for saying your math was wrong. :)

Did not think that a 3 dollar increase would equate to 6.13%, but it does! :o

--Brian

Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 10:36:58 EDT

camper posted : What is interesting about these rate increases is that Comcast's earnings per share increased over 130% this past quarter.

Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 10:31:15 EDT

mustang50 posted : Be prepared...it was 58.95 but next month it's 61.95.
And we're still half as fast as the northeast... :huh:

Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 10:00:45 EDT

camper posted :

said by plencnerb:

said by camper:

I just got a new bill. My HSI is going up over 6%.

I think you may want to check your math, or figure things out again.

New price: $51.95
Old price: 48.95

Percent increase: 6.13%

My math is fine. :)

Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 09:56:24 EDT

Johkal posted : DSL in your area is pitiful. I just checked the Windstream offerings and have the following:

3Mbps - 47.99 w/phone - 49.99
6Mbps - 49.99 w/phone - 51.99
12Mbps - 52.99 w/phone - 54.99

Not so bad.
--
In God we trust; all others bring data!

Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 09:33:27 EDT

RR Conductor posted : DSL just became available at our place this summer from AT&T, but it's the slowest package they have, 768 Kbps, not even worth the 20 bucks they want for it. There are a couple of WISP's here too, but we can't see their sites due to forest cover and hills in the way, they're kinda pricey anyway. Then there's satellite HSI, but that's expensive and has those HORRIBLE FAP's, it's really just an option for those that can't get anything else. I think Comcast knows they have a stranglehold on good, fast broadband out here, and takes full advantage of the fact to keep prices high.
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Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 09:02:16 EDT

Johkal posted : My area is fortunate to be fed by State College, PA which gets all the bells & whistles & has the option of Verizon FiOS. That is why we get upgraded quickly, but unfortunately Verizon ends just about 5 miles down the road from me.

Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 05:25:39 EDT

RR Conductor posted :

said by AnonMan :

I don't think the prices would be so bad if they didn't jerk you for not having cable TV..

I agree! Before Comcast took over from Adelphia (who went bankrupt, and got split up between Comcast and Time Warner) here in Mendocino County, you got charged the same for HSI, regardless of whether you had Cable TV or not. We have Directv for our tv service, it's just a much better product here than Comcast's Digital Cable, at least for us.
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Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 22:15:32 EDT

wTheOnew posted :

said by Johkal:

I'm in the same boat as you. My only choice is Comcast or Windstream DSL.

My present invoice shows 29.99 (Promotion/6months), but my normal offering is shown above.

At least you're in an area that got the speed bump. I'm paying more than that for less than half the speed. It's depressing how expensive for the speed it is compared to a lot of other areas...

Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 22:05:34 EDT

anon posted : I don't think the prices would be so bad if they didn't jerk you for not having cable TV..

No cable TV so I have to pay close to 80 bucks for internet starting in Jan, but if I had cable TV it would be closer to 60...

And they claim they are not being anti-competitive with cord cutters. ha!

Yes the cost of upgrades has to cost them money and so does man power but guess what, I call BS on it all.

For starts, man power need is going down.
That was the excuse they gave the FCC to allow them to digitally encrypt ALL channels. Less techs needed to connect/disconnect users as they all get left hooked up now because no box = no channels. Now it's all handled remotely and automated. The encryption technology was already in use for other channels so no new hardware was needed for them to do this but they saved an a** load of money on man power cut down. Also saved on hardware because now filters are no longer needed to block channels. Guess what though, new customers often still get hit with a service or setup fee lol

Bandwidth upgrades? well yeah they have to keep equipment upgraded but at the rate they do it not like it matters, upgrading an CMTS hardware once every 5+ years doesn't hurt them. You know why? because with the high profit margin built into the already high cost for service they are already covering that, so in the end they have no true excuse to jack prices up saying it's done to keep things up to date and current due to costs etc.. Cost of hardware going down, cost of bandwidth going down, man power use going down. Prices, going up.

How can a company claim they have to raise prices to help provide the latest service and quality/speed etc when the execs are making record new profits every year? No problem being rich but wtf, you can't possibly spend all the money you have so why be greedy for more?

Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 21:34:59 EDT

Robotics posted : We did get D3 a few months back. But of course no one sees that unless they have a D3 modem which Comcast doesn't just hand out. You have to get your own.
I haven't been able to figure that out. Guess they have to run out of the standard ones first.
--
Long you live and high you fly, and smiles you'll give and tears you'll cry,
and all you touch and all you see, is all your life will ever be.

Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 18:22:40 EDT

pandora posted :

said by NetFixer:

Not yet, but I still have a year left on my original contract.

All business class HSI only customers who are past their original contract period just recently had their monthly fee increased by $10.00 per month: »business.comcast.com/smb/bcichanges

I just checked my Comcast business bill. Still $59.95 per month for the period between mid December to mid January.

Maybe the next bill will have the increase. So far, I'm glad not to have to pay more. A $10 per month increase wouldn't be so bad.

I provide my own modem, maybe that counts as an "extra service"??
--
"If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there'd be a shortage of sand." - Milton Friedman"

Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 16:51:45 EDT

Johkal posted : I'm in the same boat as you. My only choice is Comcast or Windstream DSL.

My present invoice shows 29.99 (Promotion/6months), but my normal offering is shown above.

Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 16:13:40 EDT

jaynick posted :

said by nrobot80:

Jaynick I believe WOW is in your area.

In my part of town I have no choices but Comcast or ATT DSL 1.5x384. No WoW here or dish or UVerse or anything else. Comcast around here has no competition whatsoever.

Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 15:38:41 EDT

insomniac posted :

said by nrobot80:

Jaynick I believe WOW is in your area. For Comcast, WOW is direct competition for them so they keep the prices for comparable services at a comparable price.

WOW is in my area. I recently called Comcast to get them to match WOW, and they did. I was totally prepared to leave Comcast for WOW, but now I'm saving $40/month without the hassle of switching providers. The catch is that I have to call back every six months.
--
If everything seems to be going well, you've obviously overlooked something.

Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 14:47:23 EDT

nrobot80 posted : Jaynick I believe WOW is in your area. For Comcast, WOW is direct competition for them so they keep the prices for comparable services at a comparable price. For the vast majority of Americans there are usually 2 options for wired internet service into the home, either your local telco (AT&T, Verizon, CentruyLink etc.) or your local cable provider (Comcast, Time Warner, Cox etc.) The price of getting that broadband signal into your house is going down. However the price of the manpower to deliver the signal to your home is going up. Employees of the big communication companies aren't making minimum wage, in fact some are living very well. Also keep in mind that when you receive the poor customer service over the phone it doesn't go unnoticed. I once was a tech at a large cable provider, I used to see first hand the revolving door of call center reps being hired, quitting or fired because of what they tell customers over the phone or not meeting sales quotas. The expense of hiring and training isn't cheap. When the new employees are hired they are getting paid as they go through training. Also think of the tech that comes to your home to install or make repairs on your service. Just to send that tech out is about $300 per truck roll. Don't let the tech do a lousy job, the next tech that has to come out is usually a senior tech making double of what the first tech was making, so that increases the overhead also. Let's not forget these people working for these companies are getting their services free or at a huge discount so they could care less if the price goes up, in fact they should be happy when the prices goes up because their paychecks go up.

I may be preaching the choir but the local monopolies that deliver TV, cable, and broadband services to our homes are getting away with highway robbery, why, because we continue to pay these higher prices for the crappy service we get. I for one will never allow the cable company I used to work for into my home because they provide such horrible customer service, and the reason I was terminated was bogus. A big part of the lack of competition for providers is your local franchise authority and the FCC. They are the ones who say what company can be in what area. In the 21st century TV, cable, internet can be delivered to the home via coax cable or through the telephone line. The only way to change this is to write our elected officials and let them know we need more options for internet and phone providers in our area. The US is the country that invented internet but we are near the bottom of the list of industrialized countries in terms of speeds we get but we are paying some of the highest prices for broadband per month. Countries in Europe and Asia have multiple providers that deliver fiber optic services to homes, people have a choice and they don't receive crappy service like we get here in the US. I could go on forever but I know someone has a rebuttal so let me know what's on your mind.

Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 12:36:53 EDT

Johkal posted : Does your area have the speed upgrades?

Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 11:52:25 EDT

Robotics posted : Yup we have gone up 2 dollar's plus here in Central Va.
This is the 5th. year in a row of price increases. Yet
nothing to really show for it. Actually fewer channels!
--
Long you live and high you fly, and smiles you'll give and tears you'll cry,
and all you touch and all you see, is all your life will ever be.

Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 11:29:48 EDT

mb posted :

said by GTFan:

...FCC and Congress have ignored.

They were bought and paid for long ago... Utilities that are monopolys and for profit that use the public infrastructure shouldn't exist, especially with lax regulation.

Internet access is no longer a luxury, it is a necessity.

Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 10:53:59 EDT

Johkal posted : Unlike Gasoline prices that are allowed to fluctuate by 15%+ and no one can do squat about it unless you want to walk, bike or use public transportation. If you want to take up a cause, fight the oil companies. ;)

Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 10:39:02 EDT

GTFan posted : The bottom line is that Comcast can raise rates whenever they feel like it, because in most markets they have no effective competition for wired HSI. It's the sad reality of a non-competitive 'market' that the FCC and Congress have ignored.

Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 10:12:41 EDT

tshirt posted : However their business is particularly sensitive to the things that did see high price increases (not necessarily inflation) examples are gasoline, copper, insurance (both for the business and employee benefits) plus acquiring and training qualified employees (something much complained about which they have been improving on for a few years, an expensive and unending task)

I hear people often say that data transport cost are dropping, which is true in the per bitover the backbone metric, but the average demand / usage per customer is multiplying faster than the normal buildout/upgrade cycle allows for meaning costly equipment upgrades on a shorter cycle for the last mile.

Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 08:58:58 EDT

andyross posted : I wonder: 20 years ago (1992-93), what did you pay to watch TV or for 'telecommunications' (phone!)

Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 07:53:11 EDT

RR Conductor posted : It's still a lot of money, to most anyway.
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Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 07:01:54 EDT

rody_44 posted : »adsl-cable.net/guide/costs.html Actually by country not near that bad granted its old but its the newest data i could find and puts the US in fourth place price wise.
I dont consider a two dollar or even three dollar increase excessive in todays market. Hell doesnt come near the price hikes of other utilities.

Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 04:16:57 EDT

RR Conductor posted :

said by camper:

I just got a new bill. My HSI is going up over 6%.

What amazes me is that the cost of data communications has dropped over the past years, yet Comcast seems to find justification for a price increase multiple times the rate of increase of inflation.

I was thinking the same thing, and if you look at the cost of similar speeds in other countries, it looks even worse.
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Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 00:59:34 EDT

plencnerb posted :

said by camper:

I just got a new bill. My HSI is going up over 6%.

I think you may want to check your math, or figure things out again.

For me, my HSI part went up 3.34%. If you look at the pictures above, my HSI part was $149.95. An increase of $5.00 is only 3.34%, per the math.

My total bill went from $198.56 to $206.33, which is an increase of $7.77. 3.91% of 198.56 is what is shown in the 2nd picture.

So, if yours went up more then 6%, then your total bill went up twice as much as mine did. That, from a quick calculation, is at least an increase of $15.54 ($7.77 * 2 = $15.54).

By the way, the pictures come from going to google, and putting in the following into the search box

"what is 3.91% of 198.56"

--Brian
--
============================
--Brian Plencner

E-Mail: CoasterBrian72Cancer@gmail.com
Note: Kill Cancer to Reply via e-mail

HSI Part Only Increase

Total Bill Increase

Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Sat, 29 Dec 2012 21:42:54 EDT

camper posted : I just got a new bill. My HSI is going up over 6%.

What amazes me is that the cost of data communications has dropped over the past years, yet Comcast seems to find justification for a price increase multiple times the rate of increase of inflation.

Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Sat, 29 Dec 2012 12:17:41 EDT

plencnerb posted : I took a look at my bill from November and my bill for December.

For me, my bill went up $7.77.

To figure out exactly where, I did some research using both bills. Here is what I found out.

Using the information on Page #1 of my bill, I have the following general areas that I am billed for

•XFINITY Bundled Services
•Additional XFINITY TV Services
•Additional XFINITY Internet Services
•Additional XFINITY Voice Services
•Other Charges & Credits
•Taxes, Surcharges & Fees

In November, my XFINITY Bundled Services(Preferred Xf, which includes: Digital Preferred With Ondemand, Video Equipment, Internet Service,Digital Voice Unlimited) was $149.95. For December, that part of my bill went up $5.00, and is now $154.95.

In November, my Additional XFINITY TV Services, which for me includes the following items and cost
• 1 Set Top Box and remote (free)
• 2 additional Set Top Boxes and remotes @ 8.95 each
• Mailed copy of the Guide @ $3.39.
Total for November: $21.29.
For December, the change for me is that Comcast has increased the rental fee for each additional set top box by $1.00. Since I have 3 boxes total, this part of my bill went up $2.00 ($1 per box), and is now $23.29.

No change was noted with my Additional XFINITY Internet Services which is the cost for me to rent my Cable Modem (Arris, TM722G/CT) from them. That cost remains at $7.00.

For November, my Additional XFINITY Voice Services has the following items in it and cost
• Univ. Connectivity Chg. - Recurring @ $1.34
• Regulatory Recovery Fees - Recurring @ $0.35
Total for November: $1.69
In December, the 1st item went up 4 cents, and the 2nd went up 1 cent. So, I have an increase here of 5 cents, and my total for this section is now $1.74.

No change was noted with the section Other Charges & Credits . I have a past due balance which I'm working on paying off. Each month that I don't pay the balance in full, I'm charged $8.00. That amount did not change between November and December.

For November, the last section Taxes, Surcharges & Fees includes the following items and cost
•TV Franchise Fee @ $5.41
•TV FCC Fee @ $0.08
•Voice Infrastructure Maintenance Fee @ $0.19
• State and Local Excise Tax @ $4.30
• 911 Fee(s) @ $0.65
Total for November: $10.63.
For December, the breakdown is below
•TV Franchise Fee @ $6.01 (increase of $0.60)
•TV FCC Fee @ $0.08 (no change)
•Voice Infrastructure Maintenance Fee @ $0.19 (no change)
• State and Local Excise Tax @ $4.42 (increase of $0.12)
• 911 Fee(s) @ $0.65 (no change)
Total increase in this section was $0.72, so my total for December in this section is now $11.35.

Again, the biggest change was the $5.00 increase in my actual service. The rest of the increase ($2.77) comes from changes in Taxes, Fees, and Set Top Box rental.

--Brian
--
============================
--Brian Plencner

E-Mail: CoasterBrian72Cancer@gmail.com
Note: Kill Cancer to Reply via e-mail

Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Sat, 29 Dec 2012 11:26:20 EDT

jaynick posted : Blast is still $58.95 here. I looked at January's bill and no increase yet. Seems to be different for various markets.

Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Sat, 29 Dec 2012 11:21:00 EDT

anon posted : It's going up nation wide with the exception of people on promotion or contract.

Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Sat, 29 Dec 2012 10:56:16 EDT

polarisdb posted : In my corner of New England bundled Economy Plus, Performance, Blast, and Extreme 105 are all going up by $3 per month in January 2013.

Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Sat, 29 Dec 2012 08:56:43 EDT

andyross posted : In Chicago, the bundled price is going up $3. Unbundled goes up $2.

Other than enabling upstream bonding, which CAUSED problems with many modems, there has been no real enhancements. I'd bet much of that money is paying for ESPN3 and similar 'access if your ISP pays us' type sites.

Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Sat, 29 Dec 2012 08:46:27 EDT

tshirt posted : Most areas seem to be going up by $2 with a few (where was a thread about Chicago I believe, (hardly rural ;)) ) going up by $3.

the usual cost of living stuff, I suppose

Re: [Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Sat, 29 Dec 2012 06:11:46 EDT

NetFixer posted : Not yet, but I still have a year left on my original contract.

All business class HSI only customers who are past their original contract period just recently had their monthly fee increased by $10.00 per month: »business.comcast.com/smb/bcichanges
--
We can never have enough of nature.
We need to witness our own limits transgressed, and some life pasturing freely where we never wander.

[Bill] Is anybody else's HSI going up?

Sat, 29 Dec 2012 04:38:53 EDT

RR Conductor posted : Not too long ago our Blast! went from $68.95 to $72.95, and now it's headed up to $74.95, with no explanation why either :(

"High Speed Internet 01/05 - 02/04 62.95
Blast! Internet Svc 01/05 - 02/04 10.00
Includes Powerboost
Total XFINITY Internet $72.95

Important Account Information-

Effective January 1, 2013, new prices will apply to certain
services as indicated below. Performance (Internet service only)
$62.95 to $64.95, Blast! (Internet service only) $72.95 to $74.95,
Home Security Warranty $3.95 to $4.95."

From our new bill. They really take advantage of rural, low to no competition areas like ours.
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