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SeattleMatt
Streaming Tech Director
Premium Member
join:2001-12-28
Seattle, WA

SeattleMatt

Premium Member

[Speed] Extreme 105 Upgrade

Well, my employer offered to pay more towards my monthly internet charges - so I got in touch w/ my Executive contact to discuss.

After all this time, they still won't waive the $250 install fee. I told her - umm, it would take 9 months to make back that fee based on the increase in monthly cost to go from 50/10.

Seriously - it's 2013 - I could stomach footing a truck roll cost, but $250? Really?

I know it's to judge levels, etc - but mine are next to perfect.

Anyway - I doubt anyone's gotten around the fee - but there's no way i'm wasting that much $$$.

Chris 313
Because It's Geekier
Premium Member
join:2004-07-18
Houma, LA
·AT&T FTTP
·Comcast XFINITY

Chris 313

Premium Member

said by SeattleMatt:

Well, my employer offered to pay more towards my monthly internet charges - so I got in touch w/ my Executive contact to discuss.

After all this time, they still won't waive the $250 install fee. I told her - umm, it would take 9 months to make back that fee based on the increase in monthly cost to go from 50/10.

Seriously - it's 2013 - I could stomach footing a truck roll cost, but $250? Really?

I know it's to judge levels, etc - but mine are next to perfect.

Anyway - I doubt anyone's gotten around the fee - but there's no way i'm wasting that much $$$.

Some have gotten around the fee or so they said, but you have to keep flipping agents till you get one who axes the 250 fee.

The fee is what's keeping me from upgrading too. Why should I pay 250 for a "tech" to come out and make a phone call, which is what things would amount to.

If I'm gonna pay 250 for a guy to come out, he's gonna re-wire my home to my specs. That would be worth it.

tshirt
Premium Member
join:2004-07-11
Snohomish, WA

tshirt to SeattleMatt

Premium Member

to SeattleMatt
And that's what the fee represents.
For you 2 it might cost them $75-100 (truck rolls aren't cheap) but some homes might be an all day rewire plus line work, plus ???
Does it really AVERAGE $250, maybe not, but it also stops the 'looky-loo' upgrade for a month- get a free rewire crowd too.
I would bet that the ability of the "exec"s to waive depends on their track record as well as franchise area experience as to the upgrade churn rate....i.e. do upgraders (as a group) stay at the higher tier long enough to make waiving the fee a good promo. (making you call/beg for the waiver, makes you feel you got something special, no EXTRA gift cards/"free stuff" required)
videomatic3
join:2003-12-12
Pleasanton, CA
ARRIS S33

1 recommendation

videomatic3 to SeattleMatt

Member

to SeattleMatt
the only thing that makes me sick about the $250 to upgrade is they still charge it, and yet when they rolled around free speed upgrades, they just gave it to everyone for free, i had what was 50/15 at the time, they wanted to charge for the upgrade, when everyone got the free upgrade, i got bumped to 100/20 with no charge, speeds work 100% of the time all day every day

TheSRC
@comcast.net

TheSRC to Chris 313

Anon

to Chris 313
I just did the upgrade (9/26/13). The install fee was $250 plus $50 (I forget what the extra $50 was for). Total $301.95 for the upgrade. This consisted of the tech showing up and exchanging modems and calling in the serial number. The End.

Needless to say, I was not amused as the sales rep described all of these "things" the tech does when upgrading you to Extreme 105 (check the node, wire you directly to the node, make sure network handles speed properly, make sure existing Comcast security system isn't impacted, etc.) I asked the tech why he wasn't doing any of the things described by the sales rep he answered: Oh, that's just marketing hype! We don't do any of those things!!

I thought about it for a second and decided, I'm not paying the install fee for this. The rational was simple, I'm not paying for something that was not done! It took a few phone calls until I decided I had enough. Called the cancellation department directly and said "shut it down." I will not put up with what amounts to stealing on Comcast's part. All of the sudden, "we can understand your anger and will adjust your bill." Sadly, that was all talk as nothing was done to my bill. Another 5 calls until I asked directly for a supervisor and just put it out there that I'm tired of explaining the situation to the low level reps that don't have authority to fix the situation and simply want to shut down my service (Internet, TV, Phone & Security). Amazingly, it all magically got fixed in that call.

You (as a customer) should not have to deal with nonsense like this. Bottom line: if they insisted on charging the fee (even though they did none of things quoted by the rep), two things were going to happen, 1-I was cancelling all of the services they provided and 2-would have taken them to small claims court over the fee (would I have won, who knows with the way things are today) but the whole process made me so angry because it appeared that Comcast felt that they could charge the outrageous fee without actually doing anything to earn it. I never considered the possibly of dropping internet at home but I'm tired of companies just treating the customers with so little respect. Would I have missed internet at home if I had cancelled everything: yes, but I'm sure I would have eventually adjusted.

Johkal
Cool Cat
MVM
join:2002-11-13
Pennsyltucky

Johkal

MVM

Was the $250 disclosed up front?
Johkal

Johkal to SeattleMatt

MVM

to SeattleMatt
Click for full size
I just optioned the 105 upgrade & only see a $50 install fee.

TheSRC
@comcast.net

TheSRC to Johkal

Anon

to Johkal
Yes, the $250 was disclosed up front.

K3SGM
- -... ...- -
Premium Member
join:2006-01-17
Columbia, PA

K3SGM to SeattleMatt

Premium Member

to SeattleMatt
Hey, Sir Matt de Jeep, I still have my 150/65 Fios, in addition to my Comcast "Performance" 20/4 for at least a year.

No complaints with Comcast Internet at this point, but their TV service trial, was a 100% crash, burn, and total fail.

Maybe you might want to change your Internet service back a this point???

I got Fios on GPON, the upgrade only required me to buy a 1Gbps router, and they credited me back for it since then.
What exactly is Comcast doing for you today?

It's strange having 2 separate ISP's at once, I am conducting an experiment, but I have the same type of Actiontec MI424WR, Rev I. on both connections.
Yes it's 2 separate, and isolated routers.

Fios went out last night, for about 20 minutes, I simply moved an RJ45 connector from one router to the other one.

My home, but a mere 7 miles North of yours, has remained on Comcast ever since.

....and, in this case, nobody here seems to notice the difference...

I am currently looking into a "Dual WAN" router, so the fail-over is seamlessly automatic.

SeattleMatt
Streaming Tech Director
Premium Member
join:2001-12-28
Seattle, WA

SeattleMatt to TheSRC

Premium Member

to TheSRC
TheSRC-
What modem did they bring you? If I already have an 8x4 modem, I can't see what "better" they could be giving you.

I just recently bought an 822G off of eBay for $100 (yes, I got them to activate it for me - just used the walled garden activation page) which is working great. I'm not using a Gateway b/c I have Xfinity Home - and their Netgear router is the 1st hook off of the Arris. I then have an Airport Extreme supplying the rest of my home with wired and wireless access. I don't want another modem.

KA-
As you know, Wilmington was in the snow sweet spot yesterday! We got almost 8" of snow in 4 hours. As a weather geek, my head almost exploded. Oh - and 2-3" more tomorrow!

I'm totally happy w/ the internet - 50/10 kicks ass, but, I just learned this week I can be milking my employer for more $$$.

If they would accept me paying a truck roll fee (whatever it is now a days) - I'd do it. But $250 is ridiculous in this day and age.
I love the commercial right now w/ the old guy grabbing his FIOS "router". LOL. There is so much marketing spin in that spot I'm surprised Comcast can get away w/ it.

Oh well, I guess i'll just wait until the next speed upgrade happens. I'm sure it will eventually.

TheSRC
@38.113.88.x

TheSRC

Anon

Technicolor TC8305C was the modem supplied by Comcast.

Chris 313
Because It's Geekier
Premium Member
join:2004-07-18
Houma, LA
·AT&T FTTP
·Comcast XFINITY

Chris 313

Premium Member

said by TheSRC :

Technicolor TC8305C was the modem supplied by Comcast.

If you have phone service with Comcast, I can see why they swapped your unit, depending on what you had before.

Me personally, your tale reminds me of my situation, where I mentioned the upgrade consisting of a 250 dollar phone call, for nothing more then I could've done myself with no truck roll.

SeattleMatt
Streaming Tech Director
Premium Member
join:2001-12-28
Seattle, WA

SeattleMatt

Premium Member

Yeah, they basically just gave you the equivalent of the latest 8x4 EMTA gateway. Nothing special.

train_wreck
slow this bird down
join:2013-10-04
Antioch, TN

1 recommendation

train_wreck to SeattleMatt

Member

to SeattleMatt
fwiw, when i upgraded those same speed tiers, i didn't have any fees whatsoever. they just pushed a new config file to my SMC D3G & the bill is the same.
mario02423
join:2004-06-09
Berwyn, IL

mario02423 to SeattleMatt

Member

to SeattleMatt
Please, please, please check to see if Extreme "50" is available. I opted into Extreme "50" and didn't have an install fee. Those speeds are actually 105/20 (which is 120/22 at the Comcast Speedtest site) because of the recent changes in tiers... See other posts about this. My bill actually SAYS "Extreme 50" and my provisioned speeds are 105/20; again -- there was no install fee.

anonymoose
@comcast.net

anonymoose

Anon

Is 105 not available in all area yet?...I just moved to Virginia from Long Island and I must say so far I pretty much hate Comcast but thats besides the point lol...I have the 50/10 right now and want to see about the 105 tier but it doesn't seem to show on my comcast page...so before I give my self a headache calling them anyone know if 105 tier is only in certain areas as of now?

I have fios available right across the street because they are in houses but since I am in a townhouse fios can't get their act together to wire us up...seriously since I moved here I literally got every single person in the townhouses to agree we want it but fios doesn't seem to want our money
zecsmarquis
join:2012-06-26
Lafayette, IN

zecsmarquis

Member

As a former fios employee I can probably help a little bit. I had enough experience to know this is likely due to the management of your townhouse complex. Depending on the rules in your state FCC has regulations about the wiring and it is likely a combination of the management of your complex and them not wanting additional wiring. I can tell you Verizon makes the most money from MDU (multi-dwelling units) and would rather wire places like yours over SFH's. A signed document sent to their corporate office by all tenants is enough to warrant their attention. You may try talking with your townhome management as well.

anymoose1
@comcast.net

anymoose1

Anon

Sorry to hijack the thread OP...zecsmarquis I had the condo "president" do exactly that, we had a whole meeting about it...Verizon basically told us even though everyone wanted to at least have the choice here and therefore get wired up...they didn't have enough incentive because it wasn't a guarantee of every single person switching over.
zecsmarquis
join:2012-06-26
Lafayette, IN

zecsmarquis

Member

I would just keep bugging them. Eventually they will have a plan drawn up and create a special offer to sign up. I talked to customers that were in gated communities with an HoA for other providers for TV and they put fios internet in.

SeattleMatt
Streaming Tech Director
Premium Member
join:2001-12-28
Seattle, WA

SeattleMatt to Johkal

Premium Member

to Johkal

Taking Another Route

Well, none of my executive contacts will get back to me (odd) -

So, I took the route Johkal showed and just ordered it online.

Same thing - $50 fee (which I'm cool with), $79.99/mo special.

Submitted the order - received the confirmation email - and this is what it shows:

Professional Installation: Your services should be arriving between one to 48 hours.
No installation is required.

It said I was going to go to a subsequent screen to schedule it - but since I was logged in it never went there. I'll be curious to see what happens next.
SeattleMatt

2 edits

SeattleMatt

Premium Member

Well, that didn't take long...

5 minutes later I get another email stating my order has been cancelled.

Then, a subsequent email explaining that my order was cancelled because the services I requested are already available to me. Ummmm, no.

Jesus - this is such a fiasco.
SeattleMatt

2 edits

1 recommendation

SeattleMatt

Premium Member

Closing Out the Thread

Well, I at least wanted to close out this thread.

Talked with the Executive team this morning. It's really obvious they really don't want to sell this package.

I pointed out the $50 install fee that was mentioned online. Apparently that is only if you have all of your services at "regular rates". You can't be in a bundle, etc. I told her that was terrible wording (and not even clearly explained in the fine print), and she kind of agreed - but they would not budge from the $250 install fee.

Well, it took two weeks to get an actual answer - but there it is. Personally i'm disappointed b/c I wanted to take advantage of my employer offering me more expense payback each month - but I guess Comcast is just out for the fees and money - despite the fact I'm already paying them $270 per month. They'd be hauling in an extra $500 from just me each year - but, guess that's not palatable.

Meanwhile, over on the Brighthouse forum, their Direct rep Gary is offering to upgrade people to their new 90 down package right here on the site. A tale of two companies...

pclover
join:2008-08-02
Santa Cruz, CA

1 recommendation

pclover to SeattleMatt

Member

to SeattleMatt

Re: [Speed] Extreme 105 Upgrade

Typical comcast lol

Yet, Some people got an upgrade to 105 for free with no fee.
jhaygood86
join:2005-03-01
Hiram, GA

1 recommendation

jhaygood86

Member

said by pclover:

Yet, Some people got an upgrade to 105 for free with no fee.

I'm one of them. Upgraded to Extreme 50 right before the speed tier upgrades, and got 105 for free a week later.
St0ry
join:2004-02-16
USA

St0ry to SeattleMatt

Member

to SeattleMatt
When I'm logged into my account I don't even see an option to upgrade to Extreme 105 but when I'm browsing the site as a new customer the Extreme tier shows up. Odd...