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courty3210
join:2004-03-29
Wilmington, DE

courty3210

Member

[Price] Comcast is Fee'ing me to death

I've always had 2 digital converters and HD and have paid 15 bucks (very happy with this price and service). This month they billed me an HD fee and Additional Outlet fee which more than doubled my bill? Does everyone pay these fees?

XFINITY TV

Basic
$13.15
03/03 - 04/02

HD Technology Fee
$9.95
03/03 - 04/02

Digital Adapter
$0.00
03/03 - 04/02

Additional Outlet
$5.98
03/03 - 04/02

Total XFINITY TV $29.08

Other Charges & Credits

Broadcast TV Fee
$3.00

Total Other Charges & Credits $3.00

Taxes, Surcharges & Fees

TV
Franchise Fee
$2.21
FCC User Fee
$0.08
Utility Tax
$0.80
Total Taxes, Surcharges & Fees $3.09
JoeHemi
join:2011-05-06
united state

JoeHemi

Member

[Price] Re: Comcast is Fee'ing me to death

Now that they'll be classified as a utility, you can expect another tax/fee added.

telcodad
MVM
join:2011-09-16
Lincroft, NJ

telcodad to courty3210

MVM

to courty3210
said by courty3210:

This month they billed me an HD fee and Additional Outlet fee which more than doubled my bill? Does everyone pay these fees?

Here are the "Taxes, Surcharges, Fees & 'Other' Charges" from my last bill:

TV

Additional Outlets $39.80

Digital Adapter Outlets $8.97

Digital Adapter Outlet $2.99

Franchise Fee $1.02

State Sales Tax $0.94

FCC User Fee $0.08

Monthly State Assessment $0.32

Voice

State Sales Tax $1.95

911 Fee(s) $0.90

Other

Univ. Connectivity Chg. $0.95

Regulatory Recovery Fees $0.11

 
TOTAL ADDITIONAL CHARGES: Another $58.03 added to the advertised triple-play package price (HD is already included).
telcodad

1 recommendation

telcodad to JoeHemi

MVM

to JoeHemi
said by JoeHemi:

Now that they'll be classified as a utility, you can expect another tax/fee added.

Maybe my current "Regulatory Recovery Fee" of $0.11 will greatly increase, or maybe a new "Title II / Net Neutrality Impact Recovery Fee" will be added on.
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andyross
MVM
join:2003-05-04
Aurora, IL

andyross to courty3210

MVM

to courty3210

[Price] Re: Comcast is Fee'ing me to death

The HD Tech Fee is not supposed to be charged to Basic customers, unless it's something beyond Limited Basic (broadcast only.) Additional outlet is supposed to be for a second full box. DTA's are only $2.99 beyond the first, although, again, Limited Basic often has slightly different rules.
courty3210
join:2004-03-29
Wilmington, DE

courty3210

Member

Thanks a lot for the input, i'll give comcast a call.
courty3210

courty3210

Member

FYI, on a side note, I ordered Winegard FlatWave Air from Amazon for $80. I'm going to cut the cord. I'm about 35 miles from philly, but haven't had much luck in the past with antenna setup (fingers crossed on this new antenna type).

I watched the Winegard promo video talking about this antenna and it seems like they've cleared up a lot of the problems or getting antenna setup correct.

»www.youtube.com/watch?v= ··· vkhy1-_Q


This supposedly has an 80 degree range, so pointing should be easy, and the pre-amp or not to pre-amp guess work has been technically solved internally in the unit.

I'll post if things works out. If not, I'm back to calling comcast about fee's I shouldn't get!
JoeHemi
join:2011-05-06
united state

JoeHemi to telcodad

Member

to telcodad
Other states may be different, but where I am all public utility services are charged a 3.873% state tax. Depending on what city you are in, there is an additional city tax as well.

camper
just visiting this planet
Premium Member
join:2010-03-21
Bethel, CT

camper to JoeHemi

Premium Member

to JoeHemi
said by JoeHemi:

Now that they'll be classified as a utility, you can expect another tax/fee added.

 
I expect Comcast will continue to add/increase fees regardless of the Title II appelation.

Comcast was adding/increasing fees years before any talk of Title II even surfaced.

Although for some, it will be a case of post hoc ergo propter hoc.

PaulGo
join:2005-01-29
Gaithersburg, MD

PaulGo to JoeHemi

Member

to JoeHemi
The FCC specifically excluded the Internet from any additional taxes due to the utility classification under Title II.
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courty3210
join:2004-03-29
Wilmington, DE

courty3210

Member

Re: [Price] Re: Comcast is Fee'ing me to death

i've established my cord cutting success criteria once my antenna arrives today:

All towers are located 27 miles away at 40 degrees from my residence in Wilmington, DE.

Hopefully the terrain and trees don't cause a problem.

3.1 - CBS
6.1 - ABC
10.1 - NBC
12.1 - PBS
17.1 - PHL
29.1 - FOX
57.1 - CW
61.1 - ION
wchillman
join:2011-11-20
Gig Harbor, WA

wchillman

Member

said by courty3210:

i've established my cord cutting success criteria once my antenna arrives today:

All towers are located 27 miles away at 40 degrees from my residence in Wilmington, DE.

Hopefully the terrain and trees don't cause a problem.

3.1 - CBS
6.1 - ABC
10.1 - NBC
12.1 - PBS
17.1 - PHL
29.1 - FOX
57.1 - CW
61.1 - ION

Even if you are unsuccessful with an antenna, it still may be worth exploring the programs/channels that you can access via streaming. Cable's outmoded legacy linear TV with appointment viewing is obsolete now. They can see that the writing is on the wall and their sales people are quite aggressive in trying to prevent you from dropping cable TV. I'm not really into sports (so I'm really not the one to ask) but the Roku has many channels for subscribing to particular sports genre if that is something you cannot do without. We can access live TV via the Channel Pear website (but we don't use it that much) and use a Chromecast to cast it to our TV. This includes ABC news, Sky news, BBC ONE, NBC Sports Network, and many others. I think there may be commercials but that's the price you pay for live TV. We use a Roku to watch Nightly News with Lester Holt without commercials and other sources like The Young Turks that offer somewhat avant-garde video vignettes on newsworthy items. Other than that Netflix and Amazon Prime constitute the bulk of our viewing. We just don't have a need to keep up with the most recent episodes of popular shows but you can access them on-line (wise to use a VPN, though).
courty3210
join:2004-03-29
Wilmington, DE

courty3210

Member

Re: [Price] Comcast is Fee'ing me to death

so i've mocked up my antenna install outside and am having moderate success.

i'm reducing my requirements:

i'm willing to take FOX, CBS, NBC, ABC (but only 3 of them are coming in). ABC is being a pest. TVFool is telling me all antennas are at 53 degrees and that's bringing 3 of the channels i want in, but to get ABC i need to point at 90 degrees. I'm so close to getting this working. Any suggestions?

telcodad
MVM
join:2011-09-16
Lincroft, NJ

telcodad

MVM


Wilmington DE OTA Stations
said by courty3210:

All towers are located 27 miles away at 40 degrees from my residence in Wilmington, DE.

3.1 - CBS
6.1 - ABC
10.1 - NBC
12.1 - PBS
17.1 - PHL
29.1 - FOX
57.1 - CW
61.1 - ION

said by courty3210:

so i've mocked up my antenna install outside and am having moderate success.

i'm reducing my requirements:

i'm willing to take FOX, CBS, NBC, ABC (but only 3 of them are coming in). ABC is being a pest. TVFool is telling me all antennas are at 53 degrees and that's bringing 3 of the channels i want in, but to get ABC i need to point at 90 degrees. I'm so close to getting this working. Any suggestions?

Well, the problem with your ABC station, WPVI, may be that it is transmitting from another site than those others.

I see that it also transmits on Low-VHF RF Channel 6. This is difficult for many of the newer "HDTV" antennas to receive because most of them are designed for receiving the High-VHF and UHF frequencies that most OTA stations transmit on now.

Note that while the CBS station, KYW, labels itself as "Channel 3," it actually transmits at UHF on RF Channel 26, so the "HDTV" antenna has no problem receiving that one.

I have the same problem trying to receive the new NYC Me-TV station, WJLP on RF Channel 3, even though I have an outside antenna also (»www.channelmasterstore.c ··· 2018.htm), but with its shorter elements, it's designed to only receive RF Channels 7 and above.
telcodad

telcodad

MVM

said by telcodad:

said by courty3210:

ABC is being a pest. TVFool is telling me all antennas are at 53 degrees and that's bringing 3 of the channels i want in, but to get ABC i need to point at 90 degrees. I'm so close to getting this working. Any suggestions?

Well, the problem with your ABC station, WPVI, may be that it is transmitting from another site than those others.

As far as trying to position that Winegard FlatWave Air antenna to receive all 4 stations, here is a video I found about that:

Winegard FlatWave Air - Outdoor Antenna Positioning

»www.youtube.com/watch?v= ··· pa4IPJ5A
courty3210
join:2004-03-29
Wilmington, DE

courty3210

Member

I was successful in getting my requirement stations to all come in, but i had to move the antenna into the middle of front yard. Needless to say this isn't a permanent solution, but at least my proof of concept testing is looking good. The signal issues seemed to resolve when I moved the antenna away from the house. I'm wondering if i mount the antenna at the top of the chimney (about 25ft above ground level) if i'll get my desired result.

I wish there was a good forum where you could read local stories about other people and their antenna mounting tactics based on local areas.

3.1 - CBS
6.1 - ABC
10.1 - NBC
12.1 - PBS
17.1 - PHL
29.1 - FOX
57.1 - CW
61.1 - ION

NAM
Premium Member
join:2004-09-09
Cochranville, PA

1 recommendation

NAM to courty3210

Premium Member

to courty3210
Click for full size
Your not going to get 6ABC without a VHF LO antenna that far out. I'm also at 36 Miles out. Most flat antennas are UHF only. Probably going to need a 72in dipole to pick up channel 6. You'll also need a UHF/VHF combiner as well. It's a PITA. Added one to my UHF antenna.
NAM

NAM to courty3210

Premium Member

to courty3210
Glad you got 6ABC. If your antenna is not VHF and is UHF only, I can almost guarantee you will have problems with it. I would have frequent dropouts and would lose signal completely sometimes overnight.
NAM

NAM to courty3210

Premium Member

to courty3210
»www.avsforum.com/forum/4 ··· ota.html

telcodad
MVM
join:2011-09-16
Lincroft, NJ

telcodad to NAM

MVM

to NAM
said by NAM:

Your not going to get 6ABC without a VHF LO antenna that far out. I'm also at 36 Miles out. Most flat antennas are UHF only. Probably going to need a 72in dipole to pick up channel 6. You'll also need a UHF/VHF combiner as well. It's a PITA. Added one to my UHF antenna.

Yeah, Antennas Direct used to make a "V4 Low Band VHF TV Antenna" »www.antennasdirect.com/s ··· nna.html but it's now been discontinued.

However, the similar AntennaCraft "Lowband VHF Yagi TV Antenna" (model Y5-2-6) is still available from SolidSignal: »www.solidsignal.com/pvie ··· p=y5-2-6
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wchillman
join:2011-11-20
Gig Harbor, WA

1 edit

wchillman

Member

Re: [Price] Re: Comcast is Fee'ing me to death

said by rody_44:

... im sure not willing to live with them little bit of channels you get. I pay them fees and have netflix, hula and amazon.

The Roku's more than 2,000 channels are hardly a "little bit of channels" but when you add Netflix and Amazon Prime to the mix there is just not enough time in the day to watch it all. No need for cable TV for us.
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rody_44
Premium Member
join:2004-02-20
Quakertown, PA

1 edit

rody_44 to wchillman

Premium Member

to wchillman

Re: [Price] Re: Comcast is Fee'ing me to death

They all basically have the same thing. Netflix does have house of cards but this season sux and to be honest house of cards is the only reason i kept netflix. Way to old of content for me. Same for hula. Now amazon i rent movies from them all the time. None of them would be a substitute for everyday viewing for me tho. I am tired of the fees tho. Just not tired enough to give up what i get out of pay tv.