Comcast XFINITY TV → Re: Tiers of Hell - what happened to all the channels?

She's paying $58/mo for Internet and TV as part of some kind of package. I assume the Internet service is one of the lesser tiers.

Ok, check your bill. Sounds to me like you have Limited Basic/Digital Classic selected. It is not necessary to receive the Expanded channels (what you have missing) for about $40 less than you would pay otherwise. Most agents don't even pick up on it if you don't pay for these channels and treat it as a missing channel issue. The issue is the channels are probably trapped.

I don't understand what you're saying here. I know what a trap is, but are you saying the channels were never supposed to be part of this package?

It's odd, because she does get channels between 63 but below 100. Channels like Bravo are in that range, and I would have thought that would be blocked if she had "limited basic." I thought Basic Cable was just channels 2-13, what could be more limited than that?

I've never heard of the "Limited Basic" tier and can't find it on Comcast's website. Is this just one of those things they do to confuse customers? Why do I have the suspicion they gave her these channels for awhile so they could take them away and then charge to get them back?

Limited basic usually has about 20 channels (Local, educational, etc) and costs about $20 (+/- 20% depending on what town and whats included)

The FCC stipulates that this package MUST be available alone, and MUST be received by the customer to receive ANY other cable TV programming. Most cable systems go up to Ch 23 with Limited Basic, and can enable/disable frequencies above Ch 24 with a channel trap creating the optional expanded basic package.

If your area is ADS (digital simulcast) your box might have been receiving the digital versions (not the analog channels, probably trapped all along)...

If I had to guess, your box refreshed at some point and was set up with its proper channel assignments based on what you pay for.

No, the Internet service is about $42/month on its own here, so that means she's paying about $16/month for cable. Sounds like she's on limited basic and shouldn't be receiving cable channels.