Comcast is Still Charging Some Modem Owners a Rental Fee → Really news?

I realize this is a big problem with Comcast, and I have personally been bitten by these "re-appearing" fees more than once. But is the fact that Comcast is "still" doing this even news? I'd rather see an article about Comcast succeeding in not charging bogus fees; that would be news.

I figure if I can get two people to switch to an owned modem, or help three people prevent getting charged $10 a month covertly, it's worth posting.

yeah i suppose.

It is a smart thing to lease a modem. Not only are you getting ac compatible equipment but they will swap it if it ever goes bad free of charge.

Amazon recently had the Motorola SB6121 on sale for $42. ($60 normal)
How is paying $10 a month to rent one a "smart thing"?

That said, I've found the easiest way to avoid the Comcast rental fee for owned modems is to use Zoom 5341. (~$70) They are smaller and more streamlined looking, but more importantly, Comcast doesn't issue them, at least in any of the markets I work on. So customers don't have to jump through hoops and provide receipts to prove the modem is not owned by Comcast.

I feel like this must be a satirical account.

My parents modem is 9 years old. I got it for free (if you remember at one time they were FREE). $70, $70 rebate. How we forget. Even then I think rental was $2/month.

At $10 a month, that free modem would have cost over $1,080. So $1,080 versus $0. Seems smart to me.

I personally give cable modems for XMAS to family members when I find out they are renting. I feel it is the gift that keeps on giving. It's taken a few years but I think I have successfully stunted TWC and Comcast bottom lines by thousands.

And a new moto (arris) has a 1 year warranty. Use an AMEX and 2 year warranty. Still way ahead.

I have never heard of anyone who bought their CM go dead. I am sure it happens, but think of this. You can get a Arris 6141 for like $70. Comcast probably pays $40 for them and has a depot program, and they are charging you $10 a month.

The only company I can think of off the top of my head that fleeces to that extreme is

1. Rent a center
2. Payday lenders
3. Shylocks

Yes, Comcast is in the ghetto. In fact, I think you would get a much better deal going to a shy and paying a 30point vig, by far. At least a RAC you eventually own your equipment. Damn...

There is no excuse for this sort of error. When I was charged a modem rental fee for my owned modem by Adelphia, I initially had trouble finding my receipt. When I asked a Motorola CSR how to prove I purchased the modem, the CSR pointed out that it would be not be hard for the ISP to determine how the modem was acquired. They sent me an email indicating the modem was sold to BEST BUY to be resold.

I was told by the Motorola CSR that each company that manufactures cable modems keeps a list by serial number of what sales channel each modem was sold through, an ISP to be rented or a retail store to be resold. All ISP's have access to that list. It is amazing how quickly Comcast can claim a customers modem was "stolen" while they cannot use the same method to determine the modem was purchased by a retailer for resale to the end user.

In my case I found the receipt but still had to jump through hoops to get the rental fee removed. Adelphia not only demanded a copy of my receipt from the retailer, indicating I had purchased the modem, but the receipt I received from Adelphia when I returned the modem originally supplied when I subscribed to broadband service. I have been told that a customer that had rented a modem and then replaced it with a purchased modem was most likely to have the rental fee, added to their bill even though they owned their modem.

No matter how old this subject is, yes it is still news. Why? Because Comcast is still doing this just like you said. It's wrong and still no one steps in to put a stop to it despite how many years they have been doing this.

If Comcast wanted to fix this problem, it would have been fixed many many years ago.

Arris has recently upgraded the warranty on all modems to where you get a 2-year warranty.

You don't even have to have a brand new modem. I got my SB6141 replaced that was almost 2 years old due to a dead Ethernet port.

Only bummer is they demand customer pays return shipping which was $7.82 USPS, which funny enough is slightly less than Atlantic Broadband's $8 rental fee.

Failing to read your bill does not make Comcast's actions "covert".

Well I guess that depends if you keep service longer then 6-12 months, as modems are around $60-$120, so if you keep cable for more then 1 year, the lease fee is more then it cost to buy the modem. No, it's not a good deal.

True. They Comcast's actions are closer to overt. Or sheer negligence.

Either way, it's wrong, and needs to stop.

No, surreptitiously adding false rental charges for personally owned equipment does.

Okay, how about the people who read their bill, called Comcast, and couldn't get the charge taken off for months? Comcast's fault all the way around.

I guess define "dead." If it's "dead" as in "can't be used," that happened to me. One day I unplugging/repowering my CM. It would not go back online, some firmware incompatibility problem after a CMTS upgrade. I had to take it back to Best Buy and have them swap it.

If you mean "dead" as in "does nothing," "won't find any channels," or "no lights at all," well, no, I haven't had one fail that badly. I still have a Moto SB5100, which the only reason I took it out of service is I wanted an IPv6 compatible modem for World IPv6 Day, or any subsequent IPv6 implementation.

I think we can lump Comcast and Verizon in the same pile. Verizon tried to charge me a rental fee for the "free" modem for the "free" upgrade they promised me.

Luckily for me, I have the time to be able to hound them about their incompetence. It has taken me no less than 13 calls to get VZ to properly implement what should have been a simple speed upgrade along with the associated billing errors. I am sure all sorts of red text appears on their monitors when I call in.

Part of the problem with VZ is none of their representatives or supervisors ever were able to pass a basic math course, nor do any of them know a thing about Basic Accounting Principles. Perhaps I am the problem though, since I never went to college. Apparently in college, they teach students that when a Credit is issued one month, the Credit needs to be Debited the next month. Also the Verizon definition of "free" is apparently, "something a Company or one gives to another with no upfront compensation, then about two weeks later send a Bill for it and see if they notice. If the Customer pays it, keep the money for as long as possible and enjoy the frustration that inevitably ensues when attempts are made to get a Refund. To really ramp up the anger, try to get the Customer to understand how the promise that was made is never made in the first place, never would be. Explain to the Customer how a Contract doesn't really mean what it says, because the Company can change the terms of the Contract - specifically the price - any time within the terms of the Contract, either before, during or after. Patiently explain that Credits can take several Billing cycles to appear, but the Customer must never pay a Bill after the Due Date.

Above all, apologise profusely - yet never carry out any of the actions to correct obvious oversights.

At $120 a year, you are BUYING the replacement, easily, and maybe paying for 2 or 3 depending on how much Comcast buys them for. No wonder they're rolling in dough.

You can't even state that it's for support costs, since Comcast has to do basic troubleshooting on equipment even when they don't own it - how else are they going to find out what's causing problems? Unless they see you own the modem and shrug it off and blame you to avoid dealing with the issue...

This is as bad as Bell Canada charging people rental fees for phones even when they weren't providing them, claiming they were allowed to do it because of the agreement. Or charging for touchtone service when you can no longer get rotary on new connections....Some people are just born dishonest to the core.

I bought my cable modem for $76 in December 2012. If it goes bad tomorrow, I will have used it for 27 months giving me a "per month" rate of about $2.80. Even if I needed to buy a new cable modem every two years, it would still be cheaper than renting one from Comcast for $10 a month. You could buy a new cable modem every year and STILL save money over Comcast's rental fees.

Even if the CEO of Comcast is Jewish it doesn't mean he speaks for the entire Jewish people. I'm Jewish. Should I get blamed as well because Comcast is headed by someone who is Jewish and engages in dirty business practices? What about all of the businesses who are headed by Christians who engage is shady dealings? Are we going to paint all Christians with the same brush because a couple of them commit fraud?

In NY a Shy is a loan shark across the spectrum.

Comcast is at fault, regardless, but if you don't balance your personal books, you're contributing to your own demise.

This is blaming the victim. The actions are indefensible. I suppose you think people who get defrauded by shucksters are also at fault? Or rape victims? What about people who have homes broken into, their fault for not having a more secure home? Geez.

Range on the comcast cisco xb3 is by far greater than any combo on the market. Add a ac3200 and you could literally sell WiFi to your whole neighborhood. After your crappy surfboard or laughable zoom go out every year and you ha e to buy one to be docs is 3.1 compatible you will see the benefits of renting. I might pay $120 a year but my WiFi has never been down. And I get 305 mbs hardlined. I can also use my WiFi on my morning jogs. Sometimes who have to invest a little more to be on top.

At 10 bucks a month i can understand that feeling. It kind of like sitting back and saying WTF are these people thinking paying that much.

Thought I would throw some information out there to everybody. According to the meeting we had this morning with vice presidents and CEOs. All customer account executives for Comcast Xfinity Time Warner Cable and charter which ARE Comcast subsidaries will no longer be using overseas Customer Account Executives. All CAES will be mainstreamed in either Atlanta or Heartland Chicago. Comcast will soon have fiber to the home in all metro Atlanta areas and offer multi gigabit speeds. We are also testing epon 10 for docs is 3.0 which should be available by the end of the year. This will offer 10 gbs to any fiber to home location. Also after closing the deal with the new braves stadium xfinity will have the first 600 tbs pipeline. Yes I said 600 terabytes per second. This will allow all 41000 fans to be able to download the whole 1995 world series in HD without buffering or blockage. Comcast is leading the way in Internet and cable by being light years ahead of its competition.