Comcast, America's worst company? (Jacksonville, Memphis: rental, new house, movies)

[Robyn55]

Originally Posted by Florida2014

Just spend an hour calling into their customer service and I think you'd have a very different view. Yes, everything is great when it's working well but heaven help you if anything goes wrong. We are now dealing with non-functioning DVR services and it's been an absolute nightmare to get a hold of anyone in that godforsaken company who knows how to fix the issue or, really, even finding someone willing to help you and not transfer you around a half dozen times before you have to raise your voice, throw a few choice curse words at them so they know you're serious. It's a guaranteed bad mood when calling into them, I think that speaks volumes.

I hate talking to Comcast on the phone. Going to its offices too. That's true when it comes to most other companies I deal with as well. If you think it's a DVR box problem - just order a new one on the phone - and return the old one to a local office when you get the new one. If you think it's a system problem - about the best you can do is complain and forget about it. If you have some reason to believe it's a wiring problem (either street to house or within house - neither of which is likely) set up an appointment with an appropriate outfit (Comcast/electrician/whatever) and try to troubleshoot the problem). Robyn

P.S. DVRs are becoming kind of obsolete these days (as opposed to streaming wifi video).

[EricBoyd]

Robyn, does wifi streaming support time-shifting?

[Robyn55]

If by time shifting you mean you can watch whenever you want - yes - at least on Amazon Prime. Same as Comcast On Demand.

I think the easiest intro to streaming wifi is buying something like a Roku 3 box - $94 including an HDMI cable at Costco. Or perhaps the new less expensive Roku stick - which did or will be coming out this month. The new Roku looks like the Google Chromecast. It plugs into an extra HDMI port - and acts as your wifi receiver if your TV doesn't have one. Very easy to set up (hardest thing is entering that very long internet security code). Robyn

[EricBoyd]

Originally Posted by Robyn55

If by time shifting you mean you can watch whenever you want - yes - at least on Amazon Prime. Same as Comcast On Demand.

No, that's not the same thing. Here's a simple description of time-shifting: Time shifting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia With streaming devices, subscribers are at the mercy of the provider for available content, whereas a DVR/Tivo will allow recording of current programming, giving much more control of my scheduled viewing of desired shows.

[Robyn55]

Originally Posted by EricBoyd

No, that's not the same thing. Here's a simple description of time-shifting: Time shifting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia With streaming devices, subscribers are at the mercy of the provider for available content, whereas a DVR/Tivo will allow recording of current programming, giving much more control of my scheduled viewing of desired shows.

Got it. I find that some of my Comcast On Demand stuff (mostly TV food shows) is only available for a limited period of time (like 2-3 months). But it's not the kind of stuff I'd record now - and look at 6 months from now (I usually watch it when I'm in the kitchen or doing desk work). When it comes to movies - they're mostly on Amazon Prime. And I've only been using the service for 3 months - so I don't know if it's "here today" and gone 6 months from now.

As for my DVR stuff - I only record 2 shows a year now. Mad Men and Downton Abbey. Which I almost always watch within 3-4 days of recording. If I can get them through streaming (haven't checked yet) - doesn't make sense for me to keep the DVR. OTOH - my 95 year old father must have a zillion years worth of stuff recorded on his DVR. So - the DVR obviously makes sense for him. My husband is a third kind of viewer. He likes to watch his favorite movies 100 times. So I buy them on DVD. And - when he gets hooked on a commercial laden version on TV - I whip out the DVD (did that last night when he wanted to watch Forrest Gump for about the 60th time - I have a small portable DVD player that I can use wherever he cares to watch assuming it's not in the living room where the main DVD player is located). Guess a lot depends on personal viewing habits...

Robyn

[Why_Am_I_Here]

Originally Posted by JBtwinz

We switched to the triple play last year and it was a HORRIBLE experience......you could not imagine the runaround we received. Our only saving grace was we have an office right down the street and everything was taken care of with a real person. Customer service over the phone was virtually non existent. If we had any problems or questions we just took a ride to the office.......it was always a much more pleasant experience, even though we might have to back and fourth a bit.

Once we got past the initial problems and dealt with the office we were fine and have not had a problem since.

One thing we learned is the guys doing the installs are not really Comcast employees even though they are wearing uniforms and representing themselves as Comcast.

You are partially right...if the tech is in a plan white pick up they are a contractor and get paid by the job. The only Comcast employees that drive pickups (and they are clearly marked and obvious Comcast) are supervisors and quality control. True Comcast techs are always in vans...
Sadly, Comcast techs have to go in and clean up the messes that some contractors leave. I do it on a daily basis...

[SaintCabbage]

Originally Posted by Robyn55

Got it. I find that some of my Comcast On Demand stuff (mostly TV food shows) is only available for a limited period of time (like 2-3 months). But it's not the kind of stuff I'd record now - and look at 6 months from now (I usually watch it when I'm in the kitchen or doing desk work). When it comes to movies - they're mostly on Amazon Prime. And I've only been using the service for 3 months - so I don't know if it's "here today" and gone 6 months from now.

As for my DVR stuff - I only record 2 shows a year now. Mad Men and Downton Abbey. Which I almost always watch within 3-4 days of recording. If I can get them through streaming (haven't checked yet) - doesn't make sense for me to keep the DVR. OTOH - my 95 year old father must have a zillion years worth of stuff recorded on his DVR. So - the DVR obviously makes sense for him. My husband is a third kind of viewer. He likes to watch his favorite movies 100 times. So I buy them on DVD. And - when he gets hooked on a commercial laden version on TV - I whip out the DVD (did that last night when he wanted to watch Forrest Gump for about the 60th time - I have a small portable DVD player that I can use wherever he cares to watch assuming it's not in the living room where the main DVD player is located). Guess a lot depends on personal viewing habits...

Robyn

I would highly recommend the X1 platform if they are willing to upgrade you, it's radically better with the availability of On Demand content.

[Robyn55]

Originally Posted by SaintCabbage

I would highly recommend the X1 platform if they are willing to upgrade you, it's radically better with the availability of On Demand content.

There's different/more free content on the X1 platform (I get lots of On Demand content now - most of the free stuff is garbage)? It has pretty much seemed to me that it's at best a somewhat better way to get the same stuff:

Xfinity X1: How Comcast roped me back in to cable - GeekWire

Robyn

[SaintCabbage]

Originally Posted by Robyn55

There's different/more free content on the X1 platform (I get lots of On Demand content now - most of the free stuff is garbage)? It has pretty much seemed to me that it's at best a somewhat better way to get the same stuff:

Xfinity X1: How Comcast roped me back in to cable - GeekWire

Robyn

I would mostly agree with that, but the look and feel is considerably better, and it's a lot easier to get to the same stuff. It just brings it into this century and competes with other large providers. For example, I use the Sports App all the time, it shows all the scores and what channel they are on in the same UI on the side of the screen. Could I get this information before? Probably, but it would be considerably harder.

It also allows you to record 4 things at once and watch something else, compared to 2 shows at once and forced to watch one. We're a family of 5, so this makes a big difference for us as well.

For the same price, as an existing customer, why wouldn't you upgrade to X1? I did have to pay $30 for them to come out and swap all my boxes, but with the amount of time it saves me and how much easier it is to use, well worth it.

[Florida2014]

Originally Posted by SaintCabbage

I did have to pay $30 for them to come out and swap all my boxes, but with the amount of time it saves me and how much easier it is to use, well worth it.

Hmph. I am swapping out and upgrading my boxes to X1 and when I called them quoted me a $69.95 fee to come out, which is a requirement (you can't do it on your own, apparently).

This is on top of the nearly $100 fee to set up the original 3 cable boxes in our home, which they charge you separate fees per cable box, an install fee and then another "in-home visit fee".

I take back what I said earlier, Comcast is the worst company in America and on par with the devil himself.