Comcast GRR shocked at bill (Boston: home, buy, taxes)

[TAM88]

I look forward to the day when cable companies don't hold all of the cards. I wish they would offer an a la carte system where I chose and pay for only the channels I want. I don't need 80 channels with even a basic package. Doesn't help the fact that there is little competition either. Where I live I have one choice, Comcast.

If it weren't for sports, I would probably have cut the chord so to speak a while back. I only watch a dozen or so channels, not including sports, and that's namely because they're available to me.

[bUU]

Originally Posted by in_newengland

There's nothing to watch even if you get 300 channels unless you want cooking shows, restaurant shows, trashy "news" programs, murder and crime, sensationalist reality shows, and Spanish.

False. Every genre that has ever been presented on television is being presented today. It is the broadest array of programming ever presented in that venue. There's nothing wrong with making a personal decision that you don't want to pay the price for something, but misrepresenting what is offered, to try to make your point seem more valid than it is, is ridiculous.

Originally Posted by in_newengland

When they asked me what I watch I said, "Mostly PBS and NECN." They said, "You're not like most people."

They are correct. Moreover, "most" people actually don't agree about what they want to watch. That's one of the things that today's offerings does best: They have that something-for-almost-everyone thing. As someone with personal preferences that are even less typical than average, this is an aspect of the current system that is actually biased in your favor.

Originally Posted by in_newengland

I don't believe for a minute that most people want to watch trash, at least I hope people want something better than what's offered.

More people want to watch what you personally choose to call "trash" than want to watch what you consider worthwhile.

What's really interesting is that you mentioned PBS - one of the highest rated offerings in PBS history is an offering which some PBS snobs I know termed as "trash". Imagine that.

Originally Posted by in_newengland

There might be a few decent shows we would watch but we can't choose cafeteria style, we have to buy the entire package just to get one or two programs.

For most people, the "entire package" costs less than the several channels that they would want regardless would cost, if they were not discounted as part of a package.

Consumers simply don't realize or refuse to admit to themselves the true cost (and value) of the services they would want to purchase. That doesn't serve consumers well, since denial isn't going to magically make prices match consumers' unreasonable expectations.

Originally Posted by in_newengland

I recently did the whole satellite tv, Direct tv, etc. route to try to see what else is out there but I still didn't find anything that would work for us.

This is key... you need to find what word for you, without getting bogged down in trying to insinuate that everyone else in the world is exactly like you, or that kowtowing to you personal preferences should in some way be part of the life mission of everyone that might offer something to you.

Originally Posted by in_newengland

For now we actually found a box (to replace whatever we were renting -- in a thrift store) and we are considering getting Roku which starts at $50 total. Then we would subscribe to Netflix and would also have other channels available.

We unfortunately unable to go that route, ourselves, because those service offerings do not yet comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Reprehensible, but that's life.

[kingeorge]

Originally Posted by in_newengland

We've had Comcast for years and usually managed to take advantage of some special deal but you had to keep track of them because they'd say you were getting a deal but the bill would say otherwise. "Oh, sorry, we made a mistake."

For the past year we've only had the economy package, mostly to get internet. There's nothing to watch even if you get 300 channels unless you want cooking shows, restaurant shows, trashy "news" programs, murder and crime, sensationalist reality shows, and Spanish. When they asked me what I watch I said, "Mostly PBS and NECN." They said, "You're not like most people."

I don't believe for a minute that most people want to watch trash, at least I hope people want something better than what's offered. There might be a few decent shows we would watch but we can't choose cafeteria style, we have to buy the entire package just to get one or two programs.

I recently did the whole satellite tv, Direct tv, etc. route to try to see what else is out there but I still didn't find anything that would work for us. For now we actually found a box (to replace whatever we were renting -- in a thrift store) and we are considering getting Roku which starts at $50 total. Then we would subscribe to Netflix and would also have other channels available. We would use the Comcast package to watch the news and PBS, just as we do now.

This is the best I have been able to come up with.

With digital antenna you will have 5-10 channels free. Depending where you live you might luck out with even more. PBS is free and not something you need cable for. I am bit confused by your post. Hope it helps.

[in_newengland]

Originally Posted by kingeorge

With digital antenna you will have 5-10 channels free. Depending where you live you might luck out with even more. PBS is free and not something you need cable for. I am bit confused by your post. Hope it helps.

I'm not sure what digital antenna is but we do need the cable for internet. Internet without cable is about $70.00, if I remember from last time I checked. I live out in the sticks so I never considered going with an antenna but thanks for the suggestion anyway.

Mostly we just don't bother much with tv but my husband likes to watch the Rich Steves (?) travel shows and we both like Antiques Roadshow. We both watch the news.

[kingeorge]

Invest in good internet connection, for everything else there is a solution (as long you have internet). I know many people who watch your favorite shows without cable. I do understand that adding cable TV once you already have internet bill seems like not as much, but actually it does add up. My sincere hope is that in the next five years we will be free from a "internet connection" blackmail as well. Cable companies are banking on us taking the easy way instead of more creative/cheaper ways of doing things.

[bUU]

Precisely... that's exactly what Hulu Plus is. All you'll need to do is upgrade ($$$) your Internet connection, an up-charge associated with the added value you derive from using so much more bandwidth (what? you thought that you weren't going to have to pay for the value you receive? that's silly), and then $8/month for Fox, ABC, NBC, TBS, etc. programs.

[mdovell]

Here's a few things to consider.

See titantv.com or antennaweb.com to see what you can get with an antenna. If you have a hdtv chances are it has a ATSC tuner which means you can get most major channels. There's also some extra sub stations there you might like of older content.

If you are looking for sports pretty much all games these days are on the radio and have moved to FM. Might not totally help but it is better than nothing.

CBands still exist but to many it is largely hobbiest in nature. Google fta tv and you can sort of see that there are huge amounts of non profit, religious and foreign programming you can get but I would not say it is say like getting free movie channels.

There's fair amounts of free movies online (legally). Youtube has practically 500,000 or so movies. Some might have commercials, some are old, some are indy etc. Here's a reddit for what people find Full-Length Movies On Youtube I would also say that youtube also has some live content these days as well. Recently the world series of boxing was broadcast live (granted not in English). Smart tv's and boxes that create smart tv's (google tv, apple tv, roku etc) enable so much video content that there are already major studios making major productions online. Warner Brothers recently finished season one of H+. In addition I found out I believe every major fox affiliate broadcasts their local news streaming online for free. I can easily get content from Russia Today, NHK (japan), Al Jezzera, Deutche Welle, France 24 and the list goes on and on.

There's also Netflix for streaming, crackle, hulu and others...there's redbox if you use dvd's or blue ray
Let's not also forget you have the library. There's large amounts of dvd's and in some cases even blu ray

These are all forms of competition as some might think the ease of pressing a button here or there validates paying huge amounts. A growing number of people I know have dropped cable because frankly it is easier to do the same online and watch content without commercials.


For wifi there are plenty of places that have it in malls, mcdonalds, starbucks, schools, libraries etc. Wifi is what payphones were 35 years ago.

lastly is that a la cart might happen but here's the weird issue. Back in the day there were wide variety shows (wild world of sports etc) that took awhile for something to be on for a particular interest. What happened? Movie channel, sports channel, baseball channel, horror channel, golf channel, etc. More and more specific content. ESPN, Classic espn (reruns) and so on. Well the ratings for these is low to the point where consolidation happens and it goes back to where it was before. This is why some channels have resulted in good content - AMC with Breaking Bad, Walking Dead and MadMen while the scifi channel has nbc content (soap operas?!?)

[SoFresh99]

We ditched Comcast cable, kept the internet and bought a $600 tv that had hulu and netflix (for which we pay $15 a month combined) and bought an Ooma ip phone ($99 upfront and then we pay $3.50/mo in taxes). Our cable bill had been $185/mo so it only took us about 6 months to recoup our investment in cord-cutting and since then it has been gravy.

[Boston_Burbs]

Has anyone been able to find, over the internet, live Boston Sports that has an HD quality feed?

[BuyWithHeather]

Back to the original post, also keep in mind that the modern version of the Strongly Worded Letter is to call a company out publicly on social media. Comcast has a handle--@comcastcares--that responds to account holders' concerns. If you were to complain on Twitter and direct the complaint to them, you're likely to receive a call with a discount offer very quickly.

Also, we switched to FIOS, and our internet is faster, our channel selection is better, and our bill is about $80 less a month. Comcast's carrying fees for equipment (router, cable boxes, etc) is a bit high. Something to consider.