Unlimited bandwidth...jk

[djwl29]

Recently I was approached by an outside sales rep from comcast, he pitched his X1 package with 105 Mb/s down and most notably unlimited bandwidth for triple play customers. My interest was not so surprisingly piqued. So I give my rep a battery of questions with focus being is the bandwidth truely unlimited. This is a dealbreaker for me as netflix uses around 3GB /HR and is my predominant tv watching avenue. Typically netflix runs for an episode or so after I fall asleep blah blah blah I use a ton of bandwidth. So we place proceedings on hold and he goes and does his research. Comes back to me a while later as confident as a peacock in full show. Yes its unlimited 110%. So Im sold. Excellent lets get that in writing and schedule an install.
Done.

Tl;dr sales rep said I had unlimited bandwidth. 100% sure.

So they do the install and at install we sign a document that breaks down all the services and additionally states bandwidth limits will not apply so long as im in triple play ( this was a hand written notation in a spot specially formatted for such notation ) this doc has all the jargon for a contract 3 day guarantee blah blah blah. Fast forward 10 days... sales rep calls me... Unfortunately we dont offer unlimited in your state. You have a 300GB cap...

Tldr sales rep calls 10 days after install informing me I have a bandwidth cap 300GB.

So I speak to his supervisor at his request. They offer me to talk with a business class net rep.. not a good option im paying 130 for 105 Mb all paid tv channels and a phone line... they want 130 for 50Mb and nothing. No further options. Next supervisor please.

He calls. No other options just tells me im not in a contract and that i will not be given the services I was cobtractually promised... I leave this call angry and mortified they have no further options. Havent spoke with them since friday at this point.

So other than to vent i turn my frustrations to a most notable selection of brilliant minds to see how you all would proceed. Im reticent to meekly bend over and accept the frailty of a metered connection but what else is there? Here is where I hope you folks will have some personal experiences or at the very least charming anecdotes to aid in this excellent display customer disservice.

 

[altrenda]

First of all, it's a cable company, so any hope of fairness or them doing the right thing is futile. They just don't care about their customers, and don't seem to need to.

At the least its a rep making promises he was not authorized to make, at the most it is bait and switch.

I am not a lawyer, but from similar experiences, since no money has changed hands, you really haven't been harmed, so there aren't any damages to sue for.

The contract may give them the right to cancel the contract within 30 days, so they may have the right to just void it. And it may have a clause that forces you to take it to arbitration instead of a judge. You can try to force them to honor the contract, but chances of winning are small.

I think the best you can do is try to get them to throw in extra features or lower the price. Or walk away.

Are you feeling Comcastic?

 

[glennd]

i vote for walk away. they will always find a way to shaft you. i don't even live in the country but i've read the horror stories.

 

[cypress]

Comcast never seems to have their crap together. Took them forever to fix an issue with a corroded line outside my house that was affecting some channels on my TV along with internet speeds.

 

[lcoughey]

At home, I have Rogers unlimited bandwidth by paying an extra $10/month because I have phone, internet and TV with them.

However, at work, I've got a 10M synchronous fibre connection that only gives me 60GB/month...for a whopping $295/month. If I want unlimited bandwidth, I can pay about $400/month more. I would only consider that if my monthly bill over overage fees were to be averaging around $700/month...to which they are not even close.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

First of all, it's a cable company, so any hope of fairness or them doing the right thing is futile. They just don't care about their customers, and don't seem to need to.

Show me a major ISP that does?

Doing this for nearly 20x years...including being authorized reseller and referral agent for many different ISPs...I can orate horror stories from all of them. And I can tell good stories from only a few of them, and Comcast is my favorite when I recommend/refer/or have to go do an install or call for troubleshooting.

As many of us probably know...when it comes time to call an ISPs support center...we typically dread it. Knowing it will likely be over-seas support and a frustrating accent/language barrier to deal with. When I have a Comcast related issue to need to call support for...I don't dread it, I typically have confidence it will be resolved rather quickly and painlessly.

I've had at least 6 different ISPs for my own residences throughout my life...and Comcast has been one of the better ones. (a very exclusive, high end, small, "performance" DSL company was the best). The one time I did have a problem in my own home...tech came out next day, redid the line coming in from the street, was great.

Luckily I deal with "business" support for ISPs on a daily basis, Comcasts business tech support is 1x state north of me...so pretty much local, and very helpful.

As far as being an IT business that needs to refer internet connectivity to our clients, Comcast has a very good "referral" spiff deal you can sign up for. We have those with other ISPs also...so it's not like I'm saying this just so pitch this.

 

[Screwloose]

I absolutely despise Comcast .... luckily in my area ( Chattanooga, TN. ) we have another option ( EPB fiber ... I have a gig pipe! woohoo! ) so as soon as they made this competitors service available to me I took it and have not looked back.

Let me be clear tho .... I did not neccesarily have any problems with uptime or anything like that. My beef has always been about how much they charge ( I pay $40 less a month with my new service and get faster speeds ) and the frequency with which they raise their rates .... and also whichever Comcast person came up with their pricing on changing a persons service to a new address needs to be tortured daily by professional interrogators ... imo

I would recommend checking into other ISPs if they are available in your area but other than that there probably isnt much you can do which sucks for consumers where Comcrap is the only option.

Good luck

 

[coffee]

Iam also not a lover of comcast.

Im sure it depends on what area you live as per service issues. However, Where Iam at its pretty darn bad. I cannot remember a time when comcast would come out the next day. Its always ---> "See you in about a week" if they even show at all. Its not like Iam in a small city isolated from everywhere either. All my clients hate them but your choice around here is either comcast or At&t. They are both pretty evil. I think its because they have such a hold on the market here.

Uptime and connection issues are ok with comcast its just their handling of paperwork and such is so bad. Heaven forbid I have to place a service call with them as Iam not even sure they would show up.

If Verizon would do their Fios here I would switch in a heart beat.

coffee