Mikey D

Moving from Michigan to Maryland was an exciting and emotional time for me. It was the start of the next chapter in my life. I was saying goodbye to all my old familiarities in Michigan, and beginning in a new-old land (I used to live here...although it doesn't show by my directionally challenged ass). Leaving behind my friends and family was hard, but there were plenty of pluses by coming here to Maryland. I can further my relationship with Grace. I start my first real teaching job.

And I finally get to rid myself of Knob Hill cable television!!! Praise the Lord, hallelujah! For three years that poor excuse for a cable service has been making me curse more than when I watched a Detroit Lion's football game (that's a lot, especially during the Joey Harrington/Charles Rogers/Mike Williams era). Every time I flipped on the television a different channel seemed to be out of service. For a period of time a good fifteen channels were out in a row. Comedy Central was absent for the last year of our service. Fox Sports (home to our Pistons, Red Wings, and Tigers games) almost always seemed to be out of service during our teams' games. If we did get service (if you could call it that), it would be choppy and delayed. Not enjoyable to say the least.

But now I'm in Maryland! Now I get to enjoy all the benefits of Comcast cable and internet. No longer will I lose the channels I crave to watch! No longer will I curse at my television like it's some asshole that continues to piss me off (Kevin)! Finally, after three years, I'll be able to sit and enjoy television like it was meant to be enjoyed.

Except I'm here now, and I'm not enjoying it in the least. I kind of hate it a lot.

It all started my first day here in Maryland. On our move-in day the Comcast technician was supposed to install our cable and internet. We had made the reservation with Comcast a month earlier, and got a deal for cable and internet at $66. I was excited! On move in day, however, the Comcast technician did not show up. And when I called Comcast, they had no record of my account. No record, even though I made the reservation in person with a Comcast representative and filled out all the necessary paperwork. Apparently, "Sometimes the paperwork just doesn't get filed properly." Really? Ya think? Very unprofessional to say the least.

The next day I returned to the same Comcast I had placed my order with a month earlier. Not only had my paperwork not been filed, it was completely missing. So I had to place a new order. This time my cable and internet package came to $87, twenty-one dollars more than when I had agreed upon when I originally placed the order. Why was there such a difference in price? The person who took my order couldn't give me an answer. I was baffled.

Nonetheless I wanted cable, and I wanted my internet. We had both installed, and for the time being, I was semi-satisfied. Then Grace bought a brand new laptop which had a wireless card. Unfortunately we did not have a router installed with our modem, so she was unable to use the wireless card. I called Comcast to ask how much extra it would be to rent a router, and they said only $2 a month, and that all I had to do was go to an area Comcast headquarters to pick one up.
I thought that was reasonable, so I went back to Comcast. When I asked for a router, I was informed that they had no routers in the building. Apparently they don't just give routers to customers to rent. I had to have it "professionally" installed. So the customer service representative I spoke with obviously wasn't clued into their own business operations. Anyway, I told them I could do it myself, but they refused to give me one. So I asked them to come install it for me.

The kicker? Of the $87 dollars I was spending on cable and internet, $67 was for cable, and $20 was for internet. To add the router I would have had to pay the $2 rental fee per month, installation costs, and an extra $25 a month for the internet, bumping my total bill to $115 a month after taxes- all so Grace could use her wireless card. Instead Grace and I just went out and spent $75 bucks on a router, and that was that.

My question: How can Comcast be so abusive to their customers? Because they can? That's not a very good reason. They are gouging their customers on prices and offering the worst possible customer service I have ever seen. Their prices seem to vary daily, and they seem to try and get money out their customers for every little service they do. And don't think I'm an isolated pissed off customer. There are plenty:
http://www.seaofhumanity.com/archives/000329.html
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976857905
http://svcs.dvnt.com/~moose/comcast-sucks.html
http://www.ichbineinauslander.com/archives/000265.php
http://www.resellerratings.com/forum/t62844.html
http://www.bizmonthly.com/11_2003/18.html

My resolution is to now lose the Comcast. I will be ordering DirectTV, receiving the "Premium" package (every single channel in the world available to me) and the NFL Sunday Ticket (every single NFL game every week) for the same price I pay for my 2nd tier Comcast package. I will be going to Verizon for my internet, paying the same price I currently am ($20) to Comcast. Except I will be paying Verizon, and not Comcast, and that will make me sleep better at night.

I know I'm only one customer and Comcast could really give a crap if they lose me, but if people like me blog about how horrible Comcast truly is, then maybe Comcast's reputation will be slightly soiled and more people will turn away from making the same mistake I did.

The worst part about this whole situation? I long for Knob Hill cable. That's just wrong.

~Mikey D