One of the primary reasons this blog exists is Comcast, Xfinity, or whatever the name is on our ridiculously high monthly payment.

I began sharing the issues we were having with this monopoly on Facebook and Twitter and was surprised to find others with identical complaints.

The issues are many and complex – we  will share them as we explore resolutions.

First though, is it Comcast or Xfinity? According to their own website:

Comcast and XFINITY. XFINITY is the next generation of revolutionary TV. With XFINITY TV, you get more free On Demand choices than with any other provider. You can instantly watch TV shows and movies in HD on any TV or stream them on your computer, tablet or smartphone.Aug 14, 2015

Huh? So, which is it? Does each service have a different name?

In our area, Comcast …. umm …. Xfinity … err …. Xfinity from Comcast … uh… well Comcast/Xfinity, is the only option we have for internet.  For television, the only
alternative would be to install a dish and that’s something we are not interested in doing.  The lack of competition doesn’t stop them from sales techniques that should be allowed only when competitors are available.

I intend to begin what I’ve threatened to do for years, file complaints. As I do this I will share all of the “how to” details about filing complaints, starting with state and federal anti-trust complaints.

Equipment

Beyond, or perhaps because of anti-trust concerns, service issues are numerous, from an “every-room” DVR that doesn’t work as described to their recent requirement that any equipment that is useless must now be dropped off rather than picked up when a service van is in the area.  Replacing useless equipment is something that should be their responsibility – they charge us monthly fees for equipment, they need to replace this equipment when it doesn’t work. Past practice was they come to your house, you leave old equipment and they pick it up and replace it if needed. – that should never have changed.

Basic Channel Options

Our choices for basic service have been decreased, television doesn’t rely on anteane signals anymore, so basic channel options should be more in tune with what we want. For example, there is only one network show I like to watch, it’s on in the mornings and our local affiliate is constantly preempting it with their own programming. Before we “upgraded” to HD service after buying an expensive HD TV a few years ago, we could simply switch to a network affiliate in a state that is very close to us.  Now those affiliates are only available via the lesser non-HD channels, and Comcast has not been responsive to adding these affiliate channels to our HD “line-up.”  In times of severe weather in other areas of our state, we are stuck with preemptive weather reports that go on for hours describing weather that doesn’t impact our area of the state. Weather reports from our neighboring state’s affiliate are more relevant. Response to numerous complaints about this seemingly simple issue have made it clear they don’t care about customer requests. They don’t have to, they are the only game in town.

Pricing

The prices they offer are inconsistent and referred to as “limited-time package deals.” If we forget that a particular deal was only for one year, we find out when the bill comes and there is a substantial increase.  Each time we get a new “package deal”  we have to include all kinds of channels we aren’t interested in, just to get one of the few channels we watch.  Last spring we were told that in order to watch the Red Sox (hey we live in MA this is a MUST) we had to purchase the most expensive package full of pay-channels we will never watch.

Fighting Back

We don’t want telephone service, but if we eliminate phone service, then we are told we will have to purchase television and internet service  “a la carte” and it will cost us more.

We’ve learned from others on social media that there are ways around the high monthly equipment rental fees, we simply have to buy our own equipment.  But Comcast is reticent to assist there, they want us to purchase a TiVo box that comes with a subscription fee.

This company is a large corporation that is not recognizing there are more and more alternatives to their expensive products.  We already have Roku boxes and sticks and a subscription to NetFlix.  We watch more television via Netflix than Comcast.

Red Sox season is almost over. The owners of the team have been unresponsive to fans this year in many ways and the team is suffering from their poor decisions. The ability to watch the team is no longer an issue for us.  So, it’s time for us to scale back, I will share what we do and how you can do the same.

Additionally, as I file complaints, I will share the process and links. This subject – Comcast/Xfinity – will have its own page on this website.

In the mean time, I’ve found this site for anyone who is interested in how to purchase alternative equipment and other ways to “Kill the Cable Bill.”

If you’d like to share your story about how you killed your cable bill, please send me an email with the words “cut the cable” in the subject line. I’d love to share others’ experiences.

This industry is fraught with price-fixing accusations and anti-trust complaints.

We need to fight back.

It’s our money.