Disconnecting from Comcast

[wilebill]

I finally called them today to tell them to cancel my internet services. The woman on the other end of the line was nice and even an American.

However, she tried to act concerned about the reasons why I was cancelling and was going to offer me some kind of promo service, but I told her it was too late, I'd already gotten DSL.

Then she told me that the earliest they could get someone out to disconnect my service would be on July 2. I asked her if they expected me to pay for it until that point and she said yes, because I would still have access to it. :smt103 Who's fault is that? Surely, it's not mine that they don't have enough people to cut my service off. What if they couldn't get out there for a month?

Anyway, I told her that I was not paying for any more service if it went past the current billing cycle. She said that my billing cycle started on the 4th.

Have I said lately that Comcast sucks?

[lilmssunshine]

I feel your pain. I disconnected my service on June 2nd, and I just got a full month's bill from June 15th-July 15th. Now, how does that make sense?? At least they tried to offer you a promo service. When I told them I was cancelling my service, they were like 'yeah, ok-whatever'. What ever happened to customer service??:confused:

[wilebill]

I feel your pain. I disconnected my service on June 2nd, and I just got a full month's bill from June 15th-July 15th.

I'd be damned if I paid it.

[Engelbert Humperdinck]

Until there is real competition in the cable/internet market, they don't have to give a rat's arse about service. But, it'll never happen.

[fuzzis]

So...you're telling me that I might want to call now to schedule my disconnect so that I don't get screwed into paying for it after I'm gone?

[pinkytuscadero]

I called about how SLOW the net has been running. He directed me to www.speedtest.com (http://www.speedtest.com) . I tested and he said that it was running about 4.5 mdkjjldfi and I asked if that was supposed to be good. He said yes but I could upgrade to 6 or 8. It turned out I'm paying for 6. I asked if I'm paying for 6 then how is 4.5 good. He did some more typing and then told me that I have 83 people on my node. That is the limit and they are all on at the same time. I asked him to please unplug some of those people and he said that he couldn't. I asked him when we would get another node, he said we wouldn't. So basically, it will never be better.:smt009

Wilebill, tell me about this DSL thing.

[Scarlett O'Hara]

You're not getting them to unplug me, are you??????????

[RedRocker]

That's the thing with cable internet ... the speed they list is the maximum you can get on your large local area network you are on. If you are on one that has few subscribers, it will scream. I have found DSL to be alot more flaky and prone to going down than Comcast. The problem with Comcast is that you only have ONE level of service, and I honestly do not need more than 1 mb/s to surf and read email. You can get 1.5 mb/s DSL for $32 + tax. What is Comcast now? $50? They should offer a reduced speed version for people who don't download all the time.

[Kitty]

Why do they have to send someone out to disconnect?

This is technology. Can't they just flip a switch? :smt105

Also, don't we pay Comcast for service in advance? In that case, lilmssunshine, I think you have a case for disputing your bill since you requested disconnection prior to the cutoff for your billing cycle.

[Kitty]

Wilebill and lilmssunshine, I believe I would drive over to the Comcast office on Lincoln Road and speak to a customer service rep in person.

[wilebill]

I asked him to please unplug some of those people and he said that he couldn't. :laugh:


Wilebill, tell me about this DSL thing.

We've had DSL at work for almost 3 years now and it's only gone out one time, when it was a system-wide problem. The speed is practically the same all the time, at least I've never noticed speed variations, unlike Comcast which is different practically every day.

Just go to AT&T's site and order it from there. It uses your existing phone lines. You plug a modem in just like Comcast and plug your wireless router into that, just like Comcast. The offer different speeds, which varies in price but even their fastest speed is cheaper than Comcast. With DSL it doesn't matter how many people in your neighborhood are on it, it won't affect your speed. The distance to the main switch (or whatever) will affect your speed, but I don't know how that translates to where you live.

[Fish-Bait]

ya'll know that comcast is the debil.

[Kitty]

ya'll know that comcast is the debil.

:evil::evil::evil:

[brianinms]

If you physically take your cable modem over to their office they will turn off the service immediately.

[wilebill]

If you physically take your cable modem over to their office they will turn off the service immediately.They told me to take it to them within 7 days of having it disconnected. :smt102

[brianinms]

They told me to take it to them within 7 days of having it disconnected. :smt102

They are smoking crack a tad early today it seems. Your cable modem has a MAC address located on a sticker on the back. That number is tied to your billing account which is probed when comcast sees your modem connect to their network. Once they remove the MAC address from your account your cable modem wont be able to connect. Thus there is really nothing to disconnect other then the modem itself and remove the MAC address from your account.

[Kitty]

They are smoking crack a tad early today it seems. Your cable modem has a MAC address located on a sticker on the back. That number is tied to your billing account which is probed when comcast sees your modem connect to their network. Once they remove the MAC address from your account your cable modem wont be able to connect. Thus there is really nothing to disconnect other then the modem itself.

So Comcast is scamming customers?!?!?

Shocked. I am shocked. :smt009

[JMC]

They are smoking crack a tad early today it seems. Your cable modem has a MAC address located on a sticker on the back. That number is tied to your billing account which is probed when comcast sees your modem connect to their network. Once they remove the MAC address from your account your cable modem wont be able to connect. Thus there is really nothing to disconnect other then the modem itself and remove the MAC address from your account.

true story right there.....take it to them and it's done with...there is no need for them to come to your home for this.

[needinfo]

Brighthouse serves our area and until recently they were the only game in town unless you had direct or dish. BH offered nothing really good in the way of promotions etc. We had it for about 8 months when we were in a rental and we bought our home and did not get it because it was so bad and CS could care less. We did call about it a couple times but just did not want the hassle. We used a \ / for 3 years until they got FIOS in our area. We were the first on the our street to sign up for it and almost immediately the neighbors had BH disconnected and got FIOS. I have heard some bad things about their CS too, but we have never had a problem. We have TV/Internet/Phone with them. When you look at the billing it is almost a sticker shock, but if you break it out as if you were paying for 3 seperate services and compare, then blood pressure comes down a bit.....LOL

[g8rfan]

I hope you told them I said to "suck it"! Got my DSL modem today! Kisssssss my arse Comcast!

[Engelbert Humperdinck]

They told me to take it to them within 7 days of having it disconnected. :smt102

Do you have to have a home phone for dsl?

[TheKing]

I finally called them today to tell them to cancel my internet services. The woman on the other end of the line was nice and even an American.

However, she tried to act concerned about the reasons why I was cancelling and was going to offer me some kind of promo service, but I told her it was too late, I'd already gotten DSL.

Then she told me that the earliest they could get someone out to disconnect my service would be on July 2. I asked her if they expected me to pay for it until that point and she said yes, because I would still have access to it. :smt103 Who's fault is that? Surely, it's not mine that they don't have enough people to cut my service off. What if they couldn't get out there for a month?

Anyway, I told her that I was not paying for any more service if it went past the current billing cycle. She said that my billing cycle started on the 4th.

Have I said lately that Comcast sucks?

its more expensive... but you get much better service if you were to go local with your internet service...

[wilebill]

Do you have to have a home phone for dsl?
No.

[Rainey]

Wilebill and lilmssunshine, I believe I would drive over to the Comcast office on Lincoln Road and speak to a customer service rep in person.

Ever been to the Lincoln Road office? I'm not trying to be mean, but I think I could bash my head beside a wall 8 times and still be better at their job. Or maybe it's just everytime I go in there they have some of the less fortunate people working.

[TheKing]

Ever been to the Lincoln Road office? I'm not trying to be mean, but I think I could bash my head beside a wall 8 times and still be better at their job. Or maybe it's just everytime I go in there they have some of the less fortunate people working.

no ive been to that office... its full of two types of people

idiots

and people who are indifferent

[Engelbert Humperdinck]

its more expensive... but you get much better service if you were to go local with your internet service...

What? Sorry, I don't speak computer.

[Kitty]

Ever been to the Lincoln Road office? I'm not trying to be mean, but I think I could bash my head beside a wall 8 times and still be better at their job. Or maybe it's just everytime I go in there they have some of the less fortunate people working.

My experiences at the Lincoln Road office have been fine.

But I understand what you're saying.

[drake]

I think one of the best decisions you can make it to pay less money for the more reliable service of at&t dsl. Ours has never gone out, and if you want to change speeds for any reason, it is simple. I bump up my speed every summer to watch baseball games online and then back down in the fall with no problems at all. I'm so glad I ditched comcast years ago.

[shultz dooley]

I was shanghaied from time warner to comcast, both of them are just clones. Don't let them fools bully you, they will cave, you just have to be willin to be an arsehole and go over the frontlines heads :evil: Ask for a manager and don't even let them get by with saying ,there all busy right now, or there's no manager available. Sugar works equally as well, but when it starts getting testy you have to go on the offensive. I'm getting internet and digital cable and all the HBO's for 49.99 for 12 months. Those fools made a mistake of sending a giant postcard written entirely in mexican, with an offer for a better rate than I was getting, with my name and address on it. I don't speak a whole lot of mexican, but I'm smart enough to understand what I read and I let loose with a whole lot of Whiskey Tango Foxtrot! Never accept sorry customer service!

[queenrey]

Besides the people that work at the Lincoln Rd office, I really don't have a complaint on comcast internet. I guess I am one of the lucky ones. I've had bellsouth and directv and they both were BAD. But my comcast has so far been really good and we've had it for 3 years.

[TheStereoGuy]

I havn't read this whole thread.

I have had several different internet services. Was on Bell South DSL at work when they first got it going in Laurel in 2002, then in 2003 I got Comcast internet when I lived with a friend. Moved to the coast and got on Cable One Internet, then back to Laurel and back to Comcast, and it was faster than before. Also work had by then went to a Satellite inernet connection. Now I am on Bell South DSL at home. My experiences with various services are like this.

Cable internets speed is based on your node. A node covers an area. If you are in an area with 30 people online at one time, your speed may be slightly slower than if say, 3 people are using it. Regardless of what speed package you are paying for. Regardless however, if you are paying for a more expensive package, you do have the ability, during less traffic times, to download/upload that much faster.

On DSL speed is based on your distace from the S.0. At my house DSL was not available before Katrina. After Katrina all the old phone lines in this area were replaced with new ones by a phone company from Georgia. All the S.O.'s had to be upgraded to accept the new line. Because of this, not only is DSL available at my house, but Bell South was able to speed up their service offerings ( they went from a maximum of 2mb download and 256kb uplaod to 6mp download and 1mb upload ). Usually your phone line cannot be more than 5 miles long from an S.O. in order to be capable for the service. You can hit max speeds within 1 mile, but afterwards it drops off for every foot in length of the cable. Whatever speed you get, is pretty much gona be there all the time.

Bell South 2002 = 760kb per second download, 128kb upload speed. We rarely had problems at work with the service. Not sure of the price.

Comcast 2003 = 1.5 mb per second download, 512mb per second upload, $49.99 a month on top of cable bill. We didn't really have any problems with it.

Cable One 2003-04 = 1.5mb per second download, 312kb per second upload. At least that is the service we paid for, we were actually getting 1.0mb down and 256kb upload most of the time due to alot of people in our area usuing it. Never had any issues however.

Comcast 04-05 = They had just speed up to a 3.0mb download and 768kb upload when I had them this time. Was still $50 a month on top of the cable bill. I never had any issues where I was living, and few people in that area had cable, so I pretty much ran full speed all the time.

Bell South pre Katrina = a guy down the street from me as at the end of their service. I had talked to him and he was getting 800kb download and 100kb upload at most. Was paying $30 a month for it. If you lived in the city limits you could read almost 1mp download.

Bell South after Katrina = guy down the street told dad after all the phone lines were replaced and everything that he was suddenly getting 6mp download speeds and 1.5mp upload speeds. Was insanely fast. I got service 4 months later. Here I was getting 4mp download fairly consistently with just about 1mp upload. That was before Bell South realized how fast the new lines were and put caps on their service. Now they have 3 different speed packages available. We are on the 3mb download with 768k upload right now. Its cheaper than the 6mb/1mb.

Satellite internet SUCKS unless you have no alternative. On a good day it may hit 1mb download, but typically its only 256kb. Its maximum upload speed is 256kb. Its not really any better than an ISDN line, which you can get if you have a normal phone line. Its expensive ( $800 out of pocket up front for the equipment alone ), and will loose service during bad weather.

[lilmssunshine]

Wilebill and lilmssunshine, I believe I would drive over to the Comcast office on Lincoln Road and speak to a customer service rep in person.

Yeah, maybe I'll bring a hammer with me. Did y'all hear the story of the little 'ol lady that went to Comcast (not sure where it was) with a hammer and started busting their computers....hahahaha!! I'll bet that felt good:laugh:

On another note, I have already turned in my modem (albeit in their drop box, but, still). There's no way I could connect to the internet even if I wanted to. And you're damn skippy I ain't paying that bill!!

[bobcat14]

They do suck. Comcast is way too expensive for the services they provide.

[hendrixfreak70]

I havn't read this whole thread.

I have had several different internet services. Was on Bell South DSL at work when they first got it going in Laurel in 2002, then in 2003 I got Comcast internet when I lived with a friend. Moved to the coast and got on Cable One Internet, then back to Laurel and back to Comcast, and it was faster than before. Also work had by then went to a Satellite inernet connection. Now I am on Bell South DSL at home. My experiences with various services are like this.

Cable internets speed is based on your node. A node covers an area. If you are in an area with 30 people online at one time, your speed may be slightly slower than if say, 3 people are using it. Regardless of what speed package you are paying for. Regardless however, if you are paying for a more expensive package, you do have the ability, during less traffic times, to download/upload that much faster.

On DSL speed is based on your distace from the S.0. At my house DSL was not available before Katrina. After Katrina all the old phone lines in this area were replaced with new ones by a phone company from Georgia. All the S.O.'s had to be upgraded to accept the new line. Because of this, not only is DSL available at my house, but Bell South was able to speed up their service offerings ( they went from a maximum of 2mb download and 256kb uplaod to 6mp download and 1mb upload ). Usually your phone line cannot be more than 5 miles long from an S.O. in order to be capable for the service. You can hit max speeds within 1 mile, but afterwards it drops off for every foot in length of the cable. Whatever speed you get, is pretty much gona be there all the time.

Bell South 2002 = 760kb per second download, 128kb upload speed. We rarely had problems at work with the service. Not sure of the price.

Comcast 2003 = 1.5 mb per second download, 512mb per second upload, $49.99 a month on top of cable bill. We didn't really have any problems with it.

Cable One 2003-04 = 1.5mb per second download, 312kb per second upload. At least that is the service we paid for, we were actually getting 1.0mb down and 256kb upload most of the time due to alot of people in our area usuing it. Never had any issues however.

Comcast 04-05 = They had just speed up to a 3.0mb download and 768kb upload when I had them this time. Was still $50 a month on top of the cable bill. I never had any issues where I was living, and few people in that area had cable, so I pretty much ran full speed all the time.

Bell South pre Katrina = a guy down the street from me as at the end of their service. I had talked to him and he was getting 800kb download and 100kb upload at most. Was paying $30 a month for it. If you lived in the city limits you could read almost 1mp download.

Bell South after Katrina = guy down the street told dad after all the phone lines were replaced and everything that he was suddenly getting 6mp download speeds and 1.5mp upload speeds. Was insanely fast. I got service 4 months later. Here I was getting 4mp download fairly consistently with just about 1mp upload. That was before Bell South realized how fast the new lines were and put caps on their service. Now they have 3 different speed packages available. We are on the 3mb download with 768k upload right now. Its cheaper than the 6mb/1mb.

Satellite internet SUCKS unless you have no alternative. On a good day it may hit 1mb download, but typically its only 256kb. Its maximum upload speed is 256kb. Its not really any better than an ISDN line, which you can get if you have a normal phone line. Its expensive ( $800 out of pocket up front for the equipment alone ), and will loose service during bad weather.


Just for typing all of that you get a thanks!