Comcast: Improvements in Customer Service Might Convince me to Stay
Written: Oct 14 '05
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Sound: |
 |
|
| Picture Quality: |
|
|
| Basic Channel Selection: |
|
|
| Customer Service: |
 |
|
|
Pros: Good number of channel offerings; Several packages offered; Improved customer service
Cons: Customer service isn't the best it could be; Some channels have bad reception.
The Bottom Line: Comcast is a slowly improving company- one that I would have given my lowest rating a couple of years ago but now rate as acceptable.
|
|
|
| Bryan_Carey's Full Review: Comcast |
Cable television is a mainstay in most American homes. Once a rarity and often considered a luxury, it has grown and expanded to levels exceeding most of the estimates from the 1960’s and 1970’s, when it was first introduced.
Today, there are many companies competing for your television viewing dollars. One company whose name is widely known and whose services occupy more households than any other is Comcast, a communications giant headquartered in Philadelphia, Pa.
What Does This Service Offer?:
Comcast offers, first and foremost, cable television service. It offers digital cable, High definition, DVR, on demand television, and multiple movie channels.
In addition to television, Comcast has expanded its offerings to include high speed internet, with networking, e-mail, on- line data storage, games, and more. And in some locales, Comcast also offers local phone service but you need to call and ask (or consult the company web site) to see if this is offered in your area.
Pricing:
Comcast prices vary from one location to the next, but from my experience, Comcast is priced a little higher than other cable options. My base cable service- without premium movie channels or anything else- costs me $44 plus franchise fees, FCC fees, and sales tax, bringing my total close to $50.
If you want digital cable, Comcast offers four different options: Digital Plus, Digital Silver, Digital Gold, and Digital Platinum. The prices for these monthly services (not including tax) range from $61 to $94 respectively each month.
With the high speed internet, the price is also a little higher than most competitors- around $42 per month. The only way you can cut your cost with Comcast is to select and purchase multiple services. If you do, then you can expect to save a few dollars per month compared to the cost of purchasing them separately.
Customer Service:
Issues with cable service and/ or billing should be directed to your local Comcast office. If you are unsure of the local number, the national toll- free number for Comcast is 800-264-0396.
Some questions about Comcast can also be answered by logging into the company web site, Comcast.com. If you are not already a customer, you can learn about the company and see what it has to offer. If you are a customer, you can lookup information on your account and even change your service through the web page.
Final Thoughts:
Comcast is a communications company that was founded in 1963 as a cable television provider. Today, it ranks as the nation’s largest provider of cable television service and it is a growing player in the high- speed internet and phone service markets.
I have been a Comcast subscriber for more than two years now and my relationship with Comcast has been satisfactory at times, but less than stellar at others. I have only used Comcast’s cable services (I have been approached by Comcast to sign up for high- speed internet but the price they offered wasn’t that good) so I cannot comment directly on its other product offerings. But I can tell potential users quite a bit about what to expect with this company’s cable services.
When I first signed up for Comcast, I had a little bit of trouble with the number of televisions in my house. The “trouble” was on the part of Comcast- they wanted to charge me extra for multiple installations even though I was promised this wouldn’t be the case. After some talking and a polite threat to switch to a different company, I was able to convince Comcast that I should not have to pay extra for installation just because I own four television sets. And, after all, this is what I was promised when I signed up so the ethical business decision to make was to give me the installation free of charge, which they finally did.
Once I was hooked up, I observed the different channel selections on my television. The number of channels offered in the basic package is actually pretty good (around 80 channels) so I was happy with that. But I quickly noticed that certain channels do not always offer clear reception. To make sure the problem wasn’t with my main television, I checked the others. They all had the same fuzzy picture or diagonal lines running across the picture on the same channel settings. When I called Comcast about this, they claimed it was a “temporary” problem and it would go away in due time. Well, they were sometimes correct- the problem did go away after a while. But it would often show up on the same channel a few days later. From my experience, it always seemed to be the same channels that gave me this trouble. And the reaction from Comcast seemed to be: “Get over it”. They weren’t necessarily rude, but they didn’t seem all that concerned, either. Their attitude seemed to be that since only one or two channels out of the 80 they offer had a problem, they must be doing a pretty good job because 97.5 percent of the channels had no problem at all.
This was my initial experience with Comcast for the first few months. After that, my experience improved. I don’t know if there was a long list of complaints that caused the upper management to suddenly decide it was time to improve or what. But that is what has happened. The company is more responsive now and more empathetic to customer concerns. I still have the occasional trouble with bad reception on certain specific channels. But the customer service is much more friendly and responsive now. What would have earned a D- grade two years ago has now improved to a B-.
I have never used any of the premium services offered with Comcast. Digital cable increases the number of channel offerings to more than 170. But the cost for this service can be upwards of $100. And, to tell you the truth, I really don’t want or need this many channels. Not only do I feel that 80 is enough, I don’t want to turn into a complete couch potato, lounging on the sofa with remote in hand, flipping through channels for hours looking for something I like. I don’t want to get this addicted to television, so I doubt I would ever purchase this premium package.
Most reviews of Comcast here in Epinions have been negative, but I noticed that the majority of these negative reviews were written several years ago. If I had rated Comcast a couple of years ago, my rating would have been 1 to 1.5 stars. Today, other than the price costing a little more than others and the occasional snowy screen, I have had generally good experiences with Comcast and I have noticed a positive turnaround in customer service. These improvements have convinced me to rate this service with a modest recommendation. Cable service often differs from one part of the country to the next so don’t take my advice as definitive proof that Comcast has its act together and is a company with reliable, consistent service. Different parts of the country certainly have different prices and they may also have different degrees of service.
Overall, I would say that my experience with Comcast has been ok. It started out terrible but has gradually improved. I still may switch to another service, just to try something different and to save a little money on the monthly fees. But Comcast is a company I would consider again, if and when the time comes to look for a cable television service provider.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 50
|
|
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.