Comcast: throw nails in the road, open up a tire shop.

[lxskllr]

The use of content [you've received, or as you receive it]. It doesn't have anything to do with blocking you from receiving it.

Digital rights management (DRM) is a term for access control technologies...

...

 

[Ichinisan]

... Aside from the fact that I'm correct, ...

You are incorrect, sir. By that reasoning, clipping the cord is "DRM."

Disconnecting the cable (analog channels and all) is NOT "DRM." There's no way to argue that it is.

They aren't restricting the way you use content when they cut you off. They simply aren't giving you any content.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

the device could have been any number of filters, or a locking 75 ohm terminator. having either at the ground block (demarcation point) is very sloppy - they belong at the tap where they can do some good. also, your drop is likely crap after either being disconnected, even partially, for 6 years.

Then says: "you are all set" and leaves.

that's problem #2. the tech doesn't know his ass from his elbow, and couldn't be bothered to think past his assumption that the service worked. if asked "where's your meter?" his answer would be "what for?" (after my years in cable, i guarantee it).

call them and explain how the problem was outside the house, and how he failed to fix it on the first attempt. they will waive the charges.

edit: doh, i forgot you already called. call them back until it's taken off.

 

[Dr. Zaus]

I think that any time you manage digital rights it's DRM

This means that if your kids by pass your saying "don't play video games" they have violated federal law!

 

[BoomerD]

I lost all signal last Saturday. TV, internet, and phone.
I checked with one of my neighbors to be sure it wasn't a system outage...then called Comcast. They ran some tests from their end and said, "Yes, it appears your system is not functioning."
No shit...

I don't trust my neighbors. They're the worst neighbors we've had in 36 years of marriage. We were glad when they moved out 2 years ago and rented the house...to the nicest neighbors who've lived in that house in the 12 years we lived here. We were sad to see them leave the first of the month...I noticed the neighbor looking at me kind of funny when I came back from talking to the other neighbor and calling Comcast. They've been caught stealing cable before...I noticed that the lid for the outside cable box looked...odd. The lid for the outside box doesn't fit right...grass is tall, lid just sits on top. Technically, it's on the "bad neighbor's side of the property line, but is next to my driveway...So, I grabbed a flashlight and looked...sure enough, the cable was broken where it attached to the tap. No sign of anything else...no splitters or any odd connections to indicate that they had tried to connect to my service.
I dug in my box of misc. electrical junk, found an old crimp-on co-ax end...and put it on...Voila! I had connection.
So...I called Comcast on Sunday, got connected to India...explained the problem, what I found, and what I did. "Oh, there is being no problems. Ve vill still be sending a technician at no charge to you." :hmm:

Monday, Comcast called me again (local dispatcher) to make sure we were still on for the tech appointment. I said yes, and explained again what I had found, and what I had done. The India tech support guy hadn't even made notes.
The tech showed up ON TIME, I explained what was going on, gave him the parts I had replaced. He made a phone call to Comcast, verified that the neighbors had indeed once been disconnected for stealing cable, then went to work.
He cut off my mickey-mouse repair, replaced it with a new-style end, hooked up his meter to the system, ran some tests...and told me that this was Comcast's problem...and that I wouldn't be charged for the service call.

So far, it hasn't shown up on the bill. <knock wood>

 

[Zeze]

36 yrs of marriage? Damn there are some older people in this forum.

I always picture this forum full of teens and 20s & 30s.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

I lost all signal last Saturday. TV, internet, and phone.
I checked with one of my neighbors to be sure it wasn't a system outage...then called Comcast. They ran some tests from their end and said, "Yes, it appears your system is not functioning."
No shit...

I don't trust my neighbors. They're the worst neighbors we've had in 36 years of marriage. We were glad when they moved out 2 years ago and rented the house...to the nicest neighbors who've lived in that house in the 12 years we lived here. We were sad to see them leave the first of the month...I noticed the neighbor looking at me kind of funny when I came back from talking to the other neighbor and calling Comcast. They've been caught stealing cable before...I noticed that the lid for the outside cable box looked...odd. The lid for the outside box doesn't fit right...grass is tall, lid just sits on top. Technically, it's on the "bad neighbor's side of the property line, but is next to my driveway...So, I grabbed a flashlight and looked...sure enough, the cable was broken where it attached to the tap. No sign of anything else...no splitters or any odd connections to indicate that they had tried to connect to my service.
I dug in my box of misc. electrical junk, found an old crimp-on co-ax end...and put it on...Voila! I had connection.
So...I called Comcast on Sunday, got connected to India...explained the problem, what I found, and what I did. "Oh, there is being no problems. Ve vill still be sending a technician at no charge to you." :hmm:

Monday, Comcast called me again (local dispatcher) to make sure we were still on for the tech appointment. I said yes, and explained again what I had found, and what I had done. The India tech support guy hadn't even made notes.
The tech showed up ON TIME, I explained what was going on, gave him the parts I had replaced. He made a phone call to Comcast, verified that the neighbors had indeed once been disconnected for stealing cable, then went to work.
He cut off my mickey-mouse repair, replaced it with a new-style end, hooked up his meter to the system, ran some tests...and told me that this was Comcast's problem...and that I wouldn't be charged for the service call.

So far, it hasn't shown up on the bill. <knock wood>

i once got a call for plant damage in a low-income complex. it turned out someone attacked each house's cable with a machete. impressively, each pedestal's contents took about a dozen whacks, with 90VAC on it.

 

[BoomerD]

36 yrs of marriage? Damn there are some older people in this forum.

I always picture this forum full of teens and 20s & 30s.

Yeah, I'm one of the old fucks around here...and have been married longer than most of the members have been alive...I have grandkids who are in their teens...

i once got a call for plant damage in a low-income complex. it turned out someone attacked each house's cable with a machete. impressively, each pedestal's contents took about a dozen whacks, with 90VAC on it.

Quite the plant...

 

[Skyclad1uhm1]

http://www1.skoftenmedia.com/images/picdump/190/08.jpg

 

[BoomerD]

http://www1.skoftenmedia.com/images/picdump/190/08.jpg

Forbidden

You don't have permission to access /images/picdump/190/08.jpg on this server.

 

[Aikouka]

I don't think I've ever been charged for Comcast coming out and looking into why my service was sporadically awful. I became fed up with their crappy modem though and bought my own. Unsurprisingly, all the "micro-lag" that I used to get in games is gone, but of course the connection still blows at times and completely dies for 1 minute or more.

 

[Dr. Zaus]

http://www1.skoftenmedia.com/images/picdump/190/08.jpg[img][/QUOTE]
Makes sense to me.

 

[Skyclad1uhm1]

Forbidden

You don't have permission to access /images/picdump/190/08.jpg on this server.

Doh...

It's the 8th picture when following the link on this page, but some pictures there are NSFW:

http://skoften.net/index/gallery/picdump_190

 

[BoomerD]

Doh...

It's the 8th picture when following the link on this page, but some pictures there are NSFW:

http://skoften.net/index/gallery/picdump_190

ROFL! There are some GOOD ones on that page...

 

[paulney]

the device could have been any number of filters, or a locking 75 ohm terminator. having either at the ground block (demarcation point) is very sloppy - they belong at the tap where they can do some good. also, your drop is likely crap after either being disconnected, even partially, for 6 years.



that's problem #2. the tech doesn't know his ass from his elbow, and couldn't be bothered to think past his assumption that the service worked. if asked "where's your meter?" his answer would be "what for?" (after my years in cable, i guarantee it).

call them and explain how the problem was outside the house, and how he failed to fix it on the first attempt. they will waive the charges.

edit: doh, i forgot you already called. call them back until it's taken off.

Dangler, what's a 'drop' you refer to?

 

[Jeff7]

Every cable company does this. When you activate service they charge you an installation fee, covers the tech coming out, uncapping the box or whatever, and testing the line. Even when I just transferred service from one place to another they charged me $20 to do the same thing.

Whats even more awesome is sometimes the work order also contains a contract. That happened with directTV for me. I signed the work order that they installed the satellite, BOOM, 2 year contract for the equipment.

I've seen some other places too, in other market sectors, that charge some kind of "new customer fee."

That just immediately makes me envision the workplace: "Oh goddammit...we have another potential customer who wants to give us money for our services."
Yeah, ok I get it, there are sometimes expenses associated with getting new customers set up and going. Isn't the profit from doing business with them enough? Or do these places just enjoy being dicks like Ticketmaster with all those silly itemized fees? (I already know the answer to that...)

 

[novasatori]

you say a month ago but was it over 30 days ago?

Comcast has a 30 day cancellation window if you're not happy just tell them to remove the $50 or you're cancelling

http://www.comcast.com/Corporate/Customers/CustomerGuarantee.html

 

[Krynj]

Dangler, what's a 'drop' you refer to?

Usually where the line comes from the pole, to your house, and Connects to the NID/demarc.

 

[lupi]

Ha! My kind of thinking!

What "reasons" do you come up with to have them come out?

I'm an original customer from when @home first came out, so at present time the system is way oversaturated for the infrastructure they have now compared to then. so it's easy to experience occasional hiccups with either speed or maintaining connectivity.

 

[yhelothar]

I've been with verizon for over a decade. I was never charged with a service fee. Those service technicians are incredibly expensive for them to send out too.

Sorry to hear about your issues with comcrap.

 

[PottedMeat]

this makes me think telecoms run their residential customers through a 'random charge victim selector'

'new customer!'

'let's see, will this guy be the winner of mystery charges on their bill, overcharge with promise of removal on next month's bill, misapplied discount, service call due to company screwup'

'looks like we've got overcharge with promise of removal on next month's bill!'

<next month>

'ha ha they didn't notice, free money!'

 

[cherrytwist]

You know, these kind of things you make one phone call to them and they're more than happy to take them off.

I never paid for truck rolls / service calls, even if they were blatantly caused by my fault.

This. I recently discovered that if you complain about things, people (businesses generally) will give you things. Be polite, be honest, be courteous and they are more likely to want to help you.

 

[HeXen]

remember the days when you just adjusted your rabbit ear antennas on your TV to manage DRM yourself?
those where the days. i guess it would be called ARM, anologue rights management

 

[bruceb]

You initially called Comcast to install your internet service, right ?
They charged you an installation fee for that, right ?
Did your internet ever work ? .. If not, then do not pay the Service fee
as their initial installation was not done correctly. You need to speak
to a Customer Service Supervisor to get this issue resolved.
And for the future, before you have any of these techs (cable, tv, telco)
come out for ANY ISSUE, be sure you:
1): Ask about any fees
2): Try to isolate the trouble yourself
3): In just about every case, if the trouble is with your In Home wiring you are charged.
If the trouble is in their Wiring or Equipment (poles, trunk cable, distribution panel)
it is up to them to fix it at NO CHARGE to you. You have no access to and are not
allowed to touch their equipment or wiring.

FYI: I used to work for Verizon so I know how the rules are in regards
to who is responsible for issues on either side of the Point of Demarcation or the Network Interface Device. Customer for any issues AFTER IT.
Telco, LEC, Cable Co for any issues BEFORE IT (at no cost) since these are usually items the end user has no control over.

 

[MaxFusion16]

you signed up for comcast service
comcast installs it
charges you $50 installation fee

what's the problem? Did comcast advertise free install? I'm pretty sure $50 is the normal installation fee for new customers.

only thing i can think of is if they didn't tell you about the installation fee when you signed up.