April 10, 2007
Seattlest Asks: Comcast's Triple Play a Good Idea?
Because we're moving, Seattlest has the pleasure of changing our address and switching our services to our new place.
And in an exciting development for consumers, it appears that companies like Qwest and Comcast aren't content to just let you move your existing service to a new place -- at least, not without presenting you with exciting new offers that they're sure will save you oodles of money.
Case in point: We use Comcast for our broadband and cable at home. When we called them to get our service switched to our new place, the Comcast rep was pleased to tell us we qualified for their Triple Play package. If we switched our phone service to Comcast, it would be just an extra $2 a month for unlimited local and long distance calling. Oh, and they'd add Starz to our package (we already have HBO) for free.
What this would mean for us: letting go of Qwest and Working Assets for our local and long-distance service. And trusting Comcast with all of our home-based communications.
We balked. We said we'd need to talk to our wife, and that we'd have to call them back.
Why? Comcast isn't known for being the customer-friendliest company to work with, so we weren't sure we wanted to fully eggify their basket.
On the other hand, it's not like Qwest is a friendly mom-'n'-pop shop, and while we love Working Assets, we spend maybe $8 a month with them these days. And, really, we've never had major problems with phone, cable, or internet service that required us to invest major parts of our week talking to faceless corporations. Our track record with the faceless has been pretty good, actually.
So we're wondering: How's Comcast's phone service? Would you go for the discount and take the Triple Play?
$3 million Comcast bill by Flickr user scriptingnews.
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I do know of anyone who uses comcast for their phone service but keep this in mind...
If the cable goes out...you lose phone service.
If the power goes out...you lose phone service.
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Every once in a while I get an offer from Comcast, like that, but to date I haven't bothered because every time I house-sit for someone with Comcast broadband, there's noticeable downtime. An hour here, two hours there. Sure it's faster than DSL, but it's more important that I be able to check/send email when I need to. If my phone service went down too...? (How many weeks did Comcasters lose phone service during that windstorm last winter?) So add all that on top of the customer disservice guarantee, and I have grumpily stuck with Qwest.
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I recently had the "triple play" installed in a vacation house and so far it has worked as advertised. One nice thing: the cable modem/VOIP interface (one box) has a built in battery that supposedly lasts 12 hours without power. So theoretically you won't lose phone if the power goes out.
If all goes well I'm going to switch my home service from Vonage + Comcast + Speakeasy for the "triple play."
This talk of outages scares me though. Has anyone else experienced frequent outages (specifically in the U-District?)
PS: Vonage is shit.
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As far as I understood from the Comcast reps I talked with, their phone service runs through a different set of network hardware than their internet. Apparently this is due to the liability issues with 911 phone calls. Their claim to me was that it was *much* more reliable than the internet via cable modem.
I still have yet to meet anyone who actually uses this service though ...
Also, I concur with John re Vonage.
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We actually switched from Qwest to Comcast for the "full meal deal" or whatever, and it's working just fine.
Honestly, I have to say that Comcast's responsiveness to any issues - cable, internet, whatever - has consistently impressed me. You call them, they are out there that day. These guys have always been pleasant, on time, and quick in my experience. That seems pretty customer-friendly to me.
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The phone service is still TCP/IP
If your network connection is down, your phone is down.
Period, explanation point.
My GF has comcast for I-Net.
I have used MANY MANY Internet/Network service providers and can say they are as good as most.
We have experienced little (if any) outages in the Wedgwood area.
Can I ask you this?
Why do yo need a home phone anyway?
Especially if you're paying only 8 bucks per month.
Sounds like you don't use it enough to worry about having it anyway.
Use a cell phone, get comcast I-Net and cable and to hell with a home phone.
Also, you can do skype (with skype out) for as little as 10 dollars for 500 minutes (they expire after 6 months though) and 18 dollars for a "206" number for 3 months.
So, say I use my 500 minutes in 3 months (which I NEVER will) my monthly bill for skype is ~ 9 bucks a month. You can get it even cheaper too by buying the number for the whole year.
Home phone service is over rated IMHO.
I can't remember the last time I used a genuine land line. Even at work I use my cell phone.
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Hi, Seattlest,
This is Christa, the retetention manager at Working Assets. Please don't go!
We have lots of great stuff to offer you that the other companies may have -- like a no-fee long distance plan and wireless/long distance bundles.
And something that the other companies don't: the knowledge that you're supporting progressive causes just by being a member.
Consider this: Thanks to your help, we raised nearly $5 million last year alone to groups like Greenpeace, Planned Parenthood and Doctors Without Borders. At no extra cost. Stay with us and we can continue to make a difference.
One more thing: we're not a nameless, faceless corporation. We have friendly and helpful customer service reps. who are waiting to talk to you about some of the great options you have when you stay with Working Assets. Call 800/788-0898.
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You could save the $8 if you switch to Comcast's "Triple Play." And if you shopped at Walmart instead of small mom n' pop stores you could probably save even more. You won't get better service, but you will probably save a few dollars. I think it's a bigger picture issue.
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Working Assets would be a victim of crossfire -- the bulk of our monthly phone expenses goes to Qwest, and overall we'd be saving quite a bit more than $8. I have no sentimental attachment to Qwest.
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I've been using Comcast phone for the past few months and it has been great. Also, my power was out for a few hours and the phone worked fine. I appreciate the bundled discount and their data product is 10x faster than my old DSL. Plus, the data / voice bundle is about the same price. So, I get a 10x better data product and about the same phone product for the same price. I think I'm getting a great deal.
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Yeah, Comcast is just great UNTIL you try to cancel a service. In early February, I wrote Comcast to cancel our digital cable package. About 2 weeks later, they called and demanded that I speak with them before they would do anything. I wrote another letter confirming my request. A week later I received an unchanged bill. I then filed a complaint with the Attorney General. That got their attention, but it took two more letters to get the situation resolved.
As far as I am concerned, trust Comcast at your own risk. OTOH, we are exceptionally satisfied with our new service from Dish Network.
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to Christa, the retention manager at Working Assets:
how is "planned parenthood" a "benefit"? do i really want my $ to go to abortionists?