Seattlest: Seattlest Asks: Comcast's Triple Play a Good Idea?

deal

Thu, 17 May 2007 11:57:08 -0800

to Christa, the retention manager at Working Assets: how is "planned parenthood" a "benefit"? do i really want my $ to go to abortionists?

Brenda Helverson

Wed, 11 Apr 2007 04:27:07 -0800

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.

Joseph Jones

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 20:30:24 -0800

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.

James

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 16:15:31 -0800

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.

klgroovy

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 16:02:45 -0800

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.

Christa

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 15:32:03 -0800

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.

Rich

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 14:20:45 -0800

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.

Kimba

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 13:04:37 -0800

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.

Joey

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 12:51:44 -0800

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.

John Wulff

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 12:34:27 -0800

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.

MvB

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 12:16:40 -0800

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.

Justin B

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 12:02:07 -0800

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.