gents

i have put up with comcast/xfinity for a very long time--only for tv...not internet...not land line

the price goes up as time goes on with Xfin..I am sure the same goes with DTV.

as far as satisfaction...how is your experience with DTV?

i would like to get the NFL pack and NHL

I've had direct TV for 15 years now................So long that I'm grandfathered in and run without a contract, but I only have extended basic. I have had great service and no issues for the first 14 years. The past year we went with HD TV and wanted to make the swap in the boxes to match up the HD to the TV.............They would not cut us a deal and work with us to get this done. All I wanted was for them to install the new dish and two boxes..................for free as I've been a long time loyal pay on time customer.....we were told this would be OK and they scheduled to have this get done............one week later they cancelled the new install and backed out of our deal to tell us we needed to pay $100.00 for the second box...............after long waits on the phone and 3 different people we said Fuk it..............so here we are with a 65" HD TV with out HD boxes....it's been this way for a year now..............I only watch TV in the fall & winter and it's mostly football on blown out week ends..................I'm over it. They suck like all the others anymore. sucks talking to somebody on the east coast that has no idea of my situation on the mountain. Good luck,

SZ

call Comcast up and tell them you want to cancel--- they will cut you a new deal.

Yep! Comcast raised my cable rate 59% in the last two mos. All without warning. Last week, I went to a customer service center and complained. Walked out with a much better rate for the same service. Probably didn't hurt to show the customer service rep all the Direct TV discount offers I've received lately. If you're unhappy with Comcast, you are not alone:

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/cable_tv/comcast_cable.html

Comcast... ugh. As messed up as it is, JG is absolutely correct. Call to cancel, and you'll have an expanded package at a cheaper price faster than the words all get out of your mouth... for the next year, after which your price will instantly triple, without warning. Almost certainly, they will try to get you to bite on Internet and phone service at the same time, so come prepared with a firm grasp on how much you're paying for those services now and respond accordingly.

As you suspect, Dish and DirecTV are no better; they'll offer you a sweet deal and start the screwing after you officially become a "loyal customer."

I'm becoming more and more convinced that cable/satellite TV is a garbage product and a rip-off of epic proportions. Remember when all we had (unless we paid for cable) was local channels and PBS, displayed on a 19" TV with a VHF antenna on top? The picture sucked (though we didn't complain then), and programming choices were few. Even so, the prime time shows were well-written, had real stunts and explosions, and even pretty good acting. Your price: $0.00. Biggest complaint: commercials. Those who wanted choices, a better picture, and fewer commercials could buy cable or satellite programming. It was expensive, but the upgrade was huge. HBO, Showtime, MTV (when it was actually MTV), and NO COMMERCIALS on cable channels. Fast forward to today... No reasonable way to get TV without cable or satellite, so if you want to watch TV, you're paying for one or the other. If you want the channels everyone watches most, you have to pay for one or sometimes two upgrades. Most programming is so-called "Reality" TV, which requires no imagination, acting talent, etc. to produce. That HD picture that looks so nice (but doesn't actually cost providers any more than standard picture to provide) carries about $20 per TV upcharges. And cable programming without advertisements? Gone, the way of the Dodo bird [On Demand programming (another upcharge) fixed that temporarily, but it wasn't long before commercials that can't be skipped found their way in].

When I'm not watching football or something similar, I'm usually watching Netflix for my TV fix. Sure, I'm a season behind, but I get to watch as many episodes as I want, free of commercials, and Netflix remembers where I left off last time. Not into any TV shows? Choose from a kazillion movies and documentaries, on demand, and at zero extra charge, even in HD. I do believe that the ISPs (whose cable products are losing popularity due to being overpriced and crappy) will find a way to make Netflix charge customers a lot more than what they pay now (Netflix uses A LOT of their bandwidth) to level the playing field, but for now, it's the tits!

I recently got talked into a adding a basic cable TV package to my Internet service for a price less than what I had been paying for only Internet. The cable box arrived three weeks ago, and I still haven't opened the box. I'll get it out this weekend, but only because it's football time. I may even volunteer to let them upchatge me for HD, now that I'm spoiled for it. Dirty bass turds....

Sorry about the rant... I recommend neither, but if you're like me and just have to watch football, I don't think you'll have any better experience, whichever corporate overlord you offer your allegiance.

DirecTV

STATE! You get to talk to someone from A STATE! I always get someone from a republic with disputed borders. Usually, the rep loses me at his/her name, and the conversation goes downhill from there. Glad I'm not paying long distance charges to a region where phone service didn't exist a year ago, as I have to request everything that's being said to be repeated. Maybe if I had taken English as a Second Language in high school, instead of German, I'd be more fluent in it. I'm generally riled up by the time customer service is called, anyway; what I need to hear on the other end of the line is the soothing voice of a southern belle... southern USA, that is.

Coho: Direct TV doesn't offer the PAC-12 Network, does it? That means you'll have to get through most of the football season without the highs of the Huskies and the lows of the Cougars. Think about that, before you "cut the cord".

The NFL is the Hunger Games of our dimension!

If not for the NFL about 10% of the USA population would put up with the crap from Comcast or DTV.

Just walk away!

Yeah, It wasn't for NFL football I'd cut the direct TV and watch movies thru the DVD. Good luck,

SZ

All comments dually noted

yes...if not for sports i would not put myself through this and forego cable or satellite...I have many times called Comcast to get the monthly back into a "reasonable" range. But I do get tired of having to threaten-it is a bit absurd the basturds jack up the rates after the grace period the bill nearly triples -and that is without the HBO/showtime (its in that small print that you agree to) faaackers

I have Comcast and it sucks,but I pay for the bare minimum package deal so I can have internet and Giants Baseball. I may try and cancel and see what goodies I can get this time!

You have to pass it to find out whats in it.

JF C
Get an antenna and get Free TV

http://antennaweb.org/

Punch in your info and see what you can receive at your location.

JF C

Fuk cable.

Nice info there, DD.

I am on ATT fiber net for internet and TV. I could care less about TV for the most part. Just had my intro prices jacked up and I had intended to do what you suggest: over the air TV and ATT internet. Turns out the internet only price would have risen if I ditched the TV content. Arghhh, hard to pick and choose.

I decided to sign up for another year with a better TV package that was substantially cheaper than what I was paying.

Sucks you can't just get what you need for a locked-in price long term.

I think the OR city of Ashland did it right to provide cheap internet to residents: http://www.ashlandfiber.net/

Can't speak for xfinity. I live in an area that requires satellite, and have tried both Directv and dish.
Dish is the biggest p.o.s. I've ever dealt with. Way more blacked out channels while they 'negotiate' contracts with providers.
Directv has been great. Better packages at better prices (I.e., the channels I want are on the cheaper packages, unlike dish...)
Plus, Direct offers a s-ton of price cuts. Do you have AAA? $10 off a month, auto bill pay? $5 off/mo....and there are more.

Anyone thinking of starting with Direc, send me a pm. We'll both get $100 off if I give you my account number.

Comcast sucks....
Which reminds me of the night I had a good buzz on and Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels was taking calls on some public access channel.
I started in about the monopoly the city had granted Comcast....and promptly got hung up on. Still didn't harsh my buzz.
Oh ya, Comcast still sucks.
SF