How can I help my mother stop getting ripped off by Comcast?

In My Humble Opinion
1

My mother lives in the greater Philadelphia area, which means, unfortunately, that she gets her TV and internet service from the worst company in the nation, Comcast (excuse me, I mean “Xfinity.”) I’ve known for years that she’s paying too much, but I’m visiting her now and have decided this is the last straw, because I’ve discovered she’s not getting HD service. So now she’s got this big shiny new TV and is watching old low-resolution programming on it.

One of the problems is that she’s a huge Phillies fan, and Comcast Sportsnet holds the rights to Phillies games (thanks a lot, Phillies,) so they have the power to extort people for the privilege of watching the Phillies. (To my knowledge, Comcast Sportsnet is available only on Xfinity cable, Verizon FIOS, and a few streaming services, which are probably not good options for a 65 year old woman who’s not good with technology. And I, the only one of us 3 kids who takes the time to help her with this kind of thing, don’t live in the area.)

So she’s been paying too much for years. When she was living at her old place, I could swear I looked into her bill with her at one point, and found she was getting HD service she couldn’t even use, because at the time she didn’t have an HD TV. I kept encouraging her to buy an HD TV. Earlier this year she did so when she moved into a new place. Now I’m here and finding that she does’t even have HD service. Worse, she’s getting voice service from them which she’s not even using! She says she called them at one point and told them that, and they told her there was no cheaper package without voice, which is probably a lie. Also, at her old place, I had gotten her her own cable modem so she could at least avoid the $10 per month rental fee. But when she moved into her new place, the service technician told her he was required to install something that’s compatible with her service, so she’s now paying that fee again. (According to the Xfinity website, her old cable modem is no longer listed as approved.)

Here’s her most recent monthly bill:



Preferred XF Bundle					161.49
Bundle Discount						+51.50
Total Bundled Services					109.99

Internet/Voice Equipment				10.00
Total Add'l Products, Services & Equipment		10.00

Universal Connectivity Charge				0.86
Regulatory Recovery Fees				2.58
Broadcast TV Fee					7.00
Regional Sports Fee					5.00
Total Other Charges & Credits 				15.44

Franchise Fee 						3.63
State Sales Tax 					0.12
FCC Regulatory Fee 					0.09
State Sales Tax						1.38
911 fee(s) 						1.65
Total Taxes, Surcharges, & Fees 			6.87

Total							142.30

All she needs is the most basic home internet, and the ability to watch Phillies games. There’s got to be some way of getting those 2 things for less than $142.30 per month!

I realize some of these taxes and regulatory fees are unavoidable, but that “Preferred XF Bundle” is a ripoff given the fact that 1) she’s not even using the voice service, and 2) she’s not getting HD service. She says she’s called and complained from time to time, but the most recent time, they wouldn’t lower any prices or offer her anything better. Also, according to her, she signed a 2-year contract with them in September 2016, so, while Verizon Fios is available in her area, I’m not sure the threat of switching will hold any teeth if they can charge her a $300 early termination fee.

Anyone have any good experience dealing with these crooks? What are her options? Call them and threaten to switch to Verizon Fios? Call them and just keep asking to speak to a manager? I’m thinking she’d get a better deal from Verizon, but even if we could just get them to drop that useless voice service and give her HD instead for the remainder of her contract, that would make it more palatable.

2

Since any answers will probably just be anecdotes and opinions, I’ve reported this for a forum change.

3

Does she need to watch the Phillies live? She could get MLB and watch all the games, but as she’s in the Phillies area, I think she could only get those after they finish. (But then you can skip through all the ads between innings and pitcher changes. She would still need some kind of internet access, but you do that in other ways including not phone or TV service from Xfinity.

4

Since the OP is looking for advice, let’s move this to IMHO.

Colibri
General Questions Moderator

5

Can you pull up her account online, with her password? You might have to have Comcast set it up first. That might give you some level of interactivity without having to deal with a person.

6

We have to know the cost benefit ratio … how much TV does your mother watch every month, and figure out the “per hour” cost she’s paying … if it’s a couple hours a day, then that’s only $2 an hour … she could easily be losing $3 an hour playing BINGO …

That said, if the bundled service is indeed more expensive than just TV service, then you’ll need to nag the cable company … and Phillies game are broadcasted on WIP-FM 94.1 on your listening dial …

However, you’ve presented a convincing argument that Charter Communications isn’t the worst possible company in the world … well done !!! …

7

Checking packages for Philadelphia, she needs the Starter package with 140 channels. I’m guessing the reason they won’t let her use the old modem is the Voice service, which requires a modem with phone jacks. Drop the Voice service and she should be able to use the old modem.

Try threatening them with switching to Verizon, they might offer the introductory rate ($80/mo for 140 channels + Internet with a two-year contract).

8

Have you checked to see that the tv is hooked up right? The same thing happened to me I was using the coaxial cable and not HDMI.

9

As OldGuy noted, she could get an MLB.com subscription, but if she’s in the Phillies broadcasting area, live Phillies games will be blacked out. There is, however, a relatively easy, cheap, and legal way to get around this.

I subscribe to MLB.com, and i get around the blackout policies by also subscribing to a service called Unlocator. This is a DNS service that makes it look like your computer is in a different country. It’s not a proxy server, and does not slow down your connection at all. I have used Unlocator for a few years now, and it allows me to watch all blacked-out games, including playoff games, on MLB.com.

The MLB.com season package is $120, and Unlocator costs $60 per year. That’s $180 for a year, plus the cost of a high-speed internet connection, which you probably need anyway. Unlocator will work with computers, tablets, Roku boxes (and similar devices), and smart TVs, and it can also be configured right in your router. It simply requires reconfiguring the DNS addresses in the device. This only take a couple of minutes, and the Unlocator website has easy-to-follow instructions.

10

This question is made with all due respect, as I have the same issue with my elderly father.

Is she searching the proper channels for the HD broadcasts? Usually, the lower-number channels, like “005”, show the regular definition broadcasts. The HD channels usually have a higher number, like “705”. My father keeps going to the old channels he’s used to, and thus getting the regular definition channels, instead of typing in “705”, and getting the HD channels.

I’ve shown him how to hit the info button on the low-def channels, which brings up the Comcast option to watch the same channel in HD, and then press the OK button, which takes you there, any number of times. But the patterns have been set from YEARS of knowing to just type “005” to go to CBS.

You may want to check that.

11

That’s a good point. I’ve seen people make similar mistakes.

12

Likewise, there may be a setting in the cable box to automatically switch to HD when both standard and HD versions of the same channel are available. It saves a click on the “Switch to HD” prompt others are mentioning.

13

I am not sure if this will help you but it tell how to get discount for seniors using Comcast . Most companies don’t tell you if they have any discounts for seniors you have to ask . This is off topic ,if your mom’s paying for her own water bills she may be able to get a discount .

14

Not a bad idea. She says she’s called them and tried to negotiate, but what she has now is the best she’s been able to get. I’ve thought about calling them, but wondered whether they’d accept someone calling on someone else’s behalf.

She watches very little TV other than Phillies games. I don’t know, she may watch a little broadcast TV once in a while, but she’s definitely not watching Game of Thrones. And she could be getting broadcast TV with an antenna in HD for FREE! Yet she’s paying a “broadcast TV fee” as part of her $142 a month and not getting HD from Comcast. It’s The Current Year; nobody should be paying $142 per month and not getting HD.

Can you post a link to the exact page where you’re getting that information? One of the shady things these companies have done is to make it impossible to look up their packages on their website. They make you enter an address first, and if you enter an address of an already existing customer, you get a message saying “you are already a subscriber. Please call 1-800-blah-blah to upgrade your service.”

Also, I could have sworn she told me at one point that you need some kind of upgraded service to get Sportsnet. So if Starter is their most basic TV package, I wouldn’t think that would get her Sportsnet.

As far as the modem goes, I’d have to double check, but the impression I got is that they told her not merely that it’s not any cheaper without the voice service, but that they literally can’t drop it. Which I now know is a lie, since looking at their website I see that they do have “double play” packages without voice. But it’s a moot point, because as I said, I checked their listings of accepted cable modems and the one she has is no longer listed.

Yes, that was one of the first things I checked. It’s hooked up via HDMI. Also, you can tell the cable box guide and menus are in high-resolution.

I didn’t know about Unlocator. I’ve thought about other technological workarounds that would enable her to get local games from MLB.com, like a proxy, VPN, or Slingbox. But while Unlocator might be the simplest, I’m still wary of any “techie” type solution to this problem, because if something goes down, and I’m not there to troubleshoot, forget about it. I even installed TeamViewer on her laptop so I could log in remotely and control her computer to troubleshoot, because trying to walk her through something over the phone, getting her to describe to me what the screen is showing, is a lost cause.

Yup, thanks for the idea, but we already checked that. Navigating to those channels gives a message like (paraphrasing, from memory) “You are not currently an HD subscriber. To upgrade to HD service, please call 1-800-blah-blah.”

15

Are the Phillies available on OTA broadcasts? [over the air]. Comcast may have the cable rights but I’d bet OTA broadcast are different. She may just need a simple rabbit ear antenna or flat panel one from Walmart for $30 or so. In Philly, she should get 40 to 50 channels - admittedly many aren’t the greatest [like 90+ on regular cable] but all the main networks like CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, and PBS are there. And a bunch of channels showing old movies and series she probably watched and would enjoy again.

16

I think if it was on an OTA channel, it would have to be on the OTA station’s basic cable channel, by law. A cable company can’t (AFAIK) have “cable rights” that supersede their obligation to show the local channels (at least not without the station’s permission).

17

I didn’t read all the posts so it’s possible these have been said.
First off, on my cable bill (TWC, now Spectum), my current package includes a phone line. When I set it up, that was (or so I was told), the only way to get it as low as I could get it. And they did keep all the channel I had, for about the same price I was paying with TWC, plus I got a phone. The phone sits in the box in my basement. So there’s that. It was just the package they had to offer. I should call them and see if I can drop the phone and lower my bill.

As for you helping, I always tell people to call their cable company every few months and ask if they can lower the bill. They’ll (at least mine) will first ask what shows/channels they watch, just say ‘all of them’, They’re trying to get you to turn off channels. You need to get them to look for deals. IME, about half the time they’ll come back with 'Oh, I do see we have a deal going right now that will bring your bill from $143.20 to $129.09 and keep everything the same" or something like that.

Now, if mom just won’t do anything AND she’s okay with you doing it for her, you have two options. Have everything ready to go, call them and just pretend to be her, or whoever’s name is on the bill. One or two “I have a cold” will usually get them to move past “Is this Sarah, I need to speak to the account holder” or a stern “Excuse me” if they give you some slack over it. I’ve done this for my mom and sister, both of whom would prefer not to make these kind of calls.

The other option is to have mom add you as an authorized user. If they have locations at the mall, she can just do it there and then you won’t have any problem.

18

Comcast SportsNet has the rights to almost all of the Phillies games. Only about 12 games will be broadcast over the air this season. That’s only about two games every month.

This is the case with almost all MLB teams these days. Here in Arizona, the D-Backs used to have an extensive over the air schedule, but their games are now exclusively on Fox Sports.

19

We did something similar for my aged MIL recently. With Comcast and a host of other entities from health insurance to Walgreens. None of whom it was practical for her to visit in person.

Just go to Mom’s house, call their customer service from her phone, and have her tell the nice person that she’s going to put her son/daughter on the line to talk on her behalf and she wants to authorize that arrangement permanently.

With that standing authorization plus her online log-in you’re totally able to totally legitimately manage her account.

As we did this for Mom it was sobering to learn just how easily some bad guys could have done the exact same thing armed with just a smidgen of Mom’s personal info. To be sure, it took (a lot) more effort to get access to her banking than it did to get access to her Pets-R-Us account. But still. :eek:

20

So put in the address of the house across the street or a nearby gas station or other business unlikely to have cable TV. Their service offerings are granular to the level of (part of) a town, not a single building. Except for the case, like me, where a condo or apartment building has a master subscription on everyone’s behalf.