I just received a letter in the mail from Comcast stating that:

"Comcast High-Speed Internet customers WHO SUBSCRIBE to Comcast Video
Services qualify for a $10 bundled discount and pay only $42.95 per
month for CHSI. Comcast High-Speed Internet customers who do not
subscribe to Comcast Video Services pay $52.95 per month.

Our records indicate you are being billed the bundled discounted rate
for your Comcast High-Speed Internet service; however, you do not
subscribe to any of our cable video services. As a result, you do not
qualify for this discount. Effective May 1, 2004, your rate for
Comcast High-[peed Internet will become $52.95 per month."

This is in effect a trumped up rate increase disguised as some change
in service.

I have had cable Internet since it was available in my area. I have
always had the exact same service, and have never changed it since day
one. I signed up with @Home, who sold to AT&T, who later sold out to
Comcast. My bill never changed until now when Comcast has purchased
the system.

I spoke with Comcast and they said that when they purchased the
Internet business from AT&T they could have raised my rates then,
however, they honored them to be nice. This is ridiculous because had
they raised their rates after buying AT&T, many people would have
jumped ship and they would have lost a lot of business. This was
during the high profile days of the cable versus DSL wars. Now that
they have survived that, they are in a position to raise their rates
without any opposition from consumers.

Now Comcast is saying that the whole time I have been on their system
I have been getting a credit that I am not entitled to and now they
want to renege on this credit. What is to keep them from saying next
year that I am getting some other credit that they want to take back
from me then?

There is no other cable Internet provider in my area. I contacted
Earthlink and usually they can use the cable company's lines to
provide service, however, they said that they could not do that in my
area.

Not only will I be forced to purchase cable Internet from Comcast,
since they are the monopoly in my area, they are free to raise their
rates whenever they want and I have no recourse.

What protections do consumers have against these huge companies?

On Thu, 08 Apr 2004 20:34:22 -0700, pc.parts wrote:

I'm certain Navas would say, DSL, Satellite, Wireless (in some places),
Dialup, and do without.

--
-- James Fenimore Cooper
The tendency of democracies is, in all things, to mediocrity, since the tastes,
knowledge, and principles of the majority form the tribunal of appeal.

None!

Dave :-(



"pc.parts" <junk.mail.now@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:fecaf434.0404081934.1aa56bcc@posting.google.c om...
| I just received a letter in the mail from Comcast stating that:
|
| "Comcast High-Speed Internet customers WHO SUBSCRIBE to Comcast Video
| Services qualify for a $10 bundled discount and pay only $42.95 per
| month for CHSI. Comcast High-Speed Internet customers who do not
| subscribe to Comcast Video Services pay $52.95 per month.
|
| Our records indicate you are being billed the bundled discounted rate
| for your Comcast High-Speed Internet service; however, you do not
| subscribe to any of our cable video services. As a result, you do not
| qualify for this discount. Effective May 1, 2004, your rate for
| Comcast High-[peed Internet will become $52.95 per month."
|
| This is in effect a trumped up rate increase disguised as some change
| in service.
|
| I have had cable Internet since it was available in my area. I have
| always had the exact same service, and have never changed it since day
| one. I signed up with @Home, who sold to AT&T, who later sold out to
| Comcast. My bill never changed until now when Comcast has purchased
| the system.
|
| I spoke with Comcast and they said that when they purchased the
| Internet business from AT&T they could have raised my rates then,
| however, they honored them to be nice. This is ridiculous because had
| they raised their rates after buying AT&T, many people would have
| jumped ship and they would have lost a lot of business. This was
| during the high profile days of the cable versus DSL wars. Now that
| they have survived that, they are in a position to raise their rates
| without any opposition from consumers.
|
| Now Comcast is saying that the whole time I have been on their system
| I have been getting a credit that I am not entitled to and now they
| want to renege on this credit. What is to keep them from saying next
| year that I am getting some other credit that they want to take back
| from me then?
|
| There is no other cable Internet provider in my area. I contacted
| Earthlink and usually they can use the cable company's lines to
| provide service, however, they said that they could not do that in my
| area.
|
| Not only will I be forced to purchase cable Internet from Comcast,
| since they are the monopoly in my area, they are free to raise their
| rates whenever they want and I have no recourse.
|
| What protections do consumers have against these huge companies?

pc.parts wrote:
<snip>
The rates are published. You were getting a discount that you went
qualified to get. Not only do they have the right to correct your future
bills, you are darn lucky they're not going back and correcting the
errors on your previous bills.

If your bank accidently deposited someone elses paycheck into your
account, would you complain if they told you that they discovered they
were making an error, and that regular check would not be getting
deposited in your account anymore? Would you complain if they took back
the money that never should have been placed in your account?

One of two things have happened here. Either you knew you were getting a
discount that you didn't qualify for, or you never bothered to check to
see if they were billing you the correct amount. And that's your part of
this mistake.

Either way, you have been being undercharged because someone made a
mistake. Instead of griping that the mistake was corrected, you should
be greatful that they're not going back and correcting the past bills.
You got a big gift, and you're complaining that it isn't big enough.


If you are someplace served by cable TV, you are probably someplace
served by a phone company. Even if you can't get DSL from them, you can
still get dial-up Internet access. You'll still be able to get to the
same Internet, but it'll just be slower. Or you can get AOL, get to the
same Internet (but still slower), and get their proprieteary content,
too. You have choices. Budget dial-up companies. Full service dial-up
companies. Maybe DSL. Get T1 service installed. Stay with cable. The
choices may all have different speeds, different extras besides basic
TCP/IP connections to the Internet, and are offered by different
companies with different levels of customer service.

Each choice has a different set of benefits and drawbacks. If only one
of the choices available meets your wants and desires, it doesn't mean
you have no recourse. It just means that you have narrowed down your
choices to one.


You could complain to your state attorney general, but they're not going
to be impressed that you're upset that they're only correcting future
bills when they could have gone back and corrected past bills, too.

--
Warren H.

==========
Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.
Blatant Plug: Spend your Amazon gift certificates here:
http://www.holzemville.com/mall/associateshop.html

That bundled-discount policy has been in place for a few years now, so
apparently they are just now discovering a few folks who have slipped
through the cracks.


"pc.parts" <junk.mail.now@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:fecaf434.0404081934.1aa56bcc@posting.google.c om...

Warren <wholzem@hotmail.com> wrote:
I have a related story involving an error. Comcast started charging me
$0.25/month for a local tax, but it was for the wrong jurisdiction (since my
zip code straddles two jurisdictions). So when I called to have the tax
removed, Comcast said, "OK. Now we will charge instead the $2.00/month tax
for the jurisdiction where you live."

Did you check with your municipal or city clerk to check the validity of said tax ?

$24.00/yr for local tax seems extremely high.

Dave



"Gordo" <gordo20878@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:RJydnXtV-dh8h-rdRVn-hA@comcast.com...
| Warren <wholzem@hotmail.com> wrote:
| > The rates are published. You were getting a discount that you went
| > qualified to get. Not only do they have the right to correct your
| > future bills, you are darn lucky they're not going back and
| > correcting the errors on your previous bills.
|
| I have a related story involving an error. Comcast started charging me
| $0.25/month for a local tax, but it was for the wrong jurisdiction (since my
| zip code straddles two jurisdictions). So when I called to have the tax
| removed, Comcast said, "OK. Now we will charge instead the $2.00/month tax
| for the jurisdiction where you live."
|
|

well you could call cable and wireless and have a T1 installed but then you
would also have to get a dsu/tsu and a good router
I would pay twice the price for the service we get


"pc.parts" <junk.mail.now@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:fecaf434.0404081934.1aa56bcc@posting.google.c om...

That's Channel Service Unit/Data Service Unit (CSU/DSU) needed for a T1 line.

Dave :-)



"rabbit" <rabbitsass@aol.com> wrote in message news:ydmdnUd8kukDY-rdRVn-iQ@comcast.com...
| well you could call cable and wireless and have a T1 installed but then you
| would also have to get a dsu/tsu and a good router
| I would pay twice the price for the service we get

GREED BUDDY GET USED TO IT!


"pc.parts" <junk.mail.now@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:fecaf434.0404081934.1aa56bcc@posting.google.c om...

I used to work customer service for Comcast. Just call customer service
**be nice** and tell them you want to be transferred to the save desk or the
retention desk. Tell them you want to cancel service DSL will offer you a
better rate 29.99 a month for 12 months see if you can get a break on the
price. If all else fails they will call your bluff, but more than likely
they will cut you a deal on the service to get you to stay with them. I
used to work the save desk when it was ATTBI and all we did was throw out a
promotion to get you to keep the service.


"pc.parts" <junk.mail.now@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:fecaf434.0404081934.1aa56bcc@posting.google.c om...

Contact the FCC and your state public utilities commission and ask them both
to begin regulating cable companies.


"pc.parts" <junk.mail.now@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:fecaf434.0404081934.1aa56bcc@posting.google.c om...