Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Comcast, I hate your "Protection Plan" that only protects YOU.

Dear Comcast,

I hate that you almost have monopoly in my neighborhood. You try to sneak exorbitant fees on me every few months (have you guys turned on any of your own TVs and watched the economy collapse recently?).


I hate that your website changes every week, only to make it more complicated to figure out where my bill is, what the hell it means, and how to pay it.


I hate that you play cash flow on me. You're one of the very few services, in my daily life, that I have to pay for BEFORE I know whether or not it'll work. 1 month in advance to be exact. I am not your bank. I'm your customer. I should pay only if you're provided the service.


And most of all, I hate that you try to sell me a "Protection Plan". What is a "Protection Plan", you say?
A "Protection Plan" protects Comcast. It does. Comcast tries to tell you that it's for your own good; that if your cable box, or your TV signal, doesn't work the way it's supposed to, that you will have paid this monthly fee for years so that the technician won't charge you $100. Well, that's because they don't charge you (yet) just for making you wait at your house for 3h before that same technician shows up.


The "Protection Plan", you see, is in case Comcast services DON'T WORK. And that's precisely what kills me. I'm sorry for assuming that I was paying for service THAT WORKS. I guess that comes with an extra fee these days.


What's next? A "Life Insurance Plan" in case my cable box doesn't make it through the year??

Questions? Comments? Email carolineblogs at gmail dot com

1 comment:

ComcastCares said...

Thank you for the feedback. Regarding the website there are many improvements coming to the billing system. We are excited about that. I will share the feedback regarding paying in advance. This is done because it is not a usage based, like electricity or water. It also helps save money in reducing collection costs for non-paying Customer. Unfortunately that does happen and does cause higher prices for us all, no matter what the industry. In terms of the service plan, it is not for your box or poor signal. It is strictly for the wiring within your home. Not the lines leading to the house or boxes supplied by us. It is to help save money just in case there is trouble with wires or splitters in the house. Many people are comfortable doing this work themselves, so it would not be helpful for them to purchase.

Thank you for the feedback!

Frank Eliason
Comcast
@ComcastCares on Twitter