OT: Secret Comcast Discount!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(naterprius\";p=\"52576)</div>

The same is true for cellular phone service, satellite television and Internet service providers.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Danny\";p=\"52562)</div>

Time Warner does the same thing. I've done it myself. Of course we have competing cable companies where we live and also qualify for DSL. If they don't have competition in your area, they might not offer a discount.

 

I recently cancelled my Comcast broadband internet service. I continue to have their digital cable service. I went with a new internet service (Clearwire) that is just starting in Jacksonville that uses radio frequency to cell towers. Anyway, when I cancelled, Comcast offered to sell me the internet service for 35.95/month for 6 months (regular 42.95/mo).

 

Time Warner "repackaged" my service late last year, at about a $30 savings. Something you do have to ask about, I guess, otherwise they won't mind keeping what they *could* live without...

 

I have Comcast cable and DSL through SBC. The latter has never cost me more than $26.95/mo for around 384kbps. Since I'm too far from the CO, that's the best they can do right now at any price.

Frankly, the Comcast internet offer I got from a rep was kind of crappy. It was $19.99/mo for the first four months but then jumped to $42.95/mo thereafter. Further, I was told I would be charged a $150 one-time fee for the home networking option. Further still, the equipment lease was $5/mo or I could go out and buy the stuff myself. Geez! I guess I'll just stick with SBC.

 

Depends on what you're doing I guess, but you don't need the home networking option.

 

You're correct re home networking; it is not required. However, I don't have to make that decision with SBC and SBC doesn't charge extra for that option (i.e. it's still $26.95/mo).

Also, even without the home networking option, the monthly equipment lease only drops 2 bucks to $3/mo and the one-time fee from $150 to $99. :roll:

 

My condolences to those of you stuck with SBC or Comcast. The wait for my new internet provider to light-up my neighborhood was about as excruciating as being on the Prius wait list!

SureWest.
10 Mbps symmetrical Fiber-optic to the house (FTTH).
Absolutely no down time or congestion slow downs.
$50 per month.
My Bay Area tech friends are so jealous - one actually moved to Sacramento stating SureWest as the straw/camel’s back thing.

http://www.dslreports.com/archive
The SureWest averages are low because SureWest is also a DSL, dial-up and cell phone provider and those results are included.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Sufferin' Prius Envy\";p=\"55281)</div>

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i think you will find that most if not all cellphone, cable, and ISP services have what they refer to as "save tools" which are special unadvertised rates available to customers in order to reduce churn. (churn is jumping from one service provider to another)

on average it costs a company $1500 to sign up a new customer. if they can keep an existing customer by offering them a discounted service, many companies will do so. they will never advertise the lower rates and your mileage may vary as sometimes its in customer services power to offer you the lower rate.

a better tactic might be to say you are facing financial hardship and can no longer afford the service. usually you can get slightly reduced services for a much lower price.

 

I dont know if I qualify as an industry insider but I'm one of the guys in the van with the ladders on the roof. My post retirement gig is as a contractor for one of the major cable providers installing/maintaining HSD, VOIP, and cable TV. All I've read here is true. And fiber to the house will be the industry standard in short time. Those connection speeds will make your jaw drop but they are accurtate and will only get better.
As far as "saving" goes it's also true. Even as an installer if I go to a non-pay disco and can get the customer to pay me the arrearages and leave them connected I get a $25 reward, still get paid for the change of service plus I dont have to get the ladder off the roof and schlep up the pole to do the disco. Win, win in my book. Especially if there's a snarling Rotty in the back yard and 50 piles of poo. The bad news is it doesn't happen a lot, the save that is.
Peace,
Paul

 

If only this site could take advantage of such speeds.

I consistently find PriusChat to be quite slow, compared to other websites, on both my T1 connection (upwards of 4 Mbps) at the office and 1.5 Mbps DSL (regularly tests at 1.1 - 1.2 Mbps) at home.

 

not really an industry shift. it was smart consumers who started the SOHO movement. there was no industry that favored this at all except possibly Linksys. (although i doubt this was the case since initially their boxes were difficult to set up since home OS's werent set up to do the job and support was shaky at best) the cable company realized about 2-3 years AFTER the fact that SOHO was here to stay and then simply let that extra computer charge slip under the rug and started advertising multiple home systems like they were giving the consumer something. (what a joke!!)