Comcast Cable Bait & Switch - Sales Tactic #8
October 24, 2007
This post is part of the Sales Tactics Revealed series. Make sure you check out the other Sales Tactics.
Have you read my post on How 5 Minutes Can Save You $120? If so, beware the advice I gave because it may come back to bite you!
How 5 Minutes Can Cost You $180
Comcast just pulled a version of bait and switch on me today; don’t fall into the same trap. I didn’t give the details in my original post, but I was able to drop my cable bill $20 a month for 6 months by upgrading from Expanded Basic to Digital Cable. What I didn’t know is that I was actually setting myself up to lose money in the long run.
Comcast Baits the Trap
At the time Comcast offered several tiers of service: Limited Basic, Extended Basic, and Digital Cable. I felt I was paying more money for cable than I needed to be. We receive many, many channels we don’t watch and wanted something in between the Limited & Extended Basic plans in terms of channels available and rates. They didn’t offer such a package and wouldn’t give me a discount on Extended Basic but did make the offer to drop $20 a month from my current bill if I upgraded for “free trial” of Digital Cable. I wasn’t really interested in Digital Cable but wanted the discount so I agreed to the deal. I specifically asked the phone rep if I could switch back to Extended Basic after the 6 months ended and he assured me that I could.
The Trap is Sprung
My six months has ended so my cable bill jumped back up, not to the Extended Basic rate but the even higher Digital Cable rate. I took in my digital box today to cancel Digital Cable and revert back to Extended Basic and they informed me that was no longer an option. Comcast is phasing out Extended Basic and slowly moving channels over to Digital Cable in preparation for a 2009 change to all digital broadcasting.
Comcast’s Bait & Switch
Comcast knew what they were doing six months ago when they baited me into changing over to Digital Cable. They knew Extended Basic was going away and that I wouldn’t be able to change back to the service when my promotion ended.
I’m not sure what angers me more, the fact the phone rep lied to me last spring or the horrible customer service they offered when delivering the news today. Their only response to my protests about being lied to was:
“We apologize an uninformed associate gave you the wrong information but we can’t help you. We’re not allowing anyone to transfer to Extended Basic”.
A company that values their customers and discovers that one of their employees misled a customer will take the necessary action and correct the wrong in the eyes of the customer. The fact that Comcast isn’t willing to do that leads me to believe they knew exactly what they were doing when they made the offer and intentionally lied to me in order to convert me over to Digital Cable.
Financial Implications
Now I’m faced with the option of paying an extra $15 a month for Digital Cable ($180 annual increase) or looking for an alternative. For whatever reason, Comcast is the only cable option in my part of the city so I’ll have to research the Dish network or DIRECTV. Be aware of this tactic since Comcast seems to be heavily promoting the Digital Cable route. As I stood in line today I heard the reps try and push the digital box on many other customers. You’ve been warned : )
Or, you could just do without cable and save even more money than you had been saving by doing without.
All of a sudden you will have more free time on your hands and fewer bills…
Two things. First, saying Comcast has bad customer service is like saying the tide will come in. It’s a sure thing. But you (and every other Comcast customer) already knows that.
Second, I think you give them too much credit for planning ahead. My experience has been that companies make money in spite of themselves. I seriously doubt a lowly CSR knew corporate’s plans.
Do you not have the Digital Basic package in your area? That’s what we have, which is the exact same price/channel lineup as the old Extended Cable (analog) package was. It’s not the Digital Cable you probably got, which has tons of extra channels.
Like you, we were also told by Comcast that they are trying to get everyone over to a digital package (we did it to get HD channels), but surely they can’t force you to get an expensive package with a bunch of worthless channels. So ask about Digital Basic!
What!!!! I was literally just about to call comcast this week to downgrade my parent’s digital package to expanded basic. They haven’t even used their box for the past year but we’ve been paying extra for it.
Ugh! Comcast is horrible. I just switched to ATT/yahoo for their internet services, which is about 50% cheaper and feels just as fast. I found dish network to be a low priced and viable alternative but my parents “need” their Chinese channels. Those channels are costing us $30 a month extra!
Comcast stinks, I’ll have to call them up today and see what they say. First I have to find those boxes lol I hope I didn’t lose them.
Thanks for posting this! When we bought our house and transferred our cable the rep tried soooo hard to get me to upgrade to digital - I didn’t because I was afraid I’d forget to cancel in time (I was less organized then) and… whew.
Man, I would be ticked off.
It’s rare, by the way, for there to be multiple options for cable in the same area unless you are in a highly populated area. Even then, many companies essentially have legal monopolies. The reason usually stems from the amount of cables municipalities allow to be strung through their jurisdictions. It can get pretty corrupt.
Blaine, 4 letters: ESPN : )
KMC, you may be right but i still think Comcast planned this initiative and even if the CSR didn’t know the plans they knew they were supposed to push the Digital Cable plan.
jodie, thanks I’ll have to check out the Digital Basic package.
Money Socket, I hope you didn’t lose them, they’ll charge you for them. However, I did turn mine in without a power cord without a fee.
Patrick, I agree, only having one cable company is messed up. It kills competition since there’s only one option.
The unfortunate thing is most of these cable companies are virtual monopoly in their region. Beside going to satellite, I have no other option either. Please keep us updated.
Thats not true, its just a hard sales tactic. Take the box back in cancel service and then call them back to get basic cable. They will hook you up without a problem. I would complain to a manager. I just got basic cable two weeks ago without a problem.
get the dish
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We had something like this happen with Adelphia a few years ago. I guess their customer service people went to work at Comcast after the buy out.
We’ve been very happy with DirecTV since then. The only hitch is bad weather can knock out the satellite connection.
Qwest did the same thing to me. I had a phone package that included the dial tone (I guess this is not free with the phone line) and an extra service, which I used for Caller ID.
I received notice to upgrade to another package with call waiting caller ID, I was told it would actually be less in the long run.
Next month I got my bill, it was more, I called to get back on my old plan and it had suddenly been discontinued. Even after complaining up the phone tree, writing a letter, and contacting the PUC, nothing changed.
I hate Qwest.
As someone who used to work in tech support, I think it’s pretty likely the rep was telling the truth about not being able to switch you back. The system we used to manage customer information did not give us (regular reps, supervisors, *anyone*) the ability to add people to plans that had been retired. The only thing we could do for them was put them on the nearest possible current plan (usually more expensive) and, if the plan change was due to us *mistakenly* removing them from the legacy plan, add special discount features to make the plan comparable to the one they’d had before.
Go with Dish.
Comcast IS the devil.
I have extended basic and I keep getting these voice mails from Comcast telling me that such and such channel will no longer be available after such and such date and that I have to get a digital something or other, which, of course cost more money. My bill is already $56 a month for the basic. First they called and said the TV Guide Channel was being eliminated. Then they called and said CNN and something else was being eliminated. Then they called, last week, and said the Hallmark Channel (one of my favorites) was being eliminated. I am so psssst. Being FORCED to pay more for something I do not want. I intend to get a satallite dish, now. If I am going to pay more money, I am going to have a different service. Which is best…Direct or Dish???
I so-oooo prefer direct tv over dish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
dish suuuuucckksssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
they have NOOOOOOOOOOO customer service; and have you on hold FOREVER
would NEVER recommend them!!!!!!!!!!!!!
direct tv is SUPERB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
currently have comcast; they too suck!!!!!!!
You are right, I have comcast but you do not have a contract with them so you can always cancel and go back to whatever you want.
Also, Comcast pulling the “it’s cause of the 2009 switch-over” line is bull. The 2009 switchover only affects over the air antenna connections. Cable and satellite are completely unaffected by the new law.
But cable companies are taking advantage of the ensuing confusion to trick customers into their more expensive tiers.
The official website says it in a maddeningly confusing way: https://www.dtv2009.gov/
From: http://www.dtvanswers.com/dtv_faqs.html
I’m a cable customer. Will I be affected by the transition?
Television sets connected to cable, satellite or other pay TV service will not require a converter box. Cable and satellite subscribers should check with their providers before February 17, 2009, to see how they are handling the transition.
Do cable customers with analog TV sets have to buy or rent a set-top box (converter box) from their cable company? If so, how much will it cost?
First, it’s important to know that the February 17, 2009 deadline for the digital television transition only applies to full-power broadcast stations. The government does not require cable companies to transition their systems to digital. They can continue to deliver channels to their customers using analog signals. Actually, cable companies are required under FCC rules to offer local broadcast stations to their customers in analog, as long as they offer any analog service. This requirement will continue for at least three years after February 17, 2009. The FCC will decide in 2011 whether the requirement should be extended beyond February 17, 2012. This means that customers who receive analog cable service (without a cable set-top box) will be able to continue doing so.
I only saw one person state something about digital basic. the package you have is digital preferred and what you need to do is downgrade to digital starter. digital starter is the same price as regular expanded basic cable. and also you do not pay for the first box. so if you have more than one box you definitely have to pay extra past that first box. there is no bait and switch involved. the price is the same for digital starter and expanded basic. the problem is you signed up for a promo that was for digital preferred. get your facts straight bro…….
Digital starter is supposed to be the same price as standard cable/expanded basic. Also they will be rolling out a new digital Economy package for 39.95. Either way, the price usually includes the first box and any other tv’s you can still plug directly into the wall for analog.
Like snooks said you are not being informed of all your options and you were put on digital preferred, which is more expensive.
Have you thought about going with verizon Fios if its in your area of course they do not hide the fact that in feb everything is going all digital they don’t even offer the analog channels anymore and its not at a bad price if you bundle and with some of the advances with the technology they have a lot coming out pretty soon. The only reason I know about this is because I am a contracted employee that sells the service in verizon wireless stores we have bundles with tv internet and phone at discounted rates. I’m going to be truthful about this customer service with verizon sucks I know this because I have to call into it almost everyday to get something done for a customer but I have had bad with the good on from the customer service so it isn’t completly bad. Also if your interested you may want to check out the bundles with direct tv that verizon offers it may save you some money of course this is only if you cannot get the fios service in your area.
email me I would be happy to give you more information on the matter and I will give you the truth not bull.
Jesse
JessesGenie@gmail.com
if you have verizon fios in your area and you want a crapload of speed, go for it!
How much would Comcast loose if all of their customers had the balls to cancel their subscriptions? Maybe just for a month. But not tell them. Let’s get,
U N I T E D . . . (you) states of America.
COMCAST did the Bait and Switch on me for the Wii offer last summer.
And guess what I got the same line today, that was posted above. They are blaming the person who signed us up and told us we were getting the Wii.
I even had to change my phone number that I had for 25 years to get the Wii deal.
But after sending in all the paperwork, calling the rebate center a dozen times and being on hold forever, Comcast says TOO BAD.
WTF???!!!
Think cable companies are a pain? DirectTV customer service will hang up on you immediately if you only have a question on service that you’re thinking of subscribing to. If you aren’t buying it right then and now, they hang up and take the next caller. Try it.
You are totally correct with this article. My wife works for comcast, and she tells me that they are instructed to do this kind of stuff on a regular basis!
I just got a letter from Comcast saying they are moving to digital network enhancement THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE FEDERAL-MANDATED DIGITAL BROADCAST TRANSITION and I should either call or visit the website to answer a few questions to see if I need a FREE converter.
1) visited website but was told to call
2) called number to speak with an automated system, only to transfer me to a live person.
3) said person keeps me on hold for 30 minutes trying to figure out how to send me the free converter only to tell me I now have to upgrade to a digital cable box for “about a dollar a month”. The reason was totally vague and was a total bait and switch. If it was a reputable company, I wouldn’t be so hell bent on the $1 extra a month, but knowing Comcast, the $1 would turn into $10 next month because of some other vague reason. So I asked to speak with a supervisor.
4) The supervisor told me that it was a mistake and I should be able to get my free converter kit and would be sent to me. (got her name and ID number…and I’m not holding my breath.)
To me this is a classic bait and switch where the operators probably get incentives to trick consumers into a slightly higher bill. And they are trying to ride the digital transition piggyback to justify the increase.
DON’T FALL FOR IT.
I’m waiting for Hulu to get more shows so I can tell Comcast to F*** off.
Is my concast bill going to be reduced now that
Comcast has eliminated so many channels from
the cable channels to the digital channels?
Talk about deceptive, Comcast are masters at this. They sent me information about their “network enhancement.” In the letter they sent, they have a section entitled “what is the cost?” It says, and I quote:
“You are entitled to one digital cable box and up to two digital adapters at no charge. Additional cable boxes are at $5.99/each per month. Additional adapters are $1.99/each per month.”
Deception #1 - if you have more than two (not 3) TV’s, you get the honor of giving Comcast the $1.99 per month per TV to get channels you now receive for free.
Deception #2 - They told me when I asked them for my free digital cable box (as it says above) that I was mis-interpreting their information, that I would only get the two digital adapters free. The first digital cable box would cost $5.99 per month.
The only thing they agreed to do was advise marketing that they should be more careful about their wording. This has nothing to do with a mistake, this is clearly more deceptive advertising, bait and switch, etc. by Comcast. And one more deception.
The brochure also says that this enhancement will “allow Comcast to offer digital benefits to all of our valued (that’s a joke) customers, as well as other exciting new services in the future.” The truth is nothing will change now, you will see these channels exactly as you do today, and they can provide no information about future services.
in response to: ann on June 1st, 2009 6:29 am
You’re funny…Comcrap lowering prices… ever…..ROFL
The only way to lower that bill with Comcrap is to drop their service or change to a lower service plan, ok a bit of a redundant suggestion (you can’t get much less service for your money than with them).
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The ONLY reason that I haven’t already switched to Fios is that I live in an apartment that is not yet served by Fios, and because Verizon has already begun their deployment in the neighborhood, they won’t permit a new DSL activation. So, I’m stuck till Fios is made available in my apartment complex.
In every other utility industry (phone, power, gas, satelite, even a few of the other cable co’s), a single service issue for a single customer warrants the company sending out a repair crew AND fixing the issue. This is not the case with Comcast, the only way to actually get your service repaired is to make it worth THEIR time, and sadly as a single end customer, you do NOT have enough clout to get them to fix the issue without ALSO contacting the FCC and/or FTC AND filing a complaint.
I’ve been having internet issues since day one, and since my only other option at this point for internet is dial-up (a non-option). Comcast has made it quite clear (through their actions more than their lip-service) that they have ZERO interest in the quality of service I receive at my apartment.
I live in Framingham MA, and Comcast has representatives on foot who go door to door trying to get people to sign up for their services. They recently told people in my neighborhood that if they owe Comcast money, they would sign them up with a stranger’s SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER and name so service can be provided to their home. That is major fraud/identity theft if you ask me. It could be mine or your SSN being used next! And if the scumbag subscribers don’t pay their bills AGAIN, there goes the credit report of the individual whose identity was stolen.
Is there a way for me to report this to an agency that will investigate and prosecute? What would this organization be?