The Big Switch to Comcast

Serious Ron dreading the Invasion 

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY.  I switch from my slow Verizon DSL Internet connection to Comcast Super Charge Internet connection.


I have dreaded this day.  Not because I don't want a higher Internet connection speed.  I do.  I need it especially now that I am using FaceTime.  Also, I am so tired of losing my Verizon connection.  I have lost count the number of time I've had to call Verizon because I had NO Internet connection.  Whenever Bill and I saw the Verizon people working on the switch box at the entrance to our lovely little development here, we could almost always count on a slower Internet connection or none.  Like I said, I've lost count.


So why am I dreading switching over to Comcast?  Because I know there will be some kind of glitch.  Some kind of torture that I will have to go through.  Oh I'll hear the "Well, that never happened before." from the person that Comcast sends out to switch me over. I just know, I KNOW, that there will be a problem like they never encountered before.  Oh yes, there will be a problem.  I have a brand new modem.  I have a brand new router.  Both of which I purchased yesterday at Staples.  I cleaned out my office.  The outlets are clear.  I'm ready.  Will there be a problem?  Yes.  There will be a problem.  Guaranteed.  I'll tell you all about it tomorrow.


When we moved in here four years ago the house was already wired up for Comcast.  I had no choice, they were the Only Game in Town and they knew it.  So I went with Comcast but I wasn't hooked up.  They billed me but I was getting any service.  I called them and told them I wasn't hooked up.  I actually had a service representative on the other end of the line ARGUING WITH ME  that their records indicated that I was receiving service.  I suggested that they come out to my house and check for themselves.  They send yet another sub-contractor out (don't you just love these companies trying to save every last penny by not hiring someone full time and paying them benefits?) who also didn't know what he was doing.  They check and sure enough, I wasn't getting service.  My neighbor was getting my service.  The lines were switched.  Then I heard "Well THAT never happened before."  Don't you just love it?


Then I had to go through the torture of convincing them to credit my bill for two month's worth of service that I DIDN'T receive.  Of course when their sub contractors came out it was raining every time so I had wet, dirty construction boots traipsing on my new wall to wall expensive beige Berber carpets.  


When Comcast finally got its act together I had fast reliable Internet service.  The only problem was the price.  It seemed like every other month they were raising their price.  Then came the coup de tat.  I changed my cable service to satellite TV (DirecTV) because I didn't like the clunky DVR service that Comcast was offering.  When I called Comcast to inform them to discontinue my cable service they immediately DOUBLED my Internet connection service from $30 a month to $60 a month.  Yes folks, DOUBLED my bill.  I asked them why and the guy on the other end of the line snottily said "You don't have our bundled package and that's our price."  Just a lovely, helpful attitude towards the customer who they are supposed to work for.  I can see why Comcast was able to buy NBC-Universal.  They do know how to make money, especially if they're the only game in town.


So for the past 3 1/2 years I've been struggling with Verizon and their shitty (sorry folks, no other term explains it) Internet connection service.  In Pennsylvania I had their FIOS service which was GREAT!  But no go down here.  I called them last year and asked when they though FIOS would be available in my lovely little development.  The answer I received was "About ten years."  Well folks, I'll probably be dead by then (pushing 80 big ones) so I resigned myself to their DSL service for which I now pay $37.99 a month.  Their prices are going up too.  


But now that my friend Don V. is showing me all the wonderful things my iMac can do, I need a faster Internet connection.  He has Comcast, which he says he has never had a problem with.  My friend Lar says the same thing.  I wish I could say the same but I have only Comcast horror stories.  


So I was up against a wall. This morning I gave in and called Comcast.  Of course I get someone on the phone who I can hardly understand.  Not only a poor phone connection but an accent which I couldn't place. The poor phone connection I attribute to Comcast because they want me to get their connection.  I didn't fall for it.  But I did ask to subscribe to their Internet service for $19.99 a month for the first six months (God knows what it will be after the first six months is up).  Once Comcast hooks me up to their Internet connection, I'll have a connection speed five times faster (up to 15 mps) than I do now (at up to 3 mps).  THAT I can live with, even if they do charge me more after the first six months which they will.  Guaranteed.  


So here I await.  I've cleaned out my office to make a lot of space for the INVASION tomorrow of the construction booted sub-contractor Comcast will send to my door in the rain.  Oh yes, rain is forecast tomorrow.  


Funny thing, Comcast now has commercial that tout their "great" customer service.  They even say that their employees carry booties with them when they enter a customer's house.  I used to have a plumber that did that and I was so impressed with his respect for not traipsing through my house with his "who knows where they have been?" boots.  How much to you want to bet that this Comcast person who arrives at my door tomorrow DOESN'T have booties?


Does it sound like I'm bitching a lot?  Well I am because this kind of stuff drives me crazy.  Maybe it's because I'm older now and I just can't take a lot of change.  I especially don't like people walking through my house with their dirty shoes/boots who don't know what they're doing which has been my experience most of the time I've had service people in my house since we moved here four years ago.  I just want everything to work with a minimum of disruption.


One good thing that is happening tomorrow, my friend and Mac mentor Don V. has asked to come over when the Comcast guy/gal arrives.  Don has offered to help if any problems arise (which I am sure they will, they always do).  Like I said, ONE GOOD THING IS HAPPENING TOMORROW.  A friend is coming over to help.  Thank you Don.  Now just to get through tomorrow.  

The way I hope I look tomorrow after Comcast

Back on Line

I'm back on line folks and not a minute too soon.  So much to discuss.


Well, it turns out the problem with the Internet connection was inside.  My telephone cord went bad.  Just like that, it went bad.  I didn't touch a thing.  


Vicky, my Verizon service person (who I know quite well now from her numerous visits for my numerous service calls) checked the DSL speed coming in my house.  I have a direct line from outside the wall into my home office.  That speed was 7 MP.  At a loss at what to do now, we switched the telephone line inside that goes to the router.  Viola!  That worked!  


I am humbled.  I was wrong.  It wasn't Verizon's fault but my own negligence for having a bad telephone line.  Uh, and just how was I to know that.  Well, "things happen."  


So I'm back on line and now it's Catch Up Time.


I have a lot to write about the TSA and their Security Theater at the airport.  I will do that in a future blog posting.  I'll probably do that tomorrow after Bill and I return from Sam's Club in Dover.  This is our last shopping trip before the Christmas Deluge which begins Black Friday.  When all the Christmas shopping craziness starts we stay and home to keep out of everyone's way.  Nobody needs two doddering old men hindering their Christmas shopping experience.


Now it is time for me to watch "Dancing With the Stars".  Yes, I finally have local (aka network) TV!  I want to see what all the fuss is about Bristol Palin and if she really is that fantastic dancer the Palinites keep voting back week after week.  


Hey, I don't care if she wins.  Reality shows aren't really reality shows anyway.  They're nothing but popularity shows.  That's fine with me.  They're scripted just like any other TV show.  They're about as "real" as professional wrestling.  

Internet Connection Blues

Stay cool Ron, stay cool.

Hey folks, I keep losing my Internet connection. 


Thank you very much Verizon.


Here's my choice, Verizon or Comcast.  Talk about being between a rock and a hard place. They both suck.


Bear with me.  The new modem will arrive in two days.  If that doesn't work then I will dump Verizon and go back to Comcast.  I hate Comcast.

Here We Go Again

For the last several months I have notice that I cannot watch a You Tube video without it pausing. I’ve also noticed that the past several months that my Internet downloads take a long time to download. Here we go again. I’m about to do battle with my Internet service provider, Verizon.



Sunday I did a speed test. As I suspected my Internet speed wasn’t up to 3 MB as I was promised and what I’m paying Verizon for monthly. Instead my Internet speed varies between 200 and 500 kbps. This isn’t the high speed Internet service I’m paying for.



Here we go again. Sunday I started the series of phone calls that is necessary to resolve this problem. I don’t to bore the readers of this blog with all the hoops I had to jump through until I got a real person. The “real person” was Sanjay in India. Someone who I could hardly understand his English. That torturous phone conversation ended with Sanjay telling me I had too much on my Startup and that was affecting my Internet speed. I’m not a techie but I knew this was a ridiculous explanation.



Yesterday I took the plunge again and called Verizon. Again, I jump through all the hoops until I finally got a real person. This time it was a man from Canada. At least I could understand him. Again, I answered all the questions on his script. We did another speed test which confirmed that my Internet speed is SLOW.



This time he’s going to write up a ticket. Then he transfers me to a real technician. This guy is Mr. Smooth. At the end of the conversation, after I answer all the same questions and go through another speed test, he says “Someone will contract me if it is NECESSARY to do so.” What? I DON’T HAVE THE INTERET SPEED THAT I AM PAYING FOR!



After almost three hours on the phone yesterday morning, I am no further along than I was when I made my first phone call on Sunday.



So now I await the call from Verizon.



I’ve been here before. When I first moved here in November of 2006 I went through the nightmare of Comcast. I dumped Comcast and got Verizon. That is my only choice in the area, Comcast or Verizon. That is some choice isn’t it? That’s competition.



Stay tuned.