[burky]

We moved to TV about 6 months ago and after all the horror stories about Comcast I was reluctant to sign up but I didn't want a dish antenna on our roof and I was having increasing issues with DirecTV back in Michigan over the last few years of our 20+ year relationship, with bogus charges I couldn't get rid of and multiple stupid policies that made no sense except to dissuade customer loyalty.

After signing up with Comcast I was VERY impressed with their customer service, and have had zero problems. The several times I called to get our service going (TV/Internet) their phones were answered immediately and the Reps were helpful and courteous.

Comcast's Internet speed is BETTER than my home wi-fi network. I'm getting about 80Mb/sec !!. I have never seen anything so fast.

Their Tele lineup is pretty similar to DirecTV with the exception that Comcast does not include the Science channel with their standard package.

A special NOTE. You do NOT have to purchase the Comcast gear and be subject to a monthly equipment rental fee!!! Check out TiVo (which has a much higher satisfaction rating for their set top box that any cable vendor. The TiVo one time equipment cost will be paid for in a little over one year, by the savings in Comcast rental fees.

[OhioBuckeye]

Originally Posted by logdog

I have been a huge fan of DirecTV. I switched from Comcast about 5 years ago because customer service at Comcast was really, really poor. Also, DirecTV had better equipment, more HD channels and excellent customer service.

However, this week I had a problem with one of my DirecTV receivers. When I called them, I got a runaround reminiscent of my Comcast days. Over two days and several hours, I talked to 6 different techs and customer service people. They sent me equipment I didn't want and set me up with a tech visit for this morning and then cancelled it without telling me. One person told me that customer service hasn't been the same since AT&T took over.

I'm thinking about going back to Comcast but would like some feedback from anyone who made the switch recently or has experienced Comcast customer service whether positive or not. I understand Comcast has made an effort recently to turn around their sub par service. I would love to have Bright House but I'm north of 466A.

I wish I could tell you more about Dish or Comcast but what I didn't like about Dish was they advertise the first 12 months is something like 20 or $30. Then after 12 months it's retail price, but they won't tell you what retail price is because they want to tell you, you might want premium channels, I tell them I want the same as I had the first 12 months that I got at a discount, they still won't tell you. To me that's telling me they scare to many people off. Can anyone tell me what the least you can get & the most you'll have to pay? I went to BrightHouse which I like because they have super good service but one thing I don't like is they never ever told me when we got it that they were giving us the introductory price. I was paying I think $80. a month 4 yrs. ago & each yr. it's been going up a LITTLE, now this month they raised it to $125.12 a month for the next yr. it's not bad. I get 200 channels, but about half of them are music channels. Overall I happy for now, maybe next yr. I won't be. Hope this helps answer your question!

[mrdills]

I just started using a product called Vstream2TV, it runs off the INTERNET and once you buy the box you don't have any other fees. You can get any sports you want live, (FOOTBALL, BASEBALL, HOCKEY, BASKETBALL, SOCCER from around the world, any sports) any movie you want to watch including movies that are playing now and old move going back 15 years ago. Checkout this web site.... type this address in the address bar not in the search bar. VStream TV

[CarolP46]

Comcast is OK IF you have no problems or issues. I moved within TV in October and have not had a correct bill since I moved. They disconnected me 2 weeks early and it went down hill from there. The icing on the cake was when they turned me over to a collectio agency for money I never owed them Talking to customer service is like talking to a wall and God help you if you get their overseas people. A complaint to the Better Business solved my problem very quickly but the frustration was totally uncalled for. I think they are all the same and unfortunately we are at their mercy.

[tuccillo]

Besides the fact that it has a camera, it looks essentially like a Roku, AppleTV, Chromecast, or one of the other streaming boxes but appears to have much higher cost. Can you expand on the differences?

Originally Posted by mrdills

I just started using a product called Vstream2TV, it runs off the INTERNET and once you buy the box you don't have any other fees. You can get any sports you want live, (FOOTBALL, BASEBALL, HOCKEY, BASKETBALL, SOCCER from around the world, any sports) any movie you want to watch including movies that are playing now and old move going back 15 years ago. Checkout this web site.... type this address in the address bar not in the search bar. VStream TV

[2BNTV]

Originally Posted by Blackie

Is this a "Dish" store or a third party run store?

Also is at the Walmart north of Spanish Springs near the Comcast office or the Walmart south of 466a

North of Spanish Springs. This is a DISH store in addition to handling DirectV.

All reps are knowledgeable with the DISH product.

[frdwld1]

I used to have Direct TV -- after Comcast. I switched 2 years ago to Dish. I'm very satisfied. I hear that Century is quite good, also. They use fiber optics in parts of the Villages.
Fred

[frdwld1]

Originally Posted by logdog

I have been a huge fan of DirecTV. I switched from Comcast about 5 years ago because customer service at Comcast was really, really poor. Also, DirecTV had better equipment, more HD channels and excellent customer service.

However, this week I had a problem with one of my DirecTV receivers. When I called them, I got a runaround reminiscent of my Comcast days. Over two days and several hours, I talked to 6 different techs and customer service people. They sent me equipment I didn't want and set me up with a tech visit for this morning and then cancelled it without telling me. One person told me that customer service hasn't been the same since AT&T took over.

I'm thinking about going back to Comcast but would like some feedback from anyone who made the switch recently or has experienced Comcast customer service whether positive or not. I understand Comcast has made an effort recently to turn around their sub par service. I would love to have Bright House but I'm north of 466A.

I used to have Direct TV -- after Comcast. I switched 2 years ago to Dish. I'm very satisfied. I hear that Century is quite good, also. They use fiber optics in parts of the Villages.
Fred

[arickis]

I have had both within the past year. Att/Direct TV customer service is very deceptive and try to trick you into different things. Comcast customer service is just incompetent. Equipment and the X1 platform from Comcast is great. I prefer Comcast strictly for equipment and programming features.

[Dave@TV]

We had Comcast when we first moved here almost 11 years ago. We switched to Dish, due to a rash of outages and poor customer service (last straw was a 3 day total outage and their refusal to credit us for the lost time). After a few years with Dish and their satellite internet, we have dropped them and returned, reluctantly, to Comcast. Dish had too many weather related outages, too many equipment failures and lousy internet service. I will say that having gone back to Comcast, their cable TV and internet service is much improved over our last experience. Their customer service is also much improved. We had the remote that controls the DVR go belly up on a Friday evening and it was replaced with no questions Saturday morning. Hopefully, this will continue, as I have heard bad things about all the different providers here in The Villages.

[Midvale]

Dish is also behind Sling TV. (sling.com)
Stream ESPN, ESPN2 and 18 other cable channels including AMC for $20 a month; no contract. Needs a Roku, Chromecast or similar.

[larcha]

Originally Posted by Trayderjoe

We have Comcast right now, and are looking to drop it due to inconsistent/poor customer service, and trouble with the internet (we are north of 466A). We have been considering DirectTV and had hoped things would get better under AT&T. We do have AT&T U-verse at our home in Michigan and really like it. Excellent customer service, good quality tech support on the phone, and they overnight expressed a new receiver to us at no charge to us when ours went bad. We did the cable route (Charter) and you would think it was Comcast under a different name.

We also have Charter at a different location but for internet only. Aside from routine, and expensive, price increases I enjoy the speed they provide, 40 to 60 Mbps. Competition would solve a lot of TV and internet provider problems but that doesn't seem likely to happen. Has anyone tried to "cut the cord" and go with just the internet and an OTA receiver/recorder?

[tuccillo]

Depending on where you live, you may have 5 choices for TV (Dish, DirectTV, Comcast, Brighthouse, and Century Link) and 3 choices for internet (Comcast, Brighthouse, and Century Link).

Originally Posted by larcha

We also have Charter at a different location but for internet only. Aside from routine, and expensive, price increases I enjoy the speed they provide, 40 to 60 Mbps. Competition would solve a lot of TV and internet provider problems but that doesn't seem likely to happen. Has anyone tried to "cut the cord" and go with just the internet and an OTA receiver/recorder?

[willbush]

We have had Direct TV for about 20 years and Dish for about 2 years. Direct TV has much better service and channel line-up. No problems other than an occasional loss during a compete downpour which normally last only a few minutes. We also like the fact we can throw our 2 boxes in our motorhome and have Direct TV anywhere we go. Of course as a tech guy, I don’t have to deal with Direct TV any technical issue as have moved my own dishes, re-ran all new cables including ground etc. Although suspect not a factor in TV when we got hit by Hurricane Ivan all those who had cable were without service up to a month in many areas. We had Direct TV the entire time. Through an in-depth search of all company’s it (landline or Satellite Dishes) it appears they all end up being about the same price.

[Bonsai Golfer]

A couple of posts asked for an email contact "via PM." What the heck is PM and how do you send an email when you don't have an address to send it to?

I have had DirecTV for 8 years. I recently asked them to provide me with an upgraded box (Genie?) given how long I've been with them. They absolutely refused claiming I'm not eligible for any promotion. They said their system would not allow it. I asked to talk to a supervisor and got the same answer from that person. When I asked who else I could talk to the answer was, "no one"!

I then went to the Century Link store on 441 near Target. I asked about Prism and was told that since the Prism TV service is carried over the same line as the DSL which carries the internet service, my internet service would have to be reduced from it's current 25Mbps to 10Mbps. My cost for the 25 Mbps is about $45, tax and fees included.

I'm also curious about the folks who report they are getting 75Mbps service from Century Link. I live in Duval and I just confirmed that 25Mbsp is the fastest speed offered in this area.

Maybe I'll try Dish. I'm not convinced about Comcast. I've heard too many bad things about them, some of the recent posts to this thread not withstanding.