I Cut the Cord… No More Cable TV!

Well, I finally did it. I cut the cable TV cord so no more cable TV for my family. Instead, we will be streaming movies and TV shows on-demand from Netflix and Hulu Plus via the Roku media streaming device.

So, I needed to call Comcast and have them downgrade my current “Triple Play” service to only Internet access, removing the Cable TV and Phone services. After reading all the horror stories online about people fighting Comcast to do such downgrades, I had to mentally prepare myself for battle.

I first tried to downgrade my Comcast service by using the 24/7 online chat system, but I was promptly told that I would need to call the Comcast offices to change my service. Obviously, they want to talk with you live to try to convince you to keep your services or offer you some special promotion to maximize their services being used. I was told to call the 800 COMCAST number between the hours of 8a – 7p EST. So, I did so first thing the next day but kept getting a recorded message stating I needed to call during business hours (ugh). After repeated attempts, the office appeared to be open at 7am PST, afterwhich I was able to talk with a Comcast representative to downgrade my service.

The process actually went quite painlessly. I was very courteous to the Comcast representative, explaining I need to downgrade my account to only keep the Internet service to save on cost. He explained the different promotions and tried to help reduce the cost, but I ultimately told him my family doesn’t use Cable TV or the phone services very much and we still need to save on cost. So, he gladly made the change. In the end, it wasn’t as much of a hassle as I thought it would be after reading so many online postings about others trying to change their services with Comcast. I think the key was me being courteous and respectful on the phone, which never hurts when you want to have something go smoothly.

Side Note: I came across this posting by someone who wanted to downgrade their Comcast service to Internet-only. As you can see, the person who wrote this posting was extremely nasty and belligerent to the Comcast Representative via the online chat system when he tried to downgrade. In the end he states how horrible Comcast is, but in the chat conversation he posted he was the one who appeared horrible. The Comcast Rep’s responses were very professional while he was being a giant ass about it. Now, I may sound like I’m defending Comcast, but in reality you can read his posting and decide for yourself. Sugar goes a long way when you’re trying to get what you want!

So my Comcast service was changed to Internet-only for a price of $65 per month, with a $7 charge to rent their cable modem. I also pay an extra $10 per month to get “Blast!” feature which boosts my download speed to 50 Mbps (which is what I had previously). So my overall bill dropped from $245 to about $96 when I include the taxes and surcharges.

I did get an email from Comcast a few hours after the changes were made showing the new charges. So, everything was good. Except….

This morning I found another Comcast email in my inbox that showed different monthly charges than what I expected from previous day’s email confirmation. This new email shows I’m paying $129.90/mo for “High-Speed Internet” instead of the $65/mo that I was quoted yesterday. What’s with that?!! So I initiated an online chat with Comcast and the rep stated from her records it shows I have the expected $65/mo service, not the higher service. She suggested the system may still be updating with my recent changes, although I checked yesterday online and it showed Internet service-only with my account. I also checked my account online while I was on chat this morning, and it showed both Xfinity TV and Internet services active! So overnight, the Comcast system reactivated my Cable TV service and sent me a new email confirmation.

So at this point, I’m going to wait a few more days and check my online account again. Hopefully, Comcast’s system will have processed everything correctly and I’ll see the correct charges on my account, otherwise, I’ll be back on the online chat again trying to straighten it out.