Comcast crap, unexpected upgrade

13553249_1221593231187262_1918687707_nSo yesterday in the mail I received a letter from Comcast.  As I scanned through the letter I got angry very quickly.  In a nutshell the letter said something to the effect that Comcast has been giving me the “HD Technology upgrade” for free and will no longer be doing that as of July 28th.  If I wanted to continue to receive HD programming I would need to contact their office and agree to pay an additional $9.95 per month.  What in the fck are they talking about?? My bill for last month was $192, are they seriously going to try to slap another 10 dollars on top of that?  Why is HD an add on option in the first place in 2016?  That is utterly ridiculous.

So I looked at my bill online and confirmed that my “Double Play” package already included the HD fee. I was pissed.  I called and after giving up on their maze like phone menu I just kept repeating “speak to a representative” until a human being picked up.  Of course this human being was located halfway around the world in India, immediately adding to my frustration level.

When I tried to explain to “Nelson” the letter and how it made no sense, he was clueless.  He had no idea why I would have received it.  He verified that my account package already includes the HD stuff. Yea, no shit.  Throughout the conversation he addressed me as “Mr Shawn” repeatedly, adding to the lunacy of the situation.

So the guy had no idea what the letter was about or if I would actually lose my HD access on July 28th if I didn’t hand over another 10 bucks monthly.  His advice to me was if I lose HD access on the 28th I should call them back and they will restore it.  I asked Nelson if he understood why that was a terrible answer to a customer?  The letter tells me to call in to address the issue.  I called in.  You don’t know anything about the letter and your answer is for me to spend more of my time calling in later if something happens?  “Yes, Mr. Shawn”

I knew I was not going to get anywhere with the guy.  In an attempt to demonstrate how serious he was about my “satisfaction” , he gave me his clerk id like that was going to get me anywhere.  I am sure if I call back in a month and say “Hey Nelson in India said I shouldn’t have had to pay 10 bucks for HD” I will get immediate results.  All I know is if I do actually get HD yanked next month I will be on the warpath.  Charging an HD surcharge present day is nothing short of thievery in my opinion. It’s like charging extra for an automobile to be able to run on higher octane gas.

Yesterday I got back my home DVR from Night Owl.  I found it funny that their repair facility is actually local, less than 5 miles from where I work.  You may recall my difficulty in getting the RMA initiated however once I did the process went smoothly.  I was sent a postage paid shipping label and they sent out a replacement unit the day they received the old one.  I was pleasantly surprised when I realized I unknowingly got an upgrade in the process.  I sent in a 4 channel 1080P system and got an 8 channel 1080P system back.  I wish more things worked that way.  If you count our two Ring doorbells we have a total of 14 cameras around the property keeping an eye on things.  I don’t think anyone will be sneaking up on us anytime soon.