AKICILJ

[serene]

So Comcast really wants us to switch to digital phone service (we already use them for our internet and cable TV, though the TV thing we only do because it was dirt cheap, because we almost never watch anything on the actual TV). I've been concerned about putting all my communication eggs in one basket. If you've had their digital telephone, or one of their all-in-one bundles, please let me know how you like it.

Pros I can see so far:

1) Saves us around $60 a month if we go for it, and if we keep it for three months, they also send us a check for $100.

[EDIT: 2) The special price is only for a year, but the regular price is still half of what we're paying AT&T (and we can cancel any time.)

3) Their service includes everything we already have, plus unlimited calls to Canada, plus 9 more services (which we may or may not use), plus voicemail.]

Cons I can see so far:

1) "Comcast Digital Voice Services (including 911/emergency services) may not function after an extended power outage."

2) That all-in-one-basket thing


Thoughts?

Comments

[wimsey70.livejournal.com]

I think the price they quote you is only for a limited time period. After that, it goes up by a bit, and I think you have to commit for a couple years. Might want to be careful about that.

Er... I had it for a bit over a year and was fine with it. I have an all-in-one package from Verizon now, and though my internet's a bit faster ("FIOS"), the phone and TV are a bit worse.

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

It's for a year (the price), but you can cancel any time. Thanks for bringing that up, though -- I should have put it in the post.

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Oh, and their regular price is half what we're currently paying, with a few more services.

[sogwife.livejournal.com]

minor Pro: one less bill to pay (as in one less task) each month.

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

No tasks involved, as all my bills are set to auto-pay.

[hel]

We had them for net+tv+phone, and it was generally ok, tho they did screw us over on the premium channels. Boyfriend had gotten 3 months free of the premium, and was told it was supposed to be an extra $10 a month after the 3 months, but then it was way more. He's not great at paying attention to the bills, so didn't NOTICE it was way more for a number of months, and they wouldn't refund it when he did notice.
But the service was generally good. The usual cable internet problem that everyone in our apt building had comcast, so around 5:30pm everyday it would be worse than dialup speeds cos EVERYONE was home and online, but otherwise nothing much bad.
oh, on the pros side tho, they have several twitter accounts intended for helping customers who're having problems, and I personally know several very nice, genuinely want to help, people who work in comcast's customer service department.

[corilannam.livejournal.com]

I've had their 3-in-1 package for a while now, and it's worked out really well for me. Significantly reduced my bill, and I've never had a problem with the phone service even when the internet was wonky. Do you have a cell phone in the house just in case of those extended power outages? For me, that's been more than enough back-up for enough peace of mind to enjoy the extra money I don't have to pay Verizon every month. *g*

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's the way we're leaning, but someotherguy made the wise suggestion that I should check with my know-everything internet pals first, and see if there was a big problem I hadn't anticipated. :-)

[clever-doberman.livejournal.com]

as much as I like being plugged in, I still feel more secure having an old fashioned land line for 911 calls. but I'm willing to believe those that say the digital service thru Comcast works fine, just don't know if I'd do it at this point.

my father just signed up for AT&T's "U-verse" and he has been assured the 911 thing works perfectly. so far he likes it, but as a retired person, he likes to spend endless amounts of time getting them to reduce his bill once the specials wear out. ugh.

and I have selected a cell phone & service that has true GPS so my 911 calls from that phone are also more likely to go through quickly with accurate information. Most cell phones don't have that, so calling 911 from a cell phone (I've done it) is a long, laborious annoying ordeal and they don't know where you are located.

[maestrodog.livejournal.com]

We've had their triple play plan for some time now and never had any troubles with it. Even at the regular price, we still saved about $25 a month from what we were paying before. And we got an extra premium channel with the deal.

I say go for it before the deal expires...you can save quite a bit short-term.

[johno.livejournal.com]

We've recently switched to ATT because our local area service is crappy.

ATT's bundle for Wireless, Land-Line & DSL, was less then then *discounted* rate comcast was offering us to bundle land line with data.

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

We love our Comcast cable internet service, and have had nothing but trouble with DSL in the past, so we're not interested in switching away from Comcast for the internet even if it's cheaper, but thanks!

[ptigris.livejournal.com]

Have the Comcast three way - Internet and Cable are great - phone seriously sucks. Outages, dropped calls, the works.

Will negotiate for a cable/internet bundle when contract is up and will get a cell phone.

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Good to know; thank you! Do you think the phone trouble could have anything to do with how far away you are from, well, everything? ;-)

[ptigris.livejournal.com]

Wel, it's really my mom that's so far away from everything - I live in-town (Novato). No real reason why it should have any trouble.

*shrugs*

[treacle-well.livejournal.com]

A couple of years ago my roommate and I had that all-in-one basket thing with Comcast--it was good for our budget. I was completely happy with it. I guess I don't worry too much about needing phone in an emergency so the possibility of no phone as a result of power outage never troubled me, and I don't use phone much anyway--but I never did end up with non-functioning phone service.

The reason I don't currently have Comcast phone service is that when roommate moved out, I trimmed out non-essentials. I had cheap cell-phone service and didn't feel I needed a land-line of any sort.

[quaker-emu.livejournal.com]

You may want to price out Comcast for data + TV and a outside supplier for VOIP (eg Vonage) as well. That is the arrangement I have and it has worked well. I held on to my traditional land line as long as I could for the 911 and power outage aspects but when Verizon refused to move my number 2 miles down the street I switched to a provider that would let me keep the number.