Product Review: Comcast Cable

I have been a Comcast Cable customer for about a year, and I must say I wish there was another cable provider in my area. (In my area your choices are Comcast for cable or satellite through DirectTV).

For many months I had a digital cable package through Comcast and I loved it. The selection of channels was adequate, and the interactive TV guide screen made it really easy for me to find something to watch. I also had partial access to the OnDemand programming, which I also enjoyed. I especially loved it when they added FearNet (a rotating collection of horror movies). I could "rent" many movies each month without paying extra. It was great.

And then I reached a point where that package was too expensive. So I went with the cheapest package possible, about 20 channels for $15 a month. The digital programming was gone, along with OnDemand, but hey, at least I still have some sort of TV to watch. I would not have kept any cable TV service at all except that in my neighborhood, you can only pick up 3 channels by antenna. And one of the channels only comes through clear when the weather is great. So this package is a good alternative to going insane from basically no TV whatsoever.

Now, programming is all that I can say I like about Comcast. Periodically the cable goes out for no apparent reason. Sometimes it's for a few minutes, sometimes a few hours. And I do mean truly no apparent reason. There is no rain, hail, snow, thunder, lightning, or exceptionally high wind in the neighborhood. You're watching TV on a sunny day and out of nowhere you are suddenly watching static. I've had this issue with both service packages, and the cords have all been fine.

Lastly, I feel a bit mixed about Comcast's customer service. I have not actually called customer service often, because I hate calling customer service centers. I have contacted customer service via online chat a few times, however, and that was a decent experience once I got through the queue line.

The real highlight of my experience with Comcast Cable came when I downgraded my service. I opened my first bill after that and was just thrilled to discover I got to pay them to change the service and pick up my digital cable box. Every cable company probably does this, but seriously. That took all of two minutes for a technician to do, and what are the odds he was in or near the neighborhood that day anyway? And I have always believed companies should not nickel and dime their customers.