![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hating the cable company, continued
Jul. 6th, 2013 06:12 amAs I mentioned before, I'm not opting to get cable TV at the apartment in Brookline at this time. However, I do absolutely need need need Internet service, and I want a land-line phone. Thus, I signed up for Comcast.
So, the first day in our new apartment, Monday, was entirely devoted to waiting for the Comcast guy. He was supposed to show up between 11:00 and 1:00. I got Sophia up bright and early that morning and marched her to the train station so we could catch an early train into town and be 100% sure of being in the apartment by 11:00. Got to Brookline well before 11:00, no problem, but there wasn't time to fit in going to the office or going shopping or errands or anything in time to be sure of getting back to the apartment by 11:00. Thus, even before the scheduled Comcast time window, our vigil began.
At 1:10, the Comcast guy had still not shown up, and I called Comcast. They were dutifully apologetic, promised me a credit on my bill for the inconvenience. Said that the installer guy was in the neighborhood, and would come to my place next, so surely it would be soon. We continued to wait in the apartment.
An hour or so later, Comcast called back. They claimed that the installer guy had tried to call me to get into the building at 12:10 and had failed to reach me on my cell phone, and thus he had gone on to his other jobs. However, I had been added back to the schedule, and he would be there by 4:00. Oh, really? Well, there had been a call on my cell phone from an unknown party, which I had answered, but the call had dropped. So I said "Oh!" *face-palm* "OK, he did try to reach me! I should have called back when the call dropped!" Braced myself for more time stuck in the apartment... tried to ping a friend who could perhaps take a turn waiting for the Comcast guy, but that didn't work out.
Approaching 4:00, I called the number that had tried to call me mid-day, to ask "hey Comcast guy ETA?". It wasn't the Comcast guy. It was some guy named Dave who had apparently butt-dialed me. I wasn't sure which Dave this was, and he had no idea how he had called me, but whatever, point being that he wasn't the Comcast guy. So, the Comcast guy had totally lied about calling me. *seethe*
At 3:55, as I reached for my phone, ready to queue up Comcast's number (so I could call them to ask where the hell their guy was right at 4:00), the phone rang. It was the Comcast guy. Finally. After nearly 6 hours in the apartment.
Keep in mind that this was 6 hours in the apartment with an extremely bored 8 year old. There we were, having just arrived and not moved our stuff in yet, and therefore we had no books, no magazines, no games, no sports equipment, no cooking gear, and no television. It was the Internet provider we were waiting for, and therefore we had no Internet. Without any idea when the Comcast guy was going to suddenly show up, I didn't dare leave the apartment for any major expedition, such as the library, swimming pool, shopping, movies, playground, office, friends' houses, etc. Keeping an 8 year old amused for 6 hours in a completely bare apartment is rather challenging. They had better give me that credit, or I will rip them a new one.
Now I find out that by being a Comcast customer, I am subsidizing the evil empire that is driving the CEO of the Tennis Channel insane. However, note that while Comcast is the cable company that is fighting the Tennis Channel in court, that's probably just because that's the one that TC chose to take on (probably because Comcast's ownership of the Golf Channel gives them an anti-trust argument); I notice that my other option for cable, RCN, also does not include the Tennis Channel in the basic line-up. Nor does Verizon Fios, at least not the last time I chatted with the Fios guys when they were going door to door in the 'burbs.
Not that it would really change the math for me if Comcast did add the Tennis Channel to the basic line-up. It's the difference between paying $70 for 800 channels I don't watch, versus paying $70 + extra for the sports tier for 850 channels that I don't watch. It wouldn't be that much of an improvement.
I'm looking with interest at John McCain's efforts to pass a law that cable companies have to offer channels a-la-carte. It is unclear how this law, if passed, would actually impact the television industry. There is the criticism that this would cause many channels to go out of business. However, I'm sure there are many channels that deserve to go out of business-- channels that nobody would choose to pay for separately, because they are pure crap, adding no value whatsoever. On the other hand, there are high-value channels that some people would pay more for than all the other 799 channels put together which are suffering under the current regime. The Tennis Channel, for example. Because, how else is one going to see epic performances by some of the world's greatest athletes-- fly to Paris? That's not happening any time soon.
I'm sure that if the Republicans get behind McCain's efforts, the secret agenda will be to further segment the marketplace of ideas. With a-la-carte cable channels, one could get all the right-wing propaganda without paying for channels that carry Bill Maher, Jon Stewart, or PBS. (Or vice-versa, ah-hah!) But, hey, the marketplace of ideas is already completely segmented. It's a different world than when everyone had to watch the same 3 network stations. Many people see nothing but Facebook and hear nothing but Pandora, and therefore could be completely oblivious of, for example, the fact that we recently had a major election in this state. There is no town square any more, and your soap-box is in your kitchen.
So, the first day in our new apartment, Monday, was entirely devoted to waiting for the Comcast guy. He was supposed to show up between 11:00 and 1:00. I got Sophia up bright and early that morning and marched her to the train station so we could catch an early train into town and be 100% sure of being in the apartment by 11:00. Got to Brookline well before 11:00, no problem, but there wasn't time to fit in going to the office or going shopping or errands or anything in time to be sure of getting back to the apartment by 11:00. Thus, even before the scheduled Comcast time window, our vigil began.
At 1:10, the Comcast guy had still not shown up, and I called Comcast. They were dutifully apologetic, promised me a credit on my bill for the inconvenience. Said that the installer guy was in the neighborhood, and would come to my place next, so surely it would be soon. We continued to wait in the apartment.
An hour or so later, Comcast called back. They claimed that the installer guy had tried to call me to get into the building at 12:10 and had failed to reach me on my cell phone, and thus he had gone on to his other jobs. However, I had been added back to the schedule, and he would be there by 4:00. Oh, really? Well, there had been a call on my cell phone from an unknown party, which I had answered, but the call had dropped. So I said "Oh!" *face-palm* "OK, he did try to reach me! I should have called back when the call dropped!" Braced myself for more time stuck in the apartment... tried to ping a friend who could perhaps take a turn waiting for the Comcast guy, but that didn't work out.
Approaching 4:00, I called the number that had tried to call me mid-day, to ask "hey Comcast guy ETA?". It wasn't the Comcast guy. It was some guy named Dave who had apparently butt-dialed me. I wasn't sure which Dave this was, and he had no idea how he had called me, but whatever, point being that he wasn't the Comcast guy. So, the Comcast guy had totally lied about calling me. *seethe*
At 3:55, as I reached for my phone, ready to queue up Comcast's number (so I could call them to ask where the hell their guy was right at 4:00), the phone rang. It was the Comcast guy. Finally. After nearly 6 hours in the apartment.
Keep in mind that this was 6 hours in the apartment with an extremely bored 8 year old. There we were, having just arrived and not moved our stuff in yet, and therefore we had no books, no magazines, no games, no sports equipment, no cooking gear, and no television. It was the Internet provider we were waiting for, and therefore we had no Internet. Without any idea when the Comcast guy was going to suddenly show up, I didn't dare leave the apartment for any major expedition, such as the library, swimming pool, shopping, movies, playground, office, friends' houses, etc. Keeping an 8 year old amused for 6 hours in a completely bare apartment is rather challenging. They had better give me that credit, or I will rip them a new one.
Now I find out that by being a Comcast customer, I am subsidizing the evil empire that is driving the CEO of the Tennis Channel insane. However, note that while Comcast is the cable company that is fighting the Tennis Channel in court, that's probably just because that's the one that TC chose to take on (probably because Comcast's ownership of the Golf Channel gives them an anti-trust argument); I notice that my other option for cable, RCN, also does not include the Tennis Channel in the basic line-up. Nor does Verizon Fios, at least not the last time I chatted with the Fios guys when they were going door to door in the 'burbs.
Not that it would really change the math for me if Comcast did add the Tennis Channel to the basic line-up. It's the difference between paying $70 for 800 channels I don't watch, versus paying $70 + extra for the sports tier for 850 channels that I don't watch. It wouldn't be that much of an improvement.
I'm looking with interest at John McCain's efforts to pass a law that cable companies have to offer channels a-la-carte. It is unclear how this law, if passed, would actually impact the television industry. There is the criticism that this would cause many channels to go out of business. However, I'm sure there are many channels that deserve to go out of business-- channels that nobody would choose to pay for separately, because they are pure crap, adding no value whatsoever. On the other hand, there are high-value channels that some people would pay more for than all the other 799 channels put together which are suffering under the current regime. The Tennis Channel, for example. Because, how else is one going to see epic performances by some of the world's greatest athletes-- fly to Paris? That's not happening any time soon.
I'm sure that if the Republicans get behind McCain's efforts, the secret agenda will be to further segment the marketplace of ideas. With a-la-carte cable channels, one could get all the right-wing propaganda without paying for channels that carry Bill Maher, Jon Stewart, or PBS. (Or vice-versa, ah-hah!) But, hey, the marketplace of ideas is already completely segmented. It's a different world than when everyone had to watch the same 3 network stations. Many people see nothing but Facebook and hear nothing but Pandora, and therefore could be completely oblivious of, for example, the fact that we recently had a major election in this state. There is no town square any more, and your soap-box is in your kitchen.
