Internet access in Houston
On Saturday morning I checked my Comcast account and saw that the price had gone up. This was not unexpected – I’d negotiated a pretty good rate when we moved into an apartment in 2014 and was able to stay close to that price when it went up a year later after the promotional period expired. I was paying about $53 a month for 105-megabits per second downloads, and it went up to almost $69.
Now, that price for that speed is not bad. But I decided to see if I could do better. I was browsing on Comcast’s website and an offer to chat popped up, which I accepted. I told “Ashley” what had happened and what I wanted: to keep my current price. I also told her I was considering other options, including AT&T’s U-verse.
After a brief back-and-forth, she told me she couldn’t offer me a better deal than what was on Comcast’s website – which was not a good deal at all. The company no longer offers its 105 Mbps service, and its 75 Mbps service was offered for $75. No thanks, I told her, and signed off.
But I had mentioned on Twitter that it was taking too long for the customer-upgrade page to reload, and someone from Comcast replied, inviting me to a Direct Message session. I then explained why I was looking at that page and got this offer:
I can get you down to $49.99/Mo. x 12 Months with a 12 Months agreement for 75 Mbps, same as now. $59.99/Mo. without an agreement. Upgrade to 150 Mbps for $59.99/Mo. with a 12 Month agreement or $69.99/Mo. Let me know if any of these would work for you. I will also credit your full $69.86 balance today for the inconvenience. -RTT
After a few more exchanges, I opted for the 150 Mbps service at $60 a month for a year. I asked how much it would go up next year and was told $89.95, but “we can revisit at that time and add on a new promo to keep the price down.”
The speed bump took effect immediately. Typically, I got speeds faster than 105 Mbps with my previous service – 120+ Mbps was common – and again I’m doing better than the rated speed.
While I’m happy with the result – if I’m going to pay more, I’d like to get more, right? – I’m dismayed that I have to go through this dance annually. Yes, I could have paid the $70 a month with no agreement, but that doesn’t mean the price would be static. It means Comcast could jack up the price any time, because they would not be under the restrictions of a contract.
I’d like to see an Internet provider offer service at competitive rates without playing sleazy games. Perhaps some people like to haggle, and feel like they’ve gotten a good deal as a result. But I think most of us would rather get a good price without a lot of fine print and be done with it. Why is that so hard to do?
One other note: Since I had complained on Twitter, I also reported there on the end result, and that I’d done better via the @ComcastCares account than I had through a chat on the company’s website. One follower decried the inconsistency of that, and as I said, simplicity would be better in general. But I don’t mind being able to get a better deal through one channel than another, so long as I know where to look. That’s a time-honored tradition in sales, pre-dating the Internet. After all, if you don’t buy the newspaper, you’ll miss out on a lot of coupons that can cut your costs. Using Twitter to get a better Comcast deal is just a different kind of coupon.
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