Question: Time for a new TV...

4Q Basket Case

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Nov 8, 2004
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I've come to the conclusion that there is no longer any provider of tech services offering even marginally decent customer service. Applies to phone, cable / satellite TV, Internet, what have you.

I've gotten upset and switched carriers, only to get crappy service at the new place, along with the learning curve on using the new service -- the worst of both worlds.

Cutting the cord would appear to be an option for television, but in TF threads on that topic, it appears to be no more reliable than cable / satellite, and highly dependent on the ISP, which might or might not be related to the TV service....so round and round you go.

My solution has been to pick the one with the least bad local reputation for customer service, steel myself for the ensuing fiasco, and see it through to the end. The alternative of switching is just not likely enough to yield a better experience.
 

TIDE-HSV

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I've come to the conclusion that there is no longer any provider of tech services offering even marginally decent customer service. Applies to phone, cable / satellite TV, Internet, what have you.

I've gotten upset and switched carriers, only to get crappy service at the new place, along with the learning curve on using the new service -- the worst of both worlds.

Cutting the cord would appear to be an option for television, but in TF threads on that topic, it appears to be no more reliable than cable / satellite, and highly dependent on the ISP, which might or might not be related to the TV service....so round and round you go.

My solution has been to pick the one with the least bad local reputation for customer service, steel myself for the ensuing fiasco, and see it through to the end. The alternative of switching is just not likely enough to yield a better experience.
One problem is that that rep can be a moving target. My closest friend retired after 35 years with BellSouth/AT&T. He's the one who warned me off AT&T. Immediately after the Trump tax cut, AT&T ballyhooed that they were about to hire thousands. Instead, they fired the 7K and everyone left fears for his/her job. And, as I said, they outsourced CS overseas. Their older reviews are sterling. Their newer reviews suck...
 

Go Bama

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We dismissed AT&T internet two months ago. Our internet service was so poor it had to be reset every 1-2 hours. It was infuriating. Even when it worked it was miserably slow.

We we now have Comcast. So far the service has been sterling.
 

TIDE-HSV

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We dismissed AT&T internet two months ago. Our internet service was so poor it had to be reset every 1-2 hours. It was infuriating. Even when it worked it was miserably slow.

We we now have Comcast. So far the service has been sterling.
As I said above, we decided to stay with Comcast for the time being, owing to recent developments at AT&T. I pay for 150 mps and get 180 regularly, which is all I need. The replacement box is arriving tomorrow. After waiting 10 days for the first one, only to find out the rep didn't know what she was doing, so the correct codes were never entered, another saying it was already on the way, UPS now assures me that it's en-route. The real kicker is Google, around here. They're now on the south end of the mountain, about a mile from me. They had to start over because the poles were overloaded, so they've sunk auxiliary poles beside the old. Google's gotten their noses bloodied in some markets where they've tried to bury fiber with pavement slits and have pulled out, leaving people hanging. This is even true in their original city, KC. OTOH, Huntsville Utilities is building the infrastructure here and Google is just the initial tenant, after which it'll be open to any ISP who wants to compete. That's got to be a good thing...
 

TIDE-HSV

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Well you said Comcast so I would assume many painful intermediate steps. They would have to actually improve to become terrible. They are currently somewhere below terrible.
I think I've talked to eight reps now, half of whom knew what they were talking about. None of this would have happened if the first rep, when she couldn't make the box work from her end, had just offered to send a replacement. Instead, she lied through her teeth and said that the only option she could offer was a $70 service call, wherein a tech would have brought a new box and plugged it in. The new box is to arrive this afternoon or evening, so we'll see what happens then...
 

CrimsonForce

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As I said above, we decided to stay with Comcast for the time being, owing to recent developments at AT&T. I pay for 150 mps and get 180 regularly, which is all I need. The replacement box is arriving tomorrow. After waiting 10 days for the first one, only to find out the rep didn't know what she was doing, so the correct codes were never entered, another saying it was already on the way, UPS now assures me that it's en-route. The real kicker is Google, around here. They're now on the south end of the mountain, about a mile from me. They had to start over because the poles were overloaded, so they've sunk auxiliary poles beside the old. Google's gotten their noses bloodied in some markets where they've tried to bury fiber with pavement slits and have pulled out, leaving people hanging. This is even true in their original city, KC. OTOH, Huntsville Utilities is building the infrastructure here and Google is just the initial tenant, after which it'll be open to any ISP who wants to compete. That's got to be a good thing...
I live down South Parkway towards Redstone Arsenal gate 3. Google Fiber is available here and I've been using it for several months now. Flat rate of $50 for 100 mbps or $70 for 1000 mbps. Haven't had any issues. I have the $50 Google Fiber internet and $50 YouTube TV. I've been very pleased with both coming from AT&T internet and Direct TV..
 

DzynKingRTR

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I think I've talked to eight reps now, half of whom knew what they were talking about. None of this would have happened if the first rep, when she couldn't make the box work from her end, had just offered to send a replacement. Instead, she lied through her teeth and said that the only option she could offer was a $70 service call, wherein a tech would have brought a new box and plugged it in. The new box is to arrive this afternoon or evening, so we'll see what happens then...
I think got that same rep. I said no thanks. It happens there is a comcast store near where I work, so I stopped by with the modem and dropped it on the counter. I told the person at the desk give me a new one or cancel my account. I got the new modem.
 

TIDE-HSV

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I live down South Parkway towards Redstone Arsenal gate 3. Google Fiber is available here and I've been using it for several months now. Flat rate of $50 for 100 mbps or $70 for 1000 mbps. Haven't had any issues. I have the $50 Google Fiber internet and $50 YouTube TV. I've been very pleased with both coming from AT&T internet and Direct TV..
It's on the south end of the mountain now. The horror story has continued. The replacement box they sent is not 4K capable and I've told each rep that was my sold reason for requesting a new box. The first rep I got today, I pinned down on model numbers. He confessed that he had no way of telling which box he was sending. They were all "X1," and he didn't know what the warehouse would send out. Obviously, with 4K being relatively new, there would be many more of the old boxes. Finally, he said he needed to transfer me to a "box swap-out specialist." She knew the difference and could designate a 4K box be sent. It's supposedly shipped. Now we only have three boxes to take back, if it works. I'm not tied to them by contract. How is the TV channel selection on Google?
 

TIDE-HSV

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I think got that same rep. I said no thanks. It happens there is a comcast store near where I work, so I stopped by with the modem and dropped it on the counter. I told the person at the desk give me a new one or cancel my account. I got the new modem.
I'm not talking about the modem. I own my own modem. I'm talking about a 4K capable cable box. I explored the option of picking one up instead of shipping today. The nearest one was in Winchester, TN...
 

TIDE-HSV

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One thing I'd add is that there are a lot of people out there with Comcast boxes who think they have 4K boxes to go with their 4K TVs who don't...
 

TIDE-HSV

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Well, I checked and the rep did indeed get the order in and it's shipped. Also, this rep noted by account that, if it took a tech visit to get a 4K box installed, then there would be no charge. Maybe we're getting there...
 

RTR91

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Nov 23, 2007
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Earle, I’m learning that DirectTv isn’t the only provider with 4K thanks to this.

In regards to new TVs in general, had to setup a couple of new VIZIOs at church a few weeks ago. They had an option to name the inputs. Wish my parents had that. Wouldn’t have my dad calling “Hey, which one do I select for the Blu-ray?”


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