The Schoolyear of Scott

Nice use of alliteration, huh?

I cannot stand Comcast Cable.  In the nearly three years that I’ve had Comcast as both my cable and internet provider, I’ve had so many problems with them, it isn’t even funny.  Take for instance today:  I get excited because Comcast, for once, doesn’t metaphorically “screw the pooch” and has two HD channels (CBS and a CBS2, basically) dedicated to March Madness, instead of just one as in previous years (though, in previous years, every game has been available in SD, which apparently isn’t an option this year).  My excitement lasts about, oh, three seconds as I quickly realize that the other HD channel is only showing the games in SD.  Not only that, but the picture quality is worse (and I mean bunny ear antenna quality) that the games being shown on the real SD channel.  Bullshit!

My feelings exactly

I am a huge fan of HDTV, as any regular television viewer should be.  It is well known across the country that Comcast, due to cost cutting measures years ago, doesn’t have the infrastructural capability to provide a HDTV package that is competitive with other television provides, such as DirecTV and Verizon FIOS.  Comcast is literally having to go city to city and rip out the analog wiring that is currently in place so that they can provide subscribers, like myself, with more than the 30 HD channels that we currently recieve.  In a “chicken or the egg” kind of paradigm, so many people are leaving Comcast due to the crappy service provided that Comcast is running out of money to upgrade their systems.

The economy might also have something to do with this, but you get my point.

Comcast has addressed this problem by focusing on upgrading the infastructure of smaller markets, leaving major markets, like Atlanta, SOL while neighboring cities, such as Augusta, Georgia get quality HD channels like FX and Speed.  (Augusta, GA is home to the Masters and NOTHING else.  Seriously nothing.  The Masters being in Augusta is the equivilent of holding the Olympics in Kansas City, Kansas.).

Mr. T says it best

Not only does Comcast provide bad HD service, they are also inept.  I rented a HD-DVR from Comcast in December of 2006…it, no exageration, wasn’t until February 2008 when they started billing me for the DVR (they even sent me a note apologizing for their error, which I found quite humorous).  Last year, Comcast had a big promotion that all 162 Braves games were going to be shown in HD.  So on Opening Day, I open a beer, take a sit and get ready to watch the game and, GUESS WHAT, the game was in Standard.  Sometimes, when I want to watch a hockey game on Verses HD, I get a frozen picture of something totally random (Tuesday night it was an antellope, I kid you not) while the audio is of the game.

One time, and this was the worst, I had about 20 people over (which was by far the most people ever in my apartment) to watch a UFC pay per view.  It just so happened that this was the first UFC that aired in HD, and they had a big marketing campaign to promote that fact.  Well, I ordered the event, and, come 10pm, nothing happened.  At about 10:15 I got fed up and just bought the event in Standard, all the while on hold with Comcast.  When I finally got through, they said they were having issues and I wouldn’t be charged for the event.  Sure enough, when I got my bill, I was charged twice for the event.

Comcast Sucks

The condo that I am moving to has Verizon FIOS, which has 100 HD channels in amazing quality.  I think I am more excited about that then anything else involved with my move.  Next week I get to call Comcast and cancel my service.  I cannot wait!

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 19th, 2009 at 7:04 pm and is filed under School, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.