Wow. The worm turns...
In Jan. '09 Comcast was taking full advantage of the US digital TV transistion, claiming that if you were a Comcast customer you were "ready already" for the digital conversion. What they didn't say at the time was they they didn't mean their upcoming corporate digital conversion, which resulted in dropping analog channels 32 and up and forcing customers to get digital converters if they wanted to watch USA, E!, etc.
They did, however, send out very nice letters offering FREE digital upgrades AT NO ADDITIONAL COST, which would include one full service converter and two "digital adapters", giving me access to "thousand of hours" of free movies and programs "ON Demand" and many channels of digital music. This programming package was the same price as the existing analog service. I called and ordered the upgrade. A box appeared on my front step (no signature required for delivery) and I installed the hardware.
Part of the installation is "activation", where one must go to Channel 1 (On Demand) and select some menu options. When I went to On Demand, the TV showed "this service is not available". I called customer support.
To make a very long story not so long, out of the next four calls to Comcast customer support, every one of the service reps told me that my new digital package DID NOT include On Demand, it DID NOT include music channels (which also showed an "unavailable" message). HOWEVER, if I wanted those services, I could be UPGRADED to the next higher programming tier for just $1/month more. Every one of the reps denied the existance of a written offer of NO ADDITIONAL COST access to On Demand and etc etc.
I returned the hardware to the local office. "Of course" I was supposed to get those services. A customer rep fiddled with her computer, said something about "reboot", and told me to go home and check again. Did that. Still no On Demand, still no music. Called customer support again (the call center is in Tigard, OR, I think). The rep THIS TIME seemed to agree that yes, I was supposed to get On Demand. He put me on hold to talk to his supervisor, and came back with the standard refrain "no, you don't get it, but I can upgrade you for $1/month...".
To make more of a longer story shorter, the TRUTH is that yes, I was supposed to be getting those services, but instead of spending the money on sending a service tech out to my house to diagnose the problem, they wanted me to upgrade (which wouldn't have solved the problem anyway!) The TRUTH is that almost immediately after getting their analog customers to upgrade FOR FREE to a digital service that cost the same as the analog service, they INCREASED the rates by $4/month.
Bait and switch? Or just insultingly stupid customer service? Fraud, perhaps?
Oh, one last final TRUTH. The offer included self-installation kits AT NO ADDITIONAL COST. They billed me $9.95.