F...My Cable Company!

[TheMalcolmConnection]

I think this is also a step in the direction of people ANYWHERE being able to get cable. If they start running it through phone lines that means high speed, cheap internet for anyone, anywhere.

[Stacks42]

I just went through this cable/direct tv nightmare last week, I had Comcast, which I loved, but my bill for the past two months has been around $220 a month for cable (1 HD box, 4 others, with HBO, and internet). I freaked out when, when Comcast would not "work" with me to lower the price. Usually they will help you out, especially since I saw an add for Comcast for Cable, phone and internet for $99 a month for a year for new customers, way to screw over you existing customers! Anyways I got lured into switching to Direct TV, I saw an add on (uh oh the Warpath), which promised to provide a great TV package, but negeleted to mention that DTV is very difficult to navigate and a nightmare in the rain, DTV sucks! When the DTV technician came to "hook up" the system, he unknowingly unhooked my cable internet from Comcast which I was keeping, it took three days and countless phone calls to get someone back out from DTV to hook it back up, because Comcast wont "fix a problem they didn’t break", so I was without internet for those days, and lucky me it just happened to be last week when we had all those storms (DC Area) so the F-ing DTV didn’t work either, I actually had to read a book! What is the world coming to? Anyways I cancelled both DTV and Comcast and started a new Comcast account under my girlfriends name. F them both!

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by joecrisp

Why does customer support suck so much at any company? It's usually a highly stressful, low-paying, heavily-monitored and virtually thankless job. Trust me, I know. When I first got out of college, I had a couple of customer support jobs in the ISP and software industries.

Because companies that provide high-maintenance products such as cable service are required to keep such a large customer support staff on hand to handle high customer call volume, they can't afford to pay much money to each individual support rep. This means the people they hire for those jobs aren't exactly holding advanced degrees. It also means the people they hire for those jobs generally don't stick around very long. I lasted all of about 3 months on my first job as a technical support rep for a dial-up ISP. On my second job, as a customer support rep for a software-maker, I lasted about six months. And trust me, I'm not the exception. The turnover rate for these kinds of jobs is exceedingly high.

Why? Imagine being the most pissed-off you've ever been about any product or service you've ever bought. You call in to give customer support absolute hell. But because there are 500 other customers trying to call in and give customer support hell at the same time, you have to wait on hold for 10 minutes. Now you're REALLY pissed! By the time you actually get to hear a human voice, you're just bursting with fire and brimstone. Who gets to handle all that hellfire? Some guy just trying to get by, who has the unenviable position of having to handle about 100 to 150 more people just like you before he gets to go home and think about doing it all over again the next day. Most folks can't tolerate that kind of life for very long. Those that can-- or don't have any choice, like I did-- usually become pretty jaded, cynical and desensitized early on in the process.

That leaves you with basically two kinds of support reps: inexperienced, naive and sensitive (like I was); or jaded, cynical and desensitized. None of those qualities are really what you want in customer support representative.

My wife worked in a customer service job for about a year right out of college. Imagine all that hellfire getting directed at her all day long, and then imagine being the guy she came home to in the evenings!

But still, DirecTV costs me significantly less than Cable. I pay $58 a month for one receiver with TIVO service, and a second regular receiver in the den. I get NFL Network, ESPN News, and a whole slew of other channels. And when I call them up for customer support, I've gotten nothing but friendly and very helpful people on the other end.

I think part of the problem being a rep at a cable company is that the cable company makes you so mad in the first place by charging so damn much. So like you said Joe, naturally callers are going to get mad at that. DirecTV customer support reps probably don't face as much anger from the get go, because in general, that company keeps people happy with it's core service. Maybe that's why their reps seem so friendly.

[saden1]

All I have to say is $1800 a year for TV and Internet service is preposterous. Besides, cable companies (Comcast at least) are now using contractors to do their work which saves them money but they sure as hell aren't passing those savings to me. I will not be content with them jacking my rates 6% annually.

[Summo]

I know as far as Cablevision goes here on Long Island, they sign 1 year contracts with the stations they carry and every year when they re-negotiate those contracts the stations raise their price thus the cable companies pass those raises on to the customer. Its a vicious cycle and if I didn't work for a cable company and get my tv, internet and phone for free I would probably be a DTV customer.

[joecrisp]

Originally Posted by TheMalcolmConnection

I think this is also a step in the direction of people ANYWHERE being able to get cable. If they start running it through phone lines that means high speed, cheap internet for anyone, anywhere.

Not exactly. In order for Verizon and the other phone companies to provide video and high-speed internet service, they have to go through the tremendously expensive process of building-out their fiber optic network to the houses they want to serve-- note that I said "the houses they want to serve". That means only the people in dense upper income areas will have those services available to them, and at a cost that justifies the expensive means of delivering those services. We're not talking about the existing twisted-pair copper phone line networks that were mandated by federal law to be accessible to virtually anyone, anywhere. We're talking about the high-volume fiber optic trunks that are capable of transmitting broadband services such as digital video and high-speed internet. It costs a TON of money to build-out these FIOS networks directly to the customers' homes, as Verizon is doing now-- and once again, that's only in select neighborhoods.

I think the politicians who are claiming this is a big money-saving coup for the consumer are either totally unaware of the costs involved in providing these services (which will inevitably be passed onto the consumer), and therefore genuinely believe they've done something good for their constituents, or were so overwhelmed by the money being thrown at them by Big Phone that they couldn't help but paint a rosy picture of this legislation.

[SmootSmack]

Sigh...I miss the good ole days when Joe Crisp used to talk to us about the Redskins and how disappointing Taylor Jacobs is. Now it's all fiber-optics, copper and legislation.

Where have you gone, Joe Crisp?
The Warpath turns its lonely eyes to you
(woo, woo, woo)
What's that you say Mr. FRPLG
Camp Reporter Joe has left and gone away
(hey, hey, hey)

[joecrisp]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

I think part of the problem being a rep at a cable company is that the cable company makes you so mad in the first place by charging so damn much. So like you said Joe, naturally callers are going to get mad at that. DirecTV customer support reps probably don't face as much anger from the get go, because in general, that company keeps people happy with it's core service. Maybe that's why their reps seem so friendly.

I used to catch a lot of hell as a DirecTV installer, actually. Maybe their customer service has improved a lot in the past five years, but when I was working for them, one of the customers' biggest complaints (aside from the picture going out when it rains) was the crappy customer service over the phone. Plus, most customers were locked-into contracts that required them to pay a penalty for cancellation of service, and they had to purchase the equipment. So if the equipment went bad, they were "SOL".

As far as prices go, if you look past the sign-up promotions and actually study what you get for the price, cable and dish's non-promotional standard rates are about the same, though there is always some variance from market to market. I'd expect that's pretty much how it's going to work with Verizon, as well. I think if politicians' claims were to come true that consumers will save $30 to $40 on services per month, we'd see a lot of bankrupt telecommunications companies. Well, a lot more than there are now, at least.

[joecrisp]

Originally Posted by saden1

All I have to say is $1800 a year for TV and Internet service is preposterous. Besides, cable companies (Comcast at least) are now using contractors to do their work which saves them money but they sure as hell aren't passing those savings to me. I will not be content with them jacking my rates 6% annually.

Actually, the use of contract labor for service installation has almost always been a part of the cable business. Some markets just lean on contractors more than others. And, to be quite honest, it's very debatable whether relying on contractors actually saves cable companies any money in the long run. Contractors have no incentive to do a good job on their installations. For them, it's mostly a matter of getting in and out of each job as quickly as possible so they can make more money-- regardless of the impact that has on the quality of service. While cable companies have to pay benefits to in-house technicians, they can also hold in-house techs much more accountable for the quality of their work, and therefore reduce the volume of trouble calls, which are a major driver of operating costs-- and therefore the size of your cable bill.

[joecrisp]

Originally Posted by TAFKAS

Sigh...I miss the good ole days when Joe Crisp used to talk to us about the Redskins and how disappointing Taylor Jacobs is. Now it's all fiber-optics, copper and legislation.

Where have you gone, Joe Crisp?
The Warpath turns its lonely eyes to you
(woo, woo, woo)
What's that you say Mr. FRPLG
Camp Reporter Joe has left and gone away
(hey, hey, hey)

Hrmph... I guess you can thank Karl Swanson for that.

[cpayne5]

Joe -
You keep reiterating that Verizon is only building their FIOS network in affluant neighborhoods, but I have read where there is FIOS going into poorer neighborhoods as well. The tidewater area comes to mind.

Also, the new VA franchising law that was enacted a few months ago places strict and broad buildout requirements on telcos that use the law to get around current franchising red tape, wouldn't you agree?

In areas where FIOS has been released, cable prices have been slashed. This kind of makes me wonder how much the cable companies were making before if they could afford to cut their prices so dramatically.

[joecrisp]

Originally Posted by cpayne5

Joe -
You keep reiterating that Verizon is only building their FIOS network in affluant neighborhoods, but I have read where there is FIOS going into poorer neighborhoods as well. The tidewater area comes to mind.

Also, the new VA franchising law that was enacted a few months ago places strict and broad buildout requirements on telcos that use the law to get around current franchising red tape, wouldn't you agree?

In areas where FIOS has been released, cable prices have been slashed. This kind of makes me wonder how much the cable companies were making before if they could afford to cut their prices so dramatically.

Is there any specific area of the tidewater region you're thinking of, cpayne5? I wasn't aware that they were building out there, but I'd be interested in any documentation you have.

In regards to the new VA franchising law, it's actually pretty Verizon-friendly, allowing them a very generous time-table to reach those supposedly "strict and broad buildout requirements". For instance, in the franchise agreement Verizon just signed with Henrico County, Virginia to begin offering its FiOS services, Verizon has three years to offer services to its initial target area (which Verizon is free to choose), eight years to reach 65% of Henrico, and a whopping 12 years to reach just 80% of Henrico's 112,000 residents. Henrico, mind you, is per capita one of Virginia's wealthiest counties, as are the other areas in which Verizon has chosen to offer its FiOs services: Arlington, Fairfax and Prince William counties; the cities of Falls Church and Fairfax; the towns of Herndon and Dumfries. You can't blame Verizon for cherry-picking, but you can certainly blame the legislators who have so generously accommodated their demands.

As far as "price-slashing", again, I'd like to see your documentation. In most cases, you're going to find that the competitors will offer very competitive rates to new customers, for a limited time-- usually the first six to twelve months of service. But after those first six to twelve months, prices go right back to the numbers folks are screaming about-- the numbers which also happen to be what the companies need to maintain and grow their expensive infrastructure. This will inevitably lead to consumer flip-flopping to avoid paying the standard rates with any of the companies, but does that really benefit anyone?

[cpayne5]

FiOS has been deployed throughout the Hampton Roads region. Specifically, Hampton and VA Beach. Also, FiOS was just turned on in Hempstead, NY. Even near me they've started running the conduit for FiOS in Culpeper county (which isn't exactly on par with Fairfax in terms of affluance). The whole cherry picking notion has been blown way out of proportion by the cable companies.

The new VA law states that a new competitor can either try to negotiate a new contract with the locality, or they can obtain an automatic franchise authorization. By agreeing to the fast track agreement, they have to build out 100% of the initial service area within 3 years and 65% of their entire serviced area within 7 years.

Verizon offers two sets of prices. One for yearly contracts, and one for month-to-month, which is about $5 more expensive per month. In all of the places where FiOS has been deployed (Keller, Westchester, Long Island, Richmond, Fredericksburg, Maryland, NoVA, Hampton Roads, & Fort Wayne) not a single one has seen a price increase. The prices that Verizon has advertised have stayed the same for the 2+ years of FiOS's existance. For cases where cable prices have been cut, see Keller Texas and Long Island New York (Cablevision). For instances where the cable companies have increased the level of service without increasing prices, see just about every other locality where FiOS has been deployed. I'd definitely say that customer are benefiting from this.

[Summo]

Originally Posted by cpayne5

FiOS has been deployed throughout the Hampton Roads region. Specifically, Hampton and VA Beach. Also, FiOS was just turned on in Hempstead, NY. Even near me they've started running the conduit for FiOS in Culpeper county (which isn't exactly on par with Fairfax in terms of affluance). The whole cherry picking notion has been blown way out of proportion by the cable companies.

The new VA law states that a new competitor can either try to negotiate a new contract with the locality, or they can obtain an automatic franchise authorization. By agreeing to the fast track agreement, they have to build out 100% of the initial service area within 3 years and 65% of their entire serviced area within 7 years.

Verizon offers two sets of prices. One for yearly contracts, and one for month-to-month, which is about $5 more expensive per month. In all of the places where FiOS has been deployed (Keller, Westchester, Long Island, Richmond, Fredericksburg, Maryland, NoVA, Hampton Roads, & Fort Wayne) not a single one has seen a price increase. The prices that Verizon has advertised have stayed the same for the 2+ years of FiOS's existance. For cases where cable prices have been cut, see Keller Texas and Long Island New York (Cablevision). For instances where the cable companies have increased the level of service without increasing prices, see just about every other locality where FiOS has been deployed. I'd definitely say that customer are benefiting from this.

The Hempstead towns mentioned on Long Island (Baldwin, Bellmore, North Bellmore, Merrick, North Merrick, Roosevelt, Seaford and Wantagh) are mostly middle to upper income areas. There are poorer sections of Hempstead that were not mentioned and Verizon only started offering the service there after a local news station here on Long Island exposed them over that issue.

[cpayne5]

Originally Posted by Summo

The Hempstead towns mentioned on Long Island (Baldwin, Bellmore, North Bellmore, Merrick, North Merrick, Roosevelt, Seaford and Wantagh) are mostly middle to upper income areas. There are poorer sections of Hempstead that were not mentioned and Verizon only started offering the service there after a local news station here on Long Island exposed them over that issue.

Good info. Thanks.