No more Comcastic!

After a long well thought out decision, we decided to cancel our Comcast Cable subscription. For the past five years we just had basic cable with the addition of High Definition channels. Over the years we never flinched when Comcast kept on increasing their rates. We just paid the bill over the years. Our last bill was $80 a month. So if you do the yearly math, it equals out to nearly $960 a year! I must admit that Comcast's pricing is rather high in comparison to the many offers from satellite providers or even AT&T's U-Verse. Just like the mobile phone industry, you have many choices of limited time promotional rate packages with the addition of premium channels. Some of these are locked into contract terms. Also, once the promo is over, then that's when the subscription rates go through the roof! Cancelling the service was a fiasco in itself. I tried calling yesterday only to be on hold for nearly 45 minutes! I even tried going through the new account route to speak to a live person faster, only to be transferred, and put on hold forever. I got so fed up listening to their "music on hold" that I practically gave up and hung up. Today, I tried again and was only on hold for a few minutes. So I tried the tactic of getting a rate reduction to see if it actually works. I read somewhere that the secret code word was to mention "DirectTV" or "DishNetwork" and the reason for cancellation was due to their lower promotion rates. The customer service rep from what I read probably gets a little "spiff" for customer retention. So without hesistation, the customer service rep I had on the phone said, "Let me see what I can do." So the CS rep reduces the rate from $80 a month to $48 + tax a month with a few taps on his keyboard...no contract...and for one year. So in a few seconds and barely any fuss; they knock off 40%!!! So the article I read about calling for a rate reduction does work. Ironically, my intention was to cancel and I didn't follow through with their rate reduction offer. Now I must resort to the just the local HD channels that can be pulled from the old fashion "bunny ears" antennas. I have an older PC with internet access hooked up to my TV and I can watch from Hulu in almost HD quality. Not as sharp, but close enough. Quality is sacrificed a bit probably due to bandwidth issues. We also have a Netflix account that can also stream movies with their Watch Instantly feature. Reflecting on what I liked the most was watching television in high definition. It is simply amazing if you are a Comcast subscriber. The sporting events, On-Demand, celebrity gossip, and many countless hours of vegging out in front of the TV will be over! It was a nice luxury while it lasted! With a wedding ahead, it was a smart choice to trim back some of the unnecessary expenditures.