Sorry, Comcast, the Cluetrain has left the station.

Here's something funny. My Comcast cable bill has one large block called For Your Information where they can communicate to their customers. What's in it this month?

WARNING Theft of Cable TV is a state offense. Please call 1-888-824-8041 to report cable theft or email Dallas_Security@cable.comcast.com.

Wow! My cable bill wants to make sure I know that it's illegal to steal cable. The company has one opportunity to communicate with me, their customer, and the best they can come up with is a suspicion-filled threat.

No friendly verbiage about how much they appreciate me as a customer. No talk about recent improvements or coming features. And absolutely no reward for ongoing loyalty. The only way I'm reminded that another year has passed is when my bill goes up. Try to imagine this...

We've noticed that this month marks your 3rd year as a Comcast customer. Please accept this $10 credit as our way of saying thanks! And as a loyal customer, we want to hear how we can improve your Comcast experience. Visit our online forum where you can discuss your ideas and concerns with other customers and the Comcast leadership team.

The worst thing any organization (from companies to churches to political parties) can do is take its customers or members for granted.

I honestly have never seen a company more clueless about customer respect and retention. Verizon is flooding this area with their new FIOS fiber-based internet and phone service. They are offering a substantially better and faster connection for less than Comcast, in addition to a much-improved customer experience. I switched without hesitating, as have most of the people in my neighborhood, and yet Comcast has not made any effort to keep us. Even when I called to cancel, there wasn't a single attempt to convince me to stay.

And they must know what's coming. Verizon recently received a license to offer cable television over FIOS in Texas. Within six months, I expect we'll be a Comcast-free home.

Comments

[Arlan, SpG]

We switched from Comcast Cable to DirecTV a year ago for a similar reason. We love it! How do you like FIOS as your Net/Phone service? We have DSL/Phone service via Earthlink/SBC. It's ok. It beats dial-up.

I'm all for consolidation though. Maybe FIOS is the answer?

[Toad]

Lucky bastard!! I'm stuck with Comcast for cable, internet, and phone.

[Matt Murph]

Brian, FYI, it took me about 10 minutes to read this post of yours. 8 minutes for laughing at the title, because I agree, and 2 minutes to read the rest. I really couldn’t agree with you more. Comcast is another one of those companies that cares more about getting customers instead of keeping them.

You mentioned that FIOS is faster. Our neighborhood has been getting FIOS Flyer bombed as well, and I haven’t made a decision yet. FIOS has 2 levels for their high speed internet access…. Would you consider the lower FIOS level over Comcast? They’ve creatively priced it where the 1st level is several dollars less, while the 2nd level is several dollars more. Do you have an opinion on the matter?

[Brian Bailey]

Thanks, Matt! I think either FIOS option is preferable to Comcast (I believe the upstream is higher either way). They give a $10 discount if you use Verizon for your phone as well, so in the end I'm paying a little less for 3x the speed.

[John Swaringen]

Brian,

We just recently swithced from DirecTV to Dish Network. Mainly because DirecTV forced us to accept the MTV Logo channel. Dish Network had a package without it. I have to say that we really like the equipment better at Dish. It's pretty cool. That DVR thing is incredible. For Internet we've had DSL for a few years now. Unfortunately we're in SBC's domain so we can't get the Verizon thing, but when we can... we'll switch in a heartbeat.