South Florida HD deals (urgent... install tomorrow)

[miamicanes]

Last week, I arranged to have Comcast installed at my house in their Coral Gables/West Miami market and got the following deal:

HD-DVR with 3 SD boxes
Digital Plus 4 package (HBO, Showtime, Starz, and The Movie Channel) w/HD (basically, every last HD channel available from them)

$99.68 for installation, first month's service, and taxes

$82.50 (includes taxes) for months 2 and 3

$91.96 + tax for months 4, 5, and 6

$96.96 + tax thereafter

The CSR claimed that there were no additional offers available for former Voom subscribers (only Dish and DirecTV).

Does this sound like a good deal? Or can I get a better deal (say, by threatening to cancel and go with Dish instead)? At the moment, I'm not really planning on staying with them for more than a month or two (they're mainly a stopgap measure to give me time to see whether DirecTV will pick up Voom's channels and offer a better deal or faster timetable than Dish), but I'd love to be able to get the $82.50 rate extended to a whole year in case I decide they're tolerable as long as I can do it without actually committing myself to staying with them (really, it's in their best interest... as it stands, my switch to Dish or DirecTV by the end of month #3 when the rates soar is all but guaranteed... if the lower rate were extended to the whole year, I'd be a lot more likely to stay with Comcast).

God, I *really* hate dealing with salespeople and secret offers

 

[JunX]

That's BS... I had a similar problem in that some CSRs don't think Voom counts in their "Dish" buy back. Keep trying don't tell them it's voom... try saying the generic term "satelite".

Also, it helps if you have an old receiver of some sort to give them. Could be D* or E*.

I told the installer, that the voom was leased and showed a bill with equipment charge... but I told him I had an old D* recv. if he wanted it... he took it...


Here's what I got in SF (Ft. Lauderdale):
HD-DVR
Digital Plus 1 package (HBO)
Added Starz

4Mb broadband with their DSL buy back plan... gave them a really old DSL modem my friend had lying around.

$55 for installation, first month's service, and taxes

about $45 + tax for first 6 months

about $89 + tax for 7-12


$13x.xx + tax thereafter

Hope it helps.

 

[miamicanes]

So is the "Satellite buy back" plan supposed to be $25/month on top of any other promos and discounts, or are there promos it can't be combined with?

Do you happen to know how much they're charging for additional HD-DVRs and/or non-DVR HD boxes (for TVs that aren't technically HD, but DVD-quality video from the HD channels is desirable)

 

[JunX]

Not sure... I know that the plan has to be the Plus 1. I added starz for 2.99 a month and they didn't give me too much trouble but they are pretty picky about the buyback plan requirements... ie... you must choose their Plus 1 (HBO) to get the $25 off for a year.

Since I really only watch tv in my HD LCD TV I don't know about additional receivers... I think it's 9.95 for HD DVR.

I don't know of other promos... other than the DSL one that I got as well. I think it's like 9.99 a month or something like that for 6 months.

 

[miamicanes]

Did you have to commit to some specific term? The way I understood it, there's no real penalty for dropping service before the end of the 16th month if you had leased equipment to begin with.

Did they take the multiswitch or LNB?

 

[betsig250]

I am paying roughly 68 bucks a month for their on demand gold package with HBO and Starz. This doe NOT include the ale carte pack that you see on their channel lineup. Learned that the hard way. I have this price for 16 months with no commitment.

This includes one HD-DVR and 2 SD boxes. To add another HD box it will be 5 bucks, and to add another DVR it will be 10 bucks.

Keep on pestering them about this deal and tell them that you have read where other people have gotten this deal. I had to give up a old STB but luckily I have some very old DirecTV ones laying around that I gave the installer.

 

[miamicanes]

OK, MUCH better deal!

$37.95 for digital plus one w/HD-DVR and HBO

$5.99/month for each additional SD box

$9.99/month for each additional HD box ($5.99 + $5.00)

$15.94/month for each additional HD-DVR ($5.99 + $9.95) [not 100% sure about this one]

$4.99 to add Showtime and TMC

$3.99 to add Starz

----
Totals for digital plus 1 w/hbo, showtime, tmc, starz, one HD-DVR, and three SD boxes:

$89.84 for installation and first month
$64.89/month for next 11 months

She didn't say anything about the cost for Showtime, Starz, or TMC increasing after months 3 or 6, and explicitly said $64.89 for the next 11 months. Hopefully, Comcast can't go back on that quote and raise the rates after months 3 and 6 anyway.

I had to let them reschedule the installation for Wednesday... but I can live with that if it means saving ~$30/month for the next year. At that price, I'll probably stick with them unless their SD quality is noticeably worse than Dish or DirecTV (especially if Comcast picks up HDnews and LabHD).

I was careful to avoid using the "V(oom)" word and told her that I had leased "satellite" boxes. She said I just had to show my final bill to the installer. Hopefully the installer won't balk and force me to spend half the afternoon fighting with a CSR (the CSR I placed the order with never actually said "Dish" or "DirecTV", either).

As far as additional DVRs go... how much do they charge to substitute a NON-HD DVR for one of the SD boxes? I assume it's less than $9.95 + $5.95, because otherwise nobody would have any sane reason to take a non-HD DVR (since downrezzed HDTV content still looks better on a SDTV than compressed native SDTV content).

 

[Bulldog]

OK, MUCH better deal!

$37.95 for digital plus one w/HD-DVR and HBO

$5.99/month for each additional SD box

$9.99/month for each additional HD box ($5.99 + $5.00)

$15.94/month for each additional HD-DVR ($5.99 + $9.95) [not 100% sure about this one]

$4.99 to add Showtime and TMC

$3.99 to add Starz

----
Totals for digital plus 1 w/hbo, showtime, tmc, starz, one HD-DVR, and three SD boxes:

$89.84 for installation and first month
$64.89/month for next 11 months

She didn't say anything about the cost for Showtime, Starz, or TMC increasing after months 3 or 6, and explicitly said $64.89 for the next 11 months. Hopefully, Comcast can't go back on that quote and raise the rates after months 3 and 6 anyway.

I had to let them reschedule the installation for Wednesday... but I can live with that if it means saving ~$30/month for the next year. At that price, I'll probably stick with them unless their SD quality is noticeably worse than Dish or DirecTV (especially if Comcast picks up HDnews and LabHD).

I was careful to avoid using the "V(oom)" word and told her that I had leased "satellite" boxes. She said I just had to show my final bill to the installer. Hopefully the installer won't balk and force me to spend half the afternoon fighting with a CSR (the CSR I placed the order with never actually said "Dish" or "DirecTV", either).

As far as additional DVRs go... how much do they charge to substitute a NON-HD DVR for one of the SD boxes? I assume it's less than $9.95 + $5.95, because otherwise nobody would have any sane reason to take a non-HD DVR (since downrezzed HDTV content still looks better on a SDTV than compressed native SDTV content).

My installation was free, are you saying that the first month fee of 89.84 is because they are charging you for the installation?

 

[miamicanes]

My installation was free

Sigh. THAT just ruined my day. I guess I got screwed by them after all

for (double x=0; x < Double.POSITIVE_INFINITY; x += Double.MIN_VALUE) {
System.out.println("I hate salespeople, hidden deals, and having to negotiate.");
}

 

[skakusha]

Sigh. THAT just ruined my day. I guess I got screwed by them after all

I am here in Pembroke Pines and I got the same deal as you, but no charge for installation. I would urge you to call back and complain. They charged me for installation on accident. When I called to get it removed, I asked them for a service credit for my time and disappointment with their horrible billing.

BTW, my experience is that their billing in our area is a nightmare. Watch your first few bills like a hawk to ensure everything is right. This month I also found a $5 a month charge that was not supposed to be there. When I called I asked for a service credit again, or else I told them I would go back to satellite.

Use the retention department, they are easy to deal with and do not want to lose a recent subscriber.

 

[skakusha]

High Speed Internet Deal

I gave Comcast my old DSL Modem, and got a $4.99 monthly deal for Internet Services, plus a $3 monthly rental charge. This offer is for 6 months at $7.99 a month. Once the promo is over, I will probably buy a cable modem to avoid the $3 monthly charge (had to rent the modem to get this deal). I am currently getting 5mbs of download with this offer.

Please note, this was a billing nightmare as well, and took several calls to get right. I would recommend you keep any paperwork, as it helped me in my calls.