Part of their shrinking customer base for DirecTV has also got to be related to how the service has completely sucked ass since AT&T took over. When it was independent, things worked, customer service was easy to reach, etc. Now, they've removed all customer service options other than a single phone number (so there are no chat or email options any more), and the phone reps try to upsell you every damn thing they can every time they open their mouths. But the worst part is the service itself! The recently rolled out a new UI for their boxes which is just buggy as hell. Issues that somehow made it through testing include things like how only about 50% of your saved recordings show up under the "ALL Recordings" category on the DVR, or how normal usage makes the box slow to a craw after a couple days, requiring you to do a 10-minute reboot of the system, or how the settings/menu system is now a huge pain to navigate, etc. Judging from the various online communities (AVS Forums, Reddit, etc), the new low in customer service that AT&T brought along with the new terrible UI and associated hardware problems were enough to send quite a few people over the edge.
Kind of in the same boat here. We were paying for 40Mbs with Time Warner. After the merger, I saw Spectrum advertising 60Mbs for $5 less. I called to switch, and almost noticed that our speed had jumped to 120Mbs on average. I can't speak about their customer service, since I'm only had limited interaction with them so far, but my post-merger speed is nearly 3x what my pre-merger speed was, and my bill is basically the same.
What you want is an auto broker. We just bought our second vehicle from a broker that we know. Both times, everything was done except for signing a few documents that he had already filled out. He had already filled out all of the forms, filed the registration (so they plates were mailed to us), and even called my insurance agent to cancel the policy on the car I was trading in and to establish one for the new car. We choose to pick the cars up at his office, but I know many brokers also offer delivery- when my dad bought one from the same broker, the car was waiting in his garage when he got home from work.
Comcast seems to be generally clueless when it comes to having competition. When I moved to northern Indiana a few years ago, Comcast had a total lock on digital entertainment and high-speed internet. Finally sometime last year, Verizon rolled out their fiber network (FIOS), and consumers switched over in droves. What was Comcast's answer to new-found competition? Raise their prices! Offer fewer channels! Screw the customers harder!
They offered a package deal at what appeared to be a reasonable price for about 3 months, but after that time the price sky-rocketed to their new rates.
Personally, we switched over and ended up with faster internet, more tv channels and more HD, and the bill is about $30/month lower than it was with Comcast... I honestly wonder how they can survive with these sorts of business decisions...
Surely you jest...
The point many of you seem to be forgetting is that he hasn't actually done anything wrong (wrong in the "right and wrong" sense, not the BS DMCA sense). Just because I tell you how to rob a bank or how to kill your neighbor doesn't make me guilty of anything. This should be exactly the same- defrauding the company and talking about how to defraud the company are 2 entirely separate things...
Saying he's right shows that you are just as (if not even more) out of touch with reality.
The very premise of his statement is that same incorrect logic that the RIAA has been using for years- that each instance of piracy equates to a lost sale. Of course, this logic is absolutely false, and merely serves to pad the numbers in favor of the industry.
People are seeing fewer movies in the theaters in recent years because movies in recent years have sucked. Plain and simple.
If a truly awesome movie comes out, people will plop down their hard-earned dollars to see it. However, with the crap-fest that most studios have been producing lately, fewer people have been interested. I don't think it's a matter of "should I see this movie in the theatre, or watch a crap pirated version on my tv", so much as it's "should I watch this crap movie I found on the internet, or should I watch reruns of The Price is Right".
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Part of their shrinking customer base for DirecTV has also got to be related to how the service has completely sucked ass since AT&T took over. When it was independent, things worked, customer service was easy to reach, etc.
Now, they've removed all customer service options other than a single phone number (so there are no chat or email options any more), and the phone reps try to upsell you every damn thing they can every time they open their mouths.
But the worst part is the service itself! The recently rolled out a new UI for their boxes which is just buggy as hell. Issues that somehow made it through testing include things like how only about 50% of your saved recordings show up under the "ALL Recordings" category on the DVR, or how normal usage makes the box slow to a craw after a couple days, requiring you to do a 10-minute reboot of the system, or how the settings/menu system is now a huge pain to navigate, etc.
Judging from the various online communities (AVS Forums, Reddit, etc), the new low in customer service that AT&T brought along with the new terrible UI and associated hardware problems were enough to send quite a few people over the edge.
Re: Not sure about the merger, but Charter delivers...
Kind of in the same boat here. We were paying for 40Mbs with Time Warner. After the merger, I saw Spectrum advertising 60Mbs for $5 less. I called to switch, and almost noticed that our speed had jumped to 120Mbs on average.
I can't speak about their customer service, since I'm only had limited interaction with them so far, but my post-merger speed is nearly 3x what my pre-merger speed was, and my bill is basically the same.
Re:
What you want is an auto broker.
We just bought our second vehicle from a broker that we know. Both times, everything was done except for signing a few documents that he had already filled out. He had already filled out all of the forms, filed the registration (so they plates were mailed to us), and even called my insurance agent to cancel the policy on the car I was trading in and to establish one for the new car. We choose to pick the cars up at his office, but I know many brokers also offer delivery- when my dad bought one from the same broker, the car was waiting in his garage when he got home from work.
Not surprising at all...
Comcast seems to be generally clueless when it comes to having competition. When I moved to northern Indiana a few years ago, Comcast had a total lock on digital entertainment and high-speed internet. Finally sometime last year, Verizon rolled out their fiber network (FIOS), and consumers switched over in droves. What was Comcast's answer to new-found competition? Raise their prices! Offer fewer channels! Screw the customers harder!
They offered a package deal at what appeared to be a reasonable price for about 3 months, but after that time the price sky-rocketed to their new rates.
Personally, we switched over and ended up with faster internet, more tv channels and more HD, and the bill is about $30/month lower than it was with Comcast... I honestly wonder how they can survive with these sorts of business decisions...
Fraud? Get Serious
Surely you jest...
The point many of you seem to be forgetting is that he hasn't actually done anything wrong (wrong in the "right and wrong" sense, not the BS DMCA sense). Just because I tell you how to rob a bank or how to kill your neighbor doesn't make me guilty of anything. This should be exactly the same- defrauding the company and talking about how to defraud the company are 2 entirely separate things...
Re: well hes right
Saying he's right shows that you are just as (if not even more) out of touch with reality.
The very premise of his statement is that same incorrect logic that the RIAA has been using for years- that each instance of piracy equates to a lost sale. Of course, this logic is absolutely false, and merely serves to pad the numbers in favor of the industry.
People are seeing fewer movies in the theaters in recent years because movies in recent years have sucked. Plain and simple.
If a truly awesome movie comes out, people will plop down their hard-earned dollars to see it. However, with the crap-fest that most studios have been producing lately, fewer people have been interested. I don't think it's a matter of "should I see this movie in the theatre, or watch a crap pirated version on my tv", so much as it's "should I watch this crap movie I found on the internet, or should I watch reruns of The Price is Right".