PSA: Increasing costs for Xfinity cable and internet

Submitted by BlueXTC t3_10p6u3m in rva

For context I signed an agreement almost two years ago for cable, internet and phone. My bill stayed consistent until recently and suddenly jumped 20+ dollars. I phoned their customer service,(it was tough to get a human) and discussed with them these increases. I pointed out we had a signed agreement for a specific cost for 2 years which ends in the end of May this year. I requested a refund for the overcharges that 1. I had not been notified were occurring and 2. I did not agree to the altering of the original contract. I was given a $30 per month reduction as compensation. Needless to say I will be sourcing a new company in May despite having service with the for almost all of my renting/owning history. TLDR: call what ever service you have that has increased your costs on a signed contract. In my business any deviation from the original contract requires a Change Order and both parties agreeing on the change.

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Comments

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Performance-Total t1_j6ili52 wrote

Left xfinity long ago when they decided to throttle and include data caps for WiFi. Need 2 people working from home 60 hours a week. That won’t work with 1-2TB/mo of data.

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jeb_hoge t1_j6jobas wrote

They don't actually do that. I have one son who's an at-home student, I work from home, and we all do gaming and streaming and all the things in this household of five, and I've never hit a cap or overage.

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Hiltson87 t1_j6katiy wrote

Wrong on both accounts. Throttling has been proven time and again despite their claims they don't do it anymore (they openly admitted to it in the past) and they took their data cap national last year, VA was previously unaffected. It's capped at 1 Tb/month unless you pay another $35/m for unlimited now. Just because your usage isn't enough to notice either doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

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Slippy_T_Frog t1_j6iq2dw wrote

This is a pretty common practice with them. They'll raise everyone's rates a little here and there and some customers either won't notice, or won't be troubled to contest it, so they (Comcast/Xfinity) will keep doing it.

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ZephyrInfernum t1_j6ivi0y wrote

Yup. I read a piece on this somewhat recently. It's not just Xfinity. It's pretty much any cable/internet provider. They really need to make internet a public utility.

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yellowspaces t1_j6j86g8 wrote

B-b-but that’s socialism!!!!!

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ZephyrInfernum t1_j6j9bi1 wrote

Good. I'm down for socialism.

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yellowspaces t1_j6jag4n wrote

Haven’t you seen all the pictures and videos on Fox News of failing capitalism with the caption “This is what socialism looks like”????

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Pjtruslow t1_j6n1mtv wrote

Verizon seems to do it different on the Fios side anyways. As far as I can tell it’s $50/mo with the router provided for everyone to get the 300mb plan which is enough for anyone, even with my absurd usage. It used to be $40 if you used your own router but it seems the only option is to have the provided router (even if you don’t use it) probably to streamline customer service.

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ZephyrInfernum t1_j6n266l wrote

That's not what we're talking about. Rather, the practice of these companies to raise the rates just a little so that people just kind of accept it rather than dispute it. Multiply that by thousands or millions of subscribers, and you're inflating your profit quite nicely.

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Pjtruslow t1_j6n2m4f wrote

I get that. I used to have comcast and they would start you out on a lower than “standard” price and increase it as soon as the price guarantee ended, but would discount it again if you threatened to leave (provided you have options). At least if you get internet only, the price is the price and new customers and existing customers that aren’t locked into an older price will get the same price. The only thing verizon doesn’t do is put you on lower priced equivalent plans that weren’t available when you signed up.

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D_Robb t1_j6iysen wrote

Pretty common for all cable companies/ISPs. That two year contract is a guaranteed price for two years, then it goes up

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spambox918 t1_j6k6wbx wrote

They've started to get around this by adding and raising "fees" constantly. In the fine print it does say taxes and fees are subject to change. By raising and adding fees they can technically say they are honoring the contract because the base package price is still what you agreed to. Source: just had this conversation with Xfinity myself.

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BlueXTC OP t1_j6kcs1y wrote

Mine was a $10 hike in the plan and $7.95 to $10 for equipment. Not the tax and fees that did go up because of the additional equipment and plan costs.

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cmyk412 t1_j6iu67y wrote

You know any broadband over copper (cable tv wires) is complete garbage right? Upload speeds are less than a tenth of download speeds. Get Verizon FIOS if you can.

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BlueXTC OP t1_j6iufnm wrote

Verizon was my next thought but I have heard too much bad about it and so far my download is 700+ and 25+ on uploads which suits my purposes.

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Hiltson87 t1_j6kb093 wrote

Having had both, I'd sooner slam my dick in a drawer on a daily basis before picking Comcast over Verizon. Had nothing but positive experiences with FIOS. Comcast has sucked more than any other company for as long as I can remember.

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Proper-Ad4006 t1_j6iw3b2 wrote

I recently moved and got Verizon and a big perk was a 10 year price lock. When I had Xfinity they only gave me a discounted rate for one year.

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BlueXTC OP t1_j6ixjcn wrote

Just checked and it is not available in my area.

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Sailinger t1_j6jpno9 wrote

Almost 2 decades of dealing with Comcast and their shady practices made it an easy decision and I immediately switched over to Verizon when it became available in our neighborhood.

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Danger-Moose t1_j6jq739 wrote

I did the same, and then Verizon started doing the same thing as Comcast. Now I just play the two shitty companies off of each other.

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Sailinger t1_j6jqopd wrote

Really? Haven't had Verizon pull the 'ole xfinity shuffle on me yet and it's been several years since we switched. Though to be fair, the second they do anything underhanded I'll bounce. Don't have any patience for their shenanigans.

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Danger-Moose t1_j6jr7l3 wrote

Yeah, it took several years but eventually they stated to increase price and refuse to bring it down. So I switched, now they send me stuff to get back. I'll just wait until Comcast goes stupid again and rinse and repeat.

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LilTroy4207 t1_j6j8uol wrote

FWIW we got Verizon Fios home internet. Was skeptical at first but it’s only $25 a month (likely less if you qualify for the gov internet affordability program, don’t remember it’s official name) but I consistently get ~200mbps!

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[deleted] t1_j6jat8m wrote

[deleted]

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BlueXTC OP t1_j6jdq6v wrote

It is "normal" because people accept it. Contractually it is a fixed price for the term of the agreement. I expect the contract to hold.

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Successful1ok t1_j6l9yk6 wrote

I heard GloFiber should be here soon.

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nickleur t1_j6mx1r8 wrote

The number of Xfinity boxes I see on peoples homes in this city is crazy, do people really not know that Fios is available? (and yes I know it's not available in every neighborhood). I pay $39.99/month for 150/150 but easily average well over 300 Mbps in both directions. My house has two people working from home and we never have any issues. I guess I should note that I'm in Church Hill North.

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BlueXTC OP t1_j6n0g2t wrote

FiOS is not available in my area unfortunately otherwise that would be the first choice.

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BumbleBeeVomit t1_j6j65xk wrote

The two-year contract you agreed to, was a promo price fixed for the next two years. In the fine print they tell you the price after your contract expires.

There is no need to freak out once the contract ends and your price increases back to the "normal" price. Shop the available ISPs for your address and lock in a new contract for the best package and offer available to you.

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BlueXTC OP t1_j6j9yxw wrote

The issue was the price changed without me knowing or signing a contract agreeing to the change prior to the end of the original contract. I will be shopping around between now and May.

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Danger-Moose t1_j6jc0nm wrote

A lot of the time you can call and say you want the price back or threaten to quit and they will get it back down. This doesn't always work, but you can always bounce between Verizon and Comcast.

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