I got my latest Comcast bill today. A fee increase AGAIN. That makes three (3!) increases since December. My service originally started with Blast, the high speed Internet service. That was $66.99 for my condo in DC. The service is OK, except when it’s not, but there aren’t any real choices, so I’m stuck with Comcast.
This year we decided to add HBO and SHOWTIME and I read about a way to negotiate these premium channels without getting all the channel package they usually try to sell you. (Hat tip to the Wall Street Journal.)
Mission accomplished and my service went up to $82.90 on the January bill, mostly because I had to add basic cable and a cable box to get HBO and Showtime, even though, GET THIS, I shoved the cable box into a closet because I get HBO via HBO GO from Apple TV or Roku or my iPad app and ditto for Showtime through SHOWTIME ANYTIME. I tried to decline the cable box but they said I HAD to have it to get HBO and SHO. OK. So most of the charges were for cable TV I don’t watch and taxes and broacast fees. Sort of OK.
Then, in February my service went up to $86.74, even though I didn’t change anything. Turns out the taxes and other fees went up. Not so OK.
Then, today, my bill shows $97.66. I called Comcast and they told me they had to raise rates for “business purposes,” (I think they mean they need larger profits, but I digress..), and that the rental feel on the modem increased and the taxes and fees went up. Definitely NOT OK.
So, I asked the customer service rep if she’d heard that we’d soon be able to get HBO through Apple TV, but she didn’t seem to know or didn’t care. Game of Thrones, people!
So, as soon as I can dig the cable box out of the closet, I’ll be cancelling everything but Internet and then getting HBO from Apple. I guess I have to give up Showtime for the time being, but since Dexter ended and Masters of Sex is over for now, I’ll just wait to see what happens.
So, once I cancel, my Comcast bill will go down to $51.99, until the price increases start again, but at that point, it’ll make sense to buy my own (better) modem, instead of leasing theirs, since Comcast is making the break-even on owning a modem shorter and shorter with every price increase.
Good luck, cable. We hardly knew ya.
Center for the Connected Consumer 
Interesting reading about your Comcast woes. It reminds me of a similar experience we have here in Jamaica with our light and power company called JPS. The bills keep going up each month without explanation. The only problem is that they have a monopoly so we are left at their mercy. Lucky you, you can quit Comcast. We are stuck with JPS.
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