Comcast bait and switch update

I did contact Comcast Executive Customer Relations via email and did get calls and emails back from Eric G. He seemed to honestly want to get to the bottom to the issue of seeing a $29.99 special price and then not having it available in my area when I went to sign up. A few emails and and phone calls back and forth and it looked like he would do the $29.99 for one year with no contract. I would have to pay a $50 deposit or get a hard hit on my credit. That sounded bad, and was going to do the $50 and possibly a self install since my connection to Comcast's service was still live.

I called Eric back after connecting the modem and verifying that all was working on Oct 26th. Since then, I've not heard a work. I followed up with an email on the 27th and one more yesterday (the Nov 5th) and no a peep from Comcast. 

I did call Centurylink today and re-up'ed with them. The details are 40+ plan for $24.95 (about $30 with taxes and fees) as long as I do auto pay within 30 days. While I am not 100% satisfied with the quality of service during peak hours with Centurylink if we are streaming TV, it does seem to be working better using an Nvidia Shield Android TV, and not the aging Core 2 duo Mac Mini that is on it's last legs and not supported by Apple anymore.

A couple of notes:

I thought it was odd that the Eric was aware of my original blog post that I wrote out of frustration. -But it was helpful to point out the process I went through and the road blocks I hit.

I also thought it was odd that there was a new splash page for www.xfinity.com/internet-service within a day or two of my calls to customer service. There is no special prices when you land there, but places to fill out your address to see what is available in your "market". The top of the old page is in my previous post if you want to look. Special deals that are may or may not be available to to prospective customers was confusing, and possibly unethical in my book. -So we'll call that fixed for now.

I'm not sure why Eric stopped calling and emailing me back. I'm sure he's busy. But not getting any communication back after doing what was asked, was a bit frustrating.

Centurylink and Comcast are not the only choices for service in Spokane. There are Ptera and Cougar Wireless. Both of which I want to check in to. I believe they are both WISP's, or wireless service providers that are touting minimal buffering and good streaming speeds. Let me know if you have used a WISP and how well they work. It's just something I've not tried yet. They seem to provide service for rural areas, but maybe also in Spokane.

What else... major service providers... Why can't you just offer good service for decent prices. A working internet connection for about $30 is what I want. $30 dollars a month is what I pay for my cell phone (T-Mobile prepaid plan). It's what I used to pay for cable TV before it got more expensive then what it seemed to be worth. That seems to be the magic number for me. Sorry for the rant! I feel a bit shitty whining about first world problems...

Comcast Bait and Switch

I'm 1:02 mins into my 2nd phone call and third sales associate with Comcast Xfinity trying to order a special on the Xfinity website. Before I called, I went through trying to get the deal by doing the ordering online.

I simply want to get in on a advertised special for 25 Mbps for $29.99 regularly $39.99.

This is not an awesome deal, but a decent price for basic internet.

Clicking on "Pricing & Other Info." brings a box with nothing in it.

I might as well add this to the cart and I get the spinning ball.

A few seconds later, I get this box and get slightly excited that I might even get a better price! I click on "See Offers".

Now I get a whole new Xfinity-Comcast splash page with $10 basically added to everything and no special deals. My 25Mbps is now 10Mbps. Gone is the deal I once thought I had. I think they just baited and switched me?

Gone is the x'd out $39.99 and the $29.99 sale price for 25Mbps.

Also, now when I click on Pricing & Other Info, I get "fine print" that even this deal is not good in all areas.

I figure customer service will be able to honor the online deal and call the 1-800-XFINITY. The first person I talked to asked me if I wanted any TV, phone, or security bundled with my service to save me money. I told him that I just needed the basic internet with nothing else at the advertised price. I was told that it was not available in my market. I guess my market is the city I live in or area in the State of Washington. He offered me the 25 Mbps plan for $39.99. I started to protest that I wanted the offer I first saw and then we got disconnected.

I went through that whole process two more times. While on hold, I cleared my cache in Google Chrome and reloaded the page, and sure enough the 25Mbps deal was back for $29.99. I asked them to do the same since they seemed to not see that deal anywhere on their computer, but they said they could not. The last sales associate I talked to basically said no go on the $29.99 and we politely hung up. I could not get the special price via phone customer service.

I'm going to go to the local Xfinity store tomorrow to see what they might be able to do...

While on hold, I did look at Washington State Code and it looks like state law might be broken. Some of what I read looks like it's more about bait and switch with cars, but the code as it reads starts with: 

(1) Directly or indirectly employ any scheme, device, or artifice to defraud or mislead any person, including but not limited to engaging in bait and switch advertising or sales practices;

This is RCW 19.230.340 of Prohibited Practices

Sending SMS from Google Hangouts Desktop

I've been a long time user of Google Voice. When Google made the conversion allowing talk, SMS, and Hangouts from one application, I switched over right away. There was one thing that I thought was an oversight or feature that was lacking since the change. I could never seem to initiate a SMS message right from the new Hangouts Extension. I'd have to start an SMS message from my phone, the continue the conversation on my computer.

When typing a name in the search box in the Hangouts desktop application, I would get long lists of Google+ users and never find the contact I wanted like when I used to SMS with the Google Voice page. I just chalked it up to a oversight figuring it would be a feature that would get added down the road. 6 months later, no...

It turns out it was there all along. Simply click on the Hangouts Icon in Chrome:

This will bring up the Hangouts Application on your desktop. Click on "New Conversation"

But then notice the telephone icon that pops up. Click on that!

Type in a name that is in your Gmail contacts or a phone number like below, and then hit Send SMS. 

Maybe I am the only one who didn't know this, but I thought I'd post this just in case. I'd just figured the phone icon had to do with out going calls, and it does, but you also get SMS with your contacts, and not have to try and sort through all the Eric Smiths in G+