We have had virtually zero interest in Cable TV services for quite a number of years and have been happily getting by without it. 8 months ago it was time to renew of Internet-only package and Comcast offered us a strange deal that would essentially get us TV (plus HBO) for about the same price we paid for BLAST Internet. Plus we could do all this with a cable card that I could use on our TiVo Roamio OTA 1G that I bought just for my antenna service. It would also give us HD with an HD fee. It initially seemed a bit crazy and too good to be true so I decided to give it a shot. I didn't seem to have anything to lose.
So, here we are, several months later and I have:
Digital Economy 100+ Channels
Performance Internet Performance Internet
HBO
Streampix
Blast!
Broadcast TV Fee
That's it all for $85.56 with all taxes and fees. (It's listed as having a box, but I don't. I was able to send it back immediately, though they insisted on sending it at first). I also have NO interest in phone so I do double plays.
I do miss a couple channels that are not on this package and I also wouldn't mind getting Comcast SportsNet Philly.
I currently have a Roku as well and pay for the NHL package on it each year to simply watch the Flyers (I'm just outside their blackout zone).
Sadly, on the day they offered this deal we weren't really sold on it being a real deal and they offered a higher deal for another $11 that would have included the next jump up in channels including Comcast SportsNet Philly. I didn't take it, thought about it, called back the next day and the deal was gone.
Now it seems that my only option is to just up to a STARTING cost of about $129 a month (PLUS fees) for that same package and it seems it may even require other things like a box (which I am never going to accept) and possibly more restrictions.
Does Comcast ever offer a chance to upgrade to the next step up for cable card users and is it ever discounted? I figured I'd wait a couple months and the deal would resurface. It never has and I'm starting to think that that specific deal was never real and that if I had taken it, I'd have had a big surprise waiting for me at the end of the first month.
The only qualms I have with the service:
1. Until I called and complained I was getting literally daily calls from third-party partners trying to up-sell me into more service I didn't want.
2. I still miss my FiOS symmetrical upload/download speeds, but moved out of FiOS territory.
3. The On Demand via TiVo isn't quite as intuitive as it is on their box, but I rarely use it anyway.
4. I don't trust Comcast at all and just keep holding my breath for when I'm going to experience overbilling or similar CS issues.
Thanks.
Edit: On this site there's an August Deals thread that shows:
$79.99/mo for Starter XF Triple Play
75 mbps ↓ and 5.0 mbps ↑
Digital Starter TV
Home Phone XFINITY® Voice - Unlimited
2-year promo rate.
Contract Term: 2 years
Some areas have a 1TB data cap.
Setup: Free professional installation. $29.95 voice activation fee may apply.
Modem w/ WiFi: $10/mo
I wonder if I might be able to get that, pay $13 a month for Blast and that would essentially mean paying just $10 more a month to get the channels I'm interested it (I think it includes Comcast SportsNet).
I don't need the phone, but I can just ignore that so I wonder if I could get this via cable card only and not have to pay the extras. If so, that would do it.
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