Comcast’s 20-year cable franchise agreement with the City of Peoria expired in April 2006. Since then, that franchise agreement has been extended temporarily numerous times while the City and Comcast have been negotiating a new agreement. Tuesday, the council will consider a request to extend it once again — this time until November 30, 2010. The reason is so we can see what kind of agreement Comcast makes with other communities in Illinois (Rockford, Champaign, and Urbana). City staff believes this will somehow be advantageous to Peoria.
Meanwhile, Comcast has jettisoned oversight and execution of public access (technically known as “PEG”) programming, off-loading it to the City, which has in turn outsourced it to a third-party organization. Comcast has also closed their local customer service center. And Comcast can, at any time, get a franchise agreement from the State of Illinois, thanks to legislation pushed through by AT&T.
Comcast, thanks to the complicity of the State, has the City over a barrel. So, all these extensions appear to be only delaying the inevitable: a franchise agreement on Comcast’s terms. It’s hard to see what good these temporary extensions are doing.
We noticed they closed their local customer service center. They owe us more than $165 and we are having a terrible time collecting it. We spoke to a manager at their office a few weeks ago and when we went back we were told the manager was no longer there. Bummer. What kind of service do you call this? When they want their money they are johnny on the spot but going the other way is a whole different story. This monoply they have is ridiculous. Plus the tv service sucks. There are all kinds of interruptions all the time.
My friend went to the Comcast office on Dries just yesterday and exchanged a faulty box.
Yea, the Dries Lane building was open. I got two digital boxes no problem. I also haven’t had any problems with the TV and internet in so long, I can’t recall the last time I needed to call.
You can still get good customer service by going to the Dries Lane office
(or on Valle Vista if you are in Pekin area).
It’s calling Comcast on the phone for assistance that I think folks
are upset about, with no local call center. You call someone with an issue, and you never know where they are. We had an issue with our cable the other day…my wife called to find out…and she got someone in the Phillipines!!!! How lame is that? Fortunately, she got rerouted back to someone in the USA, and our problem was fixed.
We did go to the Dries Lane office and that was where we spoke to the manager one week and the next she wasn’t there anymore. I always use that office and used to get good service but not any more.
Don’t have cable… don’t matter.
I’m very disappointed with Comcast. Ever since we switched to the HD box, nothing but outages. Doesn’t matter what time of day or night the picture freezes, goes blank or distorts like poor satelite reception. Every time I call, I’m told there is an outage in the area. Last week alone we called at least six times. Supposedly we’ll get credit. But one thing I didn’t know before was that you have to talk to a live person and complain in order to get the daily credit applied.
Terry, this is exactly what I am experiencing and they are telling me I need a tech to come out and check out the wiring into the house. What has happened is HD is more powerful than the old wiring running up and down the streets and we are paying for a service we are never going to get until they replace all the old wiring and that ain’t gonna happen.I have a brand new TV, new wiring coming into the house and I still have the same problems you described. So it has to be their wiring coming up to the house. It does no good to complain they never find it or do anything about it. Its just another money grabbing scam. And they have no idea what customer service is or means. And their idea of lightning speed broadband is a joke.