I'm giving up TV.
Well - not really, but it almost amounts to that. I dug out my old rabbit ears from the basement and hooked them up to my one year-old HDTV. Now I get crystal clear reception - on FOX, and sometimes channels 20 and 50 (local D.C. channels that show old sitcoms and tabloidy judge shows). If the weather is nice, that is. If it's raining, I get pixellated images, freeze action, metallic buzzing, and stuttering dialogue ("What do you mean, jelly be-be-be-be-be -").
How is my reception on the other channels, you ask. What other channels?
Oh, if I'm really lucky, channel 4, the local NBC affiliate, comes in, and it's beautiful. But that's only about once a week. Other than that - nada. I used to get Unavision occasionally, so I could watch soap operas in Spanish, but not anymore.
My boss can't understand why, in this day and age of technological sophistication, I would choose such an antiquated way to get TV. ("Give it up!" she said one day.) And it's true; it wouldn't even occur to most people as an option.
But in the zip code where I now reside, Comcast is my only viable choice. (DirecTV is also offered, but the satellite dish must be outside and face south, and my balcony faces north.) And I would rather not have TV service at all than to be shackled to Comcast against my will and better judgment.
I know of only one person who has been satisfied with Comcast. Otherwise, it seems unanimous that Comcast provides abysmal customer service. This is borne out in surveys from various sources, and now I have a story of my own to add to that pool of outrage.
When I set up the electricity for my new condo, I was transferred to a third-party vendor to set up other services (TV, phone, Internet). The guy who talked to me was a fast talker who went over the figures so fast that I didn't have time to write them down. There was a regular monthly cost, a six-month introductory monthly cost, and an installation fee, and the prices were different between TV and Internet, which were the two services I needed (since I had decided to use my cell phone in lieu of establishing a landline account). And of course there was the six-month total cost, and the total cost after the introductory period. But he didn't give me these eight figures in any logical order; they were seemingly disclosed randomly.
At some point during the same phone conversation the installation fees changed. I challenged him on this, but he didn't even acknowledge it. When I asked him to go over each cost once more so that I could write everything down, the response was silence, followed by obvious frustration and condescension in both his words and tone of voice. ("When something is good, you just do it. Don't you?") Nevertheless, I caved in to his hard sell tactics because there was no other choice for TV.
But in the zip code where I now reside, Comcast is my only viable choice. (DirecTV is also offered, but the satellite dish must be outside and face south, and my balcony faces north.) And I would rather not have TV service at all than to be shackled to Comcast against my will and better judgment.
I know of only one person who has been satisfied with Comcast. Otherwise, it seems unanimous that Comcast provides abysmal customer service. This is borne out in surveys from various sources, and now I have a story of my own to add to that pool of outrage.
When I set up the electricity for my new condo, I was transferred to a third-party vendor to set up other services (TV, phone, Internet). The guy who talked to me was a fast talker who went over the figures so fast that I didn't have time to write them down. There was a regular monthly cost, a six-month introductory monthly cost, and an installation fee, and the prices were different between TV and Internet, which were the two services I needed (since I had decided to use my cell phone in lieu of establishing a landline account). And of course there was the six-month total cost, and the total cost after the introductory period. But he didn't give me these eight figures in any logical order; they were seemingly disclosed randomly.
At some point during the same phone conversation the installation fees changed. I challenged him on this, but he didn't even acknowledge it. When I asked him to go over each cost once more so that I could write everything down, the response was silence, followed by obvious frustration and condescension in both his words and tone of voice. ("When something is good, you just do it. Don't you?") Nevertheless, I caved in to his hard sell tactics because there was no other choice for TV.
I then spent a significant chunk of time on the Comcast website trying to match up their figures with what I'd gotten on the phone. But while some of the costs were the same (despite the agent claiming to have "found" me special rates), I could not confirm his breakdown.
I then received an email order confirmation, but not all the charges on it were familiar.
The next day I called the vendor again to get a different agent. This time I got a woman who was much nicer and more patient, but she said she could not itemize the costs because they did not appear on her screen. She said when the installer came to my condo, he would be able to give me something with the costs on it. I didn't want to be faced with the situation of being inconvenienced with an eight-hour appointment window and then turning someone away at my door, but we had reached an impasse.
I then called Comcast directly, but even they could not break down the charges for me - until after everything had been installed. I was incredulous. "So if the bill is different from what I was told when I placed the order, I'm going to be forced to call and argue with you about the charges," I said. And of course if I wanted to cancel at that point, I would be slapped with an early termination fee and shipping charges for returning the equipment. "Oh, no," said Comcast, "I'm documenting everything you say." (I think that's what they call a non sequitur.)
After several days of frustration and anger (at both my treatment and seeming lack of choice), I decided on a major change in lifestyle and cancelled the order. If I was this stressed out even before installation, there was no way I wanted a long-term relationship with them. I then placed a DSL order with Verizon for Internet service and hoped for the best with TV.
After all, what did we do before Comcast, satellite, and Verizon FiOS? Wasn't there a time before six-month introductory pricing, Triple Freedom, and waiting for the cable guy to show up, when you just plugged in your set and got regular network TV?
I moved into my new place, and yes, it was a little stressful at first. Not only did I no longer have all the channels I was used to watching, but I had no broadcast at all. Even after finding and hooking up the old rabbit ears, only a few channels came in. And those channels were seemingly dependent on the weather, placement of the TV set, and whether the sliding glass door was open or not. (I recently discovered this was not true - it's only the weather and placement of the TV.)
It was an adjustment getting such limited programming. But my boss is right: these are indeed days of technological advancement. I can get full episodes of "Desperate Housewives" for free on the ABC website. I can watch episodes of "The Dog Whisperer" on the National Geographic website and "Curb Appeal" and a lot of related content on the HGTV website. And I can buy episodes of my current obsession, "Mad Men," on iTunes.
The only thing I really miss is reliable TV news - to be able to switch on CNN Headline News, MSNBC, BBC World News, or the local news at 6:00. I even miss the news I never watched but could, like BBC Asia or CNN Europe or whatever. It's amazing and wonderful to me that one can tune in to any of those specialized channels to get news that never makes it onto mainstream TV, whether or not I actually take advantage of it. There's a whole world out there, and now we can discover what's happening in it.
But there are countless Internet news sources - every newspaper, magazine, TV station and network, and radio station has a website, and you can pick and choose videos of stories that interest you. I even came to think of it as a more intelligent way of procuring news; you choose your source (even one from your hometown), scan the headlines, click on links that seem important to you, and ignore the rest - similar to reading the paper. And you get the news whenever you want, not just when it's broadcast. All this leads to using your time more wisely. And if you missed how that news story began, or if you want more info from related content, you can always link to those items.
I've learned a couple things using this approach:
1) It's nice, and even beneficial, to be spoon-fed the news.
You only find out about certain things when a newscaster tells you. It's part of the show, so you sit there and listen to it. In an interactive setting, I won't learn about those things if I don't choose to click on them.
2) What's important to know is not always what interests me.
I usually follow links to the big headline stories of the day, but those I most want to click are human interest stories. So even though getting news interactively might be more efficient and intelligent than absorbing it passively, I might miss out on things I should know about (see #1).
Regardless of whether I want to watch news or something else, however, I have found that having control over when and how I watch TV content has allowed for another option: not watching it at all.
I then called Comcast directly, but even they could not break down the charges for me - until after everything had been installed. I was incredulous. "So if the bill is different from what I was told when I placed the order, I'm going to be forced to call and argue with you about the charges," I said. And of course if I wanted to cancel at that point, I would be slapped with an early termination fee and shipping charges for returning the equipment. "Oh, no," said Comcast, "I'm documenting everything you say." (I think that's what they call a non sequitur.)
After several days of frustration and anger (at both my treatment and seeming lack of choice), I decided on a major change in lifestyle and cancelled the order. If I was this stressed out even before installation, there was no way I wanted a long-term relationship with them. I then placed a DSL order with Verizon for Internet service and hoped for the best with TV.
After all, what did we do before Comcast, satellite, and Verizon FiOS? Wasn't there a time before six-month introductory pricing, Triple Freedom, and waiting for the cable guy to show up, when you just plugged in your set and got regular network TV?
I moved into my new place, and yes, it was a little stressful at first. Not only did I no longer have all the channels I was used to watching, but I had no broadcast at all. Even after finding and hooking up the old rabbit ears, only a few channels came in. And those channels were seemingly dependent on the weather, placement of the TV set, and whether the sliding glass door was open or not. (I recently discovered this was not true - it's only the weather and placement of the TV.)
It was an adjustment getting such limited programming. But my boss is right: these are indeed days of technological advancement. I can get full episodes of "Desperate Housewives" for free on the ABC website. I can watch episodes of "The Dog Whisperer" on the National Geographic website and "Curb Appeal" and a lot of related content on the HGTV website. And I can buy episodes of my current obsession, "Mad Men," on iTunes.
The only thing I really miss is reliable TV news - to be able to switch on CNN Headline News, MSNBC, BBC World News, or the local news at 6:00. I even miss the news I never watched but could, like BBC Asia or CNN Europe or whatever. It's amazing and wonderful to me that one can tune in to any of those specialized channels to get news that never makes it onto mainstream TV, whether or not I actually take advantage of it. There's a whole world out there, and now we can discover what's happening in it.
But there are countless Internet news sources - every newspaper, magazine, TV station and network, and radio station has a website, and you can pick and choose videos of stories that interest you. I even came to think of it as a more intelligent way of procuring news; you choose your source (even one from your hometown), scan the headlines, click on links that seem important to you, and ignore the rest - similar to reading the paper. And you get the news whenever you want, not just when it's broadcast. All this leads to using your time more wisely. And if you missed how that news story began, or if you want more info from related content, you can always link to those items.
I've learned a couple things using this approach:
1) It's nice, and even beneficial, to be spoon-fed the news.
You only find out about certain things when a newscaster tells you. It's part of the show, so you sit there and listen to it. In an interactive setting, I won't learn about those things if I don't choose to click on them.
2) What's important to know is not always what interests me.
I usually follow links to the big headline stories of the day, but those I most want to click are human interest stories. So even though getting news interactively might be more efficient and intelligent than absorbing it passively, I might miss out on things I should know about (see #1).
Regardless of whether I want to watch news or something else, however, I have found that having control over when and how I watch TV content has allowed for another option: not watching it at all.
Rather than being controlled by a broadcast schedule or the burden of finding time to watch a stack of recorded shows, I most often simply pursue other activities. Recently this has meant focusing on settling into my new home, but as I finish up, it will mean writing, reading, playing the Native American flute, volunteering, and engaging with friends, among other things - all healthier for my mind and spirit than sitting in front of the TV. When I look back at what has really enriched my life, it's not "Mad Men"; it's workshopping a story for a week at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown. It's being with friends who have reached out to me, whether in person locally or online from far away. It's reading letters from prisoners and sending them books they want.*
Some use the TV for company. I do understand that; when I've lived alone, it has been comforting to hear human voices and see people. This time, though, I'm trying not to lean on TV this way and want to focus on contact with real people.
So far, I haven't heard of anyone else who has chosen the same route. But I did find one friend who has gone a step further: she doesn't even own a TV. As much as I dislike FOX news, I'm glad to have one local station. I'm not sure I could go as far as not having a TV at all. She said at first it was hard. But then she thought of what else she could do, like - read a book.
And in these days of technological sophistication, THAT'S radical.
* See 7/16/09 entry
