Comcast's Pricing Shell Game
Timothy B. Lee
About three hours after I wrote this post, I received a call from a nice woman at Comcast’s corporate office, who struggled to explain to me Comcast’s convoluted pricing scheme.
A bit of background: way back in 2009, I signed up for broadband service at an introductory rate of $38 (including modem rental). In March 2010, the rate increased to $50, which I assumed was the expiration of the introductory offer. Then in October 2010 it increased to $65. So I called, pretended to cancel, and was rewarded with an upgrade to their faster “Blast” service (which is apparently 25 Mbps rather than the standard 15) and a lower rate of $45. This rose to $47 in March 2011 and $52 in May 2011. I again pretended to cancel to get the price back down to $47. The price increased to $52 in December, and to $80 this month.
Comcast’s story is that $80/month is the “real” rate for “Blast” service, and I’ve been getting a $25 to $35 discount for the last 18 months. However, they have a new policy that “agents cannot extend back-to-back deals”—though, confusing, the original agent I talked to did give me a $10 off deal.
“Our customers have gotten so used to back-to-back promotions,” Comcast’s corporate rep told me, that it’s been a hard transition to the new, higher-price regime.
She told me that if I wanted to downgrade to the regular non-”Blast” service, that would cost $49, and she could apply the already-granted $10 discount on top of that. Then she told me I should feel lucky because I’m not taking television service and the real price for standalone, non-Blast Internet service is $63.
She also suggested that I was only eligible for an extra-special discounted rate because (presumably due to my original Forbes post) my case had been elevated to Comcast’s central office. Ordinary customer service reps, she said “have to follow procedure”—which apparently means no back-to-back discounts. However, in the corporate office, “we can bend the rules a bit.”
She gave me her direct telephone number in case I had any further problems.
About an hour later, she called back again and told me that due to some computer problem, she had been unable to give me the regular-service-for-$39 deal she’d offered me. Instead, she was giving me “Blast” service for $48 per month with a 12-month contract. We’ll see what my bill says next month.
I assume they called me in an effort at damage control, but I don’t think this makes them look any better. The official story seems to be that there’s a “standard” rate, and that I’ve just been enjoying a variety of discounts over the last three years, which for unspecified reasons had suddenly become (mostly) not available. But given that in the course of a single phone call she quoted me two different “standard” rates—$63 without cable service, or $49 with cable service (but which I’m somehow eligible for despite not being a cable subscriber)—and that she offered me several different promotional packages despite their supposed policy of not giving back-to-back discounts, the whole thing looks like an elaborate shell game.
Moreover, I’m bothered by the implication that ordinary Comcast customers have to live with one set of rules, but that the corporate office will “bend the rules a bit” for people like me who are able to catch their attention. If they’re going to offer me a better deal, they should offer the same deal to all of their customers. Of course, a fair and transparent pricing scheme might not be as profitable.
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