My Page About Random Stuff

My recent email to a few of the networks I recently lost due to Comcast scrambling QAM

2010-04-24T20:08:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you are aware of the recent move that Comcast and other cable companies are making. The move I'm referring to is the scrambling of clear QAM. Clear QAM allowed subscribers to view channels that they paid for on TVs with digital tuners and not needing an STB. This includes most new HD sets. Now that they have scrambled clear QAM, we will no longer be able to watch your channel without additional charges. Our household viewed the recently scrambled channels for several hours per weeks which means we also viewed your commercials during that time. Your commercials will now no longer be seen by countless other customers that pay for service but do not want to rent a Cable Co's STB. We will miss your programming and your advertisers will miss the opportunity to sell us products.

I look forward to hearing how your sales and marketing department feels about this move.

Comcast scrambles more channels

2010-04-17T05:52:00.000-07:00

I'm a Comcast customer and I've been paying too much for cable for almost 10 years.

A few months ago they removed the ability to receive channels on an analog TV without their DTA.

That didn't affect me too much since I use Windows Media Center and have 4 QAM tuners. I did lose a bunch of channels, but at least I still had some good channels over Clear QAM.

Well today they went and scrambled the following QAM channels:

TBS Superstaion 82.39
Bravo 84.22
ESPN 85.103
TNT 85.105
ESPN2 85.108
Cartoon Network 91.102
Disney Channel 91.105
Sci-Fi 91.107
USA Network 91.112
CNN 92.207

Cable had 2 big advantage over Dish and DirectTV

No equipment needed at each TV
Not having to deal with a dish and the weather issues

Comcast is working very hard to nullify the first advantage.

I would like to see Comcast get some real competition. We can choose from different gas providers, why can't we choose from other cable providers?

Shouldn't we get what we pay for?

Linksys support is a joke!!!

2008-04-07T11:44:00.000-07:00

I called Linksys inquiring about updated firmware for my DMA2100 and DMA2200 and am constantly amazed at how bad their support is.

The call basically went like this..

Linksys: Have you called in before?
Me: yes

Linksys: what's your ticket number?
Me: I don't have it handy, but I have an email address to look up.

Linksys: That's fine, so what's your email so I can look it up?
Me:

Linksys: We can't find it.

Me: I found a ticket number and gave it to them.

Linksys: Ok, thanks.. is.. your email address?

Me: Yes

Linksys: What is this about?
Me: Inquiring about Firmware for the DMA2100 and DMA2200

Linksys: Is this a Linksys product?
Me: Yes. (that's why I called Linksys and not some other company)

Linksys: I don't know anything about this product, we will call you back.

Massaggio Spa and Darren Allen, CFO is a rip off - Alpharetta, Georgia

2008-04-07T08:17:00.000-07:00

Mr. Darren Allen, CFO of Massaggio Spa is a scammer, so please beware and stay clear of this place.

Phone: 770-817-0300
11130 State Bridge Rd Ste C102
Alpharetta, Georgia, 30022-2640
U.S.A.
Alpharetta, Georgia

We signed a contract with

Massaggio Spa
(770) 817-0300 www.massaggiospa.com
11130 State Bridge Rd, Alpharetta, GA 30022

and have been struggling with them ever since.

Within 24 hours of signing a contract with this company, we attempted to cancel the membership. We were told we needed to send a request for cancellation to corporate which we did. This didn't help. We repeatedly went to their store and called the store to speak with the manager and every time the manager was 'unavailable'. Now our 1-year contract is up and we found out that the contract is automatically renewed and are simply trying to cancel it.

After some more research on some customer review sites we found this is common practice for this business. We found information on the following sites:

Kudzu.com:
http://www.kudzu.com/merchant/reviews/1506073.html

Atlanta City Search:
http://atlanta.citysearch.com/review/43840654

Yahoo! Local
http://local.yahoo.com/details?id=30177792

and BBB.org
http://atlanta.bbb.org/WWWRoot/Report.aspx?site=39&bbb=0443&firm=22000048
BBB Accreditation: This organization is not a BBB Accredited business.

On the sites above, there are enough positive ratings to give them a mostly positive overall rating which is deceiving, but reading the reviews will reveal the truth. If you check across all review boards, you will see nearly identical reviews and no mention of the financial aspect. I don't know how Massaggio managed it, but some of the negative reviews were mysteriously absent the following day.

Businesses need to be held accountable for this type of treatment to customers.