4 Ways To Cut Costs On Your Comcast Bill….Now

Nothing like being a prisoner to the cable company. Shackled every year to frivolous miscellaneous cost increases, just because they can. Or throwing stale bread crumbs at us by adding extra channels that will never be watched.

Worse yet, having them lock you in with the triple play bundle while knowingly laughing because it will be less cost effective to de-bundle.

Had enough? Time to fight back.

Here Comcast…Take This (back)

One of the easiest way to cut cost is to get your own router and modem and say goodby to the rental fee cost. At today's rate, that's a $10 saving a month going back into your pocket. You can bet that cost will only be increasing in the future.

If you figure out the cost of a new router and modem, the 2 devices can pay for themselves in approximately 13 months.

For example, pairing up a DOCSIS 3.0 Arris SURFboard SB6183 with a TP-Link N450 Wireless Wi-Fi Router will cost slightly more than one year worth of Comcast rental fee for Internet hardware. While a wireless N router is becoming older technology compared to ac wireless routers, it's still has enough capacity and bandwidth speed to easily handle your streaming media demands. But if you don't mind shelling out a few more dollars, you can always opt for the AC router. Just remember, to get the full speed rating of the AC router, you also need to upgrade your wireless adapters (on your computer) or make sure your other devices (smartphone/tablets for example) are AC compliant.

With owning your hardware, you have more control with the configuration and setup. Additionally you will have more stability and better performance with a separate modem and router, than an all-in-one device can provide.

Don't forget to return the Internet Gateway hardware back to Comcast, otherwise they will not remove the rental fee.

Do I Really Need All These Set Top Boxes

One job function of the Marketing department is to get you excited about all of the possibilities of the latest and greatest technologies available. And Comcast Marketing machine is very good.

Count how many set top boxes are in your house. If you said one, the Marketing department didn't do a good job, If you said more than one, they did exceptionally well. Why? Because the more hardware that's in your house displaying the Comcast/Xfinity logo, the more in rental fees it's going to cost you.

Ask yourself this question - do I really need all these set top boxes? Probably not.

Think about it. Before there were smartphones and tablets, you probably needed a set top box. But now you can stream your channels and On Demand, even X1 cloud saved DVR recordings with the XFinity TV app (via Google Play or Apple App Store) .

Besides what else are you going to use an over priced tablet for, other than email browsing and YouTube videos. Instead turn it into a TV and let it pay for itself, instead of paying Comcast every month.

Better yet, get Chromecast and stream to your TV from your phone, tablet or PC. The cost of purchasing a Chromecast device will pay for itself in less than a year compared to the infinity rental fee of a set top box.

Bad Customer Service Image = Savings for You

One thing Comcast does not want to lose, is you. Sure you may think being a behemoth company, they could care less about their customers. But the reality is, without customers, they have no business.

So why not take advantage of their awful customer service reputation and get something out of it, like promotional discounts on services. They run them all the time….except they just don't advertise them. You gotta ask for them.

Now the key to getting a promotional discount from Comcast is simple. Be nice. That's it.

So what if you think they are out to get you or they are clueless on the phone when you need help. You're smarter than that. Tell them you have been a loyal customer, and "really like" their service. Butter them up, just like they did to you when they were trying to get you as a customer. Two can play that game, you just need to be smart about it and ask.

You might just be surprised when using this to your advantage and save some money on a monthly basis. As a matter of fact, I didn't know Comcast offered a Loyalty Discount until I received my next bill. I was floored when I saw the additional $15 discount.The Customer Service rep that I talked to, never mentioned the discount and applied it to my package out of courtesy.

This tactic works….be nice.

If they do offer other promotional discounts, make sure you fully understand the terms of the promotions, such as the length of the promotion (usually one year)Â and if it's really upgrading your service to a different tier. Even though the promotion may lower your bill for one year, it may cost you more than what you currently have after one year.

Doing a little research before calling will prepare you with understanding what channels or broadband speeds are available with the different tiers, as well with the terminology used by Comcast.

Their Competitor is Your Friend.

If you are lucky enough to have another provider in the area, dangling spectacular offers in front of you, then use it to your advantage. One way or another you will save money.

Nothing eats at the core of business than the guy down the street with a better offer. Especially when the competitor marketing machine is pitching cheaper prices for basically the same Internet/TV service. Comcast does not want to lose existing customers to anybody. In my case that would be Verizon.

Before calling Comcast, read the offer from the other competitor to understand the type of service and package they have. As previously mentioned, research and make notes about the offer before making the call. Being prepared will give you an advantage.

Finally….

I'm sure you read all over the Internet all you really need to do is threaten Comcast with discontinuing your service.

Just ask yourself one question before doing this. Are you really prepared to cut ties today? If not, you could easily find yourself with Internet service before the day is over.

Before pulling the plug, make the attempt to lower your bill first. If you really do want to cancel, don't call Comcast first. Get yourself ready with another provider and schedule service for installation. This way you will be able to time the new service activation and cutting off Comcast on the same day, with out losing cable/Internet service for any length of time.