BY STEPHEN PINTO
Everett certainly needs competition in the cable/internet world.
We thought maybe RCN was it. So far RCN service doesn’t come close to matching Xfinity.
It has failed in customer service, equipment, and tech support.
Long wait times on the phone.
Many equipment exchanges and several tech support visits and no success.
But their techs are well mannered, polite, and courteous.
This is the way it should be in the first place.
Overall this is not good for the Everett consumer – of which there are thousands all trying to deal with the same deficiencies.
The lack of competition and support puts Xfinity in the driver’s seat. Especially when it comes to our elderly population.
The elderly, more so than most of us who are younger, are held hostage to rising costs and the daily failure to perform as required.
Streaming and downloading or even having Internet service is not easy for some of our older population. It can be costly and confusing.
Unfortunately, many residents that I know have switched back to Xfinity.
This gives Xfinity the power to continue to raise rates and yet remove channels from your lineup; a lineup that you were paying for only to have Xfinity substitute channels midstream. Let’s face it, RCN is a privately held company. Xfinity is a large public company.
It’s difficult to expect competition that benefits the consumer in such a closed-ended situation..
Until we see some real competition we are at mercy of Xfinity and their continued rising costs.
I had to call Xfinity customer service last week. I spoke to a rep located in South Africa.
That doesn’t bode well when we need jobs in America.
Stephen Pinto writes about Everett. He is a longtime Everett resident.