Yesterday, as you will remember, I told of moving into the current age of streaming with a DVR, Prime Video, Netflix Streaming and so forth. So, yippie and all that, yes? Well, no.
This morning I went into Netflix to print my queue before it goes away, as I moved from the DVD to the streaming plan, and then looked up some of the movies on streaming. None of the first 25 movies on the queue are available for streaming! Nor were the next fifty! All are DVD plan only! What the…?
I figured I’d flip on the TV and see what the full line of streaming shows was. When I fired up Netflix, I got a message from Xfinity (Comcast) saying Netflix streaming is included in my account, and all I had to do was set up a new – not my DVD – account. Wait, I already have streaming on my Netflix account. I don’t want two accounts! We called both Netflix, and after they couldn’t fix it because Comcast had put Netflix into a “package” which they do not support, we called Comcast who basically told us that’s just the way it is.
There wasn’t a lot on the streaming plan we wanted to see, but we DID want to see those movies. So this morning I went into Netflix (using the computer, of course) and cancelled the streaming account and reinstated the DVD account. Back to physical disks, no streaming. We do still get Amazon Prime and On Demand from Comcast, but of the three sources we’re already one down.
Nothing is ever easy, is it?
Tip the Wink 
As Joe Pesci said in one of the Lethal Weapon movies, “They @#$% you at the drive-thru.” They @#$% you at the cable companies too.
Lethal Weapon 2. Classic Leo Getz scene.
The power outage we had this afternoon didn’t help, either. Barbara was in the kitchen making the Thanksgiving cinnamon rolls (which then sit in the ‘fridge overnight, etc.) using her head lamp. I just sat back in an easy chair and listened to music on my iPod.
Because Comcast sucks.
We had years of suffering with Time Warner – frequent outages, absolutely terrible customer service – as in, the cable would go off, you’d have to call repeatedly for an hour to get someone on the phone (often someone whose English was not good), they’d offer you an appointment five days later, etc. Finally, we were lucky enough to be in an area where Verizon Fios became available. We switched immediately, and would have done so without the free tablets or $400 debit card. Everything is so much better. The DVR holds several times as many hours of programming. Customer service is in a different, better world, But even better, most times problems can be solved right there on the television by pushing a button. That’s why I have to laugh, ironically, when I see the new Time Warner (now renamed Spectrum) comparison ads claiming how much better they are then Fios, and how much more they supposedly give you. Believe me, been there, done that. It is to laugh.
/end unsolicited but heartfelt testimonial
That is sad…given all the bad faith actions Verizon has been responsible for. That their competitors are Even Worse is sobering.