My latest ordeal with Comcast - Video on Demand

Ugh...

So I had to call and speak to a person on the other end of the vast Comcast sponge of love they call "tech support". Don't get me wrong - the people themselves are usually decent enough. But I had to throw this out there...

I was having problems (errors) when attempting to access Video On Demand. This is the service provided with the Digital Cable packages through Comcast. My box could not access the service. Repeated attempts to reset the box through the automated service did not actually reset the box. Unplugging the box for 30 seconds was not hard resetting the box either. I finally decided to make the plunge and wait for an actual person. Wonderful...

After explaining my issue, the steps I had attempted, and the lack of positive results, I was told that the neighborhood is taking too much VOD bandwidth. That is why I was not able to connect to the service. The proposed recovery steps included an attempt to reset the box to ... ahem.... put me at the TOP OF THE VOD QUEUE! Since the reset to the box required a complete download of VOD and the channel guide, I would go to the top of the queue for all of that information and stay up high in order to connect to the VOD service.

I was then informed that the existing service is overburdened and out of date. Comcast is apparently looking into a new service (or maybe just building the service to match the VOD demand).

if this is the case, shouldn't there be some sort of prorate on the cable cost? If I am spending $70 (or whateve) for a service with the expectation of that service being there when I traverse one area over another, when the service fails me should I demand something back? If I don't use VOD AND the service is not available because the systems are overburdened, I want to opt out of that portion and save a buck or two!

I'm sure this is a horse is beaten to death (too soon?) but I like stirring the pot.