Comtastic means Craptastic

I had an interesting conversation with some support people at Comcast this afternoon. Some background first. We've had Comcast for about three years now. They're our Internet provider and we get basic analog cable television from them.

I know, I know, the world is going digital, but I'm not ready for it yet. I suppose the primary reason I'm not ready for it yet is because I use a computer with SnapStream's BeyondTV to record shows I want to watch. It's just like Tivo, except that it's my computer, so I can put as much disk in it as I want without dealing with warranties, etc. I call it my Me-vo in fact.

Ok, back to the present. For the past few weeks, Comcast has been calling and saying "on XX, you'll no longer be able to receive channel YY with your analog cable, you'll need to switch to digital." So far, they've removed four channels. I'm not worried yet, as they've removed channels I didn't watch (TV Guide channel, AZN, CSPAN2, and most recently the California Channel), but I wanted to find out what their plans were so I could plan accordingly (i.e. panic if they were going to pull a channel I actually watched).

So I called them. After a few rounds with their phone system, I found Edgar. He seemed willing to help. I asked him what was going on:

Me: Edgar, listen, in the past three weeks you've pulled 4 channels; can you tell me what other channels you're planning to remove in the future? I'd like to make sure you're not going to get rid of anything I actually care about
Edgar: We're not going to get rid of any more channels. But you can upgrade to digital cable and it will only cost you $1 more per month
Me: I don't want digital cable, thanks. Do you have any sort of timeframe? Like you're not going to remove any channels this week, or this month, or this year?
Edgar: I don't. But let me check with my supervisor....

[Edgar came back a few minutes later]

Edgar: You should be ok for the next six months.
Me: That's great, can I get your information so I'll have someone to blame if that's not the case?
Edgar: Sure.
Me: I'd also like your supervisor's info so I can blame him or her
Edgar: I can't give that to you
Me: Then perhaps he or she can, maybe you can transfer me?

[A short time later Maricela came on the line - this is when the fun began]

Me: Edgar tells me that nothing more will change for six months, I just wanted your information so I would be able to tell the next Comcast person who it was that told me nothing would change for six months.
Maricela: Analog television is going away in January
Me: January is not six months from now. Edgar told me that you told him I had six months.
Maricela: It's about six months.
Me: No, it's not. There's November, and then December; that's two months
Maricela: October too
Me: October's half over, ok, so I'll throw you a bone. We have two months and two weeks
Maricela: O-c-t-o-b-e-r, N-o-v-e-m-b-e-r, D-e-c-e-m-b-e-r
Me: Saying the names slower doesn't make the month any longer
Maricela: Maybe til the end of January
Me: Ok, that's three months, two weeks
Maricela: You can get digital cable for only $1 more
Me: I don't want digital cable, and it will cost more than $1
Maricela: No, it's only $1
Me: Ok, how does it work
Maricela: We send you a box, you plug it in, hook cable up to it, hook it up to your television and its done
Me: Does it use electricity?
Maricela: Of course
Me: Well, that's not free, I pay for that too, so I guess it costs more than $1
Maricela: Uhm

That was about as far as we got. I really just wanted information, and Maricela wasn't in a position to give it to me - the only thing she knew for sure was that it would only cost me $1 to upgrade to digital cable, and I think she was heartbroken when I showed her it was more.

But I'm left wondering a bunch of things, including..

1. Is there a competent person at Comcast that I can talk to to find out what channels are disappearing and when?
   
2. Can they really do this - just yank channels with effectively no notice (I got a call on the 17th that the California channel was going away on the 18th)
3. Shouldn't I be getting money back? I getgot 80 channels, 4 are gone, that's 5%, so should I not be receiving a discount on my service now?