Comcast’s $70 gigabit deal is shockingly difficult to sign up for

When Comcast brought its gigabit download cable service to Chicago last week, there was plenty of confusion about the price. Comcast initially said it would cost $140 a month, even though a $70 monthly price is available in other cities where Comcast has to compete against Google Fiber.

But after we published a story Friday, a Comcast spokesperson said the $70 offer was available in Chicago after all, contrary to what the company had said earlier that day. But there’s a difference between Comcast telling the media that a great deal is available and customers actually being able to sign up for it.

Comcast told us that customers interested in the offer should sign up at xfinity.com/gig. But when you follow the links, the only pricing listed is $300 a month for 2Gbps fiber Internet and $140 a month for 1Gbps download speeds (with 35Mbps uploads).

Talking to actual Comcast employees on the phone hasn’t gotten some customers any closer to the $70 gigabit deal. Some customers have been told the offer doesn’t exist, while others have been told it simply isn’t available in their area.

Chris Zimmerman of Grayslake, north of Chicago, received a marketing call from Comcast on Wednesday last week offering him the new gigabit service—for $140 a month, plus $10 a month to rent a modem.

Credit: Comcast

Zimmerman scheduled an installation and should be getting the service set up tomorrow. But after seeing Comcast’s claim that the $70 gigabit offer is available in the Chicago area, he tried to get the half-off price. Yesterday, he spoke with the Comcast representative who originally called him to pitch the gigabit service. Her comments confirmed Zimmerman’s suspicion that the $70 rate was only available in parts of the Chicago area where AT&T has installed its own gigabit fiber service, he said.

“She advised me that while the $70 rate is available to ‘certain’ people in Chicago, it isn’t available to me,” Zimmerman told Ars. “I then stated, ‘so, what you’re telling me is that if AT&T [gigabit service] is available, you’re marketing $70, but otherwise, you’re not matching where you don’t have competition.’”

The Comcast rep replied that they are “testing the discounts in certain areas, and as more competition is available, they will expand it to other towns,” Zimmerman said.

The $70 rate is also not available to Zimmerman on the Comcast website. Zimmerman provided us with his address so we could test the online availability tool, and the $70 gigabit rate was nowhere to be found. Instead, there was a 300Mbps package for $100 a month and the 2Gbps plan for $300 a month.

On the plus side, Zimmerman said he is getting the service without data caps and without a term commitment. That’s in contrast to Atlanta and Nashville, where Comcast has only provided unlimited data to gigabit customers who sign a three-year contract. (The $70 price is also only available with a three-year commitment.) For customers with a data cap, Comcast charges an extra $50 a month for unlimited data, or $10 for each additional 50GB used above the 1TB limit.

Zimmerman is still planning to take the $140 offer, but he said he will “keep the pressure on for the discounted rate.”

Sign up and maybe you’ll hear from Comcast

A Comcast spokesperson said the best way to sign up for $70 gigabit service is to go on the website and “register for the advanced trial” and that Comcast “will contact customers when the service is available in their area.”

This is confusing because we’ve shown that Comcast isn’t offering the $70 rate in places where service already is available. The sign-up page makes no mention of the $70 offer and requires potential customers to consent to “receive automated phone sales calls” and advertisements via e-mail.

Exactly where is the $70 offer available? Comcast provided us with a list of neighborhoods yesterday. In Chicago, that includes Uptown, Grand Crossing, the Loop, and South Loop. Other $70 locations include Arlington Heights; Naperville; Plainfield; Waukegan; Tinley Park; Batavia; Bloomington, Illinois; and South Bend, Indiana.

“These are some of the first neighborhoods where we are testing the offers now,” Comcast said. “Those interested just need to sign up on the online portal and they will be contacted to schedule an install. Our engineers and techs want to test in a variety of neighborhoods and environments so they can learn more about the install process, networking, etc. It’s a new type of service that they haven’t installed before. That’s why we start in a few neighborhoods, learn, refine, and expand over time.”