 
Zulu_warrior
Member
Username: Zulu_warrior
Post Number: 3270
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 02, 2008 - 12:14 pm: |    |
The 87-year-old founder of Comcast Corp.'s pay will keep going to his beneficiaries for five years after his death under a new agreement.
Ralph J. Roberts' new salary agreement takes effect on Jan. 1, according to a document the company filed Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The pact succeeds Roberts' current compensation deal, which expires next week.
Philadelphia-based Comcast said the new agreement, signed by both parties on Thursday, provides benefits comparable to what Roberts had under the existing deal.
Comcast also said that John Alchin, its co-chief financial officer and treasurer, will be retiring at the end of the year. Michael Angelakis, who has been co-chief financial officer since March, will become sole CFO and treasurer on Jan. 1.
Roberts, whose son now heads the company, sits on the board of directors and is chairman of its executive and finance committee.
In 2006, Roberts was paid a salary of $1.8 million. His full 2007 salary and benefits will be disclosed when the company files its proxy statement next year.
The new agreement gives Roberts' beneficiaries his 2007 salary for five years after his death. It also gives the beneficiaries his annual performance-based cash bonus, whatever has accrued but not yet paid out, after his death.
His wife, if she survives him, will get health and welfare benefits for life.
If Roberts becomes mentally or physically disabled for six months and can't do his job, Comcast may terminate his position. If that happens, he will get his salary for five years and benefits for life. If Roberts dies before the five years is over, the money goes to his beneficiaries.
The agreement will stay in effect with Comcast's successor company in the case of an acquisition, restructuring or similar event.
Shares of Comcast fell 3 cents to $18.40 on Friday.
© 2008 AP DIGITAL |
Bob
Member
Username: Bob
Post Number: 1627
Registered: 11-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 02, 2008 - 12:16 pm: | |
Comcast sucks, get WOW if it is available. |
Sstashmoo
Member
Username: Sstashmoo
Post Number: 825
Registered: 02-2007
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 02, 2008 - 12:45 pm: | |
Quote: "Comcast sucks, get WOW if it is available."
I'll second that. Comcast is the worst of the worst. Someone said a while back for customer service they are ranked close to the IRS. WOW is a top-notch company. |
Johnlodge
Member
Username: Johnlodge
Post Number: 4352
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 02, 2008 - 12:47 pm: | |
WOW customer service is unbelievable to me. I have to pinch myself whenever I call. Why are people being polite and trying to help me? Why is the guy telling me about his favorite HD programming, as though I am an actual human being? Very confusing. |
Sciencefair
Member
Username: Sciencefair
Post Number: 36
Registered: 10-2007
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 02, 2008 - 12:52 pm: | |
A relative of mine had his life threatened by a Comcast contractor after calling the company to complain about a string of fraudulant repair jobs.
How can I get WOW? |
Jimaz
Member
Username: Jimaz
Post Number: 4181
Registered: 12-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 02, 2008 - 12:55 pm: | |
quote:The new agreement gives Roberts' beneficiaries his 2007 salary for five years after his death. It makes me wonder what Comcast received in return for this part of the deal.
Nice work if you can get it. |
Johnlodge
Member
Username: Johnlodge
Post Number: 4353
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 02, 2008 - 12:58 pm: | |
"How can I get WOW?"
Not available in all areas yet. More on the Eastside of Metro Detroit so far. Royal Oak and Ferndale seems to be about as far West as I have heard it being. |
Eriedearie
Member
Username: Eriedearie
Post Number: 478
Registered: 08-2007
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 02, 2008 - 1:37 pm: | |
My sister lives in Troy and she was just telling me yesterday that she got rid of Comcast and went to WOW. And she's loving it for the TV's and the computer. She said that Comcast was terrible and the people were always rude on the phone. Plus she got a better deal for switching to WOW. Of course when she called Comcast to cancel they spoke really nice and wanted to accommodate her every desire. She said no thanks - too little too late - your service is crap and I don't need or want you any longer, goodbye! |
Gargoyle
Member
Username: Gargoyle
Post Number: 94
Registered: 04-2006
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 02, 2008 - 1:38 pm: | |
I totally agree about Comcast. That was why I switched to WOW 2 years ago.
Now WOW has sent me notice that their fees for my bundled internet, cable and phone service will go from $99 a month to $160 a month.
So I'm shopping again... |
Docmo
Member
Username: Docmo
Post Number: 318
Registered: 10-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 02, 2008 - 1:46 pm: | |
Ralph Roberts is the devil.
Try DirecTV and ATT for internet. You will be so incredibly happy you dropped evil Comcast. |
Rockcity2windycity
Member
Username: Rockcity2windycity
Post Number: 255
Registered: 11-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 02, 2008 - 2:21 pm: | |
I worked as a contractor for Comcast for 2 years and Comcast is an evil company. The contractors do the majority of the workload because it saves Comcast money and they dont have to hire more workers and pay them benefits. A classic example of something Comcast will do. They'll schedule a customer for an appointment between 9am-12pm when we get the work order in the morning they'll give us 3 appointments to finish between 9am-12pm. One appointment may only take 30 mins and the other may take an hour and a half plus factor in drive time and by the time you're finish with your first two you're running close to the deadline for your third or already pass the deadline for your third. If your late for your appointment Comcast charges your contracting company $20, each contractor gets paid by the job. If its only a $15 job you're paying them to work. Then you're cutting into you're 12pm-3pm work orders and running behind on those. Customers are pissed when you're late, which is understandable. The pay is good if you can get good installations such as the triple play they offer which will pay you around $70 per installation. A contractor can make around $600-$1300 depending on his route. The key to making money is to do the jobs as fast as you can. We cut corners and rig jobs just enough to get the equipment going until we leave. It's sad but true. Thats why most of you have so many problems with your cable, phone, and internet. Contractors will take shortcuts to get the job done and make his money. But i blame that on Comcast because they have unrealistic expectations from their contracting firms. DirecTv, Dish Network and WOW dont have those same outrageous expectations from their contractors. My company sent me to Phoenix for a month to work out there where thsy have a contract with Cox Cable, they paid better than Comcast and were more realistic in their demands. So if you have Comcast and you see a contractor coming to install or fix your cable I advise you to follow him around and ask plenty of questions. That will irritate him but he cant take a short-cut with someone looking over his shoulder. |
Jmarx
Member
Username: Jmarx
Post Number: 56
Registered: 01-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 02, 2008 - 2:37 pm: | |
Not to be funny, but how is this a Detroit topic? |
Zulu_warrior
Member
Username: Zulu_warrior
Post Number: 3273
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 02, 2008 - 4:23 pm: | |
For those of us who live in Detroit and have Comcast will be paying our money to the dead... |
Ndavies
Member
Username: Ndavies
Post Number: 2916
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 02, 2008 - 4:33 pm: | |
If you don't like your comcast bill, Cancel your service and get satellite. Or just go back to rabbit ears.
Comcast is not a necessity like water, gas or electric. |
Lefty2
Member
Username: Lefty2
Post Number: 831
Registered: 07-2007
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 02, 2008 - 9:13 pm: | |
Rockcity2windycity - Good info, I know what you post is true as I have experienced this. I give the guys a tip before they hook me up so they do a decent job.
BTW - If you order internet only will you get cable also |
Michigansheik
Member
Username: Michigansheik
Post Number: 248
Registered: 09-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 02, 2008 - 10:57 pm: | |
thats not always true, the contractor/installer is supposed to install a filter on your cable line to trap the tv signal but allow the internet signal.
Since they are contractors and have no loyalty to comcast you could probably pur$uade that person to forget the filter! |
Ltdave
Member
Username: Ltdave
Post Number: 106
Registered: 09-2006
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 02, 2008 - 11:25 pm: | |
while ive had issues with their rental modems in the past, ive been pretty happy with all of the service and the support ive ever gotten from them...
thats not to say i wouldnt change if i was able to get wow but according to speakeasy.net my downloads from the chicago 'hub' runs from 10k-13.5k. my uploads run about 1.3k pretty consistently. ATT cant come close to matching that...
i did have trouble when they were checking for noisy lines just before rolling out VOIP. they put a filter on that blocked my internet but i got that figured out with the help of a contractor/service guy i know...
d |
Sstashmoo
Member
Username: Sstashmoo
Post Number: 833
Registered: 02-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, January 03, 2008 - 9:46 am: | |
Re: taking traps off cable access. You guys do know thats against the law? |
Msamslex
Member
Username: Msamslex
Post Number: 26
Registered: 06-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, January 03, 2008 - 10:38 pm: | |
Zulu Warrior,
I live in Detroit and I dropped Comcast several years ago due to a price increase. I was paying I think a little over $50./mth and it went up to $62. or $65./mth. I forget the exact amount but I only had basic, no HBO, Cinemax etc. I couldn't afford the extra $$$. Don't remember ever having poor service but I never had any real problems with the cable. The worst thing that happened was when my t.v. lost all the channels. Guy came out, checked the wires outside, then inside. He told me the wire connected to the tv looked like they had teeth marks in them. Turned out my cat had chewed through the wires interrupting the signal. But to this day I won't ever get Comcast again. Just can't afford it so I do without. |
Jerrytimes
Member
Username: Jerrytimes
Post Number: 88
Registered: 04-2007
| | Posted on Sunday, January 06, 2008 - 7:17 pm: | |
I know people who say the same about WOW, DirecTV and Dish Network. It's just that Comcast has been around longer and most people here have had there service, but not the others.
Sounds like Rockycity up there is one of the reasons why people get mad at Comcast. |
Sstashmoo
Member
Username: Sstashmoo
Post Number: 854
Registered: 02-2007
| | Posted on Sunday, January 06, 2008 - 9:02 pm: | |
Jerrytimes, having experience with both companies, WOW is 100% better than Comcast. I switched to WOW, not one regret for doing so.
Here's a simple test:
Google "Comcast Complaints"
Google "WOW complaints"
Google "Wide open west complaints"
Any difference? |