Technician Fees

I have been a Comcast customer (bundled services) for years.  A month ago my digital channels started to pixilize.  I called Comcast and was told they would send a technician and that if the problem was on my end, the technician would tell me the cost of repairing the issue.  The technician told me that Comcast had reduced the signal power level in my area and that she would need to remove splitters that had been installed for years to increase my signal to my DVR.  The splitters were removed and the signal improved.  Earlier this week, I had a power outage and my modem stopped working.  I callled again and a technician came and spliced around a cable where the plastic was scraped.  He then replaced the defective modem.  I just found out that I was charged $100 for each technician visit and the supervisor I called refused to remove the charges.  In both cases, the technician did not let me know there would be a cost, which is different from what I was told when making the service request.  I would have refused the service, if asked.  Comcast reduced signal level causes my first issue and a power outage caused my rented modem to die causing my second issue.  I feel that I have been scammed out of $200.  Has anyone experienced similar problems?  I am considering writing a letter to my local newspaper.