Comcast Customer service

[giza]

A Comcast employee falls asleep at a customer's home while on hold with his own company's customer service:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvVp7b5gzqU

Here's the resulting media coverage:

http://money.cnn.com/2006/06/27/news/companies/comcast.reut/index.htm?section=cnn_topstories


Got a Comcast horror story? Share it here!

Comments

[wildw0lf.livejournal.com]

This is a riot...I can't believe he'd have to wait for a full hour just to get through to his own customer's tech support...this is just Comtastic!

[sirfox.livejournal.com]

i've given the long version of this a while back in my own journal, but, the short version:

moved into my house in may of 2004. comcast had a deal for internet with cable for $35 for the net, or net alone for $40. i don't watch TV, so i went with the latter. I made a few phone calls, and got comcast to show up to set things up before i was fully moved in. I took an afternoon off to be there for the folks to set me up.

no dice.

First they needed a different installation CD to get the cable modem set up properly, then they found out there was a bad cable from the drop, which they couldn't run a cord to on top of the ground since it was over a neighbor's property. A few days later that was in, and my service more or less worked. sorta. kinda. well, mostly. It was the usual comcast cable service, which would go down in bad weather, random phases of the moon, or when it was deermouse breeding season or something.

that went on for a year or so.

Then comcast gets in contact with me. the summary of it was, "yeah, you've been paying $40, that's actually a reduced rate. (lie.) the actual fee is now $65, but if you sign up for cable TV, it will only go up a few dollars.

I found a flyer for verizon DSL, got that set up (another story, vaguely akin to a douglas adams "tea and not tea" situation from the old infocom game), and once it was up and running smoothly, i called up comcast, and invited them in no uncertain terms to bugger off, and cancelled my account. This is were the person on the other end of the line offered me a year at half price. ($30 a month) i said "no, because your company has shown itself willing to try and screw me over for every cent it thinks it can get, and i do not TRUST them, and will not give them more of my money."

DSL was a bit slower, but MUCH more reliable. hardly ever went down. in late summer of 2005, there were crews destroying lawns all over the place and laying big thick orange cables everywhere. Shortly thereafter, i upgraded from verizon DSL to verizon FIOS. Fiber Optic Internet. it is NUMMY. (and only $35 a month for the 5mbps down, 2mbps up, and no required phone service, the only downside to DSL. i never actually had a phone plugged in unless i was checking for a dial tone)

But there's more.

At some point while i had DSL, one saturday afternoon while those big orange cables were being run, there was a knock on my door. It was comcast. they were wandering the neighborhood, two guys with clipboards in hand, talking to folks who are not current comcast subscribers in good standing. that'd be me. Now, there is a dish network thingy up on my roof, but it was either from a previous occupant, or from somebody else in the townhouse connected to me, and this was the right angle. i don't mind.

The guys start pitching the great and glorious comcast packages at me. I step aside a bit, and point at my television. "See that? that is for DVD's and video games. i don't watch TV. in fact, i detest TV, i hate watching it, and i'm certainly not going to pay money for it."

At this point, one of the two technicians blurts out "Are you really an American?"

... dude. Yes. really i am. Then i proceed to explain about all the fun i had with my previous Comcast experience, and the guy *again* offers me a year at half price. it must be company policy that as a last ditch to keep a customer, you cut the price in half. Use this to your advantage if you are forced into dealing with them. I give them the same answer i gave the girl on the phone. If they're willing to fuck me over so readily, it's not worth the money, at any price.

Then i pointed to a nearby Verizon Fiber optic crew, and explained just how much faster that was going to be than their shitty cable service, and bid them good day.

[kovucougar.livejournal.com]

I've had no problem at all with comcast so far. No outages, the tech was prompt and got things working just as I'd expect. Speed is very acceptable to me. My few calls to tech support have been promptly answered.

Though I find it ironic that the guy gets fired and the statement is "We don't condone what he did" and not a word that he was on hold for an hour.

[shenryyr.livejournal.com]

favorited- that's awesome


I first got cable internet through AT&T, at $31.99/mo

when comcast bought out AT&T's cable service in the bay area, the price jumped to $53.99.  we got a letter in the mail saying the next month's bill would be increased, and sure enough $22.00/mo would be an increase.  three months later it increased again to $59.99.

[giza.livejournal.com]

Just out of curiosity, how much competition is there for Internet service in your area?

[unciaa.livejournal.com]

I love how they fire the tehnician and apologize for his sleeping. Yeah. -THAT- was what the problem was. :P

[silver-huskey.livejournal.com]

Comcast has gotten more reliable over the years for me. They used to go down all the time during the summer a few years back. After many appointments and phone calls (it was getting to the point where I was getting partial refunds on my bill), the problem stopped. Every so often, it'll go down for a few moments and I'll have to do a manual reset. With that said, since I don't subscribe to Comcast cable, I'm paying $61 each month for service.

I've looked into DSL, but this seems to be a crappy area. Cavalier doesn't offer service right here, we'd have to join Verizon to get their services (I originally went for DSL, but setting it up presented too many problems, which is why I'm with Comcast), and other DSL services here cost more than Comcast. However, if I ever see the fiber optic stuff that Verizon is offering, I'll consider them again.

Maybe I ought to threaten to leave Comcast and see if that gives me a better rate for a while. =p

[giza.livejournal.com]

Have you tried getting DSL from DCANet (http://www.dca.net/)?

[silver-huskey.livejournal.com]

*Clicks on the link with much enthusiasm!* Hey there's a section with discounts for Temple students. I'm not sure if it'll work out, but it's definitely worth looking into. Thanks Giza, you're awesome. ^^

[giza.livejournal.com]

Whoa. I didn't even know about the discount for Temple Students. o.O

[silver-huskey.livejournal.com]

*Muses.* I guess cats are lucky then. ;)

[cuprohastes.livejournal.com]

Comcast fire him, incidentally

[skippyfox.livejournal.com]

In my family's house, when my dad first subscribed to Comcast, my brother helped set things up. But they insisted on having a technician come in to install the connection.

This tall guy with literally THREE teeth in his mouth showed up. After I led him inside he started whining that our chihuahua bit him. She can't bite open her own turds let alone pierce some hick's skin.) Ignoring it, I showed him where our cable TV came into the house.

Our cable runs along the backside of the house, through an insulated bit of wall and in near the heater by the TV. This man walked outside, spliced the cable, and ran a second wire in. But instead of sharing it with the existing hole he drilled a gaping hole through the door frame. Then he capped the cable and plugged it into the modem which was already sitting in our closet.

Observing all of this, I knew I could have just split the cable in the closet and not have to worry about opening gaping holes in my house. Instead, this ugly man waddled into our home, put a hole in our wall, and billed us for whatever. Lovely!

[firedhusky.livejournal.com]

This one is going to fire you up...


about 2 months ago, we got a call to assist another station in a house fire.

indian family, just moved in... the house.. brand new ! 2 weeks old.

indian family, decides to get cable (comcast)

Contractor comes and goes to the basement, drills thru the wall and hits the pipe coming out of the gas meter ( was really clear that he shouldn`t had been drilling there). Guy was not paying atention and went at it.

the house burns down. the comcast contractor has minor burns. indian family lost everything they owned.

__________________________________________________________________

I had myself constant problems with comcast billing. they always charge something diferent and cancell the promotions they give me and when i complain, they re instate them.

comcast sucks mayor time.

Comcast Sucks

[k-nally.livejournal.com]

We just had the Comcast tech guy out here and he tells us that our signal is weak, so he needs the cable lines guys out here. Now we have to wait another week for them. We are hoping for DSL in our area. Told the Comcast rep that and he hung up on me.

[jlick.livejournal.com]

No kidding. The video shows about a dozen problems the subscriber had with Comcast, but they decide that it is the sleeping technician that's the real problem. They must lose money like crazy in wasted time if even their own staff can't get through on the phone.