The Brady Bunch Kids

The Brady Bunch Kids

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Comcast, how I LOATHE thee...updated 12/01/12

If it were up to me, we would not have cable in our home. Honestly, I think it is the biggest waste of money, EVER!!!! But when two people join in union they must learn to compromise, so cable tv welcome to my home, my check book does NOT thank you.

While living in Seattle we had Comcast, and they were great. We did have a few bumps in the road, but it was expected since we lived in a newly developed neighborhood. But their prices were great, their service was beyond amazing and more times than not, if something went wrong they always graciously gave us a credit (without us even asking). So when we found out we were moving to Dothan, AL I instantly called Comcast to see if they provided service, and they did! Since our move was sudden and we didn't have a place to live, we could not instantly transfer services, which is understandable, so they made note in our account in an attempt to make us a transfer customer instead of a new customer.

Fast forward two months, we find a place to live, I call to set up service and here is where the nightmare begins.

Sept 20, call to set up service (the exact service we had in Washington), but I can't get the gal to stop telling me about what is each option long enough for her to listen to me.
Me: I want the premium package, 1 extra HD box, 2 free adaptor boxes, Internet and phone service.
Her: So in the premium package you get ...... but let me tell you about our other packages
Me: I just want the premium package, 1 extra HD box, w free adaptor boxes, Internet and phone service.
Her: So in the premium package you get... are you sure that's the package you want.
Me: yes, I want the same service I had before which is the premium package, 1 extra HD box, 2 free adapter boxes, Internet and phone services.
Her: Okay so in the premium package you get...

I wish I was exaggerating, but this call went on for 45 minutes before she placed my order. She then stated she needed to transfer me to someone else to schedule my installation time. Great! We are almost done! Call is transferred

Comcast #2: How can I help you?
Me: I was transferred to you to schedule my installation.
Her: Ummm okay, they didn't need to transfer you, but let me see if I can help you. She then asked a million questions to verify who I was.
Me: I have the new account number if that would help.
Her: I can't pull up the order that way. (Really???)
So I answer all her verification questions and of course my cell number was used to not only set up my service in Alabama but also in Washington, so guess what she pulled up? Yep you guessed it, the Washington account. She quickly states she can't help me because that account is closed and no notes on reactivating that service. UGH
Me: Are you sure you can't pull it by the new account number?
Her: Of course I can, why didn't you tell me you had that before...(are you freaking kidding me! Bite tongue and move on)

Short version of the extremely long conversation with Comcast #2. First gal placed wrong order, second gal put in correct order then told me the bill would be $300 a month! WHAT???? that's not what online says the amount would be, as I am looking at it during this entire time! In Washington we paid $135 for the same service how can it be that different. So after being on the phone for almost 2 hours I tell them I need to rethink this and will call back but verified that they would save this info, which she stated they would.

Eric and I talked about what channels he needed to have to determine if we could get a different package and he decided we could go down 1 package. So, per online, the new package we decided on was a lower cable deal and Internet service, 1 extra cable box (not HD) and 2 free adapter boxes, which online stated would be less than $100 a month! Done... or so we thought.

Next day (21st):
Call to Comcast to change earlier request of services to our new choices and was quoted the price of $280 a month. How is this possible, I mean really? I cut from premium channels, higher end internet service and phone service, to mid-level channels and so-so internet service...no phone and it's only $20 less, are you kidding me??? After about an hour on the phone with a representative, this call is over...no service ordered.

Next day (22nd):
Log onto Comcast, place my order, set up installation date, get confirmation of correct monthly charge, correct items/ services ordered, and my installation would be completed on the 25th (of the same month!) between 10-12. I could have gotten installation sooner but our belongings weren't due to arrive until the 24th and I needed to get all the TVs and at least the wifi hooked up.

Installation day (25th):
Received several calls from Comcast and the technician as he was having major issues at the house before us and would not make his 10-12 installation time. Which stinks but I was unpacking so it wasn't like it was a huge inconvenience. He finally showed up late afternoon a little before 4, and quickly installed all of our boxes and Internet in about an hour, even with having to run cables in the kids rooms from one side of the room to the other and from the master bedroom into the master office. Internet was set up quickly, final check of the cable boxes and we have a slight problem, two cable boxes aren't working. A few tweaks here and there, numerous phone calls (on his part), and it turns out 1 dead box and 1 room without any signal at all. Knock on the door at 6:30pm, its another Comcast installation tech, between the two of them they didn't have what they needed to resolve the problem so we made plans for them to return the next day.

26th:
Return of the installation guy and within an hour the issues are resolved.

Oct 8th:
In an attempt to update my billing calendar and budgeting, I log into Comcast to see if I can determine what my due date will be and there is a bill amount for $204.49 due on the 29th. I admit I was expecting a higher bill due to installation charges but not this high! Then I noticed several charges that I had no idea what they were for including:
  • HD technology fee $9.95
  • HDTV service $9.95
  • Add/ relocate A/O $60.00
  • Franchise fee for 9/25 was $5.43, but franchise fee for 9/26-10/25 is $4.11 (how is it possible that 1 day worth of fees is higher than an entire month?
Basically the only fees that made sense were for the Internet/ cable package, installation fee, and the month worth of franchise fees.

Oct 9th:
Call to Comcast, spoke with a really nice guy names Chris. He stated that one of the $9.95 charges was correct for the additional HD box, the higher franchise fee made no sense, and he had no idea why I was charged $60 for the add/ relocate as there were no notes from the installation tech on adding any cable boxes to the house. Which we couldn't do anyways since we are renting. He informed me he would credit the account for the $5.43 and $9.95, but the $60 he had to send to his supervisor because he wasn't authorized to provide credits that high. But he promised I would see all the credit within 48-72 hours. With all these credits the bill would drop to $129.11.

In Washington our tech was 30 minutes late and he granted us a $25 inconvenience credit, but so far no one here was willing to give me that credit even though the tech was hours late AND had to come back the next day.

Oct 15th:
I received an email offering my old package (cable/ Internet/ phone) for $89 a month. Of course I jumped on the offer, made a quick call and was informed our area doesn't provide that offer, but they do offer it for $99 but with less channels than what we currently have, but I can get my current channels plus phone, plus 1 movie channel for the $137 a month. I don't really want to spend more money, but I do think it would be beneficial to have a home phone number at lest until I get a job. So I order it, which requires us to be sent a new modem with a phone connection, and because our local Comcast office doesn't provide equipment, they have to ship it to us, but will also send a return label for the old modem. The new charges won't be added until the new modem is activated.

Oct 19th:
Logged on to Comcast to see if credits were received and my bill is now $285.53, I can't view the bill to see what caused the increase, AND it says I am 16 days late on my bill! I am so confused!
Received a box from Comcast...it's empty! Turns out they only sent the return box and label, not the new modem.
Call to Comcast...Increase in bill amount is due to collecting 2 months of service on first bill, the initial bill i viewed only had 1 months worth of charges. I was informed that I did received the credit for $5.43 but that is all, as the other charges are correct. Turns out the reason I have two $9.95 charges is because the installation tech installed two HD boxes and my package doesn't include that type of box, but since it was their error, once the correct box is received, installed, activated, and returned I should get a credit for each month I have had the box. The $60 fee was for setting up the 2 free adapters and one of the cable boxes, but it shouldn't have been $60 it really should have been $39.90 AND they are still unwilling to issue the $25 inconvenience credit for the tech being late on the 25th.
Correct cable box ordered, correct modem ordered, and return box and label for cable box ordered.

Oct 22nd:
Went to pay bill online and account states its still overdue and the amount is now $275.53, but I still can't view the billing details. Called to find out why bill amount and why I can't view bill online. Was informed that bills received in mail are correct.

Later that same night:
Received the following message while trying to view online account "Comcast requires you to update your account information at this time. Please chat with a Comcast representative." I won't totally bore anyone with the lengthy chat conversation that took place (2 pages worth of conversation in 6 point font worth, that is printed for the record!!!), but the gist of the conversation revolved around the message and why I couldn't view my online account. August, the comcast employee who was chatting with me online told me I had the wrong department and he would transfer my 'chat' to the right person, before he could 'ditch me' I quickly typed numerous questions regarding what their 'department' could help me with. After a page of him or her writing each line of my bill and by the end of page two s/he tells me I have to call the 800 number to resolve my issues and s/he exits the chat.

Oct 23rd:
Called to check on status of modem and cable box. Was informed that neither were ordered, so order was replaced and he waived the $10 return fee for me. Oh how nice of him since this is all their error anyways! Still no $25 credit for inconvenience... (37 minute call)

Oct 24th:
Attempted to view bill online again, still not able too, online still states account is overdue and each day I owe a different amount. But I now have a message that I need to chat with a representative online. So I log onto their chat feature, copy and paste the message, and that rep tells me he can't help me.

Nov 1st:
Whoo hoo UPS delivered the correct cable box...no modem though. Quickly changed out cable boxes, packaged wrong cable box so I could run it to the UPS drop box and realized there was no return label. UGH!

Nov 2nd:
New cable box = wrong channels! Call to Comcast to correct channels on new cable box, check status on modem, and request return label for wrong cable box. Patrick attempted to send signal to box to reset it and when he did it blacked out entire box. He did let me know the reason I can 't view my account details online is because I need to receive a PIN, he placed request for PIN to be mailed to me. Transferred me to another employee, Diane, who didn't understand why I was having to go through all these hassles based on their mistakes, but reset cable box, and processed a return label for me. (55 minute call)

Nov 3rd:
It's a good thing Eric is out of town this weekend, cause the living room cable/ tv is nothing but a black screen. Call to Comcast to have them resend signal to reset box waited an hour (as they stated to do) and there is still nothing! So before having to deal with another long phone call to Comcast, I unplug the DVR box in the living room, unpack the HD cable box that I was in the process of returning, plug it into the living room TV and voila cable! Hopefully they are all the right channels and Eric doesn't want DVR. Now lets hope the modem shows up today!

To date: Comcast has gotten $275+ of my money and I still don't have the correct services, being billed for Comcast errors, and not one person has offered or granted me a credit due to over a months worth of mess-ups on their end and the inconvenience of me attempting to continually correct their errors, including the hours I continually have to spend trying to fix things.

To be continued...unfortunately!

And now we continue
Nov 4th:
Bre and I decide to watch tv in our living room as this tv has the HD cable box. We turn on the TV and nothing...just a black screen! Ugh. Call to Comcast (AGAIN) and hear, through the automated portion that our area is having difficutlities and they are aware and working on it and expect to have the issued resolved by 8:30pm, whoohoo...it's 10:30am! But I decide I will try to send a signal to reset the box (this has worked in the past in this same situation). Several hours later, still no channels, so I guess their technical issues are a bit more than just having the signal reset. Receive a call at 9:30pm saying the issues has been resolve, but still no channels for us. Signal resent and we cal it a night.

Nov 5th:
Still no cable in the living room. Call and rest the signal again, two hours later still no service. Call to Comcast and I explain to the employee how on Friday I had issues with one box and when Diane fixed that box, the box that currently doesn't have service stopped working. I also explained to him how she told me she deactivated one of the boxes, however I tried both HD boxes and neither of them were working. He told me that Diane had not done anything on Friday and that I needed to take the box to the local office and change it out or have a technician come to my home (at my expense) to resolve the issue! REALLY at my expense??? I explained to him that our local office did not have equipment, that is hwy they mail me equipment and oh by the way I am still waiting on a modem from almost a MONTH ago!!! Yea I think NOT! So I ask if I could speak with someone else and he quickly says he will look into my account further but needs to place me on hold. Sure no problem (not even sarcastic...really!). I will admit, I have been beyond nice to everyone I have spoken too, because these problems are not one persons fault and I don't believe there is any reason to get upset at someone who had nothing to do with the previous problems and I will even admit, I hope that with each phone call, this will FINALLY be the person to resolve all this! Anyways, I am on hold for a minute or so and viola cable! He returns to the line, I tell him that tv/cable box is working and ask if he can wait while I check all the tv/cable boxes so I don't have to call back in case something is wrong. So far so good, all tv's have cable channels. Issues resolved, well this issue resolved...for now, no offer of credit due to no cable for 2 full days.

Nov 12th:
Still no new modem to activate phone service (order was placed on 10/15/12). Sadly I found out last week that I have lost opportunities to interview for jobs as some of the companies I have applied with are unable to call long distance. After 18 minutes of waiting to speak with someone, Jed comes on the line. I don't even have to tell him the whole story of all my drama, he can tell there has been issues by the long LOG from previous employees. He doesn't show that our new modem was sent, nor the label to return the incorrect cable box (which I am still getting charged $9.95 a month for until it is returned). Jed not only re-ordered our modem, re-issued the label, but also offered...did you read that...OFFERED a credit for the inconvenience. I about fell over, but thanked him repeatedly. He said there was no need to thank him, it was company policy to offer customer credits due to any inconvenience. When I informed him that no one had ever offered and never granted a credit when I asked, even the installation tech who showed up half a day late and had to return the next day, he couldn't believe it. So although I still don't have a modem or a label in my hand, Jed informs me they both should arrive by next Monday through UPS. (crossing fingers he's right!) He also offered us some premium channels for free for 3 months due to other employees dropping the ball. I know I am married, but I heart Jed!!! (total call 36 minutes)

I hope my final post on this long, drawn out rant will occur in 1 week....to be cont.

Nov 13th:
DANG... I jinxed myself. Received an email notice that my self install kit was mailed today BUT it was just the return label NOT the modem! UGHHHHH. 

Call to Comcast, I swear they know I am calling because every call I end up being on hold longer and longer just to talk to a person. Currently I have listened to their awful music/ advertisements for 24 minutes...no live person yet and yes this call is taking place during office hours!
...29 minutes
...30 minutes later and Archy is on the line, turns out this entire time I have needed to acknowledge and accept Comcast's E911 notice. Unfortunately he can't transfer me so I am off to make another call. (total call time 35 minutes)

Call to number Archy gave me... yea no clue what options I am supposed to choose. Looks like another call to Comcast is in order...but first I must charge my cell phone.

Nov 14th:
Call to Comcast at 8:45am, thinking my initial wait time will be shorter....WRONG 22 minutes later spoke with Nikita who informed me that I have a package due to arrive tomorrow so there is no need to do the E911 confirmation at this time. I explained to her that the shipment she is seeing is for an empty box and return labels so that I can return a cable box that was installed in error (costing me $9.95 a month). She further looked into my account and stated that an order was never placed for the modem, in which I told her I could tell her the dates and names of each employee who claimed they placed the orders. She stated that if they did not complete the order on their end, including transferring me to complete the E911 portion, the order was cancelled.
So new order placed, call transferred to complete the E911, I was connected a little too soon, so I had to try and figure out some of the prompts as Nikita was no longer on the line. I was able to speak with Thelma to complete the E911 process and received a transaction number, #212111408183507, so hopefully we are one step closer to resolving all this Comcast BS.

Nov 15th:
Received a large box and return label to return the incorrect cable box.

Nov 16th
Received a small box, which was empty, along with a return label for the modem I currently have. Call to Comcast to find out where the modem is. Rexine stated that only return box was ordered on 11/14, the box I received today. She stated that she believes that since Nikita transferred me too early (before obtaining the transaction #) the order was cancelled, so she placed another order for 1 wireless gateway, to be shipped priority, arriving by Tuesday. Fingers crossed!

Nov 24th:
Still no new modem, which means still no phone service....call to Comcast. After 40 minutes (yes 40 minutes, I even took a pic!) of being on hold just to talk to someone I had to hang up.

Nov 30th:
Still no new modem, call to Comcast. I find it...amusing...that no matter what time of the day I call, I sit on hold forever, and ever, and ever, and ever...
After 31 minutes, I finally speak to a representative, Carrie, who states she will have tech come out tomorrow with modem between 10-12 since there has been so many ongoing problems.  Tech will also pick up incorrect cable box and current modem. Carrie also gave me a $20 credit due to installation delay that occurred 9/25-26, since no previous credits had been issued. Crossing fingers that not only does a tech show up tomorrow, but that they show up with the correct modem AND installation doesn't interfere with the cable since college football is on...don't want Eric killing me or the tech for missing part or all of his game :). Total call time 39 minutes

Dec 1st:
Comcast tech (Randy), who was scheduled to arrive between 10-12, knocked on our door at 12:50pm. I am not sure why, but he said it would take 30-60 minutes to install the modem. WHAT???? not going to complain, not going to complain, not going to complain
But wait!!! I was promised that the cable service would not be interrupted AT ALL today, but before that knock came...cable out, then as he was working on the modem for the phone line (duh unplug old, plug in new, send signal to activate...) he informs me he needs to change out some connectors and the cable would be out for 30-60 minutes. Can  you say I am dead meat with Eric!!! Yea...thankfully the cable was back on before the Alabama game, phone is working, a few slight hiccups with the internet/ wifi, but by mid/late afternoon everything is working!
I know I should be happy, but here are a few things I found out while Randy was here,
  • Tech who did the initial installation on 9/25-26 didn't change out the connectors that had to be changed out today. Randy stated this was not fully his fault as most techs weren't changing them out.
  • Carrie (from yesterday) didn't put on the order for Randy to pick up the incorrect cable box, and because so he is unable to pick it up (WHAT - even louder!!!), but he was authorized to take the old internet modem cause she did put that on the order...wow thanks!
  • And the biggest shocker I found out today...the local office, yea the one in my town, down the street from me, does carry equipment, so I can go there on Monday to return the equipment he couldn't take in order to get 3+ months of credits for the wrong equipment being installed...keep in mind folks that even if they install the incorrect items YOU STILL HAVE TO PAY FOR THEIR MISTAKE!!! my checkbook does not thank you!!!!
So this brings me to the end of my 2+ month old rant on stupid Comcast.

I still dislike you!!!!
I don't understand how we could have received such wonderful service in Washington and have nothing but problems here.
We are paying more than what we paid in Seattle and get less!
And although this isn't fully Comcast's fault, I have missed out on several job opportunities because companies, were unable to contact me on my (long distance) cell phone versus the home phone I set up October 15th.
And finally, as much as I would love to never have to deal with you or your staff, who by the way ALL need training on how to do their jobs correctly and learn the value of customer service, I am sure I will have to contact you again once my next bill arrives, cause I am positive there won't be a credit for the tech being late today, incorrect charges, or problems with our service.
So until our next interaction....I think I will sign off on this rant.


1 comment:

  1. Hi there!

    I work for Comcast I just want to leave a note to extend my apologies for the experience. I'd also like to help in making sure your concerns are addressed. Please feel free to contact me, provide your information and a link to this page for reference.

    Thank you,

    Mark Casem
    Comcast Corp.
    National Customer Operations
    We_can_help@cable.comcast.com

    ReplyDelete