Comcast Nightmare [Repost]
As I mentioned in a previous post, in lieu of importing all of my archived blog posts from Wordpress (because Tumblr can’t import), I’m going to periodically repost some of my favorites old blog entries. This is the next such post. You can read the original with comments here. For the full archive go to jasonact.wordpress.com.
[Originally posted March 10, 2010]
Kari and I decided a while back to switch our phone and internet service from AT&T to Comcast. While it costs a little more, we’d grown to believe that the quality of service, not to mention the significantly faster internet, would be well worth the price. I got online to order service and expected to soon have the service up and running.
Boy, was I wrong. What followed was the most comically ridiculous series of errors I’ve ever experienced. Time after time Comcast consistently shot itself in the foot. Here is the summary of misadventures that I emailed to Comcast customer support this morning:
- I initially tried to schedule installation online. It consistently got to the “Live Chat” portion of the process, and the website would report an error. I tried this numerous times on many different days and times using 4 different web browsers (calling on the phone was not as convenient).
- Eventually, when I got a person on the phone (after winding through a ridiculous automation system), the person on the other end went through the process only to find that the scheduling system was down, and I would have to call another time and start the process all over.
- @ComcastCares on Twitter had me send a detailed email we_can_help@cable.comcast.com, and the recipient of that email passed me on to a local rep.
- The rep called and left a single message on my cell phone. When I returned her call, I got her voicemail and left a message, but I never heard from her again. She never called me back.
- I called the toll-free number back 2 days later and scheduled and installation appointment for February 27 (8-11), which at the time was 2 weeks away. February 27 came, and the installation people came out to the house 30 minutes before the scheduled window was to close. They said they could not install because my house (30 years old) had never been wired for cable TV or it needed to be rewired, and they didn’t have the right supplies. (Don’t you think it would have made sense to find out what was needed BEFORE coming out?)
- We rescheduled for the following Saturday, March 6. I later received a phone call saying that March 6 couldn’t work because Comcast could not transfer the number until March 8. (That would’ve been very interesting for me if the February 27 installation had gone as planned.)
- I rescheduled the installation a third time for Wednesday, March 10. I had to take off from work to wait for them. I wouldn’t have minded if the installation had actually taken place. Instead, all I did was wait until a Comcast rep called me at 10:55am (5 minutes before the 8-11am window closed). She said that the installer was stuck at another job and wouldn’t be here on time. Tough. I had an 11:30 meeting that I had to be at. I wasted 3 hours of my morning waiting. I couldn’t wait anymore. I was so irritated, I just told her to cancel the installation altogether because I have no faith that it will ever happen.
If any one (or even two) of these problems had happened, I could understand. Problems come up, and you deal with them and move on, but this has become ridiculous. I’d like to say I think you can help me, but I have to wonder whether any subsequent attempts will be met with yet another problem. None of this has instilled any confidence in Comcast.
Now, I’m not one to complain about customer service. I understand that large companies such as Comcast (especially those that outsources a lot of its labor) can have a hard to making everything go completely smooth, but this became worthy of the Three Stooges. I appreciate the concern shown by @ComcastCares and @ComcastMelissa over Twitter, but all they did from a practical standpoint was direct me to an email address that may or may not have helped. If I didn’t know better, I’d think Comcast didn’t want my business! I’m seriously considering obliging them and just sticking with slow AT&T.
[Update: We ended up going with Clear, which was a huge mistake. They throttled us at unbelievably low levels, and we had to get rid of them. We gave Comcast another shot, and they eventually got it going. It isn’t as reliable as I would like, but the speed is generally okay, although I could stand it to be a bit faster. I’ve come to the conclusion, though, that there really isn’t a good option out there, only less bad ones.]
