I apologize in advance for the length. Yes... this IS the condensed version.
First, some back story, exposition if you will: My girlfriend and I currently reside with her parents while we try to get our house redone. Someone had completely stripped the home of all copper, aluminum, other metals, cabinets, inside doors, etc. We're not even close to done but that's for a different diary. Anyway, her parents are elderly; her father has his own mental impairments and her mother (we'll call her MIL) had a heart attack and died for an extended period of time. When she came back, of course part of her mind remained left behind. She's still fully functional and determined; a gloriously strong woman. In fact, I wish I had half the determination she has. However, she's not good at making financial/account decisions anymore, which is why she authorizes me on her technological related accounts. Comcast was one of those accounts, an account she has had since the 1970s.
Well, allow me to correct. I was SUPPOSED to be authorized on the account, but every time I would call in for an issue (which was a lot), they would say I am not authorized and make me get her on the phone (which is a task in and of itself) to reauthorize me. This happened every... single... time. The last time it happened was the last straw and we looked into U-Verse (which I hate DSL, but I apparently hate Comcast more). MIL and I discussed the options, the costs, the value to loss ratio, etc. and she decided to make the switch due to the MANY issues (which will be outlined below) we've been having with Comcast that they refused to resolve.
Before continuing, it should be noted that I was, in fact, a Comcast Customer Support Supervisor in 2006. Had I behaved like many of these imbeciles and their supervisors, I might still have my job (my team was the top team in the call center for both metrics and customer feedback – everyone on my team was fired one by one). In addition, I also used to do cable, Dish, and DirectTV installs and used to also co-own/operate a 900MHz terrestrial ISP for which I was also lead installer – so I understand the field tech side of things as well.
Without further ado, let us jump below the orange zest for a condensed timeline.
Note: This first list is in regards to audio/video desynch and complete freeze. This is the first issue I will talk about. This is only the times and duration I started logging. It was happening well before and well after the dates listed below. In addition to logging the issue, I managed to catch some of it on the DVR recording.
Screen Cap of Audio Log
Of course they continuously blamed my cable (that they gave me) or that I was using external speaker system (even though it happened when I used internal TV speakers as well) or... the TV. Yep. A brand new TV must have been the problem... so I returned the TV and swapped it out. The problem still existed. It took them well into 2015 for a tech to figure out the problem. What do you know... it was an issue with a default setting in their receiver box.
Other issues are as follows. I placed them in block quotes to denote my actual logs I took of phone calls. And no, I am not omitting their names where applicable.
04-10-2013
11:05
Trish
TG0
Home-Representative (as in working from home)
Comcast canceled the appointment because they couldn't get a hold of us.
They called to verify the appointment and we couldn't get to the phone in time.
We called back LITERALLY right after. When we got to the phone, it had just stopped ringing from their call.
Trish refused to get someone out here immediately.
Trish refused to give a supervisor.
I informed her that I want a tech out within 15 minutes.
I want a field tech supervisor WITH the tech.
I want to speak to a support supervisor.
On hold at 11:09
Call disconnected at 11:14
(either she hung up on me or she disconnected)
Called back at: 11:16
Went through the menu again
William - Panama
Initially refused to give supervisor
Was finally put on hold and given to Steven
Reported Trish to Steven
Reported the connectivity issue to Steven
Gave account number
Escalating to dispatch
On hold at 11:27
Off hold at 11:30
Took contact number (our cell phones)
Told we will have to wait again for a technician.
Being transferred to Corporate at 11:35
Was actually transferred to Heather at business class (totally unrelated department) who refused to make the proper transfer and refused to give me the number to corporate.
Heather gave me the number to Comcast Residential: 866-564-0433 and transferred me.
Had to go through the menu again
Jales
ARBQ55
Ann Arbor, MI
Took account information
Tech Visit is set for 2-4 on the 12th (unacceptable)
Promised that a field tech supervisor will be present on the trouble call
Pushing for tech to come out TODAY
Now tech for between 2-7 today
Marked as "unresolved" to ensure callback
On hold 11:55
Off Hold 11:57
Will get call back from supervisor
Report issues to supervisor and inform him/her of the desired resolution and problems with previous techs.
Supervisor will put in for investigation.
To contact Corporate:
Go to comcast.net
At Bottom Contact Us
Report Issue(s)
Corporate will go through process of listening to calls and investigation.
or
Wait for supervisor callback
Inform them desire to reach corporate
12:13
Call from Jason
BF6
Ann Arbor
Re-explained the situation. Filed official report against previous techs (not Jales or Heather).
Jason verified that a tech will be coming out today and that he will be filing the report to the proper call centers to have the calls reviewed and proper training be given to the techs in question.
Jason informed me as well that the techs (and supervisors) do not have a number to corporate and therefore when I was transferred by Steven, it was either an intentional mis-transfer on Steven's part or it was based out of ignorance (again, training).
12:45
Call from Ron (or Ross) from dispatch to verify later appointment.
13:45
Josh called
Verifying service problems (for note-taking for preparation).
15:17
Comcast called for verification of "tech on the way".
15:34
Mario (tech) arrived.
Initially blaming weather (not valid explanation considering duration of issue).
Continuing investigation.
16:05 update
Tech has mild attitude, obviously not wanting to be here. Complete with "sighs" and exasperative comments.
Rather than just trying a new modem (which we were told they were going to do), he is running new cable (of which I am thankful, but expect a modem swap as well).
The cable in the basement is not accessible so I informed him that if it is easier to just punch a hole through the wall, to go for it. Again with the sighs and commentary, but that's what he's doing.
16:33 update
Tech call complete.
No modem swap. Dropped new home run. Better speed.
Will continue to monitor.
Offered $20 credit (not an acceptable amount considering how long this has been going on).
Caveat to above: While he did have an attitude when he got here and throughout, he was the first tech to get a positive result on site. This balances out, in my opinion.
Note the date of the above. Obviously, if you cross check it with the chart above, the issue was not yet resolved.
Below is when MIL was in hospital for severe heart attack. Upon her return is when I was to be placed as authorized user. The above was prior to that action.
04-10-2013
14:52
Comcast refuses to accept full payment and threatening to shut off service.
Their reasoning for failing to accept payment is that we are not on the checking account through which it is being paid, although the person in whose name the account is held is currently in the hospital on life support.
Representative Supervisor hung up on us during previous call (without provocation).
We called back and made a payment via the machine service (using the checking account we were told we couldn't use).
I would like to point out that with all the problems we are having with Comcast Service, even a THREAT of disconnection is unacceptable at this point. In fact, they owe US credit!
Confirmation #: [redacted]
Between the above and below entries, I had reached corporate and thought things were resolved (stupid assumption) so I didn't log everything therein. Corporate genuinely seemed to want to get the issue resolved so I figured it redemption worthy and felt no need to log. I should have known better. The below issue is in regards to them having been charging MIL for
YEARS for HD service that she wasn't getting
12-6-2013
Received bill for $316. It should have been zero due to prior arrangements made with Cynthia [last name redacted] (corporate employee) due to overcharges for years.
Contacted Comcast Corporate via eMail to contest the issue.
Received email back from Cynthia requesting address and phone number for contact.
Replied in kind.
18:23
Judy called
Teri was the one I spoke with before.
Teri will call back on Monday (see below).
[phone number redacted]
Judy credited the account $9.95 a month for the past three months (October through December - due to HD charges that shouldn't have been there) as well as credited the account $9.95 a month for the next 6 months (January through June)
We then went onto the fact that our bulk $358 credit was not properly applied.
Judy was doing a great job helping and then when I asked to go through it step by step (because the numbers that she was giving me weren't adding up), I got:
JUDY: You need the statements in front of you.
ME: I only have the current statement at the moment.
JUDY: I am going through all this on the computer and I'm not even supposed to be at work right now. Get the statements in front of you and I will have Teri call you on Monday.
First, why did you call me after hours if you're not willing to solve the problem?
Second, I am just asking because the numbers aren't making sense and I am asking for step by step clarification - I'm not arguing the numbers, I'm asking to clarify them.
Overall, Judy was pleasant enough to work with. It was only that one line that bothered me. But she was trying to help. However, that type of attitude is not acceptable nor is it “customer service.”
Will attempt to acquire past statements and study them prior to Teri's call on Monday.
12-09-2013
12:20
Teri called
Explained the balance, exactly how the previous credit was applied, and verified the $9.95 off per month through June for the prior HD screw ups. She also waived the late fee due to the confusion on the matter. Verified that the account balance is $276.xx
Are we having fun yet? Not even close to done. I have logs from between the above and the below for ALL issues I've already posted. However, due to computer catching on fire, they were lost (didn't back them up, apparently). They included phone logs and chat logs with customer support, engineering department, and corporate.
12-01-2014
23:02
4 minutes of menu selection
Ann Arbor, MI
Donovan
Immediately requested supervisor
Donovan was polite and respectful and dealt well with my initial ire.
Waited 28 minutes. No supervisor ever appeared so the tech escalated me.
UNACCEPTABLE supervisory actions!
On hold: 5 minutes
Asked for four digit Corps"(?) number? WTF is that?
I should have been warm transferred!
No way around the "Corps number" request. It just repeats the message requesting some ambiguous number. Even ZERO does nothing!
Hung up after approximately 5 minutes of attempts.
To this day, I still have no idea what a “corps number” is in regards to Comcast account. You may insert more lost logs here. I will try to see if I have these lost logs stuffed away somewhere I forgot (Mega, DropBox, etc.). If I locate them, I will update the post.
06-08-2015
13:35
Rich [redacted] - Mexico
Refused me access to the account due to "non authorization"
However, I am supposed to have full authorization on the account.
Requested Supervisor
13:51
Alfonso [redacted] – Mexico
Supervisor immediately started arguing with me and refused me access to the account. I didn't even bother logging it at this point.
06-11-2015
19:59
Steven
I requested the “loyalty” department (aka keep the customer no matter what).
Transferred to cancellation
Jaylin
20:04
I informed Jaylin that we had already ordered and installed a competitor's service an that we want no more Comcast Service. Please cancel all services. Informed Jaylin of issues with authorization (since I was asked to put MIL on the line... again).
Informed me that I should not have had to be an authorized member in the first place. All I had to do (for them to allow me to make changes to the account) was to answer some questions (that I answered many times with EVERY representative).
He asked for the account holder to offer an apology (after I told him that I will be answering the questions due to her age and mental state). I informed him not to attempt to ask her questions and do not make her any offers. We do not want the offers. We have ALREADY installed competitor's service. He agreed to my request. Instead, he immediately started asking her questions and trying to offer her services. UNACCEPTABLE!
I was put back on the phone when I told MIL to not answer and just give me the phone back. I informed Jaylin of my disapproval of his actions and requested service termination by end of conversation.
Was informed that services were terminated.
Finalized and documented on account.
Services terminated
YAY! Finally... NO MORE COMCAST! Or you would think...
They are now attempting to bill MIL for “Unreturned Equipment”. It is a bogus fee and is apparently a common issue.
https://duckduckgo.com/...
http://www.buzzfeed.com/...
http://stopthecap.com/...
And there are more cases of the same. As you will note below, they are charging us for a modem with a serial number that we never had in the first place. I returned the ONLY modem they gave us (and I have the receipt to prove it). There would be no reason for them to give us 2 modems.
06-29-2015
13:40 - Called
13:42 - Contacted CSR
Pria
Phillipine Location
Informed her of fraudulent "unreturned equipment fee" (we had returned ALL equipment at
the Comcast location near the airport) just days prior.
She reverified account info (number, address, last 4 of social).
She's saying there's one box not returned (the modem: SN: [redacted]). That is
incorrect. I returned the modem (but with different SN) and 2 TV receivers (with remotes).
I informed that we have the receipt for the three pieces of equipment that was returned.
Was just informed that Comcast can bill for invalid reasons, but cannot fix the problem
once it is done. In fact, my EXACT question was (after her response of inability to resolve the issue): “So what you're telling me is that Comcast can bill for invalid reasons, but is unable to resolve the 'mistake'?”
To which she replied, “That is correct sir.”
Informed to go into Comcast office with documentation so they can look into the account
and do correction.
While this is unacceptable, I will do so.
14:40
Went to Comcast location with receipts in hand.
Attempted to speak to representative (Robert) but he refused to speak to me if I was
recording the conversation (that portion of interaction is recorded). I left.
Still in battle with them. This diary/article is where I am at now. Now I need to recontact the FTC, FCC, a lawyer, and Corporate.
In addition to all of the above, they have consistently over-charged, added false charges, screwed something up on the bill every month (not exaggerating... every month), didn't fully uphold their offers for compensation/resolution, and consistently lied (be it out of ignorance or intent) on many issues and across many departments.
My recommendation: If you have Comcast and you have ANY other option, even satellite (ick)... get out. Get out now. And prepare yourself in advance because they WILL fuck you. They WILL commit fraud. They expect people to just give in and not bother. I'm not one of those people. One of my least favorite things are corporations taking advantage of people. Especially when one of those people is an 80 year old woman fatal heart attack survivor (feels weird to type that as a phrase, but true). Comcast needs to be held accountable and everyone who just lets them get away with their actions merely emboldens their position to take advantage of their customers. If you have any issues with Comcast, skip the BBB. Go straight to the FTC and the FCC. File federal complaints. Seems to be the only way to get their attention. I will be demanding they remove the “Unreturned Equipment Fee” as well as pay off the remaining $49 of the bill. Comcast is so horrible, there are lawyers specifically geared up to fight Comcast... lawyers who specifically mention Comcast in their descriptions on their websites.
Also, please pass this information along. It is imperative that as many people see how this corporation is screwing over millions of people and, hopefully, more people start speaking up about it.
Thu Jul 23, 2015 at 10:20 AM PT: After having been contacted by the BBB, the FTC, and the FCC, ComCast decided to strike the fraudulent charge from the bill as well as meet my demands of paying the remainder of the bill due to the stress they have put my mother in law and myself through. However, one thing that gets under my craw was that they kept referring to it in the BBB report as a "courtesy" and as "good customer service."
It's not a courtesy, it SHOULD be an "apology" at least. And "good customer service" would have been to not have committed fraud in the first place.