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Call the Cable Guy. Again.

washingtonpost.com — Comcast's growth has come at a price for customers, public interest groups say. As the company races to add subscribers, many of whom pay more than $100 a month to use phone, Internet, wireless and video services, Comcast has not focused on funding and fixing problems with its customer service.

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  • alapoet, on 07/23/2008, -1/+48As a Comcast customer, take it from me:

    If you're calling customer service, you're gonna have a long wait. And then a singularly clueless representative.

    And, yes, it's true: They violate Net Neutrality by throttling file-sharing applications.
    • innocentsinner, on 07/24/2008, -2/+3Comcast is 24/7 customer service isn't it? I called at like 9 or 10 PM PST and didn't even have to wait.
      • worminater, on 07/24/2008, -1/+3I called last night about my broadband; and after beign told 4 times, "Call volume is higher than normal, be prepared for an extended wait. Do you still wish to wait?" I had to press 2 to continue each time, 1 to hangup; loop loop loop; and then instant tech. Zero "waiting"time; but I had to jump through hoops for 5 minutes constantly paying attention else I would accidently hang up as it pestered me.

        First tiem I called once they implemented that a few months ago; I was irate from hitting the wrong button and bit a poor techs head off (bill went from 76/mo to 176/mo overnight when i hit my 1 year anniversary due to "adjusted" pricing scheme, I was not happy as they simply sent me a nasty bill).

        And they also filter rcp servers; which are encrypted/compressed and low bandwidth. Grrr.
      • VSAMCluster, on 07/24/2008, -0/+3That's great for you. That's about midnight/1 AM for us on the East coast. Drop most of the customer base off the line and I'm sure you can get right through. Try calling at 9 or 10 PM EST and see what the wait is like.
      • LacY, on 07/24/2008, -0/+3I usually call AND go online to use their "chat with a rep" at the same time (usually using someone else's wireless, b/c invariably I'm contacting them b/c my internet's not working (again)). BOTH take about 30min to get to a person, but at least with the online version I can be doing other stuff and not listening to elevator music/"accidentally" being disconnected (I can't count how many times that's happened). I'm convinced, though, that there is one person sitting at a computer chatting with ~50 customers, b/c I'd type like "I was wondering about a charge on my account." and literally 10 minutes later get "yes, I can help you with that. Hold on for a second."

        Sigh... stupid monopolies. If I could get *any* other service, I would in a heartbeat.
    • icexe, on 07/24/2008, -1/+3I must be the only Comcast customer without any problems. In the 7 years since we signed up for service, I've had only one incident that required a call to customer service. I was getting sporadic connection problems.

      When I called, it said all lines were busy, BUT I was given the option to leave my number and someone would call me back when it was my turn. I did that and someone called me back within 30 minutes.

      They told me someone would be out the next day between noon-4pm, and low and behold, someone showed up at exactly 2pm, in fact, they sent two people. They checked the signal on all my lines both inside and outside the house (replacing any suspect cabled they found), and eventually pinpointed the problem to be a blown circuit on an outside line. They said it would be fixed within 24 hours, and sure enough, the next morning everything was fine again.

      So, yes, I'm a satisfied Comcast customer.
      • maceelk, on 07/24/2008, -0/+4Well, there's 1.

      • thesonofdarwin, on 07/24/2008, -0/+1Similarly...

        I think it has to do with the competency of your local affiliate. I've only had to get in touch with customer service a few times since being with them for at least 8 years (whenever Adelphia got swallowed by them). Each time I bought a new router or modem I had to contact them to manually enter the information in to their systems. When storms knocked the lines down. And when we moved and the house we moved in to needed totally rewired because there were shorts in the line - which they came out and fixed in under two weeks. Two weeks?!? Yeah, I understand coming out with backhoes and digging up our yard, having to remove carpet and parts of the [removable] ceiling isn't something they can just pop in the next day and do.

        If I could though, I'd like to go back and slap each and every representative who has told me to unplug the modem and router, wait 15-30 seconds, and plug them back in, modem first. And when that didn't work (DUH!) transfer me to someone else who has me do the same thing. Put it in your goddamn waiting music because the competent among us are tired of you wasting both of our time. However, that's a fault with -every- cable service provider.
      • wuxia, on 07/24/2008, -0/+1As a Comcast customer, I USED to have problems with deliberate throttling/stopping of my VPN connection. It was resolved after I wrote George Lunski at corporate [George_Lunski@cable.comcast.com].
        He was very helpful and friendly, plus he reads digg, too.

        Hello George. ;)
    • dragon76, on 07/24/2008, -0/+1The good news is Cable's duopoly with Satellite is over thanks to U-verse. I moved to St. Louis and there are 2Wire wireless routers freaking EVERYWHERE. I dunno how the TV service compares on price but I know my room mate called to add a channel that ATT didn't carry and they gave us two extra channels for a year and faster internet to make up for not carrying the channel. People are dropping Comcast here like it has Ebola. Comcast hires questionable third parties to come to your house whereas ATT has their own install staff that put on booties before they enter.

      The big deal is that Cable now has competition in the On-Demand space.
    • EntropyFan, on 07/24/2008, -1/+2Just a small point, but you violated TOS by using file-sharing applications.
      They are considered servers.
    • mikem94590, on 07/25/2008, -0/+1I called one day when their systems must have been broken, pressed 2 (I think) for tech support, and it just disconnected me.
  • chadwalters23, on 07/24/2008, -3/+7I gotta say, though, their automated phone systems have come a long way. I used to have to call comcast and I would end up having to tell the system my account number four times before I could get a rep on the line. "I'm sorry that is not a valid account number. Please enter your account number." Four freakin' times, every time. Now, I enter it once and always get rep on the line promptly. So, definite improvement there.
  • musictechgeek, on 07/24/2008, -1/+4I have news: it's not just Comcast. It seems that poor customer service is what all of the cable cos and satellite providers are about these days.
    • Coven, on 07/24/2008, -0/+1Agreed. It took Cablevision 6 months to get my internet working properly, and I still have occasional downtime.
    • michnuc, on 07/24/2008, -0/+1I'm in Virginia, and have COX. The customer service is amazing. It almost doesn't seem real, after years of dealing with comcast.
    • kidathinnes, on 07/24/2008, -0/+1I had Time Warner in Cincinnati before I moved to Chicago. I now have Comcast in Chicago. Time Warner sucked just as bad as Comcast. Terrible customer service from both.
    • SpiffyStiffy, on 07/24/2008, -1/+0and tellecellcoms
  • conversekid, on 07/24/2008, -0/+23Comcast genuinely sucks.
  • Tanktunker, on 07/24/2008, -1/+8Well, until one company starts boasting good service and starts stealing customer there's no incentive for any of them to invest in customer service, is there?
    FREE MARKET ECONOMY ALL UP IN YO INTERNETS, WEST SAYEED.
  • mojaam, on 07/24/2008, -2/+1It's sad really, I've been having my internet go on and off for the past few days. I get kicked off Halo 3 matches, my downloads breaks, all kinds of bs, just annoying. Still trying to avoid calling their useless customer service.
  • stone2020, on 07/24/2008, -3/+3I saw something on the news about people complaining about Comcast on Twitter and suddenly getting good service. They claim it is to improve customer service. I have an idea. Answer your phones Comcast!
  • toddro1971, on 07/24/2008, -2/+4Comcrap is horrible, the worst customer service of any business of any kind period! I have never been so frustrated with any company even close to the same level as Comcrap. Trust me on this, if you have a choice in cable providers...choose anything other than this joke of a company.
    • shauncorleone, on 07/24/2008, -3/+1I'm calling bull on this. Sprint's customer service is much worse. At least with Comcast I can understand the person speaking to me (once I finally reach a person), and I don't have to go through a buggy voice-command system to get there.
      Oh yeah, and I use both Comcast and Sprint to this day. One due to lack of choice (apt is blocked from Satellite reception) and the other because I've almost never had problems with coverage in 7 1/2 years.
    • cawpin, on 07/24/2008, -1/+1I'm calling you both. You obviously haven't ever had service from Qwest. It took us a year to get the money they owed us back after we switched to Cox.
    • SpikeTheSenses, on 07/24/2008, -0/+1I'm calling all three of you. I had the worst service anyone's ever had with this one company. They were so bad.
  • innocentsinner, on 07/24/2008, -2/+1Go to comcastoffers.com and they usually have awesome rebates and low monthly prices for 12 months. Then when it runs out, cancel your service and have someone else in your household sign up for the latest deal! You only need to have not been a comcast subscriber for 60 days (I think) to be eligible for another offer.
    • LacY, on 07/24/2008, -0/+2And enjoy being without cable/internet/etc for 2-3 weeks, which is how long it takes them to come "install" cable for new subscribers here. (and by "install" I mean "flip a switch to the 'on' position).
      • innocentsinner, on 07/24/2008, -0/+1My girlfriend scheduled for hers to be canceled on the same day we got mine installed. We may have just been lucky, though.
      • OswaldKenobi, on 07/24/2008, -1/+1That is false. Comcast has to send a technician to turn the cable on at the street. It isn't as simple as just "flipping a switch."
      • anachronaut, on 07/24/2008, -0/+1@OswaldKenobi
        "That is false. Comcast has to send a technician to turn the cable on at the street."

        Not if Comcast just leaves the cable connected by default, as they do in my city. Around here, you can just plug the cable straight into your TV and get Comcast extended basic cable (channels 2 thru 70-something) for free because they apparently don't want to have to bother with the time/expense of sending technicians out to turn the cable on/off.

        I've found this to be true in several neighborhoods across the city every single time I've tested it, so it's not an isolated case.
  • Bmulley, on 07/24/2008, -1/+11"We went above and beyond for him," Moyer said.

    Yeah, finding an issue like "we didn't run the wire" after 5 weeks of incompetence really counts as going above and beyond. What is customer service coming to?
  • jreinstedler, on 07/24/2008, -0/+5Why would they focus on improving service? They already have the monopoly on certain services in a number of markets... sounds like a real waste to me. They should continue to hand their CEO millions and millions more for the absolutely superb job he's doing. I mean like, its sooooo comcastic! Wow... rhymes with sarcastic.
  • conversekid, on 07/24/2008, -10/+1Maybe all of you people complaining could just SWITCH ISP's?

    Just a thought.
    • kinerry, on 07/24/2008, -0/+12or they can't

      just a thought
      • skoles, on 07/24/2008, -0/+2My choices are Comcast and just recently (as of a few months ago) FiOS.

        FiOS would be nice, but it's not my house.
    • SOS84, on 07/24/2008, -0/+3Can you say monopoly? Where I live, it is Comcast or bust. I work at home and must have high speed internet and DSL or fiber is not available. I have no choice and since Comcast requires users who have internet to subscribe to cable, I am screwed.
      • marx2k, on 07/24/2008, -0/+1That blows... I have Charter Internet here in Madison WI.. 10Mbps down, 1 up.. the service is ok... no complaints... but you certainly don't have to subscribe to cable to get their internet... that's *****' wacky.
      • SOS84, on 07/24/2008, -0/+1On top of that, I am at the end of the line and often times get DSL speeds. Verizon has promised to have DSL available soon but that was a year ago and it is still not available. And I live twenty minutes outside of State College on the only road in the area that does not seem to have DSL available.
  • webmastir, on 07/24/2008, -2/+17***** COMCAST
  • buzzki11, on 07/24/2008, -0/+0If you watched the OP-ED piece on the Local Washington DC news ... Channel 4, IIRC, they said that a frustrated customer of comcast just used Twitter to complain and a Comcast rep saw the complaint and had the issue resolved within hours. Sounds like an opportunity to flood twitter (and thereby the comcast guy).

    conversekid: Comcast is my _only_ choice for high speed Internet connectivity. Period.
    • cawpin, on 07/24/2008, -0/+1I believe the guys name on Twitter is Comcastcares. I've heard them talking about it on TWIT.
  • eengineer, on 07/24/2008, -0/+15 Weeks, 20 calls and 1 day off work to get cable working? Part of me thinks there is some exec at Comcast sitting around now thinking "wow, we are really responsive to our customer. He only had to take 1 day off work and we got this whole thing done in just over a month. Maybe we should increase prices for this superb service."
  • tejohnst, on 07/24/2008, -0/+1I have heard such horrible things about Comcast.. thank god they are not the primary ISP in my area.. Life is too short for ***** customer service..
  • kidathinnes, on 07/24/2008, -0/+1Sorry to say it, but they are all the same for the most part. Time Warner, Comcast, all a bunch of *****.
    • necromancer, on 07/24/2008, -0/+2I used to have directv for tv and Sprint/Earthlink for internet, and never had problems. When Spring/Earthlink turned to Embarq, I started to have occasional dead times (several minutes every few weeks) on my internet. With comcast I am on my 3rd technicial, 8th or so call, 1 trip to the comcast building (20 min away) and they have still not resolved the problems that started a few months ago. Currently my tv and internet have been out completely for about a week (I have had several days over the last few months where it died too). So, I am inclined to say they are not all the same, at least in my experience.
      • kidathinnes, on 07/24/2008, -0/+1I've never had satellite tv or Sprint, so I would not know about that. I have had Time Warner and Comcast, and they are the same. It sounds like the companies that make the most money have the hardest time being there for the customer. Ironic eh?
  • wasexton, on 07/24/2008, -0/+0FTA...""We are a victim of our own success, to a degree," said Rick Germano, senior vice president of customer operations. That expansion has been lucrative: Chief executive Brian L. Roberts took home $20.8 million last year, and the company is putting the finishing touches on a $435 million office skyscraper in downtown Philadelphia."

    And I bet they would not endure 5 weeks of service outage in THEIR new building!
  • KhanneaNL, on 07/24/2008, -0/+1America *shakes head* you are all chewtoys of the corporations.
    • hagfish70, on 07/24/2008, -0/+1So, let ask. Where do you live? If you say anywhere but some diminutive 3rd world Country, your just as much a chew toy as us Americans.
  • SailingAlien, on 07/24/2008, -0/+1While I have a general disgust for Comcast just on principle, I have to admit that their service hasn't been bad. In addition, my uptime (TV and internet) has been very good. I'm being nickled and dimed to death and I don't like the fact that I don't have cable alternatives, but I can't complain as much as I would like to.
    • sergcafe1, on 07/24/2008, -0/+0Ditto,
      I've had comcast for years, and I've never had a Big problem, typical: cable went out once or twice in the last 5 yrs. internet went down a couple times for maintenance (late night). But they were fast at fixing my cable. Within a couple of days in fact. I cant complain.
  • necromancer, on 07/24/2008, -0/+1Nice timing. I am sitting and waiting for the Comcast tech to come (3rd tech) to fix my comcast that has been out for the last week or so. Good thing my neighbors have unsecured wireless.
  • mordant80, on 07/24/2008, -0/+0Same thing with Suddenlink. I've had a tech out 8 times in the last 3 months for TV quality and internet connection issues and I'm still not fixed. I tried to switch to Verizon, but it was even worse! I couldn't stay connected for 5 minutes and their only answer was I should subscribe to the lower speed. So I chose the one that works better, but still sucks. I wish there were more providers here.
    • pabel, on 07/28/2008, -0/+0mordant80 -- I work with Suddenlink, in the corporate office. I'm sorry you've had a bad experience. Please feel free to email me at pete.abel@suddenlnk.com and I'd by happy to try and assist.
  • sgtawol, on 07/24/2008, -1/+4KILL YOUR TV

    Stop funding these monsters. I pulled the plug 2 years ago and it has improved my life immensely. I challenge you to go 1 month without Cable or Satellite. Rent movies, netflix the TV shows you really enjoy, play VGames, or even GO OUTSIDE.

    Your life will be much more fulfilling. The ultra-rich own the stations and they own the information on that idiot box.

    If you really don't like it, at least you saved yourself $50 that month. :-)
    • TheInformer, on 07/24/2008, -0/+1I second this. I quit watching TV 3 years ago and have never felt better. You get to watch what you want to (DVD, Netflix, etc), no commercials, no inane content, play games, READ, etc etc.

      People say cocaine is bad. TV is such as bad a drug.
  • mikelostcause, on 07/24/2008, -0/+2Due to unexpectedly high call volume at this time.....

    I wonder how Comcast's call volume can always be unexpectedly high. I've never been able to get to a cs rep within 20 minutes of my initial call. Comcast is #1 on horrible customer service.
  • greaterweb, on 07/24/2008, -0/+05 weeks to have his service transfered, thats nothing. Last week my business service was finally transfered to my new office after 64 days.

    My office is not in some remote location either, it's on a 6 lane highway. The same highway Comcast's office resides 2 miles up the road.
  • flooger847, on 07/24/2008, -0/+0Me: 90% of my channels are unwatchable every day from noon until 9PM. I've power-cycled the box numerous times and it doesn't help.
    Rep: Can I please get you to unplug your cable-box to see if that fixes things?
    Me: (slaps forehead) Ok, let me try that one more time...Nope, still unwatchable.....
    Rep: You can stop by our office to swap boxes.

    drive out to the Comcast office (20 miles each way), get new box, problem is now worse....

    fast forward a week to the first available service appointment - driver calls as he's on the way over:

    Tech: So what's the problem?
    Me: (re-explains the situation to the tech)
    Tech: Oh, yea, we upgraded a lot of stuff over the winter, and with the summer heat, everyone is getting this problem. I'll just add a signal amplifier, it'll take 5 seconds.

    To Recap:
    Rep: -1
    Tech: +1
    • Pahtcub, on 07/24/2008, -0/+1Actually you probably have a bad drop and the tech doesn't want to fix it so he pt a bandaid on which eventually will fail because the cable itself is bad(water on the line, old, oxidized)

      Unless you have 8 digital boxes with phone and internet you don't need a house amp...there has to be another problem, but most techs don't want to climb the telephone pole to find out.
  • smacksaw, on 07/24/2008, -0/+2Like Verizon or anyone else, if they just gave us exactly what we wanted and billed us fairly, they wouldn't need to hire all of these people or build these skyscrapers to house them.
  • doctorgrim, on 07/24/2008, -0/+1Just switched from Comcrap cable to SureWest Fiber and we're never looking back.
  • Chainblade, on 07/24/2008, -0/+0Comcast has "usually" had good customer service for me. I hate their prices though. I pay $135/month for tv, internet, and phone...I didn't even want the phone but it was MORE money just to have tv and internet strangely...

    I'm thinking about getting rid of TV myself and just downloading shows.
  • Yogitw, on 07/24/2008, -0/+1To top it all off, they are now charging you a $15 "truck fee" to come out and fix your service.
  •  

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