I have been a Comcast customer for a few years now. Last July I switched back to Comcast from Dish due to their inability to put a dish at my new house. May of this year I was moving to a new city and though I had the option at my new house to put a Dish/Direct Tv at the new location I decided to stay with Comcast because things were fine. I set up my move with Comcast and was supposed to have service transferred May 10th. Because I had set up a move, I was unable to make a payment to my bill and was advised by Comcast to wait until my bill was actually current after the move when the two accounts merged. On April 29th, I came home to do some work from home (which I frequently am required to do) and my cable and internet was shut off. Comcast proceeded to dis-connect and re-connect my service over and over again (everyday) from April 29th – May 9th. I was prompted to call back the next day every time to speak to a manger. Over that time period I made dozens of calls and was promised answers, promised my calls would be returned by managers, supervisors, ect. Not once have I heard from anyone I requested to speak to. During that time I had to seek another place to work from home (coffee shops, even the laundry mat next to my house, college campus.) The decision was made by a representative to completely SHUT OFF my service until I was moved into my new house because they couldn’t resolve the problem (not what I wanted but I didn’t have a choice.) I finally moved and my serviced worked at my new house. The last day I spoke with Comcast about my service being turned back ON permanently I was told that a very significant portion of my bill would be taken care of. To this day it has not been (today is June 19th, almost 2 months after this began.) Between May 10th and June 13th I sent numerous emails to be contacted by a manager, even ‘tweeted’ to Verified Comcast Reps, and made phone calls. On June 13th I spoke with Jorge in billing who would only take $34.95 off my bills because he showed that was all that is due. I then spoke with James in customer loyalty who acknowledged there was much more wrong with my bill that previously rectified by Jorge and he would take another $73.39 off the actual service portion of the bill and in addition to that take off all of the excess service charges I was charged every time my service was transferred. To my surprise I was charged (as detailed by James in Customer Loyalty) $40 for ‘self installation’ of my service every time my service was transferred (which looks to be 4 times before it was shut off COMPLETELY due to the lack of incompetence from the service department at Comcast and their inability to coordinate with their technical staff.) I was erroneously charged (according to James) $120.00 in service charges which I have yet to be credited. I have been offered countless ‘free moves’, ‘free hbo/showtime’ for a month, ect., which I have respectfully turned down as I do not want to continue using Comcast services that seem to be each representatives way of subtly roping me back into their service by offering pointless and mind-numbing appurtenances designed to distract from this nightmare of an experience. .
Today I logged into my online account and to my surprise I owe $446.49 with $190.00 of that in “miscellaneous other charge”. James only credited me $30.00, Jorge credited me $34.95 --- $43.39 less than promised. I called and spoke to David, floor supervisor for billing, who said that he only felt it was obligatory and fair to take $50 off my bill and would give me a $17 service discount every month for a year. Why would I want to stay with Comcast for 12 more months ? To date I have not been credited what I was assured (a ‘substantial’ portion of my bill.) Comcast has ill-advised me over and over again to wait to pay my balance owed until they resolve my account which may be why there is $190 in “misc other charges” that I am expected to pay.
Each customer service representative I have encountered has provided sub-par service and is programmed to hold the mindset that making money is more important than making a good impression or providing the agreed upon service. As of today, I am not only thoroughly unimpressed with the way this situation has been handled, but am cancelling my account because I do not trust Comcast to maintain my services and provide me with the answers I need as a customer. Regardless of the fact that my account has been handled poorly by representatives, my service shouldn’t have been transferred to an unoccupied house a multitude of times without my consent resulting in my service being terminated completely for days because no one could ‘figure it out’.
If in reading this you believe that in some fashion I am attempting to ‘escape’ a $446.00 bill, you are mistaken. I am a firm believer that you pay for services you use. Plain and simple. However, there is a certain point in a business relationship in which excessive mistakes and poor customer service takes precedence over my willingness to pay for something I do not want to have any involvement in. Fairly, I do owe a small balance from prior to my move (which I was told to only pay when my billing problems had been resolved in early May) and I am more than happy to resolve that amount and we can move on in separate directions. As a reader, it is important to understand my positionality and the reason I feel so strongly about the wrongdoing in this situation. Most of my professional life has been spent in hospitality as a guest services manager; however, I now more recently I work in information technology running client services and project management. Each and every customer I encounter, regardless of my ability to recall their name or remember each conversation we have had, deserves a flawless and lasting impression of the company I am representing. As humans, I expect that mistakes are made; however, I also expect those mistakes be acknowledged in a mature and reasonable manner and rather than spending frivolous time debating ‘deserved’ service/recognition/support.
For your reference, I have attached my call records to Comcast for this issue only since it began.
I look forward to being in contact with a senior staff manager/billing manger regarding these issues.
Respectfully,
Emily
Call Records:
04/24 02:21 PM 800-266-2278 Toll Free Call AU 8:00
04/26 06:44 PM 800-266-2278 Toll Free Call AU 3:00
04/27 12:22 PM 800-266-2278 Toll Free Call AU 8:00
04/29 09:01 PM 800-266-2278 Toll Free Call NW/AU 12:00
04/29 09:34 PM 800-266-2278 Toll Free Call NW/AU 11:00
04/29 09:44 PM 800-266-2278 Toll Free Call NW/AU 13:00
04/30 09:17 AM 800-266-2278 Toll Free Call AU 10:00
04/30 01:56 PM 800-266-2278 Toll Free Call AU 20:00
05/01 10:39 PM 800-266-2278 Toll Free Call NW/AU 2:00
05/01 10:41 PM 800-266-2278 Toll Free Call NW/AU 26:00
05/03 04:29 PM 800-266-2278 Toll Free Call AU 19:00
05/08 08:39 PM 800-266-2278 Toll Free Call NW/AU 2:00
05/08 08:47 PM 800-266-2278 Toll Free Call NW/AU 16:00
05/08 09:24 PM 800-266-2278 Toll Free Call NW/AU 37:00
05/13 05:26 PM 800-266-2278 Toll Free Call NW/AU 2:00
05/19 09:27 AM 800-266-2278 Toll Free Call NW/AU 3:00
05/23 10:04 PM 800-266-2278 Toll Free Call NW/AU 1:00
05/23 10:07 PM 800-266-2278 Toll Free Call NW/AU 2:00
05/24 09:11 PM 800-266-2278 Toll Free Call NW/AU 2:00
05/24 09:20 PM 800-266-2278 Toll Free Call NW/AU 6:00
Recently (not on available Spring Statement as of now) :
06/13 -- to Jorge and James - 27 minutes
06/19 -- to David - 31 minutes
Total number of minutes dealing with this issue: 261
Total number of hours- 4.35
