In August of 2011 I began having intermittent outages. The phone, internet and sometimes the TV would go out for 5 minutes at a time. Then 10, then an hour. We called it in and tech would come out, but they were not able to solve the issue. Having been a technician myself for a number of years, I was sympathetic and patient.
My patience ended in about January when I was on an important call when suddenly the other person could not hear me. "Hello? Hello?" they said. I uttered an expletive...and of course they heard that. I escalated the problem with Comcast who over the next few months sent multiple techs out to the area. All of my hardware was swapped out and it was determined to be a problem at the node and the line. It was real, I was not imagining it. They began to work on it.
I was issued credit for a good portion of the time I had paid by a sweet upper management woman named Donna. She was sympathetic, took the time, and asked me to star. She was a face to Comcast. She along with the most of the techs, and customer service reps wanted my business and I knew it as a customer.
The issues continued however. I agreed on the phone with Donna, later reiterated with Fred, that I would not walk away from Comcast and they agreed I would not have to pay until I had 30 days of working uninterrupted service. I was told by Fred that we would handle the billing once the technical issues were taken care of. I was told not to worry about it.
This was semi-livable in so much as they were continuing to work on it. I was happy to work with the techs Bob, Greg, and Kevin to help resolve what was an area issue. It seemed that the problem I was having extended to my neighbors and even my parents who lived 2 blocks away. It was kind of like “we are all in this together…and we will get it done.”
I spent time...real time...on the phone with support, with the techs, with my neighbors. I stayed home and waited for them many many times. There were days where the tech was in the area, but not on a specific ticket with me. He would call me to notify that he had taken care of something nearby that could help improve the connectivity for everyone. I went to my neighbors to let them know that if the Tech came by he should be let in. Comcast was trying to improve the situation. And I can say...it was improved. But improvement does not mean it was solved. Perhaps it was from a 2 to a 5 or 6, (10 being acceptable).
Then I got a call from Comcast collections that my bill was overdue. I explained to them the situation and they would have someone call me back. No call back. I figured they were talking to each other and knew how to handle it. Then they called again, I explained the situation and they seemed to understand. Someone would call me back. I was still working with the tech and he did not have much to do with the billing, but would make sure he properly coded the account file to indicate that it was a large issue. I got a weird vibe that not everyone was talking to each other.
Until about April I was back and forth with the Tech. It got to the point where I did not need to call in a appointment, they were monitoring the line and updating me.
Around the same time, we get turned off. Comcast management, technical, billing, and collections are not talking to each other. They cannot see each others notes. The right hand does not know what the left hand is doing. We appear delinquent when in fact I am a utility belt short of being a Comcast employee. I called in, explained it, they turned back on the service and apologized. Again, we would resolve the billing once everything was working.
Then May comes and I hear nothing from tech or management. I am of course busy with life. Problems continue to happen, but I think that the tech side is monitoring it and doing what they do. Then I get a call from Comcast collections. They call and call. I repeat the same story I am writing here. Each person says they will have someone call me back and take me off the automated call list. They do. Again...once the issue is solved, we will deal with billing...but for now this billing ought to be suspended.
Today we get a bill in the mail for over $727.66. It includes reconnect fees and it appears we lost our triple play status deal and our rate is $169.99. I call in today to customer service to once again clear up and what is going on and reiterate that I am happy to pay for a working service. My first call I am on hold for 40 minutes...40 minutes only have the call end before they got back to me.
I call in again and speak with a manager, Dorothy 9EJ - out of Newark. I again restate the story of the almost year long ordeal to correct the problems.
However…unlike all of the other people I have talked to, (Donna, Fred, Bob, Greg, Kevin, and the scores of customer services reps and techs) she takes a tone with me. I called her out on having an attitude, but she says she is stating policy. I maintain my composure, though I begin to speak faster and a little louder as the patience, time, and investment I have made begins to turn very bitter. She questions me as to why I would stay with Comcast. She says it is not Comcast’s policy to credit accounts like this. I explain that we are way past policies – this has already been escalated and then some. She implies that getting my account working either needs to be fixed or is a lost cause. She says I should have been paying "something". I attempt to explain the bigger picture in our area, the nodes, the time I have put in, the other people involved, my cost, and all the events that have taken place, my time, my charges on my other internet service because Comcast was unreliable. She is not hearing any of it. She is all about policy. I found her to either be void of compassion or desire for understanding the facts. Either way, if they play back the tapes, I am pretty sure she implies that I should take my business elsewhere.
I am sure she wasn’t wrong about her Comcast’s position on delinquent payments. This was however a not the full picture of reality. Comcast representatives asked me to work with them, stay with Comcast, and that I would not be expected to pay until this service was working. All of this needs to be substantiated and should be in the notes. I asked everytime I spoke to these people and they said they would note it. Where are the notes form the 30 times I have called in? From all the people I talked to? Donna, Fred etc. ? How am I on the defensive? I have been so much more than reasonable.
Now I am waiting to once again hear back from either techs or management or someone about what is happening. I am sure it will be collections…they are the only ones who never give up. We have had less issues as of late, but we still have them. Is this the best that Comcast can do? Is this the new face of Comcast? Just tell me straight. I am not unwilling to pay for the service that is working, but how does all this fit with the customer satisfaction guarantee?
