 Review by jeffhambone 
UPDATED: 345 days ago
member for 7.7 years, 2048 visits, last login: a few minutes ago
 Manassas,Prince William,VA
 $43 per month
 about 18 days
 "When it works, it works well -- if you're configured properly"
 "Abysmal tech support, lack of follow-through on trouble tickets"
 "Consider your alternatives carefully, I would switch if there were an acceptable alternative"
| Pre Sales information:
Install Co-ordination:
Connection Reliability:
Tech Support:
Services:
Value for money:
(ratings below consensus)
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After moving to a new house in NoVA in August 2007, I found my Internet access options consisted of dialup, satellite, and Comcast. I gutted out dialup for two months, considered and rejected satellite after reading the reviews here, and finally decided to go back to Comcast even after my experience with them in Maryland.
Shopped around for about a month and finally settled on a double-play deal through comcastoffers.com consisting of a new customer promotional offer of "Digital Preferred Plus" digital cable and "Performance Plus" 8Mbps High-Speed Internet at $33 each for a six-month period.
When I placed the order, I advised the order taker that the house had never had cable service, and that they would need to make appropriate arrangements for bringing a line in from one of their pole appearances. I live on a corner lot so they had two sets of poles to choose from. The rep stated they would perform a survey (2-3 business days required) to determine if I was in a serviceable location, and that installation would be scheduled after this activity was complete.
I called a few days later and scheduled installation for Nov 16, 2007, and confirmed that the serviceability survey was completed. The following series of events then unfolded:
Nov 16th -- one tech shows up with a digital box and states, "I'm here to install your cable tv service". I ask him if he has the rest of the equipment and supplies to install the drop from the street. This requirement is news to him as he has no information on his work order showing anything other than a simple digital box installation. I walk him through the various options for making the street connection (overhead plus buried drop on one street, full buried drop over longer distance from the other street). He states he will update the record, and return the following day with the right equipment and supplies.
Nov 17th -- different tech arrives, again with just a digital box and no information on the required street drop, nor does he have any outside plant equipment or materials. Lather, rinse, repeat...
Nov 19th -- a third technician shows up. Lather, rinse, repeat...
Nov 24th -- a fourth technician shows up, again with no clue about the installation requirements. He is informed that the order is now cancelled, and he goes on to his next job.
On Nov 26th, I decide to inform Mr. Roberts about the serious customer service and installation issues he has in Manassas. Remember, this is the same office that received a visit from »The Comcast Hammer Granny two months prior to my order. That afternoon, I receive a phone call from "executive support" wanting to know what they can do to fix the problem. I go over the entire history -- which they already had in an e-mail -- and tell them they can install the following day after 3pm, or consider the order permanently cancelled.
Nov 27th -- I come home at the appointed hour to find 10 different Comcast technicians and supervisors, including two guys that are clearly mid- to senior-level management, crawling all over my property. Total time from start of work to successful modem configuration -- about two hours. I suspect that installation cost Comcast about $75/minute.
In the end, I received the service (I think, there were still some "oddities" in the billing) I wanted. The overall aggravation level on both sides would have been greatly reduced, however, had Comcast been able to internally communicate and supervise their subcontractors correctly.
===Information below this line pertains to my experience with Comcast in Laurel and Columbia, MD between 2004 and 2007===
I ordered Comcast HSI in April 2004. Purchased my own modem from Circuit City; got a rebate which reduced modem cost to $0. Initial installation went well, service performed near advertised speeds (3000/384 initially; 4000/384 later) consistently until May 2005.
Comcast "fixed" something in early May 2005. I'm now getting speeds in the 100/350 range consistently for the last three weeks. Have repeatedly posted test results -- modem signals, ping, traceroute, speed tests -- to DSLR and the Comcast help forums. Also opened a trouble ticket on 21 May 05. There's been no improvement, no forecasted resolution date, no communication unless I initiate.
They've got about another week to show some progress or even some concern, then I'm headed back to Verizon DSL. A reliable 1500/256 beats a vaporware 4000/384 any day.
[Update Summer 2006]
Well, I stuck with them even after another network "upgrade" in Spring 2006 which resulted in the same types of problems as I experienced in May 2005. Only took a couple of weeks to fix the upgrade.
Then came July 2006, when I moved from Columbia to Laurel, MD. That's only about 10 miles as the crow flies, yet it was nearly too much for Comcast to handle. Absolutely no coordination between the Howard and PG county sales offices. I had to order a "disconnect" in Columbia, and a "new start" in Laurel. Of course this meant three weeks' worth of lost e-mail....
....and the two missed installation appointments. I finally decided to let Mr. Roberts fix the problems in his PG county sales office. I also found out that there is such a thing as a "Customer Service Advocate", but apparently you have to threaten to cancel and file a complaint with the county cable commission in order to find out who it is. The CSA finally managed to break the installation logjam -- the Kodak moment being when she asked me to reconfirm my address since they couldn't locate it -- my response was "ask the tech who claims he was out here last week when I supposedly wasn't home, he apparently knows where it is".
FiOS is finally available here, but since I will be moving in less than a year making the swap makes little economic sense. I'm showing Comcast the door at the next opportunity, though.
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