RadioDoc
58ef2c0
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11
 ·AT&T Midwest
1 edit | reply to JTRockville
Re: [Connectivity] Contacted by Comcast Abuse Dept Today...
Funny thing is that it would be relatively easy for them to set up the same system some hosting companies have to enable their customers to avoid nasty over-use charges on hosting packages. Set the soft limiter at some reasonable value and have it shoot off an email to you when it's hit. This would, of course, require them to share that precious "abuse" data with the folks paying for service.
Instead of fugly, inane portal nonsense nobody uses, provide some "service" as in Internet SERVICE Provider. Enabling your customers to self-police effectively has got to be cheaper than hiring malcontents and sociopaths to call them up and threaten them.
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Toolmaster of La Grange. |
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Morty
Premium
join:2004-09-18 | Most people abusing the limit don't use their isp's email... |
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Squidii
join:2004-06-30
Little Rock, AR
| reply to jjoshua
said by jjoshua  :We have got to come up with a "dumb user doesn't know what bandwidth is" script. Abuse: You downloaded 600GB. You: I don't understand. I only have the 8mb package. I don't have the 600GB package. Abuse: You are violating our AUP. You: I don't understand. Do I need to reboot my cable modem? Abuse: You are going to be disconnected if you don't lower your usage. You: I don't understand. Sometimes when I check my email, my computer hangs. Could that be the problem?
Good one.
You: Do I need to clear my cookies? Are they taking up space? |
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RadioDoc
58ef2c0
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11
·AT&T Midwest
1 edit | reply to Morty
said by Morty :Most people abusing the limit don't use their isp's email... So? You have proof of that I suppose? How about those who don't even know it's happening, like the OP here?
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Toolmaster of La Grange. |
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Morty
Premium
join:2004-09-18 | Take it or leave it. |
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pacamike
join:2007-06-05
Palo Alto, CA
| reply to APG
said by APG :Let's look it at it this way... imagine a person is called in for an IRS audit. The examiner sees the person drive up in a $70,000 car... while claiming an income of $5,000 a year. If the person is just borrowing the car from a friend (that is, uses it once in awhile) no one's going to care. But if the person is always using that car... there's going to be questions. And the IRS isn't going to say, "If the next time you come here, you're driving a $44,999 car, it's okay... but if you're driving a $45,000 car, we're going to investigate." Imagine the IRS called you up and told you that you hadn't paid enough taxes. They refused to tell you how much you should pay or how much other people paid, but if you didn't send them enough additional money they'd put you in jail.  Sorry, these are stupid analogies. 
I'm a Comcast customer, paying for a service. If they don't want customers who use more than X GB per month, they should say what the limit is and provide a tool to tell you what you use. There are companies that manage this for webhosting, newsgroups, video streaming, and other internet services with no problem.
Comcast was marginally better than the alternatives when I started with them two years ago. However, I have no way to avoid exceeding an unknown limit, so their threat to terminate my contract if I do is unnacceptable. I won't be a Comcast customer next week. |
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RadioDoc
58ef2c0
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11 | reply to Morty
If that's the best you can do, then definitely "leave it".
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Toolmaster of La Grange. |
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gilligun
Shipwrecked
Premium
join:2002-11-22
Denver, CO
 ·Comcast
| reply to brianj6
Going back to the speed limit anology from a few posts ago..........
One thing you need to remember about the Basic speed law...........There was still a posted speed limit.
Also I have yet to see the Internet affect traction or braking distance as the powers that be are concerned about in this law.
The more of this I read the more I dont like the idea of "Mystery Caps" or Logans Run--ning downloads.
But if you really want to piss em' off, dont pay.
They hate that 
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Why do I have long hair?? It covers my bald spot! |
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Morty
Premium
join:2004-09-18
1 edit | reply to RadioDoc
said by RadioDoc :If that's the best you can do, then definitely "leave it". Not the best, I just don't have time to waste explaining everything I know and somehow provide absolute proof of everything.. wish I did still, but those days are long gone. If that means my input to these forums is not valuable to anyone.. then I won't bother posting. |
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ilurker
@shawcable.net | reply to brianj6
The reason there are no download caps is Comcast does not invoke AUP unless they're causing a problem for that node. While one guy might be okay at 300Gb, another guy might be adversely affecting service with the same amount of traffic. |
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gworkman7
join:2005-10-18
Vail, AZ
 ·PHONE POWER
·magicjack.com
·Qwest.net
·Broadvox Direct
| reply to brianj6
I would never run into this problem. My modem and router are out in the open. If I see the lights flashing for long periods of time (letting me know there is traffic flowing), I check all of my PCs to find out what is happening. Don't you look at your hardware once in a while? |
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TigerLord
Resident Pentaxian
Premium,Mod
join:2002-06-09
Montreal
·Videotron
Host:
International Broa..
Videotron
| reply to paco
said by paco :Yet another one of "these" threads  Sounds to me like you could be a tad less selfish, use your brain and try to understand the situation at hand. Rolling your eyes to the sky brings absolutely nothing positive to this thread, nor to the problem.
@ brianj6 : I really feel for you and sympathize. It is unfortunate to read about such less than acceptable customer service standards. It is also unfortunate to see it happening more and more across the continent.
To play the devil's advocate, you also cannot be too angry at the representatives. From what I have read and seen, also from people who worked in those centers, they get yelled at all day by more than clueless people, and sometimes the reps themselves are clueless and uneducated about the technology and service they are giving support for. They are given a script, which most of the time will suffice to answer I would say 90% of the calls they receive.
This is how more and more ISP outsource their call centers to Egypt and India and get away with it. It's also unfortunate that the people who are calling are unable to think outside the scope of their script. Is it because they are too lazy or too stupid? I'm sure saying all call center representatives are idiots would be uncalled for and a huge mistake. But nobody aspire to be a cell center representative, it's most often a temporary job to get by or to pay for studies. So nobody cares about doing a nice job to get a promotion, they only make sure they can get through their shift and get their paychecks, which is from a certain point of view, also understandable.
I'm not too familiar about Comcast's TOS, but if they offer no means of their own to allow clients to monitor consumption, they should be sued by the Office for Consumer Rights or whatever the it is called in the United States, for pulling this off. You asked more than fair questions, and it seems to be you kept your temper in-check longer than I would have for getting dumb answers one after the other, so I do hope the situation is resolved in your favor!
Good luck ! |
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IcePirate123
join:2003-01-12
Columbus, OH
| reply to brianj6
First off, I do not have comcast internet (Thank God). But as I see these posts pop up every so often I decided to comment on this one. One way to FORCE Comcast to give you the capping information and make logs available is to sue. Find a sleazy lawyer in your area, explain the issues to him, ie. vague contract, harrasment if you dont follow the rules, refusal to specify the rules. Have him sue for emotional distress, any service interuption, and full disclosure of capping information. Then drop the bomb on comcast. Class Action. Subpeona all the records of the abuse department and get all those people to sign onto the lawsuit. If and I specify If this ever makes Class Action Comcast will very quickly settle and publish any and all Caps in the tos from that point on. You signed a contract. They are holding you to language not included in the contract, and will not tell you what that language is. That my friend is the definition of Illegal.
Good luck, seeing these posts make me happy I have Time warner! |
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CableTool
Poorly Representing MYSELF.
Premium
join:2004-11-12
| The contract is not vague. Its at their discretion. The limits are different from area to area, node to node depending on penetration. JT uses the word Draconian too much and its annoying. These threads always get locked to its futile to actually discuss the issue. No one here runs their own ISP so their "point of view" is pretty damn limited. etc etc etc. 
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CableFAQ.org/Technicians Unplugged
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Rob
In Deo speramus, God Bless the USA
Premium
join:2001-08-25
Kendall, FL
·Comcast
| reply to Morty
said by Morty :said by Rob :but those who have been contacted all make mention of the disrespectful and rude customer service agents. They're not customer service agents... that should be the clear thing, they are in the abuse department, they have the power and the authority to shut your service off. They're not service reps, you can't tell them off and still expect them to try and keep you as a customer. If they're contacting you, it's because you're creating a problem for other customers, and the company. Regardless of their official title. There is no need to be rude and to treat customers like thieves. In the instance of the OP, he wasn't aware he was consuming so much bandwidth because of an out of control program. Once they brought it to his attention, he made an effort to resolve it. Rather than being rude to him, they could have just explained why they are calling and offer some suggestions.
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YourIP.US - It's Your IP .. and more!
rr.cx - Personal Site.. coming soon. |
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quetwo
That VoIP Guy
Premium
join:2004-09-04
East Lansing, MI
| reply to brianj6
said by brianj6 : I could sign up for a business account at 10K install, $1500 month fee, etc. That if I didn't cut down my usage my service would be terminated in July. Best thing about this.... Their business accounts ALSO have an AUP for "excessive, continual use", however only costs $150/mo for the 8MB plan. Install is something like $200. I have the quote in front of me right here.
I love these scare tactics. |
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Anonymous
Premium
join:2004-06-01
IA
·Mediacom
| reply to brianj6
It's obvious they are just trying to get rid of the heavy users. Rude reps, absolutely not willing to talk to you other than reading a script and a complete lack of any tracking system provided after 4 years of enforcing this policy clearly proves this. |
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gateguy
Premium
join:2001-02-12
Reisterstown, MD
 ·Verizon FIOS
·Comcast
| reply to CableTool
said by CableTool :...No one here runs their own ISP... Any evidence of that?
Or is that just YOUR opinion?
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Without data, it is just an opinion |
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ColorBASIC
8-bit Fun
Premium
join:2006-12-29
Corona, CA
1 edit | reply to CableTool
said by CableTool :The contract is not vague. Its at their discretion. The limits are different from area to area, node to node depending on penetration. JT uses the word Draconian too much and its annoying. These threads always get locked to its futile to actually discuss the issue. No one here runs their own ISP so their "point of view" is pretty damn limited. etc etc etc. You don't have to run an ISP to see that the contract is vague or that some bandwidth management is required by cable operators. It's HOW Comcast chooses to manage usage that is at issue here.
The contract is absolutely vague because the contract only states that Comcast has a right to define what is abuse but absolutely refuses to pass on that definition to those who they accuse of abuse.
I see the solution to be extremely simple and other providers already do it and it works well.
As you state, the actual demands on various cable systems vary from cable system to cable system so an absolute nationwide cap doesn't make sense as you will reduce service to the lowest common denominator.
That said we see from other providers that you can state clear and unequivocal caps and then selectively enforce them to give the best user experience a particular cable system can support.
Cox for example clearly states what the usage caps are for various plans. However they only enforce it on users who continuously exceed it and even then it appears they only do it when the impact on the cable system requires it. And when these subscribers are notified they are given very clear requirements to remain a customer. IOW, Cox's 'abuse team' can point right to the caps all subscribers agreed to when signing up and say "stay below these caps". Then after a few months of compliance it's back to business as usual letting the customer slide until the problem returns.
I'm not sure why Cox can do this and Comcast can't.
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Macintosh Users Group Serving the Inland Empire |
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King Duck
join:2005-04-10
Elizabeth City, NC | reply to Rob
they are in the abuse department, At the risk of possibly being a tad Pythonesque, this probably explains why they are so abusive...... |
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