Rob
In Deo speramus, God Bless the USA
Premium
join:2001-08-25
Kendall, FL
 ·Comcast
| reply to brianj6
Re: [Connectivity] Contacted by Comcast Abuse Dept Today...
Like you, I understand what they are trying to do, and as a customer, I appreciate it. And like you, I agree, their entire way of going about this is.. well less than favorable. I have never been contacted by the abuse department (and I don't expect to, as my monthly usage on average is around 5-10GB), but those who have been contacted all make mention of the disrespectful and rude customer service agents.
I don't agree with making the "cap" known. By making it "known", it just forces Comcast to make the cap much lower since many will make sure they are just under it each month. But Comcast should really implement a bandwidth tracking page that allows customers to see their monthly bandwidth usage as Comcast sees it.
Glad to see you at least found out what was causing the excessive bandwidth usage.
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YourIP.US - It's Your IP .. and more!
rr.cx - Personal Site.. coming soon. |
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brianj6
join:2007-06-05
Atlanta, GA
| Like you said, I do understand what they are trying to do and their reasons. High bandwidth users can impact negatively the experience for other users due to the shared bandwidth aspects of cable internet access.
But I'm not sure I share your point of view about not publishing the caps. Using your argument for not publishing caps, would you also then be in favor of your cell phone company, of course I'm assuming you have a cell phone, letting you know that have surpassed their acceptable use based on total minutes used, but never gave you the total number of minutes you are allowed to use? High volume callers can take up valuable cell tower space, thus possibly preventing other, low-volume, users from accessing the cell network when they want.
But published caps or not, had they a mechanism for me to check my bandwidth, such as the tracking page you mention, I might have seen the excessive consumption much sooner and realized something was amiss. In an even better world Comcast would have an early warning alert system that pro actively notified customers when their usage patterns deviated from past patterns and maybe also from the average customer profile. In addition, having a much better abuse resolution process that allows for one to address a situation as I found myself in today would be a tremendously improvement over the one-warning, no appeal, process in place today. |
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Rob
In Deo speramus, God Bless the USA
Premium
join:2001-08-25
Kendall, FL
·Comcast
| said by brianj6  :But published caps or not, had they a mechanism for me to check my bandwidth, such as the tracking page you mention, I might have seen the excessive consumption much sooner and realized something was amiss. In an even better world Comcast would have an early warning alert system that pro actively notified customers when their usage patterns deviated from past patterns and maybe also from the average customer profile. In addition, having a much better abuse resolution process that allows for one to address a situation as I found myself in today would be a tremendously improvement over the one-warning, no appeal, process in place today. Absolutely agree. Unfortunately Comcast doesn't want to invest into any service that actually allows the customer to 1) monitor their bandwidth usage and 2) Have any evidence to dispute any claims by the abuse department. I'm sure if you presented them with your netmeter logs, they would reply that it isn't accurate and only their secret and non-public logs are accurate.
It's not a fair game. Comcast can't have their cake and eat it too. Eventually they'll mess with the wrong subscriber who will make a big stink about it and will force Comcast to reevaluate their abuse department and procedures.
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YourIP.US - It's Your IP .. and more!
rr.cx - Personal Site.. coming soon. |
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Morty
Premium
join:2004-09-18
| reply to Rob
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. |
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Rob
In Deo speramus, God Bless the USA
Premium
join:2001-08-25
Kendall, FL
·Comcast
| 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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King Duck
join:2005-04-10
Elizabeth City, NC | 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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MemphisPCGuy
Senior Systems Engineer
Premium
join:2004-05-09
Memphis, TN
·Comcast
| Could it be that being vague allows them to turn a blind eye to the actual content of your overage as opposed to just a number? Certainly they can tell what you are downloading if they wanted too ... at that point all it would take would be one copyright infringement to violate you and the AUP. Perhaps the way it is being handled is the best way from a legal standpoint for them ?
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»www.memphispcguy.com |
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Rob
In Deo speramus, God Bless the USA
Premium
join:2001-08-25
Kendall, FL
·Comcast
| reply to King Duck
said by King Duck : they are in the abuse department, At the risk of possibly being a tad Pythonesque, this probably explains why they are so abusive...... But not all customers are abusing the service.
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YourIP.US - It's Your IP .. and more!
rr.cx - Personal Site.. coming soon. |
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moonpuppy
join:2000-08-21
Glen Burnie, MD
 ·Verizon Online DSL
| reply to King Duck
said by King Duck : they are in the abuse department, At the risk of possibly being a tad Pythonesque, this probably explains why they are so abusive...... Comcast Ministry of Abuse......down the hall from the Comcast Ministry of "We're a BMW" Propaganda.  |
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jeffhambone
Peace, through superior firepower
join:2002-02-02
Manassas, VA
·Comcast
| reply to Rob
said by Rob :(snip) It's not a fair game. Comcast can't have their cake and eat it too. Eventually they'll mess with the wrong subscriber who will make a big stink about it and will force Comcast to reevaluate their abuse department and procedures. They may already have:
»comcastissue.blogspot.com/
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Son, there's only one thing you need to know: HEMI |
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Gandalf1315
Freelance Philosopher
join:2001-05-23
Indianapolis, IN
·RoadRunner Cable
 ·Vonage
| reply to Morty
said by Morty :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. I own a small business with 100's of competitors. Every single person that works for me represents my company. ALL of them are responsible for treating my customers like gold. From the janitor right on up to me.
..... oh yeah I forgot, I dont have a monopolistic territory that grossly limits my competition. So I have to EARN my customers and let them know how important they are to me if I want to keep them. Never mind.
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No man's life, liberty or fortune is safe while our legislature is in session.--- Benjamin Franklin |
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hobgoblin
Sortof Agoblin
Premium
join:2001-11-25
Orchard Park, NY
clubs:
| gandalf posted
"..... oh yeah I forgot, I dont have a monopolistic territory that grossly limits my competition. So I have to EARN my customers and let them know how important they are to me if I want to keep them. Never mind."
So you want to keep the 0.1% of your customers that are abusing your service and impacting the pleasure of your other 99.9%
I see.
Hob
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"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
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old_wiz_60
join:2005-06-03
Bedford, MA
 ·Verizon FIOS
| reply to Gandalf1315
One would think that Comcast wants to keep customers, but this appears to not be the case. Telling customers they are using "too much" without telling them exactly what is the problem or how to fix it sounds like they choose the simple solution: just get rid of this customer; there are plenty more out there. |
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Anonymous1972
@vanguardms.com | That kind of arrogance that Comcast has will be their undoing. MA bell thought that way too and good riddance. |
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ColorBASIC
8-bit Fun
Premium
join:2006-12-29
Corona, CA
| reply to hobgoblin
You keep making this an "everyone should have unlimited use" argument when it's not.
It's about the ISP simply providing a CLEAR definition of what is abuse (whether they 100% enforce it or not) so that those wanting to comply after being told they're abusing the service know EXACTLY what they need to do.
If after being told specifically what to do these users ignore it, then by all means boot them.
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Macintosh Users Group Serving the Inland Empire |
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pokesph
It Is Almost Fast
Premium
join:2001-06-25
Sacramento, CA
clubs:
·Comcast
| reply to old_wiz_60
said by old_wiz_60 :One would think that Comcast wants to keep customers, but this appears to not be the case. Telling customers they are using "too much" without telling them exactly what is the problem or how to fix it sounds like they choose the simple solution: just get rid of this customer; there are plenty more out there. Agreed!
Comcast just doesn't want to spend the money needed to increase it's networks capacity so they take the easy way out: they cancel people who actually USE their paid for service. If a company is offering 8mbps (speed based?) service then it shouldn't complain when some users decide to use it fully.
Since no transfer limits are actually stated, it's basically Comcast who can make up any number they want and use it against you, and it appears that they do exactly that.
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Webmaster - Steve
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CableTool
Poorly Representing MYSELF.
Premium
join:2004-11-12
| said by pokesph :Agreed! Comcast just doesn't want to spend the money needed to increase it's networks capacity so they take the easy way out: they cancel people who actually USE their paid for service. If a company is offering 8mbps (speed based?) service then it shouldn't complain when some users decide to use it fully. Since no transfer limits are actually stated, it's basically Comcast who can make up any number they want and use it against you, and it appears that they do exactly that. For arguments sake... how much money would you and your stockholders be willing to invest so the top 1% of your subscriber base can max out their lines 24/7.
And what is your proposed return on that investment?
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CableFAQ.org/Technicians Unplugged
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ColorBASIC
8-bit Fun
Premium
join:2006-12-29
Corona, CA | How about they just state some limits and then enforce them when necessary?
Works for Cox.
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Macintosh Users Group Serving the Inland Empire |
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hobgoblin
Sortof Agoblin
Premium
join:2001-11-25
Orchard Park, NY
clubs:
| said by ColorBASIC :How about they just state some limits and then enforce them when necessary? Works for Cox. How about they just run their business the way they want to run it.
Works for all companies
Hob
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"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
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ColorBASIC
8-bit Fun
Premium
join:2006-12-29
Corona, CA | Then they and their supporters should be prepared for the criticism. |
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