Reviews:
 ·Comcast
 ·Comcast Digital ..
3 edits | Recent Bell to Comcast Digital Voice nightmare.... Here is a summary of my recent experience over the last two weeks:
1. Called Comcast to sign up for digital voice. We were told that the phone information with Bellsouth (in my name) has to match up with the information on Comcast account (in wife's name). Set appointment for install (9 days later) and Number Portability process was started.
2. Called Bellsouth. Attempted to change account info to wife's name. They said they had to run a credit check, yada yada yada. Explained to them why we are doing it per move to Comcast Digital Phone. They said it still has to be done. Declined to go further.
3. Called Comcast back. Someone said we could change the account info into my name by going directly to a Comcast service center.
4. Went to Comcast service center later that week. My wife and I were present with ID information to change account. Comcast rep told us that in order to legally change everything including putting my social security number (last 4 digits) within their system, we had to cancel the account and reopen in my name, therefore losing any promotions we had on the account. We declined to change it.
5. My wife called Comcast again and they stated it still has to match up or we may not get the BS phone number.
6. My wife called Bellsouth again with me on a 3-way call. They transferred us to several departments and eventually we hung up because we did not get to the Number Portability group.
7. Wife called BellSouth again. Someone said that changes to the account cannot be made as the Number Porting request from Comcast locked the account. They suggested to have the Phone Number Porting removed so changes could be made on the account. This will take 48 hours to complete.
8. Wife called again 2 days later with me on the line. FINALLY, we got someone in Bellsouth who told us that the account information does not have to be in my name and they do this with Comcast all the time. We told the BS rep Comcast said it must be in her name. The rep said she is certain this is not the case and she has personally transferred numbers to Comcast without account names syncing up (addresses matched). We thanked her and hung up.
8. Wife called Comcast back. She told them what Bellsouth rep said. The Comcast agent said "yes, that is correct. Although we don't prefer that to be the option, it has gone through." Uh, Comcast could not tell me from the beginning that this option was available????
In all, over 10 phone calls placed between 2 companies and a lot of time wasted in order to move to Comcast from a Bell company.
It looks like Comcast was giving Bellsouth a helping hand for us to stay with Bellsouth as their reps did not display enough knowledge about the process and Bellsouth answered the question that Comcast should have been able to answer.
On the other side of that coin, the Comcast Tech who installed was super professional and rewired my alarm system to run over Comcast DV, saving me a $75 tech call from my alarm system.
Important Note:
The Comcast tech for my CDV install recently moved down here from Massachusetts (down here for 1 week). He said that Verizon FIOS is kicking Comcast's a$$ up there so bad, he had to relocate to Atlanta because their workload dropped. They had something like 1400 serviceable routes and now they have about 87 in his former service district in Mass. Damn!
--
The only place where Success comes before Work is in the dictionary. |
|
| Think about using a feature like GrandCentral from Google in the future. You get 1 number from GrandCentral you give to everyone. And then you can direct calls to any phones you like(even simultaneously) no matter how many times you change your underlying land line and cell phone numbers. Then you can switch providers all you want without worrying about number portability.
»www.grandcentral.com/
Read about it here:
»www.google.com/support/grandcentral/
--
My BLOG .. .. Internet News .. .. My Web Page |
|
| Damn Google has everything. Lol! Good find. Thanks much. |
|
| reply to fatmanskinny
Legally, Comcast was correct. PON requests include account holder's name, the phone number, and the address. All of this information must match.
If any of these things do not match, the notified company can reject the PON request. |
|
| reply to fAcEtIOUs
said by fAcEtIOUs:Think about using a feature like GrandCentral from Google in the future. You get 1 number from GrandCentral you give to everyone. And then you can direct calls to any phones you like(even simultaneously) no matter how many times you change your underlying land line and cell phone numbers. Then you can switch providers all you want without worrying about number portability. » www.grandcentral.com/Read about it here: » www.google.com/support/grandcentral/ Bell Atlantic used to offer something like that years ago. Cost too much and never got off the ground.
»query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.h···64958260 |
|
 jester121Premium
join:2003-08-09
Lake Zurich, IL
·voip.ms
| reply to fAcEtIOUs
If Grandcentral could port my existing number IN, they'd have a money-making opportunity. I'd pay a hundred bucks or so to keep my phone number mine, always, no matter what, and have access to their forwarding service. Then I could switch between VOIP/cell/whatever at will and not have to hassle with number ports every time. |
|
| said by jester121:If Grandcentral could port my existing number IN, they'd have a money-making opportunity. I'd pay a hundred bucks or so to keep my phone number mine, always, no matter what, and have access to their forwarding service. Then I could switch between VOIP/cell/whatever at will and not have to hassle with number ports every time. Their site says they are working on that. But I bet they are having trouble getting their service approved as some sort of CLEC to allow the porting in to be allowed.
--
My BLOG .. .. Internet News .. .. My Web Page |
|
Reviews:
·Comcast
·Comcast Digital ..
| reply to SKYWARP
said by SKYWARP:Legally, Comcast was correct. PON requests include account holder's name, the phone number, and the address. All of this information must match. If any of these things do not match, the notified company can reject the PON request. Really??? That is interesting.
--
The only place where Success comes before Work is in the dictionary. |
|
| It's really in the best interest of the consumer that this information matches. Otherwise the chances increase that the person requesting a port doesn't actually own the number. |
|
| reply to fatmanskinny
Speaking from a rep who puts through said requests for portability, I can tell you that I try to assure the Bell account holder and the cable account holder's name are the same. If not, I try to get the two parties to reconcile the names on either the cable account or the phone account. If I don't do this, well, I have still had the port happen but not all the time. Legally the LEC still has right of denial but if enough info is coincidental (Last name, service AND billing address, etc) the port will usually go through. Your mileage WILL vary depending on the LEC and what mood they're in to allow it to happen. |
|
 cdruGo ColtsPremium,MVM
join:2003-05-14
Fort Wayne, IN
kudos:5
 ·Frontier FiOS
| reply to fatmanskinny
said by fatmanskinny: Important Note: The Comcast tech for my CDV install recently moved down here from Massachusetts (down here for 1 week). He said that Verizon FIOS is kicking Comcast's a$$ up there so bad, he had to relocate to Atlanta because their workload dropped. They had something like 1400 serviceable routes and now they have about 87 in his former service district in Mass. Damn! I wonder how much of that is due to Verizon's service (phone, internet, and/or TV) or people's peception that a telephone company can do data and/or TV a lot better then a cable company can do voice. |
|
| reply to heatsker151
Got it! We got our knickers in a knot for no reason. Oh well, that was our fault. Thanks for clarifying that.
--
The only place where Success comes before Work is in the dictionary. |
|
