Corydon
Cultivant son jardin
Premium
join:2008-02-18
Denver, CO
clubs:
 ·Comcast
| reply to Corydon
Update 7/28/2008
Just an update to the tech saga. I've downgraded the "connection reliability" rating due to needing two more tech visits in addition to the first one discussed above.
For the second two visits, coordination went smoothly, with the tech arriving at the scheduled time and with appointment confirmation calls going to my cell phone as requested.
As it turned out, the splitter was not the source of the issue (recap: on CDV calls, my voice would periodically drop out).
The second tech inspected the drop (the cable running from the tap to my house) and concluded that it was worn and had been attacked by squirrels. He was very professional and made sure he cleaned up thoroughly after running the new drop. After he was done, he tested the signal on the line as thoroughly as he could, both with his own equipment and by calling into the back office for what they were seeing.
Unfortunately, as before, the signal looked just fine but the problem came back.
The third tech took another look at all of the cable coming into the house but couldn't find anything wrong there. He removed a telephone splitter and said that he had seen those causing problems in the past. If that turns out to be the case, it would explain why the signal was so great my I was having trouble with the phones.
The third tech also provided me with his direct cell-phone number and his work schedule, which was a nice extra touch for someone who was having ongoing problems.
I've been away from home for the last two weeks so I haven't had much opportunity to test things out thoroughly, but since coming home I did talk to my parents for about an hour without any problems, so perhaps the problem is now fixed.
So here's the good: All three techs were friendly and professional. They did not seem to be trying to weasel out of fixing a difficult problem but genuinely tried to fix things (replacing a drop is not a simple process, nor, in all likelihood, is it inexpensive for Comcast). In addition, I was not charged a dime for any of the truck rolls.
And the bad: Three truck rolls for what (potentially) could have been fixed on the first attempt by looking for the telephone splitter. The last tech even told me that there had been training and guidance about this problem disseminated out.
Fortunately, I have the flexibility to work from home if I need to, so staying home wasn't an inconvenience (on the contrary, I liked having the excuse). But if I did not have that option, I would have been very angry about having to miss three days of work while Comcast figured out the problem.
This also seemed like a huge waste of resources. Comcast probably blew through a couple months' worth of my payments sending all those techs out. How much money is wasted on similar problems? How much could they have reduced my bill if their troubleshooting was more efficient?
So I've adjusted my ratings a little bit, reflecting my experiences with the multiple truck rolls. Because of the last issue, I'm also dropping the "value-for-money" rating a bit as well.
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