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dmk08809
join:2001-09-08
Clinton, NJ

dmk08809 to Robotics

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to Robotics

Re: [Rant] Comcast Is Greedy As Hell

Its utterly amazing how people will actually let a company, Comcast or any other, "slide" for not providing services and then even pay for it. That's not usual practice in most industries I've encountered.

I suggest you read Comcast's customer agreement particularly Item 11-E. It seem pretty clear that "...an interruption of the Service(s), you shall be entitled upon a request made within sixty (60) days of such interruption, to a pro rata credit for any Service(s) interruption exceeding twenty-four consecutive hours after such interruption is reported to us, or such other period of time as may be specifically provided by law"

The part about acts of God, weather, etc. also in that same section would seem to imply you cannot hold Comcast liable for damages or inconvenience. I'm not a lawyer, but this seems pretty common sense to me.

»www.comcast.com/Corporat ··· ent.html

I'm in NJ so some of this is even backed up by statute. "Comcast will issue credit for Video Service outages or service interruptions in accordance with N.J.A.C. 14:18-3.5."

Regardless, even if the terms said "tough luck Buddy!" one would THINK that an opportunity to create/maintain customer goodwill and loyalty such as this would be of far greater value to a business than a "stiff-em-and-how" approach. Winning back a lost customer is far from free... Why is it that DirectTV seems to 'get it' and not Comcast? Oh wait, that's a rhetorical question. You don't hear stories of senior citizens attacking DirectTV offices with hammers.

mb6
join:2000-07-23
Washington, NJ

mb6

Member

Thank you for actually posting factual information. It never ceases to amaze me how full of it some of the self procalaimed experts here can be...

PeteC2
Got Mouse?
MVM
join:2002-01-20
Bristol, CT

3 recommendations

PeteC2 to dmk08809

MVM

to dmk08809
Um...not really. Here is what it actually states:

"We shall not be liable for any inconvenience, loss, liability, or damage resulting from any interruption of the Service(s), directly or indirectly caused by, (***amongst other things***) fire, flood, lightning, earthquake, wind, ice, extreme weather conditions, or other acts of God; In all other cases of an interruption of the Service(s), you shall be entitled upon a request made within sixty (60) days of such interruption, to a pro rata credit for any Service(s) interruption exceeding twenty-four consecutive hours after such interruption is reported to us, or such other period of time as may be specifically provided by law. EXCEPT AND UNLESS SPECIFICALLY PROHIBITED BY LAW, SUCH CREDIT SHALL BE YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY FOR AN INTERRUPTION OF SERVICE(S). Any credits provided by Comcast are at our sole discretion and in no event shall constitute or be construed as a course of conduct by Comcast."

I chopped a few lines out for brevity, but there you go. It discusses a credit In all other cases which excludes amongst other reasons, "extreme weather conditions, or other acts of God".

Harddrive
Proud American and Infidel since 1968.
Premium Member
join:2000-09-20
Fort Worth, TX

Harddrive

Premium Member


dmk08809
join:2001-09-08
Clinton, NJ

dmk08809 to PeteC2

Member

to PeteC2
*SIGH*

This is precisely why you actually do need lawyers is to figure out "weasel words". And I did disclose I'm not a lawyer (nor would I ever want or pretend to be!)

"We shall not be liable for any inconvenience , loss, liability, or damage resulting from any interruption of the Service..." That's what starts off the sentence. Then it continues to point out their sole remedy offered as service credit in a completely different sentence.

Basically, if you applied all the conditions enumerated there would never be a credit for anything. Ever. Fortunately at least for some folks, there are state/county statues that cover it. NJ's being "Comcast will issue credit for Video Service outages or service interruptions in accordance with N.J.A.C. 14:18-3.5. " It would in NJ, I'd think, be covered under 'service interruptions'.

The real kicker in the T&C is "Any credits provided by Comcast are at our sole discretion and in no event shall constitute or be construed as a course of conduct by Comcast."

We can leave it to attorneys to debate the word "The". I'm not gonna go there. My original position still remains -- even if Comcast isn't technically bound legally to offer a credit they should 'do the right thing'. True in markets where Comcast holds a monopoly they can hold such a caustic attitude toward their customers. But never underestimate the value of customer loyalty and goodwill.

Trust me I've had my fair share of dealings over 4 months last Oct-Jan with Comcast getting a chronic problem resolved where I was told by CC's ExecSupport to "go to the power company for a credit on your cable modem" since there was alleged interference by JCPL's equipment that took out the entire west side of town. (that's in a different thread: »[Rant] [LONG]Another Tale of Multiple Truck Rolls ) Eventually I got credits from CC; not the full amount since it wasn't 100% down 100% of the time. But it wasn't a total "tough luck, no credit, go away" either. Common sense ultimately prevailed. Then again, there are times where you just need to remain polite, professional, factual, and absolutely persistent.

gar187er
I DID this for a living
join:2006-06-24
Seattle, WA

1 recommendation

gar187er

Member

if comcast equipment fails and causes and outage, then your entitled. corroded center conductors, amps crapping out, radial cracks, etc....

not for freak mother nature storms.

dmk08809
join:2001-09-08
Clinton, NJ

2 edits

dmk08809

Member

Interesting... Thanks for that insight. Again maybe its a local/state thing playing a role too. From what I gather some places have much more liberal statutes (for example some counties in Maryland as noted in Comcast's Customer Agreement document).

Experience from Sandy would seem to suggest that at least in some situations credits are offered for "freak mother nature storms": »www.bloomberg.com/news/2 ··· ndy.html

So let me ask you a question mostly out of pure curiosity. If service is down/degraded due to let's say external RF interference from somewhere and poorly maintained outside plant allowing that ingress (of course never admitted to) , would that be a covered event in your book?

[edit: changed non-functional URL to external site]