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robwiljas
join:2008-09-05
Everett, WA

1 edit

robwiljas

Member

[Cust Svc] Someone claiming to be from Comcast came to door after 8pm

I posted this in the direct forum but i thought I'd post it here too.

I just had the X1 installed a few days ago and haven't turned in my old STB and DTA yet. I plan to return them to the Comcast office near me.

My wife and I were in bed just now (we have to be up early) and at approximately 8:05pm someone knocked repeatedly at our door. I got up and answered the door. It was an older man with a clip board and a Comcast badge saying they were doing a drive to pickup equipment and that he needed to take my old equipment.

I told him I couldn't give them to him now as they're still in my entertainment center and the power cords are wire tied. I started to tell him I would return them to the office and he cut me off and said if I'll just give him one he can meet his quota.

I told him again that I couldn't and that I've had issues before and prefer to return them to the Comcast office. He asked me what I mean by issues. I told him with giving back equipment and then being billed for it.

He again cut me off, threw up his hands, turned around and said "alright" as he walked away.

I honestly can't believe this just happened. Does Comcast really send people out door to door at night to collect equipment, or was this someone trying to steal equipment?

If this was really a Comcast employee, his attitude was totally unacceptable, not to mention showing up that late.

dandelion
MVM
join:2003-04-29
Germantown, TN

dandelion

MVM

[Cust Svc] Re: Someone claiming to be from Comcast came to door after 8pm

According to their forum, this is a "service"

»forums.comcast.com/t5/Cu ··· /1683423
rendrenner
join:2005-09-03
Grandville, MI

rendrenner to robwiljas

Member

to robwiljas
Comcast in some areas use a third party contractor to go do equipment retrieval. Most of those folk were paid by the equipment they picked up. So it may not be an actual employee, but unfortunately they are still representing Comcast.

The time is pushing pretty close to the inconvenient side I agree even for someone who didn't have to retire early.
rody_44
Premium Member
join:2004-02-20
Quakertown, PA

rody_44 to robwiljas

Premium Member

to robwiljas
Yes, they come to your door to pick up equipment. Its considered acceptable to come up until 9PM. They give written receipts the same as you would get from a comcast office.

jim3888
@rr.com

jim3888 to robwiljas

Anon

to robwiljas
yes they do come to your door, and i am the one that started the department that does it,in cherry hill,nj, and then in philadelphia on the flagship system. it has spread to other systems now. they do run out of equipment, and sometimes have to put off installs. they have to clean and check each box, every time it changes customers.this creates a lag, so they do retrieve the equipment.
the reason he pushed so hard, was that he gets paid by the box. he also does have a quota.they drive their own cars, and are given nothing for gas.
it is not unusual to create a sense of urgency, as their paycheck depends on it. he should have offered to undo the cords for you.
these guys work hard, and refusals are frustrating to them, so have some mercy.
i was the department supervisor at both systems, and we worked mainly from 5:00pm until 9:00 pm. if a house was lit up and appeared to be active, we used to cheat a little and go till 9:30. especially in the summer when it was light out.
i retired now, and if you would like more info you can email me at jim3888@yahoo.com. feel free.

SeattleMatt
Streaming Tech Director
Premium Member
join:2001-12-28
Seattle, WA

SeattleMatt to rody_44

Premium Member

to rody_44
Damn! I wish they would've offered that here in Delaware!

ArkhmAsylm
Evrythng I need isn't really what I want
Premium Member
join:2006-02-22
Saint Paul, MN

ArkhmAsylm to robwiljas

Premium Member

to robwiljas
-
While I understand the benefit of this particular 'service', if they had sent someone to my house without an appointment, I would give the folks at Comcast a very large (and loud) piece of my mind.

The man at the door would be informed of this policy through the closed door...I don't open the door for uninvited 'guests'.

Dan A
join:2008-01-03
Kendall Park, NJ

Dan A to robwiljas

Member

to robwiljas
The Comcast technician who installed our X1 took our old boxes with him.

camper
just visiting this planet
Premium Member
join:2010-03-21
Bethel, CT

camper to dandelion

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to dandelion
said by dandelion:

According to their forum, this is a "service"

 

I'd consider it a "service" if and only if it were scheduled.

WoofieInPC
Premium Member
join:2009-04-04
Panama City, FL

WoofieInPC to robwiljas

Premium Member

to robwiljas
said by camper:

I'd consider it a "service" if and only if it were scheduled.

Agreed, and I also won't open my door to anyone I don't know, especially after dark.

panth1
The Coyote
join:2000-12-11
Port Saint Lucie, FL

panth1 to robwiljas

Member

to robwiljas
Customers definitely need to be informed of this service when changing or cancelling service.

To many scams these days with people faking affiliation with power, phone, cable, and other services to get into peoples house and rob them.
rody_44
Premium Member
join:2004-02-20
Quakertown, PA

2 edits

rody_44 to WoofieInPC

Premium Member

to WoofieInPC
They usually try to call first. But if they cant make contact they just show up. For some reason a lot of people just dont answer the phone. Trust me comcast would rather not send anyone out either as it costs them money. But the longer people have the boxes the less chance they will get them back. The answer is either return the boxes, or call and they will send boxes to you to return them. Some people even throw them in the trash not knowing they have to be returned.

WoofieInPC
Premium Member
join:2009-04-04
Panama City, FL

WoofieInPC

Premium Member

When they installed X1, as someone else said, the installer took the old box and a cable card. And when I subsequently cancelled X1, I took my boxes to the office to get a receipt and a cable card.Except for a disconnect, I'm not sure why an installer wouldn't take the old boxes. I also won't answer the phone if I don't recognize the number, UNLESS I'm expecting someone like a tech.

SeattleMatt
Streaming Tech Director
Premium Member
join:2001-12-28
Seattle, WA

SeattleMatt to rody_44

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to rody_44
Having someone pick them up would be great so I wouldn't see the following happening:

Dropped a box off at the Aston, PA location last week - saw a Rep give a customer a shrink-wrapped DCT-2500 box. I wanted to cry. Can't believe they're still being distributed.
Joe12345678
join:2003-07-22
Des Plaines, IL

Joe12345678 to rody_44

Member

to rody_44
why just mark older boxes as do not send back as we don't use them any more.

I have a old Directv HR21 that failed and got replaced and they never asked for it back.
rody_44
Premium Member
join:2004-02-20
Quakertown, PA

1 edit

rody_44

Premium Member

Because even if comcast doesnt use them any more. They can still be sold to cable companies that do.
robwiljas
join:2008-09-05
Everett, WA

robwiljas to rody_44

Member

to rody_44
Thanks everyone for the responses.
said by rody_44:

hey usually try to call first. But if they cant make contact they just show up. For some reason a lot of people just dont answer the phone. Trust me comcast would rather not send anyone out either as it costs them money. But the longer people have the boxes the less chance they will get them back. The answer is either return the boxes, or call and they will send boxes to you to return them. Some people even throw them in the trash not knowing they have to be returned.

No one called here.

I'm still paying for the box rental. The only one it's hurting by me not returning them promptly is myself.

The last time I had a tech take equipment I ended up being charged for it, as he didn't give me a receipt and apparently never logged it. Ever since then I return the equipment to the office and get a receipt.
rody_44
Premium Member
join:2004-02-20
Quakertown, PA

4 edits

rody_44

Premium Member

Well i sure wouldnt give it to anyone without a receipt. But the techs can give you a receipt just like you get at the office. Your not paying the box rental. When they put the x1 boxes in they took place of them rentals. Like anything else you rent when you stop using them its expected to have a timely return. I dont know what happened that you got charged when a tech picked them up. But in these days its nearly impossible to be picked up by a upgrade tech and have it charged as when the new box goes into the account the pickup box gets put in the techs buffer.

As far as the call its not required but the techs build the route around answered calls. Whoever happened to be on the sheet in between those houses get a knock. They work off what i think they call a green bar sheet. Its just a long list of boxes with subs address and phone number that boxes dropped off active status.

I never did box retrievals myself. But the company i worked for did. They had a girl that all she did was call the numbers. What ever she could get appointments for she filled it out with cold calls and assigned a person to.

FureverFurry
RIP Daphne: 3/12/05 - 6/19/12
Premium Member
join:2012-02-20
49xxx

FureverFurry to robwiljas

Premium Member

to robwiljas

Re: [Cust Svc] Someone claiming to be from Comcast came to door after 8pm

Just chiming in to add that many senior citizens and/or women living alone would find it scary to have a stranger knocking at their door after 7 or 8 p.m. As far as the "badge" or ID -- lots of scammers go around with fake badges and clipboards.
mariod
join:2009-06-16

mariod to robwiljas

Member

to robwiljas

Re: [Cust Svc] Re: Someone claiming to be from Comcast came to door after 8pm

said by robwiljas:

I'm still paying for the box rental. The only one it's hurting by me not returning them promptly is myself.

That's not true. You're hurting some other customer who wants to get a box for active use but can't because you're holding it. And you're hurting comcast, because if they are short of boxes they can't set up new accounts, so they either lose income or outlay more expense to purchase boxes.
robwiljas
join:2008-09-05
Everett, WA

2 edits

robwiljas

Member

said by mariod:

That's not true. You're hurting some other customer who wants to get a box for active use but can't because you're holding it. And you're hurting comcast, because if they are short of boxes they can't set up new accounts, so they either lose income or outlay more expense to purchase boxes.

They are not hurting for standard STB's and DTA's. You can actually see tons of them stacked in the back of my local Comcast office.

If they had actually called me so I knew about it beforehand I would have had no problem giving them to him if I got a receipt. He never even told me he could give me a receipt. I was really nice to the guy and explained about my past experience, and he just got a bad attitude with me. He was not professional at all. Sorry but I'm not giving equipment to some random person coming to my door at night.
rody_44
Premium Member
join:2004-02-20
Quakertown, PA

2 edits

rody_44

Premium Member

Dont kid yourself, even standard digital boxes go in short supply. Since the fcc required cable cards, even standard digital boxes get at times in short supply. But to be honest comcast doesnt view a standard digital box any different than a 450 dollar DVR. They want them all back in a timely fashion just like any company that rents stuff out would.

I dont care what system your in anywhere in the US im sure your system has run into supply issues at one time or another. Sure they will fall back on older equipment when it happens. But no company in there right mind would want to do that. Thats why we have people like jeepmat saying they are still passing dct2500s out. Its not like the days where Comcast could buy thousands of units and get them for 100 bucks a piece. Not since the FCC required cable card technology to be in every dam box.

mikedz4
join:2003-04-14
Weirton, WV

mikedz4

Member

I think we should start a petition to get rid of the old boxes. If they ever offered me an old silver box I'd tell them I'll call and get a newer box and keep trying until I get said newer box.
One of my family members has an old dct 2200. Can't even get on demand to hardly work. They won't let me exchange it for them though.
rody_44
Premium Member
join:2004-02-20
Quakertown, PA

1 recommendation

rody_44

Premium Member

I use the dct 700. Its about the same speed as the 2200. Doesnt bother me one bit.

beachintech
There's sand in my tool bag
Premium Member
join:2008-01-06

beachintech to mikedz4

Premium Member

to mikedz4
That would be more indicative of a signal problem than a box problem.