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NormanS
I gave her time to steal my mind away
MVM
join:2001-02-14
San Jose, CA
TP-Link TD-8616
Asus RT-AC66U B1
Netgear FR114P

2 recommendations

NormanS to camper

MVM

to camper

Re: [CustSvc] Re: Comcast Confessions: why the cable guy is always late

I had a fascinating conversation with my sister. Our mother died about a year and a half ago, leaving some real property, and a stipulation that the property be sold, and the proceeds divided equally among the heirs.

The house mom had been resident in had DSL Internet; Sonic.net "Fusion". Sis kept it active while clearing out forty years of collected mementos, treasures, and such. When the time came to turn it over to the new owners, canceling the Internet/phone service was as simple as a phone call to Sonic.net; no fuss. Sis says the Sonic.net CSR was polite, helpful, and competent.

The rental was a different matter. It required some fixing up, so sis and BiL moved in to ramrod upgrades. BiL works from home, so Internet was a must. Sonic.net "Fusion" was not available, and AT&T only offered 384k ADSL there. Sis has Comcast at home, so she signed up Comcast at the rental. When the time came to turn the place over to the buyer, the fun began. Unlike Ryan Block, Sis told the CSR why she needed to close the account: Despite that she was giving up possession of the house, the CSR sent her to retention to try for the, "SAVE!" She tried to convince them that it wasn't dissatisfaction, or the like, even that she was very happy with her service back at home. They finally relented, and provided the materials and labels to return the modem. But wait! It didn't stop there! The cancellation confirmation referenced her home account in Oregon! She called them in a serious panic; they were closing the wrong account!

Comcast is not merely benighted, they are downright incompetent!

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

camper

Premium Member

said by NormanS:

Comcast is not merely benighted, they are downright incompetent!

 
It is as if Comcast is researching new ways to excel at horrendous customer support.

One needs to wonder why Comcast c-level executives give constant lip service to quality customer service, yet the dictum never seems to travel beyond the press releases.....

YukonHawk
join:2001-01-07
Patterson, NY

YukonHawk to NormanS

Member

to NormanS
said by NormanS:

Comcast is not merely benighted, they are downright incompetent!

Exactly! 'nuff said!

JohnInSJ
Premium Member
join:2003-09-22
Aptos, CA

JohnInSJ to NormanS

Premium Member

to NormanS
said by NormanS:

When the time came to turn the place over to the buyer, the fun began. Unlike Ryan Block, Sis told the CSR why she needed to close the account: Despite that she was giving up possession of the house, the CSR sent her to retention to try for the, "SAVE!" She tried to convince them that it wasn't dissatisfaction, or the like, even that she was very happy with her service back at home. They finally relented, and provided the materials and labels to return the modem. But wait! It didn't stop there! The cancellation confirmation referenced her home account in Oregon! She called them in a serious panic; they were closing the wrong account!

Comcast is not merely benighted, they are downright incompetent!

Weird. I just recently moved. Had comcast at the old address for years, got service at new address (including truck roll, pulling a new drop from the pole, etc.) and had both services up for for a couple weeks, including rental of a cable box for the dual time (I own one, which eventually moved.)

Getting it all set up, getting tech out in the window I was promised, getting the old account shut down... all seamless, all without error, all as simple as making a phone call.

Comcast has always been reasonably easy to work with here, anyway.

FureverFurry
RIP Daphne: 3/12/05 - 6/19/12
Premium Member
join:2012-02-20
49xxx
Zoom 5341J
ARRIS WBM760
Vonage VDV-21

FureverFurry to camper

Premium Member

to camper
said by camper:

It is as if Comcast is researching new ways to excel at horrendous customer support.

It's not "as if" -- Comcast IS finding new ways to provide horrendous customer service. I suppose it's good to have a goal :-(. Many, if not most, companies know that providing good customer service is the backbone of their livelihood. Then there is Comcast.

I got a chuckle out of the article referencing the CAEs now asking for one's account number to have access to the account when (supposedly) it is NOT needed for troubleshooting. Had that happen to me a month ago. By sheer screaming "no !" and "do NOT touch anything on my account" did I escape getting crammed with phone service. The kindly (??) agent said he'd set me up with a "really fast modem that you can even plug your phone into. Don't you want to plug your phone into a modem?" Arghhh.
moonpuppy (banned)
join:2000-08-21
Glen Burnie, MD

moonpuppy (banned) to JohnInSJ

Member

to JohnInSJ
said by JohnInSJ:

Weird. I just recently moved. Had comcast at the old address for years, got service at new address (including truck roll, pulling a new drop from the pole, etc.) and had both services up for for a couple weeks, including rental of a cable box for the dual time (I own one, which eventually moved.)

Getting it all set up, getting tech out in the window I was promised, getting the old account shut down... all seamless, all without error, all as simple as making a phone call.

Comcast has always been reasonably easy to work with here, anyway.

NOT the same thing. The person you replied to was canceling the account because she was not going to live their anymore so Comcast tried to "save" the account.

You, on the other hand, are still going to pay your bill just from a different address.

NetFixer
From My Cold Dead Hands
Premium Member
join:2004-06-24
The Boro
Netgear CM500
Pace 5268AC
TRENDnet TEW-829DRU

2 recommendations

NetFixer to FureverFurry

Premium Member

to FureverFurry
said by FureverFurry:

I got a chuckle out of the article referencing the CAEs now asking for one's account number to have access to the account when (supposedly) it is NOT needed for troubleshooting. Had that happen to me a month ago. By sheer screaming "no !" and "do NOT touch anything on my account" did I escape getting crammed with phone service.

The concept of "every employee is a salesperson" is not new, nor is it exclusive to Comcast; and it is one of the reasons I pulled the ripcord on my corporate golden parachute two decades ago. I had worked for almost 30 years as a field engineer for what was at one time a major computer mainframe and networking company (who shall remain nameless because I am embarrassed to have been associated with their last incarnation). But after several mergers (each one another step closer to disaster), I drew the line and said "stop the train -- I want to get off" after I was told that from that day forward my primary job was to up-sell products and services to customers, and that my duties as an engineer were to provide "an illusion of service" to the customers (after all they were too stupid to notice that they were being fleeced). While that kind of attitude might work for companies selling products and services to the vast consumer market, I knew that it would not fly for providing products and services to the enterprise segment of the market (and I left before my grandfathered golden parachute option ended). Very shortly after I reached the end of my corporate subsidized unemployment, and after waiting for my non-competitive agreement to expire (so that I could once again work in the same industry and do business with former customers), that post-merger company disappeared into the mist (or perhaps sank into the bog might be a better metaphor). Fortunately, my pension fund was transferred to an annuity with an independent financial institution (a former customer) before I left (and before the company could disappear with the pension fund).

However I don't expect Comcast to suffer in the least for their screw the customer policies, because they largely have a captive customer base, and the principle of "a new one is born every second" more than makes up for any minor customer churn. And yes, I still do business with them because compared to the alternative for affordable HSI in this area, Comcast is technologically superior and is a corporate saint. I have no realistic alternative for TV service (including OTA or satellite because of physical impediments) -- I could do without TV, but my lifelong housemate refuses to consider cutting the cord.

NormanS
I gave her time to steal my mind away
MVM
join:2001-02-14
San Jose, CA
TP-Link TD-8616
Asus RT-AC66U B1
Netgear FR114P

NormanS to JohnInSJ

MVM

to JohnInSJ
said by JohnInSJ:

Comcast has always been reasonably easy to work with here, anyway.

Well, the cancellation gone bad my sister experienced was in the old "Strawberry Park" (working class) neighborhood of San José. Maybe, if it had been in "Willow Glen"...
GusHerb
join:2011-11-04
Chicago, IL

GusHerb to NormanS

Member

to NormanS
For some reason if two accounts are in the same name they tie them together somehow that makes it hard for the average untrained brain dead CSR to tell the difference between the two. And god forbid both accounts have identical packages on them!

I had them downgrade an acct to InternetPlus from BlastPlus and they applied it to our home account instead! It took me a week to fix that, but eventually got through to a CSR who literally jumped in excitement to find what she was looking for and straightened it all out and put both accts on new promos.

Now if I have to call in (god forbid. I'd rather hit myself with a brick repeatedly) I quiz them to make sure they're looking at the right account before making changes.

My advice; never have more then one account with comcast in the same name!
rody_44
Premium Member
join:2004-02-20
Quakertown, PA

2 edits

rody_44 to FureverFurry

Premium Member

to FureverFurry
Comcast asking for your account number has nothing to do with slamming. A comcast account slammed is very very rare. In fact as long as i have been a member here i have not seen anyone claim the account was slammed. Thats a food for thought when reading forums on the internet.

They cant troubleshoot your connection without already having your account in front of them. That being said they really only need your phone number or address to pull your account up. As far as your account being slammed when you called comcast for trouble shooting. Thats never going to happen as comcasts computer keeps track of every single account and who they are talking to. YOU WILL NEVER BE SLAMMED CALLING comcast. First they need to find your account and than they need you to prove you have authorization on account.

They need to identify you and than they need to have you prove who you are. The proof is generally the last 4 numbers of your social security number. As far as some x tech saying he slammed customers take note he is a x tech.

train_wreck
slow this bird down
join:2013-10-04
Antioch, TN
Cisco ASA 5506
Cisco DPC3939

train_wreck

Member

said by rody_44:

YOU WILL NEVER BE SLAMMED CALLING comcast.

I don't know, i might consider all these "incorrect" modem rental charges as a form of "slamming", no matter how hard Comcast might claim it is just a "billing error".
said by FureverFurry:

Don't you want to plug your phone into a modem?


JohnInSJ
Premium Member
join:2003-09-22
Aptos, CA

JohnInSJ to moonpuppy

Premium Member

to moonpuppy
said by moonpuppy:

said by JohnInSJ:

Weird. I just recently moved. Had comcast at the old address for years, got service at new address (including truck roll, pulling a new drop from the pole, etc.) and had both services up for for a couple weeks, including rental of a cable box for the dual time (I own one, which eventually moved.)

Getting it all set up, getting tech out in the window I was promised, getting the old account shut down... all seamless, all without error, all as simple as making a phone call.

Comcast has always been reasonably easy to work with here, anyway.

NOT the same thing. The person you replied to was canceling the account because she was not going to live their anymore so Comcast tried to "save" the account.

You, on the other hand, are still going to pay your bill just from a different address.

The point being, a simple transaction was accomplished with very little effort. Canceling business class was also just as easy.
JohnInSJ

JohnInSJ to NormanS

Premium Member

to NormanS
said by NormanS:

said by JohnInSJ:

Comcast has always been reasonably easy to work with here, anyway.

Well, the cancellation gone bad my sister experienced was in the old "Strawberry Park" (working class) neighborhood of San José. Maybe, if it had been in "Willow Glen"...

LOL I was about 3 blocks down from Strawberry park.
moonpuppy (banned)
join:2000-08-21
Glen Burnie, MD

moonpuppy (banned) to JohnInSJ

Member

to JohnInSJ
said by JohnInSJ:

The point being, a simple transaction was accomplished with very little effort. Canceling business class was also just as easy.

Then you must be in the minority because I canceled Comcast and it took me over 10 minutes to convince the CSR they had no chance at keeping me as a customer.