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SeattleLad
@98.232.63.x

SeattleLad

Anon

[Bill] Shady tactic to justify charge for any service call

I was having severe signal issues, -20dbmv downstream power levels. Technician comes out, replaces the coax connector on the wire that comes in from the wall to my modem, signal levels unchanged. Then they replaced the port in the drop and the signal is perfect. Get charged $50 of course. When I called to dispute the charge, they said it's valid because they replaced a connector inside my apartment. After a bit of haggling I got them to drop the charge, but the agent said repeatedly that it was a "one-time courtesy credit".

Typical comcastic monopoly BS.

I would have replaced the coax coming into my unit first, but its a line thats glued into a hole in the wall that runs outside the building. So lesson learned. Always replace coax connectors before having a tech come out, whether or not they're bad. Technicians either don't note what step of the repair fixed the problem, or Comcast doesn't care.

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

NetFixer

Premium Member

I got the same treatment shortly after I had my Business Class Internet service installed. All of my internal cabling was brand new -- I purchased and installed it specifically for the new BCI service. I also had to pay a "professional installation" charge wherein any cabling that was required was supposed to be done at no additional charge. The install tech did nothing but set the BCI gateway box on a shelf I had reserved for it, and connect it to the Comcast network using my provided coax patch cable. He did not look at signal levels in the gateway stats page, and did not bother to even connect any test equipment. When I complained that the upstream levels I saw were too high (because I did look at the modem stats page), he told me that I didn't know what I was talking about because DOCSIS3 automatically compensated for signal levels.

A couple of weeks later (when the outside temperatures rose), the upstream levels got even worse and the gateway started frequently rebooting. The tech who came to fix it first replaced all of my brand new internal cabling -- but that of course, did not do anything for the problem.

Next, he replaced the outside connectors at the tap and at the barrel splice connector just before the cable went through the outside wall to the inside wall jack. That brought the upstream levels back down low enough to stop the rebooting (but the levels were still marginal). I was billed $99.95 for that service call because the tech only reported that he replaced the inside cabling on the call comments. I was able to get the $99.95 charge removed only because I had already paid the "professional installation" fee that was supposed to include installing and/or replacing any cabling needed for the service (and because I threatened to take the matter up with the local FCC Franchise Authority).

This is apparently a standard practice for Xfinity/Comcast. It is not dissimilar to their also common practice of arbitrarily declaring that a customer owned modem is actually a Comcast owned leased modem, and charging a monthly rental fee for it (and/or demanding that "their" modem be returned to them if you move or terminate service).

If their only marginal competitor in this area (AT&T) were not just as shady (and also unable to provide decent service), I would not do business with them.

SeattleLad
@98.232.63.x

SeattleLad to SeattleLad

Anon

to SeattleLad
Now today I saw that they posted a $25 credit to my account, instead of the complete charge of $50 they agreed to take off. More shady bull@#$%.