proland
Premium
join:2002-04-20
Sunnyvale, CA
| Live chat, or It must be nice being a monopoly
Philippe > My internet and TV cable has been out for about 2 hours now, and no one answers any of your 800 numbers. Just tried live chat, and got disconnected from you. Trying to find out what's up.
Robert > Thank you for using the Comcast Chat Internet Help Session. My Name is Robert. How may I help you?
Philippe > My internet and TV cable has been out for about 2 hours now, and no one answers any of your 800 numbers. Just tried live chat, and got disconnected from you. Trying to find out what's up.
Robert > If your TV is out, too, we cannot help you in chat. We can only deal with internet issuse, but internet is piggybacked on the TV so, if your TV is not working, please phone 1-888-266-2278 and take the cable option.
Philippe > Ok, then lets pretend it's only my internet that's out.
Robert > My first question is "Is your TV working?"
Robert > I cannot see your modem. I am sorry you are having Connection issues. I can help you fix this issue. Please open Internet Explorer, click on TOOLS -- Internet Options, and delete files, cookies and cache or history. Then, please click on the Security Tab and make sure your security is set no higher than Medium. Please shut down your computer and unplug your modem for 30 seconds. When the modem lights are normal, repeat the above process with your router, if you have one, and restart your computer. If these steps do not resolve the issue, or you encounter this problem again, please phone our 24 hour help-line at 1-888-266-2278 for additional help. Is there anything else I can do for you, today?
Philippe > My answer will be no one is answering your 800 numbers, so refering me to that option tells me that you aren't reading my message.
Philippe > My modem has no sync. Clearing out my cache will do nothing if I have no modem sync.
Robert > We have more agents working the phones than we have in chat. Please be patient.
Robert > You are welcome. Please remember that you can always log into www.comcast.net and click on Help -- Ask Comcast to type your question and receive help, or click on Help -- FAQS to obtain an answer from our Online Help database. Thank you for using Comcast Chat Support.
Robert > Analyst has closed chat and left the room
Wow, wasn't that helpful  |
|
phr0ze
join:2002-12-06
Columbia, MD
| Well the real problem here is the issues with the 800 numbers. Robert could have been friendlier but you can't expect him to work a TV problem. These people can just cut and paste the responses they have prewritten for them.
To be fair it would take me a whole week to write a program that could simulate them better and give better answers. But comcast chose to write up a FAQ for the live chat to spit back at you.
I recommend that you get your local comcast number and call them next time. If you tried that too then I guess you are stuck. It took me 2 weeks to get my HSI upgraded. |
|
Cleric4
join:2002-03-31
00000
| reply to proland
Didn't he already tell you that they could not help you from online chat if your TV is out?
You are correct, clearing cache will not help a problem where you modem loses sync but if incase powercycling the modem does bring it back online, clearing cache may resolve other issues that may come up. Sounds to me that he was just trying to be pro-active. |
|
recster
join:2004-07-10
Salinas, CA | isnt it illeagle to have a monoply? I mean comcast is the only provider in my city and everyone is forced to go to them for cable tv. Isnt that a monoply? |
|
Inflex
join:2002-09-05
| said by recster  :
isnt it illeagle to have a monoply?
Common misconception. Monopolies are not illegal. Using monopoly power in one area of business to gain unfair advantage in another is illegal. |
|
halfband
Premium
join:2002-06-01
Huntsville, AL
| Comcast does not meet the definition of a monopoly. You can get tv service from other sources (satellite), and internet services from other sources, DSL etc. There is also no legal reason why another cable system cannot provide service in the same area as comcast (known as an overbuild.)
--
Registered Bandwidth Offender #40812 |
|
insomniac84
join:2002-01-03
Schererville, IN
1 edit | reply to Cleric4
said by Cleric4 :
Didn't he already tell you that they could not help you from online chat if your TV is out?
You are correct, clearing cache will not help a problem where you modem loses sync but if incase powercycling the modem does bring it back online, clearing cache may resolve other issues that may come up. Sounds to me that he was just trying to be pro-active.
My guess was that that live chat was a bot all along. I can't believe how useless it was. 100% useless. No help what so ever. Nothing pro-active(just useless). I suggest you physically go to your cable company and bitch there. Being physically there is going to be the only way they are going to do anything to help you, plus they will probably give you a credit to try to shut you up. |
|
proland
Premium
join:2002-04-20
Sunnyvale, CA
| reply to proland
What I was really trying to find out, before the "live chat" hung up on me, was if there was a known outage in the area. Since none of the phone numbers (TV cable or internet) whee answering, that's why I tried live chat. They just decided to hang up on me rather than let me ask my question. That's no way to treat a customer. |
|
Combat Chuck
Too Many Cannibals
Premium
join:2001-11-29
Erie, PA
| If you are on hold for a long time at the phone number you can be pretty sure that there is an outage and that they know about it.
I don't understand why people think that going into a chat or talking to support on the phone with an attitude is going to get you help. If anything it's going to get you less help as the tech is going to be less likely to want to go out of their way to give you help.
--
Windmills do not work that way! Good Night! |
|
proland
Premium
join:2002-04-20
Sunnyvale, CA
| How is "Trying to find out what's up" an attitude? I think I was very polite. I was just trying to find out if there was an outage. If anyone was having an attitue problem, it was the tech support person, who, right after I told him that none of their phone numbers where not answering, told me to call the 800 numbers. All he had to do was to check for local outages, and that would have been the end of story. |
|
Combat Chuck
Too Many Cannibals
Premium
join:2001-11-29
Erie, PA
| said by proland :
Philippe > Ok, then lets pretend it's only my internet that's out.
That right there wether it was meant to be or not, sounds like an attitude; particularly after your first statement about how you had problems getting answers other ways.
Sorry if I took it the wrong way but that guy on the other end of the chat probably did as well. It looks like he tuned out right after you said it.
--
Windmills do not work that way! Good Night! |
|
proland
Premium
join:2002-04-20
Sunnyvale, CA
1 edit | Probably right, I'm sure he was no less frustrated than I was. His attitude started when he said his first question is "Is your TV working". I've been dealing with Comcast/AT&T/@Home for years, and that is NOT their first question. All he had to do was look for outages. That's all I was looking for. My attitute started when every phone number I called won't answer (and I tried for over 45 minutes), and then the live chat won't talk to you, I still call that poor customer service.
I just needed to vent, thanks to all for listening. |
|
TraumaJunkie
Premium
join:2004-03-05
Knoxville, TN
| said by proland :
Probably right, I'm sure he was no less frustrated than I was. His attitude started when he said his first question is "Is your TV working". I've been dealing with Comcast/AT&T/@Home for years, and that is NOT their first question. All he had to do was look for outages. That's all I was looking for. My attitute started when every phone number I called won't answer (and I tried for over 45 minutes), and then the live chat won't talk to you, I still call that poor customer service.
I just needed to vent, thanks to all for listening.
Remember, the live chat is for HSI related issues only. They may not have the ability to check for local outages as this is one support group that is not local to you. If your TV & internet was out then the normal assumption is yes, there is an outage. As for no one answering the 800 #'s, from experience I can attest that a call center's volume can go from zero to over 100 calls holding in a matter of seconds. And a majority of the callers, when informed of the outage and that techs are working to resolve the issue continute to ask questions about how/when/where/when will it be back up. Please keep this in mind also when the phones are ringing or you are on hold for long periods if your services are out.
Thanks.
--
Air goes in and out, blood goes 'round and 'round. Any deviation from this can indicate a problem. |
|
