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deadbeatguy
@comcast.net

deadbeatguy

Anon

comcast amnesty?

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Attached should be a letter I received in the mail. My auto pay thing stopped working while I was out of the country so they just eventually disconnected it. Anyone ever receive something similar and how did it work if so?

Robert
Premium Member
join:2001-08-25
Miami, FL

1 recommendation

Robert

Premium Member

That's the letter you received in the mail? IMO sounds like a Comcast employee trying to make a quick buck on the side.

deadbeatguy
@comcast.net

deadbeatguy

Anon

Yep, that's what came in the mail, only thing in the envelope. Anyhow, gave them a call and within an hour they were here and reconnected everything, just gave em cash and everything was set. Good thing it came today, since I was literally walking out the door to pay the $700-800 it would've taken to get set back up normally, rather than small fraction it cost me this way. They were even nice enough to move me to the $19.99 internet + $29.99 digital cable + HBO plan.

Only thing i wish is that service was that good for normal customers, since last time my cable went down it took a week to even get someone out here....

MPScan
Premium Member
join:2001-08-24
Boston, MA

MPScan to Robert

Premium Member

to Robert
Completely agreed. There are people at Comcast who would be very interested in talking to Mr. Spears.

A notice like that?? Followed by someone who shows up at your house, collects cash, and turns your service back on??

Oh yea. It's all on the up-and-up.

imrf
Premium Member
join:2002-06-06
Utica, MI

imrf

Premium Member

said by MPScan:

Completely agreed. There are people at Comcast who would be very interested in talking to Mr. Spears.

A notice like that?? Followed by someone who shows up at your house, collects cash, and turns your service back on??

Oh yea. It's all on the up-and-up.
There's nothing wrong with what the OP has shown. The guy more than likely works for a contract sales company for Comcast. I know a few people who work for one, and Comcast has amnesty programs like this all the time. They'll tag the door like that if the customer isn't home at the time.

deadbeatguy
@comcast.net

deadbeatguy

Anon

Yeah, my guess would be that they were a private contractor. The phone number that was provided was the guys cell phone and they drove a normal pickup truck without any comcast marking/branding and weren't wearing the stuff comcast employees wear either. Either way, it worked out well, saved several hundred dollars and i'm back up and running without delay.
rody_44
Premium Member
join:2004-02-20
Quakertown, PA

rody_44 to deadbeatguy

Premium Member

to deadbeatguy
its common to get a offer like this after you were shut off for non pay. they usually show up around a month after a disconnect but sometimes its pushed up in certain cases. give a good sob story to the guy that disconnects you and he might pass your number to them next day.

MPScan
Premium Member
join:2001-08-24
Boston, MA

MPScan to deadbeatguy

Premium Member

to deadbeatguy
Ok. I guess that I live in an area where that type of stuff is pretty much unheard of..

MadMANN3
Premium Member
join:2005-08-19

MadMANN3

Premium Member

I can confirm what rody44 said. It happens a lot. Except I usually hear of them posting a door hanger.
rody_44
Premium Member
join:2004-02-20
Quakertown, PA

rody_44 to deadbeatguy

Premium Member

to deadbeatguy
for the record comcast techs can always take cash or checks and all carry id's. just to be on the safe side if your paranoid take note of the tag on the vehicle and make sure you let the tech know you did. im pretty sure everyone now has national id's and are only good for a year.
Expand your moderator at work

steelhead78
Premium Member
join:2005-08-23
Carrolltown, PA

steelhead78 to rody_44

Premium Member

to rody_44

Re: comcast amnesty?

"for the record comcast techs can always take cash or checks and all carry id's."

Where they have been issued id's. We've been CComcast now for 2 1/2 months, still no id's here.

TDNickell
Premium Member
join:2006-09-26
Federal Way, WA

TDNickell to deadbeatguy

Premium Member

to deadbeatguy
I have never seen this practice on the westcoast either,but what do i know i always pay my bill on time.

DreamWraith
Premium Member
join:2004-04-07
Mount Vernon, WA

DreamWraith to deadbeatguy

Premium Member

to deadbeatguy
i dont always get my payment in precisely on the "due" date, but comcast is pretty lenient with payment here at least. I have always had it at least partially paid before the next bill, and I have never gotten a notice or late fee of any kind. I imagine it would be different if Had ever gone longer. I know of a friend that was disconnected for non payment, but that didn't happen until his roomate hadn't payed the bill for 5 months.
rody_44
Premium Member
join:2004-02-20
Quakertown, PA

rody_44 to deadbeatguy

Premium Member

to deadbeatguy
i would hope you had at least a id from whoever the old cable company was. ids follow the person national now from what i understand.

steelhead78
Premium Member
join:2005-08-23
Carrolltown, PA

steelhead78

Premium Member

Still got my old Adelphia id, though most of the writing is faded out. It also has John Rigas' signature. Maybe a future collector's item?

deadbeatguy
@comcast.net

deadbeatguy to deadbeatguy

Anon

to deadbeatguy
In the end, I guess it's worth it for them. When most people get to that point Comcast probably never sees a dime again, in addition to losing their equipment, so the only option is to sell their accounts to a collection agency for pennies to the dollar. Since the infrastructure is already in place for the customers it doesn't neccessarily cost them much extra to provide them service so they might as well get them back and get whatever they can that they otherwise wouldn't.

MadMANN3
Premium Member
join:2005-08-19

MadMANN3 to deadbeatguy

Premium Member

to deadbeatguy
If you think about it, it's smart business. Generate a monthly income by giving someone motivation to pay some of their past due bill, of which, they likely wouldn't see otherwise.

They either pay the collection agency to collect, in which case, the debtor is out the full bill and still has no service, or they offer amnesty so they can get about the same amount of money back as they would with a collection agency and bank on the customer paying their bill if they give them a second chance. Either way, both the company and the customer wins. Even of the customer gets behind again, they still got SOME money back that they wouldn't have otherwise.

Granted, they get burned by this sometimes, but I am sure they also reap rewards. After all, if someone gets waaaaay behind on their cable bill and hasn't had service in a year or two, chances are they got behind on the satellite bill at some point as well. And just try to get Directv or Dish to forgive over $100 in debt and give you service back without a deposit. . . .'d never happen!

cablepolice
@comcast.net

cablepolice to deadbeatguy

Anon

to deadbeatguy
Ummm I wish I was on the clock now, maybe research online should be part of my job(see recent thread) and tell me why I love cable ?

ok, that is not anyone who works for comcast, not inhouse for sure, maybe maybe there is a slim chance he does contract work for comcast, I would bet $100 he is someone who knows cable and is looking to make a couple K on the side.

COMCAST DOES NOT TAKE CASH, CHECK OR MONEY ORDER ONLY, always before the job is begun too.

I just saw a large gated apt complex that got gutted, a guy, and dont ask me to explain how gullible peeps can be, guy went around and cut all the cable in the lock boxes, then he put fliers like that on everyones door and asked for $65 cash, he got over 50 suckers, thats $3250 at least, I was there to clean up and I couldnt figure out how the fuck if my cable goes out all the sudden I am going to give someone cash to turn back on a service that I pay for. the fliers didnt mention amnesty, they looked good too...its a great scam, quick and thats great money for a days work.

but it must have been that he was praying on the people that used to ahve cable, or had an illegal hookup, but in some way no longer paid comcast for service... and boy did he get them, seriously I got my ass reamed by a mob of people like you could barely imagine.

And there was a guy that got held hostage I think I remeber hearing, went back and was recognized as a rip off guy and the residents held him and the police had to come help him I think...?

damn Im glad to have a little closure on how my fellow humans could be so dumb, It was just a mess I never thought to really figure who was a sub in good standing, I wasnt there to actually do much but figure it out too haha, there was a gaggle of techs out there working...

oh man steel I hate that shit but it is true, not all comcast techs have a comcast id, but if your in doubt dont deal for sure, they have a drivers license though, for sure.
cablepolice

cablepolice to deadbeatguy

Anon

to deadbeatguy
I should say that I am only familiar with ATL comcast, and it must be different everywhere so they may take cash, where are you...considering that I still know its bogus, you might get cable but you wont be getting a comcast bill every month, I would guess anyhow
rody_44
Premium Member
join:2004-02-20
Quakertown, PA

4 edits

rody_44 to deadbeatguy

Premium Member

to deadbeatguy
then explain to me how a thief managed to get a modem and digital box provisioned. im certain that amnesty programs are provided nation wide within any comcast legacy system. i dont think you work for comcast at all if you dont know these programs. its known as a comcast sales rep. 99 percent of comcast systems have them working within the comcast building. i personally know that if i do a disconnect where the person just ran into a rough period i pass the number to the sales department which happens to be a lady in my case. cash is rare, checks are very common and all credit card payments are handled over the phone via 1800comcast and are treated the same as handing cash to the tech. and yes the sales rep sometimes calls a tech for a instant install. comcasts goal is to have you remain a subscriber and this is one of the many things THEY do . my record payment was 23 hundred collected at the door and passed along to comcast. if its just a dead beat i disconnect and never look back. someone thats been a subscriber for 20 years and loses his job or gets sick deserves a little help. now if your a sub for only 4 months and havent paid for 3 of them well i say you deserve to get disconnected. if you know how to read the work order its easy to tell which applies.

MadMANN3
Premium Member
join:2005-08-19

MadMANN3

Premium Member

. . .this is one of the many things THEY do do.
You said "do-do"!

cablepolice
@comcast.net

cablepolice to deadbeatguy

Anon

to deadbeatguy
yeah i posted ,and another guy, but the posts are gone now...

I didnt see that he had already paid and that it was more than just analog cable...

I can assure you that old boxes and any modem can be put on the system for a day or week, but longer too. you got me though because I wont say anything more about it...I also said lets see if it still works today, or when the bill comes to really know.

The flier looks convincing enough in this thread but I have never heard of comcast hanging door tags to reintiate service, calling the customer after some time sure. I neer did dissconnects really, I mean thats mostly what I do but its going to apts and cleaning lockboxes and oging after cable laid out in the street and such, not one by one like nonpay.

but its possible the tech is just ambitious and there is a promotion for upgrades, well for ATL we dont always get money for upgrades, only sometimes...he could take the call on his phone and then call it in and it would be all good. I ahve never seen a comcast door tag offering to provide service "in a few hours" or with any number other than 2662278, or any flier not made by comcast for that matter, we do instant installs where you call and we hook you up the same day, but its still all through dispatch. I dont really think our system is advanced, its not that old here in ATL, but maybe compared to rural america its pretty diffferent as far as dispatch and workforce express...please tell me all the comtecs here have workforce express we have it on nextels and we can hit boxes and all form our phones and work almost entirely without sitting on hold with dispatch, and we are supposed to be getting some kind of gps or something on the phones.

But look the cash thing would throw me into a spin, WE DONT TAKE CASH, PERIOD. But thats just one office in metro and I assume its standard but dont know, there are others here who read that and work for comcast that didnt mention it, its what jumped at me, seems rediculous in this industry to not just protect everyone by refusing cash, the techs and customers should ahve less problems right?

Thats why I figure no way its up and up if you dont get a bill payable at comcast.com.

I dont know why I have such a hard time all the sudden with sounding like a normal person in print here ha. I am comcastic bro, I am a comtec 3 waiting for the rumored customer facing 4 position to open up.

its really funny to see a gang of comtecs here, I was here for answers with something I couldve found anywhere, kinda nice, lots of guys I work with arent cool to chat with, just a job for most guys, but I just like it, crazy but my favorite times for a long time was my ride into work and coming home was kinda a letdown from the buzz of getting lead tech stuff... I want to know how different it is around the country, I thought it was pretty much the same with something like cash. I mean seriously everyone can see the cash problem, but the flier doesnt mention cash...I must be high...so how about pee tests in yalls area haha, we get them to the new hires once and then only after injury or car accident, even a spider bite will get you tested.

cablepopo
@comcast.net

cablepopo to deadbeatguy

Anon

to deadbeatguy
we also have 404comcast...but it seems to drop into the same system as 800comcast...I wonder if there are 2662278 for many zips...jsut tried some and no for MD area codes, well something strange at 301comcast but nothing at 410comcast.

I think in smaller towns cash must be more accepted, I can understand, but what about robbery, of the customer or tech, not worth it, but maybe in your markets they are desperate for every sub or really battling with overbuilders, we are number 1 but a long shot in cable here and everywhere I figured, I think stuff is not the same everywhere.

For instance we have to use this little cheapo ground block, its a barrel with a screw mount basically, and if we dont use it, or use the old surge protected ones or a nice pwer comapny box, or if it doesnt have a green tag on it the job will fail a QC.

but did you get any of that cable that is a bitch to get connectors on? we still ahve some. we all know the comcast credo right, they pound that shit into us, and tell us if you meet an exec they are heavy into comcast and will ask you what the credo means to you, well it has happened to me and I fucking broke it down for the man.

alas need another girl tina has left haha...Im just manic tonight, sunday-thursday and all, yea the guy with highest units and lowest repeats gets mon-fri if he wants it but I like a weekday off to do stuff, and no one really wants to work on monday right?

TDNickell
Premium Member
join:2006-09-26
Federal Way, WA

1 recommendation

TDNickell to deadbeatguy

Premium Member

to deadbeatguy
Some threads just don't start out very well and then its just down hill after that!
rody_44
Premium Member
join:2004-02-20
Quakertown, PA

2 edits

rody_44 to deadbeatguy

Premium Member

to deadbeatguy
i believe the system your talking about around here is called the i.v.r., and no a tech cant use it to activate a modem or box after a disconnect. just wont work, but any system you use im sure logs the tech number and i doubt you would have a job long provisioning equipment in inhibited status. all instant installs go thru dispatch directly. oh yea the reason i knew there was a digital box involved was the bill he owed. its hard to reach 7-8 hundred with just a modem and basic cable.

deadbeatguy
@comcast.net

deadbeatguy to deadbeatguy

Anon

to deadbeatguy
I only spoke with one person...no sales or anything. The same person I spoke with on the phone was also the one that came out and reconnected my service.

Basically I called the guy asked how much I would need to pay to get back on, they said they weren't in the office or whatever so i'd need to tell them the amount I owed, so I told them and they told me I needed to pay $X00 and that they would be here at X hour. They came, reconnected the cable outside and then knocked on the door. They did something or another with the digital cable box to get it working, I wasn't on the same floor so I'm not sure if they called dispatch or whatever. To get internet back on they said I would need to call up comcast and have it turned back on, which was a matter of just calling them up and giving them the modem's MAC and S/N which i did later on. After that I just handed him over cash and it was done and they left.

cablepolice
@comcast.net

cablepolice to deadbeatguy

Anon

to deadbeatguy
ok sorry to just join the conversation...

MAn oh man I missed the post that you paid them...I would bet my life something is wrong, might be dead on this one though...been a day already, is everything still working?

boxes will run and modems too for a short time if your crafty, but I would need to see a bill in the mail payable to comcast.net before I believed it was on the up and up...People are just so smart, I dont know shit about how to protect our stuff, but I know how the protection has be beaten and illeagle or old boxes and modems on the system...99% of it is with analog theft, regular old cable, Its so rare to see a digital theft, guess its harder to catch too, it may work but that box will be tracked and theres a chance the crooked ass that stole it will be got.

hey for real I would go with it if I wasnt me
fiberguy2
My views are my own.
Premium Member
join:2005-05-20

fiberguy2 to cablepolice

Premium Member

to cablepolice
Are you drinking today?

"COMCAST DOES NOT TAKE CASH, CHECK OR MONEY ORDER ONLY, always before the job is begun too."

Punctuation helps there because I'm not sure what you are saying.. I think you were missing a comma, but even then, no matter how you read it, your statement is wrong. You can't apply a blanket statement accross the nation. Comcast has allowed cash payments FOR YEARS in many of the systems I've been in. And, "before the job is gebun too"? Depends on the tech.. some collect first, some last, and in some cases, the customer isn't insulted to pay at all on install.

"not all comcast techs have a comcast id"

Are you sure you know what you are talking about? Nationwide, comcast techs are issued photo ID.

I'm beginning to wonder if you really have ever worked for Comcast as well.

I've worked security for 3 years for Comcast, and I've seen it all.. but I really doubt this is a scam. But, any customer that doesn't do their own homework on ANY communications is a fool for themselves.
fiberguy2

fiberguy2 to cablepolice

Premium Member

to cablepolice
Um,

Comcast University...

But hey, if you know much about the system and how it works, the box and modem were soft disconnected about 45 days after the first bill was generated. They go soft disco and are followed by a hard disco. If he paid his bill to a collections team at the door, and theey were able to activate the boxes, I'd say it's pretty legit.

These "con artists" can't activate boxes again and especially modems, even for just "a day or to, yo"...

It's rare to see digital theft becuase it's damn near impossible.

Please.. enlighten us veterain techs of a decade or more just how crafty you have to be to reactivate a sub's box and modem on a scam.

Seriously, ... comcast university.

The bottom line is that these amnesty programs, or field collections units (often ran by the direct sales departments) DO in fact exist.

Ask people at your OP center WHO KNOW and you'd be surprised. These programs have been out for a decade or more.