Software
Houzz Logo Print
hzdeleted_16647

I hate Comcast , I hate Comcast, I hate Comcast.

13 years ago

Can I say it again? I HATE COMCAST!!!

I'm sorry to rant, but I'm beyond frustrated. If my dear sweet husband would ever agree, I'd drop them in a heartbeat and never look back. Maybe some one here will have a brilliant and affordable alternative that will help me reach this goal....one can only pray, and believe me, I DO!

Every day for hours at a time, our service will run slower than molasses. There's no rhythm or reason, specific time or pattern and it's been happening for months. When it does, it's can take up to 45 seconds or more for one page to load and watching a program via streaming is impossible. So not only are we paying for internet service that's sub par, but we're also paying for Netflix and HuluPlus subscriptions that can't be fully utilized. At first we thought it might be on our end, so we bought a new more sophisticated router but it didn't help. So Comcast was called and on EASTER Sunday a technician was at the house. He tested everything every which way and declared it was an outside issue. A "special" maintenance team would have to come to repair it and they'd be out within 24 hours. Great.

Well, there was no change in our service 48 hours later and I called AGAIN. During that hour I was on the phone, I was first told by someone who apparently was on her first day that there was no ticket for the maintenance call, so I asked to speak to a supervisor. Supervisor John in Canada said there was a ticket but it been completed and closed already. He could generate a new one, but it would be the 17th before anyone would show up which meant we had to wait over a week for the fix. He said he'd try to get it expedited and call me to confirm but of course I never heard back from him. Grrr...

Over the weekend, it was beyond slow so slow I called to see about expediting the repair myself but Supervisor Lori in Dallas said, no, no, no, this is a special maintenance crew coming out and they're booked solid, Sorry!

Fast forward to this morning and at 8:00 sharp I get a call from a normal tech who says he's on his way to fix whatever issue we're having but his supervisor asked him to find from me what the issue was "because they HAD NO CLUE"!! :c(

When I told him I wanted to speak to his supervisor that this was not what I had been waiting for, the technical supervisor basically refused to speak with me and told the tech instead to just check the line outside and he'd call after he got the paperwork. When I didn't hear from him, I called Comcast only to find out that lines were reported as fine and they CLOSED THE FREAKING TICKET!!

The tech who was here on Easter told us he was about to graduate engineering school and it was obvious he knew a lot more than the average techs they usually send. He and my husband spent some time talking about this stuff and the guy showed us how we could verify our modem status and know if there was really an issue. When I check the modem, the upload numbers are still higher than he said they should be at and that confirms something is still wrong. I just called to talk to yet another supervisor (Cole in Denver) and now I'm having to start at step one all over again. I have no way to contact any of the supervisors I've already spoken with and the supervisor at the technical center isn't answering his phone.

I seriously believe their internal structure is set up in a way that is meant to keep you going in circles until you either finally give up or loose your mind trying.

Comcast is the only high speed internet carrier in our area. The only other options we have are ATT (DSL) & Satellite (which are slower in speed and have even lower ratings).

So far I've been told three times someone would call and I've yet to receive one. I just want to scream. It's nothing but a great big monopoly with no accountability. They simply know they have us by the cajonas and as a consumer, we're screwed.

Oh BUT of course, I could increase our speed level and pay more every month for their crappy service, even though we are already at a level that THEY promised would match our needs the last time we upgraded!

If you made it through my rant, thanks for listening.

Comments (16)

  • 13 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    Amen.

    I hear ya. Wish I had a decent suggestion. We went through a similar, long drawn out fiasco with AT&T..... and switched to Comcast :-/

  • PRO
    13 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    I feel your pain lukk. Go ahead and scream!

    We went through a similar scenario a few years ago and every tech blamed the previous tech. From my understanding, the techs are not really Comcast employees so if we talked to Comcast, the tech had no record and visa versa.

    If this helps, try this woman, Rani Morris. She is/was the Executive Customer Relations Department - Greater Chicago Market.
    Rani_Morris@cable.comcast.com

    At minimum she may be able to lead you to a single contact person in your area. She got our problem fixed along with a month and a half credit for the inconvenience.

    hth!

  • 13 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    We had this issue, but with Charter. It lasted about three months, in which time we had at least 8 visits from initial techs (the ones where you have to be at home, with the dogs penned up, during a 4-hour block of time). On two of those occasions, the guy's meter ran out of juice and couldn't make a reading. We had the line from the drop to our house replaced THREE times, and buried NO times. It just snakes through the woods, and the older ones are still out there, too.

    Eventually, after a LOT of time put in on the phone by me, they deployed some sort of Mossad-trained technical team that figured out there was something on a pole a mile away that had been struck by lightning. And it affected ONLY our house, which would explain why we were the only ones complaining.

    I knew so much cable lingo by the time that ordeal was over, I was qualified for an executive position.

    The trouble is they have a deeply ingrained hierarchy, and are threatened within an inch of their lives should they violate it. The guys in the marked trucks who can climb poles, dig holes, etc., are THE MOST EXPENSIVE TO DEPLOY, so everything possible is done to keep from rolling one of those trucks. Nevermind trying to get one of the Mossad teams deployed.

    Start keeping a timeline, and the names of everyone you speak with. And they might have an ID number of some kind -- get that, too. If they say they'll call back, ask them "by when?" And when they don't call back, you call them and give the name and number of the person who didn't call back. And every time you call tell them you want a credit for your service for that day. It usually has to escalate to get service credits above a certain amount, so that might help you.

    And know that you'll NOT be automatically called when an outside line tech makes a check on something, or repairs something, or closes a ticket. You'll have to call back in and ask the CSR to read the history and tell you what happened.

    Also, do you have phone through them, too? If so, know that phone issues are subject to much stricter regulation. They have better call center techs, better service techs, etc., and tighter turnaround times per the FCC. So if ALL your services are affected, always call in to complain about the phone.

  • 13 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    dlm2000

    I know, consumers everywhere are all in this mess together and one big company is really no better than the other, huh? We just dropped ATT phone service for VOIP. Usually the sound is pretty good but when it's not, I don't feel bad. It's basically free so atleast I'm not paying a high fee for something that doesn't work. With Comcast, they still expect payment, though as Jakabedy pointed out credits are available, they've offered to apply them with this is over with.

    DeeDee!!

    YOU ROCK! Thanks so much. As Jakabedy also pointed out, I've been keeping some pretty good records, and if I don't hear from this technical supervisor by Friday, I'll give this nice lady a call. Chicago is just a hop skip and jump away, maybe she'll have a contact or some pull out my way.

    DLM - Best write the number down too, I can almost guarantee you'll need it eventually.

    Jakabedy

    Thank you, thank you, thank you. I know that took a while to write and I sincerely appreciate it. I'm glad you were able to find resolve and hopefully we will too. I know the higher end pole guys aren't cheap but these companies are frugal at a serious cost. Surveys reflect over and over again that the majority of their consumers are really unsatisfied with their service. My husband says he's heard WOW a local cable company may be coming to our area w/in the next couple of years, look out when they do!

    Interesting about the phone aspect. We had their phone service but I canceled that a long time ago when we kept having issues. I am keeping names and badge numbers but don't know if it will do much good. No one seems to be able or willing to transfer me around to someone I spoke with prior. You're so right, they really do have their system locked up tight. grrr...

  • 13 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    Well; we were having the same issue & I never had time to call. The slowness wasn't "that bad" that I felt the need to pick the phone up & spend 45 minutes on it. I was online 2 weeks ago & all of a sudden my net went out. I went to hubs puter; his was out; looked at router & modem- out. As I'm walking back to office from basement; I see a comcast truck that was in a blind spot from the office; I went outside; he spliced my wire without knocking on my door (my garage was up). Apparently he was fixing an issue last week & noticed a problem by my house; the coating on the wire was gone; he was surprised we even had net. He then told me that we had bigger issues on my street & that a crew would be out during the night because they had to cut all of us off. This will be without notice.

  • 13 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    I hate them too but I guess I'm fortunate my Comcast internet works flawlessly - knock on wood. It's the price gouging that drives me crazy. I just dropped all of my triple play bundle except the internet and I'm now saving a bundle. Their cable TV is a complete waste of money.

  • 13 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    Comcast raised my rate by about $20 a month. My last bill was $194 for the bundle of phone, net and tv. Whoa. I called them and said that Verizon was offering me pretty much the same thing for about $102 a month. I've been a Comcast customer for almost 30 years. They said they's lower my bill to $154 a month. So, I got my first bill since that conversation and it was $174! Sheesh.

    I'm switching to Verizon to take advantage of the $102 plus free dvr, for two years. I'm sure the price will shoot up after that but maybe by then Comcast will be begging to get me back.

    That said, I rarely have problems with my Comcast service.

  • 13 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    I can write the same thing about AT&T U-verse after getting off the phone with tech support in India yesterday. I couldn't understand a word they said. Of course I have U-verse because I dumped Comcast because of their problems. Who to go to next????

  • 13 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    I had to call again, had to wait a week for an appointment again too. The big guns are supposed to be here tomorrow to work on the lines; I'm not holding my breath though.

  • 10 years ago

    I am canceling my service with Comcast. I have the $4.99 charge to cover me in case I need to have a service call. Well in April I did have a service call as one of my two phone lines was not working. The technician who came out broke my phone and did not tell me that he broke it. I found that out much later -- it should have been a hint when he did not want me to hold the phone. Then he or Comcast put a $70.00 charge on my account. When I called Comcast, I told them about this, they admitted that it should not have been there and they told me that they would credit my account on the next bill, but that I was expected to pay it and they would issue a credit. I need to check the statutes but I don't think you can collect on disputed charges, especially when you are aware that YOU made the mistake. For the $70.00 that should not have been billed, they interrupted the service. I refuse to pay it and have notified my local jurisdiction and the FCC. If you are looking for a cable or internet or phone provider, don't walk past Comcast, run as fast and as far as you can.

  • 10 years ago

    Patricia I see that you've resurrected the Comcast threads on several forums and posted the same thing on each. I've seen three so far, two here and one at Kitchen Table. It is a little odd to do that--one post is enough?--but I'll just say that I also despise Comcast for their terrible customer service.


  • 10 years ago

    Well, I have to admit it was pretty funny to see this thread resurrected this morning! However I am still having problems with Comcast, so it was very fitting to see it as well!! I hate Comcast, I hate Comcast, I hate Comcast!!!!!

  • 10 years ago

    Comcast,feel the hate

    Comcast

  • 10 years ago

    Here is the telephone number of executive headquarters, give them a call and you'll get quick service. 1-215-286-1700.


  • 10 years ago

    Thank you Yahagal!!!!! I posted our current problem on Lucille's thread in the Kitchen Table forum before this one was resurrected.

    Comcast thread in Kitchen table forum.

  • 3 years ago

    Its only getting worse too. While everyone's attention was on the pandemic, comcast took the opportunity to try to roll out all sorts of new limitations with their service. Even getting caught admitting that it would not actually be needed (and just make them more money). I wont even bother to cite this because there are resources all over the place on this just search on google you can find truckloads of dirt. But nobody cares about that because the big news networks aren't reporting it. (Seriously, why do we need to know about every shooting in a neighborhood that has a shooting every other day of the week, but not about legislation being put into place that affects our future of digital communications -- ratings, that's why!).