I'm so sorry you are suffering through all this, at one time yet! I certainly empathize from experience with Comcast, they are horrible. I hope that you get your car fixed up, I can't even hope for better things from Comcast cause it ain't gonna happen.

The rest of the cable companies are not any better. I just did the phone merry-go-round with our car and home insurance company. About one hour later, someone finally answered, ”Oh, we just got in the office.” This was one hour after they were to be open.

DH has something he wants to take care of with the IRS. The phone tree is a circle. Submitting about his form got a ”form does not exist” response, because the form has a dash in it’s name which he used, but the system does not use the dash. I don’t remember what all that entailed but he is so frustrated, he is going to make an appointment at the IRS office half an hour away (in good traffic)…if he can through to make the appointment.

Side note, when I was dealing with my dad’s estate and called the IRS a couple of times, they were very nice and helpful, and even the ”your wait time is…” was accurate at 47 minutes.

Trying to get thought to a human customer support person in our own country...now that would be hard! We have Century Link for internet, Tello for cell phone. But....our housing development decided they wanted Stratus IQ put in. They did a "Special Assessment" charged each home $900...we don't want it...still had to pay. That irked me to no end!!!

I decided to go without because of Comcast. And most of the family would not win any awards either.

You have my sympathy, 3katz. Everyone here seems to despise Comcast. V Verizon does a better job, not that they will win any customer service awards.

Almost everything is a battle. I just dont remember life being this way in the past.

Dealing with CS these days is pure torture. Either it's impossible to get to a person and the stupid AI chat bot thing is useless, or you get to a person and you cannot understand a word they say. It's beyond frustrating. I am lucky in that DH will usually take care of these things because I just don't have the patience.

I will relate a happy story that just happened. I stopped working in Oct and even though I have a severance package that pays my benefits (including medical) until October 2026, I recently found out I still have to sign up for Medicare or be penalized for not signing up in time. So I made an appt with Fidelity (who manages our retirement accounts) Medicare team to figure it all out. They just called me to ask a few preliminary questions and make sure that my scheduled appt gives me time to sign up without penalties. Let me repeat -- they called me. To make sure my appt is in time to be able to sign up without penalties. And they were super nice and super helpful.

jsk, that's because Fidelity is an insurance company and they are interested in selling you a Medicare Advantage plan. If you are signing up for Medicare and do not not know the difference between Advantage plans and original Medicare with a supplement, then please learn, because you will not be able to change at a later date. And no, Fidelity is not the proper source to learn the difference, because they have a vested interest in selling you something.

Are there NO mechanics at dealerships anymore?? DH's car has this weird surging. Dealer said they could not diagnose because the tires were worn and brakes were bad. He had both done. NOW they say they cannot diagnose it because it is not. throwing. a. code!!! I am about to throw one of the new tires through the window.

There was the time Facebook locked me out of my account because it thought I was a robot.

@sushipup2 I have had very good experiences in all areas with Fidelity so I'm not worried about them trying to sell me something. They have never in the past tried to sell me anything, and have only given me advice. I am expecting the same now. Not sure the group I will be talking to is the same as their insurance arm. This is all under their retirement/financial planning/advisor part of Fidelity. If I find differently when I meet with them, I will report back. Also, whatever info I get from them I will confirm with my retired doctor brother before purchasing anything. Since I already have full coverage I plan to do whatever is the least expensive. I'm already paying my share of my employer coverage. Do not need add'l coverage. I will only do what is necessary to avoid the penalties for signing up late. Next year, I will need to make decisions on what to get since my employer coverage will end.

if you provide info to SS you are slready covered, you can defer enrollment.

I thought I would not need to enroll until my severance package coverage runs out, but from my research that does not look to be the case. You can defer if you are actively working and covered by a plan. But if coverage is from a severance package and therefore not actively working, you cannot defer. This was a surprise to me and it makes no sense to me. I am fully covered. What difference does it make if it's from active employer or severance from employer? Coverage is exactly the same. But the government has strange rules.

We've been using youtubetv for a few years as a substitute for cable, it's been pretty good. Our internet is Google fiber, also good.
But I 100% agree that if you can't navigate a problem online you're 100% doomed.

Yeah, I just use Comcast as my ISP. I cut the cord on cable at least 20 years ago. If I had another reliable choice I would surely choose that option but I don't. At least there are competitors here in SC so the prices are competitive. There are none at our city home in MN so they gouge you because they know you're held hostage. We have fiber at our lake place in northern MN through the local telecom company. I absolutely LOVE them. Roberta picks up the phone when you call. And if something's not working they send someone over to check it out the same day. I guess that's another advantage of keeping the lake home rather than the city home. Hadn't thought about that before.

You really roll the dice every time you need customer service anywhere. Maybe I’m slow but it took me a bit to realize i was dealing with AI responses for a while.

Comcast is indeed the absolute worst. We had them at our lake condo b/c it was the only provider available at the time. We would often have to call and spend an hour on the phone trying to get one of our TV boxes to work again. We had one in our bedroom upstaies and one in the family room. When we had the fire, we called to have the service stopped. They wanted DH to being in the boxes. Ummmm, there was a fire, and the boxes are not salvageable, plus it is hazardous (and probably illegal) for anyone to enter a fire-damaged building.

The person insisted the only way they could drop the service was if we brought in the boxes. Well, how about the official fire department report? Nope, gotta be the boxes. He asked to speak with the manager or supervisor, was put on hold and no one ever picked up. So, DH went to the condo, carefully went upstairs (it was horribly unsafe) and grabbed a half melted box and the one downstairs and went to their office (which they had not bothered to tell him had moved). He walked in with them and asked to see the manager. Oh boy was the manager ever embarassed. He could not believe we had been told that but immediately took care of it. The dumbest potential scam situation ever. I guess they thought they could just keep billing us.

@maire_cate, I will join 3katz in the Comcast building when we’re there for Tulipmania, so when we get carted off, we won’t be lonely.

We are making changes to services and almost went with Comcast, but we cancelled before activating and that process alone was reason enough for me to say I never wanted to deal with them. But I know they are not alone. If you don't fit one of a few prompts, it is getting harder and harder to get resolution.

jsk - DH had company provided healthcare for 2-3 years after becoming eligible for Medicare, and he said he almost blew getting signed up without a penalty. At first, he was double insured where original Medicare overlapped, but it was no cost and avoided a penalty for not enrolling. I would check and see if your benefit coverage will be long enough to cause an issue. I cannot remember if there is a time limit for the private coverage exemption on the penalty.

When he did enroll for additional benefits, he got sold on an Advantage plan. It was great coverage - even a total knee replacement with a top surgeon, extended PT and a home interactive bike - but as we started hearing about a lot of complaints, we learned that once you go into the 2nd year of Advantage coverage, you have to be approved to go back to original Medicare. He decided to apply and got approved, but not everyone does. They tend to not tell you much about that or the fact that insurers get paid per person, not per treatment. There is an incentive to sign up lots of people with lots of claimed ailments -- then a disincentive to pay for services and extra care. Serious conditions or those requiring expensive or lengthy treatment are where folks tend to run into problems. We didn't with a knee replacement, but decided not to take a risk on out future.

Just because you have few medical problems now does not mean that something will not develop in the future. Enjoy health now but prepare for the rainy days.

Some states may have different rules. In my state, one can go back and forth between original and advantage with no problems.

I’ve had some good cs experiences lately, except when I had to call citibank over my costco credit card with them. I received an email telling me that the new credit card I had requested was in the mail, in a plain white envelope, so I should look for it. Great, except I didn’t request it, my current one doesn’t expire until 2028. Getting to a human was nearly impossible, but finally was told because I had upgraded my Costco membership (because I’m making a few large purchases and wanted the higher rewards) they had to issue a new card. Very frustrating because my credit union visa was just hacked and cancelled, right after my updated one was issued and I’d updated all the auto pay sites where I use it. So I had to quickly update again to use my Citibank card instead, while I waited for a new visa card from my credit union. So now, that Citibank used for auto pays are all going to have to be updated with new info from that card, or with my new credit union card. That’s 3 times in a month! What a hassle!

I’m trying to recall where I was in a queue to chat with CS recently and there was a screen showing what number I was in line. I really liked that because I could do some other things while waiting.

I called ATT recently to cancel my service and was prompted to leave my number for a callback. I find that usually works okay, so that's what I did. However, when they called me back and I answered, the call flipped to an invalid number error message. So, I called back to start the process again and this time, I stayed on the line for the 27 minutes it took them to get to me to help.

Don't get me started on the IRS help line. The only reason their mistake from 2020 was finally resolved this year was because my CPA attended an IRS-sponsored conference and was able to get a contact in some taxpayer advocate department that finally sorted everything out. I can't tell you how many hours both the CPA and I have spent on the phone in the last five years...totally ridiculous.

If Mediacom internet is available to you, we have always had good experience with them. Whether chatting, calling, installation and service. The last time, they said we needed a new updated modem but the main problem was on the line, which required another team. The service guys even gave us their direct cell numbers if we had an issue after they left.

One of the best customer services I've experienced is SiriusXM chat. Very little, if any, wait time and they always give me the low price when I ask.

I filed a complaint with the FCC about Comcast. We'll see what happens with that. The email response from the FCC indicates they should be calling me about my problem; i.e. reimbursing me to repair the severed lighting line.

To add to my pile of customer service problems - yesterday I returned two Azon items to Staples. Usually I go to UPS here in SC - no problem. These items required me to go to Staples or pay $6.99 each to ship back. Two identical items returned to the same place at the same time. One has been refunded, the status of the other says it's awaiting return. I chat with Azon - what seems to be a human being but who knows. No resolution other than to wait two weeks as it may take that long. No - the problem is the guy at Staples was overwhelmed with people making Azon returns and didn't seem to know quite what he was doing or he was distracted with multitasking. I have receipts for the return (though they say nothing recognizable) so I'm sure I'll eventually get the refund but yet another thing I have to keep after.

I hope your complaint gets to the right individual at the FCC. As for Customer Disservice -

sadly it is seemingly everywhere and unbelievably frustrating.

For me - it's usually a toss up between Comcast and Verizon. Currently Verizon heads the list.

About once a month I receive texts and emails from Verizon announcing that my account has been updated, that my password has been changed and my security question changed. I check my account and all is fine and change my password just to be safe. Then I call Verizon to alert them and they are indifferent, simply recommending that I keep an eye on my account.

Unfortunately this also happened to DS but Verizon went a step further and allowed an unknown individual to make themselves an Account Manager, delete DS from the account and then order 2 new iPhone 17s. DS was unable to access his own account for 3 weeks - calling Verizon repeatedly and going into the store to speak with the manager. He had to prove to Verizon that he had been the Account Mgr by pulling up his payments. Yet they claim they have no idea who accessed his account or even worse - why Verizon permitted the changes. They also said they were unable to track where the phones had been sent. The store mgr casually said it might have been an inside job. Verizon finally gave him access and when he told them that he had spent over 35 hours dealing with them they coughed up 3 new Phone 17 Pros and a new iPad Air for free.

I'll add KitchenAid to the list of companies with awful customer service. I purchased a wall oven/microwave combo as part of our kitchen reno. In with the (really lacking) documentation was a sheet offering a free crisper pan when you completed online registration of the product. Well I did and never got the promised email explaining how to get my crisper pan. So I tried all the KitchenAid 'contact us' methods listed. Phone numbers with a 90 minute wait time. Press 1 and we'll call you back(never). Finally got a person on the line who transferred me to a number which hung up on me.

Finally after 2 weeks of this nonsense, I left a scathing review of the (nonexistent) crisper pan on their website. They replied with a phone number to call. This secret number was actually answered by a person who cheerfully entered an order for the pan. Got it a couple of days ago.

And I had to google extensively to find actual instructions for my model on how to use the various new to me functions of the microwave. Why don't they include these with the product?

I haven't done it, but I've read that leaving a bad review on a company's social media sites will often get a quick response and resolution. Seems like they read those and they know that consumers do too, so they are quick to resolve.

Actually, I sort of did it with a resort we go to almost every year. It's a resort in Mexico on the beach and they for some reason decided to no longer serve breakfast at the restaurant that is on the beach. Breakfast will only be available at the buffet with add'l menu items available. That restaurant is not near the beach and has no view. They posted this on their Facebook page with some nonsense wording to make it sound like a good thing. The backlash from many including me was fast and intense. At first they were responding to our comments with some more nonsensical nonsense. We kept pointing out that when we visit a beach resort, we want to see the beach while having breakfast. Not be inside with no view at all.

Next thing we knew, the beach front restaurant was open for breakfast again.

Since it's that time of year, I recently called my Medicare Part D provider to make sure they'll be carrying the drug I take and to get some idea of the cost. The person I got (after I got past the moronic AI) tried to tell me he couldn't tell me whether my drug would be carried next year. After I repeatedly insisted that was the entire point of checking this time of year, he said he could mail a copy (snail mail only, no email!) of the formulary to me--but he couldn't tell me himself. Finally I hung up, called again and for some reason got a salesperson from the company who actually had been appropriately trained and could of course give me the info. He also said that many of the customer service people knew virtually nothing. This was all after a friend had called for the same reasons--same provider too--and had been told that Part D premiums are automatically taken out of your SS check. No, they are not, unless you specifically request it.

I just got a notice from SS about my benefits/cola for next year. Included was info about deductions that will be taken. There was a new deduction that I hadn't seen before, so I looked it up and it's something taken out from higher income beneficiaries, based on your previous years' adjusted gross income tax return amount. Well, I've never met the threshold before, which is why I didn't know about it. Problem is, I didn't meet the threshold last year either and they are using an adjusted gross that is about $100k higher than my actual tax filing. I cannot express how frustrated I feel to have to try to figure out how to deal with this and having to interact with their system - for their error. My accountant files my taxes electronically, (then the paper copy) so I don't know how/why they have the number wrong...grrr.
So, be sure to check and make sure they didn't make this mistake on your deductions, too.

Spoke to Fidelity. They did not try to sell me anything. Just answered all my questions about deadlines and such. Maybe because I don't need to purchase any supplemental or advantage plan now.

I'm getting conflicting answers. Why is this all so confusing!? From what Fidelity said, and what I've read on the government's website, health care under a severance package does not count as primary/critical coverage, and I need to sign up for part B or get hit with penalties. However, when I asked my former employer paying my severance and healthcare they tell me it is considered primary and critical coverage and I do not need to sign up for part B until near the end of my severance. And I should reach out to them 3 months before my severance ends to get that process started.

Who to believe? Fidelity suggested I contact the insurance company (Aetna) and have them confirm it's primary and critical as far as Medicare is concerned. That should be fun. A chore for me first thing Monday morning.

Contact you local County Office on Aging (usually through the health dept.) and ask for a consult. Free, completely non-biased. They will have answers.

I usually do my own framing of photos/art with off-the-shelf frames. I have a mat cutter in case I need a non-standard size. Anyway, I have a nice watercolor that's been waiting for a frame forever. It's a little oddly sized and I didn't want to spend hundreds getting it framed locally. I ordered a custom frame from pictureframes dot com, real basic thin black wood frame. It came to $80 which is kinda high for what it is but I was okay with that. I specifically ordered a white-core mat (makes all the difference) yet it came with the cheaper off-white core. I wrote to them about it, they apologized profusely, and said they'd be sending out a replacement via UPS (for a mat?). It arrived yesterday, only besides the white-core mat, it included another custom frame. So I got two frames for the price of one and just need to cut my own mat for the other one.