RAAAAGE comcast strikes

[sushi]

Yes, this deserves its own thread.

I FUCKING HATE COMCAST

Yes, that deserved all caps

A few weeks ago our service completely reset. Like, all our history was wiped, though thankfully not the dvr. But, it took about a week for me to realize that various parts of our package we no longer have access to. One of these is hotspots which is actually really important for me. We also lost our free HBO and streampix (similar to netflix for those who don't have to suffer with the commies)

So I called twice 2 weekends ago. No change.

I called last week. No change.

Monday. No change. Although at least that person confirmed that although my package is correct (heh), and it does come with access, somehow deep in the file it's saying I don't have access. SO FIX IT

Today, I'm fucking waiting it out. After 30 minutes of answering the same gotdam questions over and over and over. At one point, when she said she had to go through her checklist, I told her to be a human (no, it's not the equipment. It's your fucking database that is screwed up. Check the right box!) I got transferred to tier 2. FINALLY. 

Yeah, got sent to the beginning and then they hung up on me.

To make this CEP, how are they allowed to have this monopoly?! I'd go with someone else if I had that choice.

Please, someone else vent with me. Or share funny things. Evil cats, even.

[zoegirltx]

i have a friend that works at comcast & they know their service is SOOOO bad that they give their employees "friends & family" cards to give to out to all those who bitch about problems & complain so they can get expedited service. Each employee gets an allotment of cards every quarter or something ridiculous like that....

[cookiemdough]

Verizon is just as bad

[gibbinator]

Assuming comcast call centres work like the telecom company I used to work for, the front line agents literally have no power to modify your package in real time if it is in fact some sort of account/provisioning error. Request to speak to a manager from the start. Don't go through with the troubleshooting etc, refer them to your case notes and ask for a manager again. Tier 2 agents generally have the ability to just modify things. Try not to get audibly angry with them personally because they don't care about you - customer satisfaction generally is not a metric that managers job performance is judged on as Tier 1 are.
If you go through the manager route (and really Tier 2 is just senior agents with extra powers probably in another call centre entirely) a couple more times and get nowhere, call customer service and ask to speak to "customer retention" or "customer loyalty". These people have the authorization to lower your bill, modify your package, throw in freebies etc. Be very nice to them. Give them a good sob story. Tell them you were happy with everything until this error and you just want your services back. At the very least you should get a refund for your trouble.

Good luck!

[mmp]

I really hope the pay per channel model takes off. I pay a small fortune to watch about five channels.

[chimera]

I wish we had a choice. Our area has service agreements so everyone has to have the same cable company (bs). No Fios in our area. Our channels change randomly - some weeks we get AMC, others it's USA, then Discovery etc. they have no explanation. We finally dropped to the lowest tier that would give us the Internet discount. Not like the Internet works, half the time my LTE speeds are faster per speedtest. It isn't our modem or router they are new and when the service works they are at the proper speed.

I've had the most luck complaining on Twitter and using the chat.

[notsocreepylurker]

Jul 16, 2015 19:24:51 GMT -5 zoegirltx said:

i have a friend that works at comcast & they know their service is SOOOO bad that they give their employees "friends & family" cards to give to out to all those who bitch about problems & complain so they can get expedited service. Each employee gets an allotment of cards every quarter or something ridiculous like that....

What do friends and family cards do?

[secretlyevil]

All cable companies suck. Don't get me started on brighthouse.

[zoegirltx]

Jul 16, 2015 19:38:12 GMT -5 notsocreepylurker said:

Jul 16, 2015 19:24:51 GMT -5 zoegirltx said:

i have a friend that works at comcast & they know their service is SOOOO bad that they give their employees "friends & family" cards to give to out to all those who bitch about problems & complain so they can get expedited service. Each employee gets an allotment of cards every quarter or something ridiculous like that....

What do friends and family cards do?

they get you to a better level of customer service & people that can actually fix your problem.

[zoegirltx]

Jul 16, 2015 19:39:37 GMT -5 secretlyevil said:

All cable companies suck. Don't get me started on brighthouse.

i've actually been pretty happy with AT&T (at least the uverse portion). Maybe i haven't had too many issues or it's been a regional thing (plenty of techs here??). 

Knock on wood- i'm oving & they are setting up new service in  few weeks & I hope they don't disappoint me now.

[notsocreepylurker]

Jul 16, 2015 19:40:13 GMT -5 zoegirltx said:

Jul 16, 2015 19:38:12 GMT -5 notsocreepylurker said:

What do friends and family cards do?

they get you to a better level of customer service & people that can actually fix your problem.

Ahhhhhh that I would like. I though it was like a $5 discount that month on your bill

[Kristinmo]

Jul 16, 2015 19:34:54 GMT -5 mmp said:

I really hope the pay per channel model takes off. I pay a small fortune to watch about five channels.

The problem is that the cable companies pay very little for certain channels and a lot for others. Likely the 5 channels you watch are part of the ones they pay a lot for and therefore would charge you more for on a pay per channel plan. so you may not save much on a pay per channel plan.

[sushi]

And now they're closed. Fuckers

[cmeon]

Social media tends to get better results these days (with the cable companies- though, probably applies everywhere) than phone calls. Hit FB/Twitter- you're more likely to get attention from someone who can do something to help. Maddening, though, it really is.

[Deleted]

I miss Comcast's on demand content, it's infinitely better than FIOS's. But, I will never ever miss Comcast customer service.

I interned at Verizon for 2 years and my sister at Comcast for 1. I have lots of stories of how service is provided based on your part of the country. The monopolies that these companies are able to establish in certain areas is infuriating because you literally have no way out. Even if you had another smaller provider their service is probably flowing through a major company's routing station at some point so they would be providing support on some level. It's terrible.

[StrawberryBlondie]

I think I'm the only one that has had good experiences with comcast. But we went largely through their twitter.