Comcast Customer Service: How Not to Reward Loyalty
June 29, 2009 by Deb Ng
Filed under Customer Service
My husband and I have been talking about upgrading our cable service for some time. When Comcast began offering their new Triple Play packages (phone, digital cable, Internet for a low price) we decided to take advantage. I called several times to ask about the various packages and each time very helpful customer service people patiently explained all the different price plans. They assured me that I, an existing customer, could indeed upgrade to one of these packages. One of the nice reps even offered me a low installation fee without any other hidden costs and told me what the whole package would cost, taxes and all. She made it very easy for us to make a decision.
So after receiving all my information from the very nice Comcast people (thanks so much Elaine and Tania), and after discussing the available packages with Mr. Ng, we decided to go for the HD Plus Triple Play for $119.99 per month for two years. I called again and as soon as the customer service representative heard what I wanted he put me on hold. I had a cell phone conversation with someone else while I waited, I think he went to the bathroom too..and maybe even called in his lunch. The rep came back and gave me a big fat no can do for my request. He said it was for new customers only, but he would be happy to put me with an account manager to see what kind of packages they could work out for me. Another longish hold ensued. I made up an ice cream cone for my son, brought the dog some water outside and took out the garbage as I waited.
The first package he offered was for $117 for the just about the same service I have now, which is fine and dandy, but I wanted to upgrade. To upgrade to a package similar to the one I wanted, I’d have to pay about $130 – and it didn’t give me the same thing. “What will it cost for me to have the same package as advertised as the HD Plus Triple Play?” I asked him. “You can’t have that package,” he told me. “You’ll have to take the $130 package if you most of those channels plus Starz.” I told him that wasn’t fair. I don’t want to pay $130. I want to pay $119 just like the newbies. Apparently though, Comcast isn’t all that concerned about catering to existing customers because they absolutely wouldn’t budge. He kept telling me they had plenty of packages to reward my customer loyalty, I would just have to pay more money for them.
Finally, the account rep said he would put me through to his supervisor. Another hold. I Swiffered the kitchen floor and washed the ice cream scoop. The supervisor was a little less patient than her co-workers. Every time I spoke, she’d interrupt with “Ma’am…ma’am…ma’am” I actually ended up asking her to stop interrupting me with the “ma’am’s” and let me finish my darn sentence. Again she told me about these wonderful packages Comcast offered to existing customers, yet none of them appealed to me like the one I asked for. Plus she kept pushing Starz. I told her several times I didn’t want Starz and instead of letting it be she wanted to know why not. Does it matter why I don’t want Starz? What should matter is why I can’t have the package I want at the price I want. After a heated conversation I hung up. I didn’t want to say something I’d regret.
It was clear no one wanted to reward the Ngs for their customer loyalty. I mean, we pay all our bills on time, we don’t call and complain every five minutes, we never biatch about our service on Twitter (well, I didn’t until today, that is), you’d think they’d want to keep people like us around. Guess not.
I may not be a big corporation, but I do know what it means to want customer satisfaction. I especially reward my long time clients with perks. Sometimes I take on new tasks at no charge and other times I lower rates when a client is feeling a crunch or just deserves a discount for being so loyal. Our customers need to know we appreciate them and that our business is important to them. I think this is why I miss the Mom and Pops so much.
What bugs me the most about my call with Comcast is not that I didn’t get a discount, it’s that they refused to give me the discount. No meant no and they wouldn’t budge. They rewarded my customer loyalty by telling me I wasn’t as important to them as new clients. Thanks Comcast.
I wonder what Direct TV’s customer service is like?
Deb’s Update – 7/1/-09 – Yesterday two very nice customer service representatives reached out to me and were able to meet my needs with no problem. I have the plan I wanted at the advertised price even though I’m an existing customer. All is good in Deb’s world and my faith in comcast is restored.
Hey Deb – for the most part Directv is pretty good (although I have considered switching to cable myself recently). I HAVE received the “new customer” upgrades on more than one occasion from them so I don’t know what Comcast’s problem is.
Deb, Wow !!!I just got off the phone with comcast and my situation almost mirrors yours except I have spent almost a month and several hours trying to get them to own up to a mistake and promises they made that that they made to me when they first ordered the triple play package.
Basically I was told that I would get the triple play package for 99.00 a month for 2 years, My wife and figured out the savings and were very excited about the prospect of savings several hundred dollars over the course of 2 years. When the initial call took place we asked if all of our current cable services would be included in the price (DVR, HD channels) and we were assured that it would be. We were also told that there would be 100.00 dollar gift card included . … Sounds great right !!!
During the initial call the very nice lady who was handling our call informed us that she was having problems with her computer and that she woulds have to call us back, she set up an installation date for the phone and internet services and never called us back.
After not receiving the call back from the first costomer service rep I called back the next day to make sure that everything was in order and that we would be getting the deal that that the initial costomer rep promised us. Again the agent on the phone assured us that we would be getting that deal as long as we signed up before the end of the month and even told us that the gift card would be 200.00 dollars… sounds even better right !!! Wrong.
We were also promised that our home phone # would not change (A phone number that my wife and I shared for almost twenty years). That did not happen either!!!
Because of summer vacation I had to push back the install date to the middle of August, I then called to confirm the install date and this is when I learned that I would not be able to keep my original phone # as well as change the install date again because they needed more time due to the fact that we needed a new # ???, My wife and I reluctantly agreed to change our home phone # because we had no choice!
After the install of triple play and the initial shock of having to change our email and home phone number which was attached to every aspect our lives ( schools, billing, contacts, ext !!), we received a contract in the mail that needed to be signed or emailed back to comcast, although I did not immediately look at it, when I did I was shocked to see rate of 99.00 a month that we were originally promised had gone up to 119.00 for the first 12 months 129.00 for the second 12 months.
I immediately called comcast and spoke to a customer service rep who informed me that that package was no longer available to me and that she could not offer me anything close to what what I was orinally offered, She offered me 1 month credit of service and basically that I would have to take the contract sent in the mail.
I was in shock !!!, I asked to speak to her direct supervisor and let her know that comcast was pulling the classic “Bait and Switch” on me. I was then told that her Supervisor was in a meeting and that she would call me back, I left a voice mail for the supervisor to call me back ( She did not call me back).
I then called back the next day to speak to the Supervisor I had left a voice mail for and finally after another voicemail and call I received a call back. After a lengthy and sometimes heated discussion in which I asked for only what was promised to me initially, we were still at a stand still, she could still not come close to offering me the original offer” That offer was no longer in the system” and said that she would confer with her colleagues and in her words “Try and make this right”. She said she would call me the next day, I let her know that would great that I was off work. She did not call me back the next day.
I then called the day after that and left another voicemail for the Supervisor and was called back by another costomer service rep who was a subordinate of the Supervisor I was dealing with, He informed me that he was instructed to call on her behalf because she was out of the office for the holiday weekend and would not be back until Tuesday. CAN YOU SEE THE STEAM RISING !!!!!
The customer service rep offered me a deal of 114.00 a month for twelve months, All services would be billed seperately, I informed him that I would take that deal if it was 24 months, He informed me that he could not offer that deal because it was not ” in the system”. I asked him what the price would go up to after the 12 month period he said it would 215.00 a month. At this point I almost lost it !!!. after a few choice words I ended that call and left yet another voicemail for the Supervisor to call me back on Tuesday. “Folks do the math, I guess have stupid written on forehead”
Today after not receiving a call, I left yet another voicemail for the Supervisor, she called me back as I was reading this blog. To sum up the final offer after all of this, I was offered a 2 month credit spread out over 3 months with the 119/129 contract and when I asked about the gift card she said that was not available. she did inform me that if an offer came available that was close to what I was initally offered that she would call me. “I wont hold my Breath”
I am still not completely satisfied with the results of this compromise and feel like I need to get license of the comcast truck that ran me over. Anyone have any suggestions or advice?
I had a the same experience that is why I’m switching over to verison!!! I have been a comcast customer for over 10 years and I’m ready to leave them. The verison rep is calling me back tom. to finalize my new package which is cheaper and better!!!! Goodbye Comcast!!!
I’ve always found Comcast service to be poor. Their tech support in my local area is a nightmare!
Sending you lots of sympathy.
Did you threaten to cancel your account? Most of these call centers have specific reps that work in customer retention and it’s their job to do whatever it takes (within certain guidelines) to keep your business. Often times those reps will have special packages or deals they can only offer when a customer threatens to leave for a competitor’s company.
I’ve never dealt with Comcast, so I can’t attest to how well it works with them (it sounds like their customer service is atrocious, and that supervisor should not be in her position), but I’ve been able to get the “new customer” deal with AT&T when I upgraded my services, even though I was already a customer since I mentioned I could easily switch to RCN or Comcast.
Hi Deb.
I would like to apologize for the poor experience we created for you. Please email our team at We_Can_Help@cable.comcast.com. We’ll see your concerns are addressed.
Hi,
I am also longtime customer for comcast from medford,MA. I had a cable ,internet and phone service.I am paying my bill by automatic debit for years.Recently vonage gave me unlimited free international calls for INDIA.So I swicthed my phone service,after that I called Comcast to move my plan from triple play to double Play. I lived in many countries,even most of third world countries have better customer service than comcast.You know what, the rep told me,If I have triple play, my bill will be $125.If I have double play I need to pay $160.This is the only company in the world I know we need to pay more while reducing their services.I was so fedup with useless discussion with that rep,again and again repeting same sentence that “I can’t have same package what they advertosed on their web site”.So, I cancelled my service except internet connection for $59 a month.I am going to cancel that also once verizon establishes their service at my home.This is the worest trade practice I ever seen,hurting existing customers to get new customers.I encourage customers like me get out of comcast and get other available services.BTW, I am thinking to approch consumer court on this, reply to this post if you are interested to join.This is ripoff for loyal customers Comcast from massachusetts
I wouldn’t switch to Verizon if I were you. I’ve spent the last 3 months battling very similar battles with them and am currently looking around at my options…which is how I stumbled upon this conversation!
@Melissa – I did. Someone asked me for my number and details but I never heard back.
@Kathryn – I know others who were able to have the same upgrades as newbies. I don’t know why this supervisor was so adamant about not letting me have it.
@Lou – When I mentioned “comcast” on Twitter, I received lots of similar stories in response. they really need to work harder on the customer service.
@Tiffany – I did threaten to cancel my account (and am looking at alternatives as we speak) but the supervisor wasn’t phased. She clearly doesn’t need my business.
Deb, I look forward to seeing how they plan to help, as Melissa promises. I recently had a poor experience with Comcast myself (four days of service outage, tech never showed up during his four-hour window as expected, got the runaround) and was rewarded with a $50 credit. Not perfect, but something, I suppose.
You’re lucky not to be a Time Warner customer. These guys let my service sit ‘out’ for a month, refused to pro-rate, then wouldn’t shut it off! I /moved/, then got a call from a guy who was sitting right out in front of my house to cut off my cable for non-payment. This was in /April/ and I had moved, /told/ them I was moving in December!
I wondered how the guy got to be a tech when it turned out he was in front of the old house that had a huge for rent sign out front and was obviously empty!
I’m about to sign up with DirectTV actually, (it will be installed on 7/6). I was told that when my 1yr promotion was up, to give a call so I could find out what promotions they had running and what I would be eligible for. I do need to call them though because I don’t think the gal I spoke to listed that I needed a 12-4pm time for installation. The hubs works nights so he’d be sleeping if they showed up early and I don’t want that!
Good luck! I hope you get the answers and discounts you want!
I’ve had the same experience MANY times with various cable and satellite TV services. The last time I just gave up. They advertised a special on television and we realized, “Hey, we’re paying $50 a more a month for the same thing!” I called them and got the same song and dance you did – it’s only for new customers, blah blah blah. I couldn’t believe how many times I was “accidently” disconnected. Probably as many times now as I disconnect THEM when they call to sell me “new packages and GREAT service”. If I didn’t have to depend on the satellite for internet connection to make my living out here in rural America, I’d go off grid. GRRR.
@allison – So far I haven’t heard anything from Comcast beyond an initial “what is your account info” email early yesterday or Melissa’s comment yesterday. So I’m not sure really if they want to help at all. We’ll see and I’ll keep you posted.
@Jeanne – Isn’t it ridiculous that loyal, paying customers can’t get the same discounts or perks? It’s a bait and switch.
I’ve been thrilled with DirecTV’s customer service. They’ve always promptly addressed and corrected any issues I’ve had, including, after indicating I was in another state at installation, specially arranging a tech to come install since I’d taken off work to be home.
I actually need to contact them about some other stuff, too. I’ve been pleased with my experience.
I’m sorry to hear about your bogus experience but I’m also not surprised. I’ve gotten the same treatment from numerous cell-phone companies. Apparently “customer service” actually means “stick to profit-making policy as rigidly as possible, even at the expense of customers.” It’s a bit, well, annoying to be treated as an annoyance rather than a real person with a valid complaint. In 100% of the instances when I call a customer-service line, it’s not just because I have nothing better to do–it’s because some issue that I can’t ignore has forced me to call. My time is valuable, and it’d be nice to be treated as such.
Also (sorry, but I’m on a roll now), you know what bothers me? The fact that you have to write up a public account of your experience like this in order to get the service corrected. I don’t mean to discount Melissa’s comment (it’s surely nice and wasn’t required), but it just seems like a PR move on behalf of the company and an attempt to silence one person’s complaints.
Go with DISH Network. We recently dumped Comcast also.
Hi Deb,
Make sure that Melissa’s message is legitimate before giving out your account info. or other personal info. to an unfamiliar e-mail address. That seems like it would be an easy way to scam people into providing personal information…like those Yahoo customer service e-mails that are not actually from Yahoo.
You can add me to the list of people who thinks Comcast’s customer service bites–BIG time. I’m sure I’ve blogged about it before myself. Since my cable company was bought out by Comcast, I get fewer channels and a crappier picture in exchange for paying more. Great deal, huh?
I’ve never heard anything good about Comcast so this doesn’t surprise me! It does surprise me that you got what you wanted eventually, though!
Ugh don’t get me started on Comcast – for some reason (that doesn’t appear to be related to the end of a promo period) our bill went up $40 because they’re charging us full price for all three services now instead of giving the triple play discount. I’d call and yell but we’re buying a house soon and switching over to Verizon for internet and phone, and probably Direct TV. Still annoying though.
we also tried to upgrade but our customer rep. continue to denied us an upgrade and we called multiple time.
They didn’t seem to care that we were good customers.
We just went with directv.
I’ve been a Comcrap customer for almost 8 years with both tv and internet. Because the internet was ordered a couple of months after the tv they were billed separately. The first couple of years they were still AT&T broadband. When they were AT&T the service, both actual and customer service, were great. When Comcrap took over the service went into the toilet and never recovered.
Last December to make up screwing me over, they improved my internet speed and discounted my bill. I didn’t notice any improvement in service, but did appreciate the $17 discount. (My bill was $42.95 before the discount) Then three months later my bill is $60 plus a $ 0.99 maint fee. I called and complained and told them to put it back the way it was before they changed it. That included speed and cost. They said they would. I also talked to them about lowering my bill for tv. They got it down to $82 by shuffling discounts. They lowered my internet speed to about 1200kbps to 1500kbps where my speed before the changes had been about 20000kbps. I called again. they returned the original speed. My internet bill only went down to $52.95 plus a new $0.99 maint fee. I complained again. They refuse to lower it saying I have to combine my accounts to get the lower price. They did offer me $10 off for three months. I suggested I should look elsewhere for internet service and was told that DSL is a dying technology. Funny comcrap has again lowered internet speeds to the equivalent of available DSL. Must be getting me used to that speed for the change. My tv bill was never lowered either. In fact, instead of decreasing, it has increased every month since. They also now include a $0.99 maint fee for that too. I made the mistake of messing around with them too long and my tv service was interrupted last week. Now they want me to pay the full balance due, including the overcharges, before they will discuss my account. The final cut-off date is 7-28. My only recourse has been to write a letter to executive customer service to an address in Fife, WA. I mailed one, and have yet to hear back. Since then I have been looking at available alternatives. Dish, Direct TV, Qwest DSL. They all seem to offer quite a bit more for a lot less. Ask AOL, When I leave for poor service, I don’t come back. I always recommend against as well.
I love Comcast. I understand that supervisor does seem really rude; she could have been having a bad day? You can’t shoot the messenger. These people are just giving what their promotions department has offered them for you. Unfortunately I know from working in a call center there are different channels, and like any company a sales channel will offer you the world… I find talking to billing helps the best because they generally give the REAL answers… I have a problem with the tech coming late and he gave me three free months of a service and said I had 30 money back guarantee on the services. I find that if I don’t call in screaming and yelling like some crazy person they treat me pretty well… I won’t want someone screaming at me (which you obviously didn’t do deb) the first thing through the door… I suggest to most peopling on here, take a breath realize it is a company that bills you for the services you use and get over it!! Its also funny to see people stating they will go to a different company because they have the promotion…But once its over there they go back to the original company..its all about the $$$$$
I recently signed up for the same 119. comcast plan only to have techs not show up..channels not show up and our bills are not anywhere near 119. I have spent hours on the phone with 6 different customer service reps who all say the problem is fixed only to still have the same issues months later!! I have been through this once before with comcast on another ‘deal’ where we were never billed the proper amt..I had to go in person every month. I should’ve learned my lesson!
Lordy,lordy- 10/20/09 you helped me decide AGAIN to stay away from ComCast. While carpoolong home tonight the conversation ran from saving here.cutting cost there and I was imformed about “MagicJack” phone service- so carpooler was saying, she got MJ for 2yrs for $100- final cost for two yrs service and had bundled with Comcast for cable and internet, So I decided to ck out Comcast offers online- THANKS FOR ALL THE REVIEWS 3 months ago I had received a callf ollowing a mailing I rec’d from “comcast” offering the triple play bundle to my area for $119- upgrades in cable and internet service inc AND a $300 gift card! Whoo Hoo- so I proceed with the “nice” sales rep#1 to sch the disconnet of Direct TV and Windstream and ATT- also being advised I WOULD NOT loose my numbers etc!This call was on a Wed. I completed all the questions, was transferred to another Comcast agent who assited with my disconnect of ATT telephone service and set the appt for Comcast between *8am – 12pm on Fri (in 10 days), my next day off. I held in my hands the comcast mailer- 9am, 10am, 11, so I called Comcast- well they have till noon and the agent taking my call said and then she did not see me on the sch!- Rep #2, says she found me and the tec was delayed would be in my area soon. Noon- and now it’s 1pm,call again, rep#3 states, I am not on sch and could set up for a week later, feel my pain-so I provide all the names of sales reps I have spoken with and confirmation number I was given- rep # 3 has no clue what the H I am talking about and cannot locate ANY of the reps names, so rep#4, will try to contact the tec that is in the area and see IF my serv can be done today. Any open windows on tall buildings? 2pm, 3pm, it’s 5:00 somewhwere,so where is Comcast? I call and request a super- well super is USELESS, sees my trail of calls and does not see a work order for my addresss! This is candid camera right- Iv’e been Punked, right? It’s 3pm and he will set up a tec to come between 12 & 4 tomorrow! WHere is my value? I can’t believe the lack of humanity the employees Comcast has. But my story is pale incomparison to my neighbors- SHE WAS ROBBED BY THE COMCAST TEC! Yes, you read it here. Her tec showed up on time, he entered the home front door (her purse was sitting on kitchen table) she was with him most of his time in the home he set up the triple play, He entered thru both doors of her home while installing service. She noticed about 4 hrs later, when she had to leave her home, she could not find her purse! Polcie were called and apparently this is not the first time- so report taken and she called comcast who failed to belive her story. The purse was found in a nearby neighborhood in a yard- all valuables removed, and during the 4hrs she was home- her gas cards were used in several stops as was her cc’s. The tec remains employeed with Comcast and Comcast never contacted her with an apology or any consideration.
And so there you go! I think Wayne Delfacino needs to get on this story!
I have had similar stories to all of yours. I switched from Verizon to Comcast and was promised Brad Pitt and NFL Sunday ticket for switching for 159. pr mnth all the movie channels, HD dvr and HD stb with unlimited calling. my avaerage bill is now 213. per mnth and I still pay for all my calls I have called in so manty times I feel like a rep myself. I am proud to say I am now switching back to Verizon Fios and I cant be happier. I would say dump Comcast not worth the headache like an old boyfriend you keep hanging around with. Time to cut the ties.
Where did some of my channels go? For 2 days I have been wondering where some of my channels went. I called customer service and after the agent looked up my account he told me that I had been getting the Standard Package(same as Starter Package but without the digital signal box which costs $61.99 per month) for free the past 8 months. I actually have the Limited Basic which cost $19.35 per month less a $10 break for 12 months because I also have their high speed Internet. That part is great. I could not get a word in edgewise, as the agent was trying to explain to me how once the switch to Hi-def, Comcast was cutting off all the “freeloaders” from getting more than they were paying for. It would have been nice to get a letter with my monthly bill or a call or email saying that they were going to downgrade my service before it happened. Instead I’m wondering for 2 days if something was wrong. So I told the agent that I would be looking into DirectTV or one of the other services that offer more for your money and better customer service. All he said was that’s your choice. Plus my monthly bill has gone up a couple of dollars each month for the last six months, without any explanations. I’m not a happy customer today.
does anyone know how to get in touch with someone higher than the supervisors at the call centers? I was given the name/number of a supervisor to call by a call center rep, and he will not return my calls.
I need the next step – Please Help!
I can’t believe this has happened to so many people with comcast.
My story actually mirrors Debs. They quote a price, channels don’t show up…we call to confirm again….price is confirmed…channels don’t show up…called again….oops, no record found and that price is not available. 3 hours on the phone with folks who read scripts and work for greedy scumbags. I hate Comcast.
I was warned, repeatedly, about Comcast service but I went with them anyway. I wanted faster internet service and AT&T kept telling me I could have U-Verse “Very Soon”. That was almost two years ago. So against my better judgment and the advice of my friends who have Comcast I switched. Setting up the internet account was fairly easy. I purchased the modem so I didn’t have to deal with Comcast. I needed the current technology in order to add a VoIP phone (Not Comcast) and didn’t want the hassle of last year’s refurbished equipment. Contacting them is painful to say the least. I can’t remember how long I was on hold and bounced from one person to the other. I hate to admit it but I have been a cable customer of theirs for years. It’s basic cable because I have DirecTV which is much better. I only have the cable to get the local Connecticut stations. The cable account has been paperless billing and automatic payment since they first offered it. The internet is not bad at this point. The speed was not bad most of the time. I came home yesterday and my daughter informed me that the internet was down. Not a big problem, it’s happened before, just a simple reset and we’re back online. Not this time. No internet or cable. So I placed a call to Comcast. Should be a simple explanation. Actually it was really simple, according to their records I hadn’t paid my bill. The last payment they had was an automatic one in December. I never received an email, phone call or letter about this from Comcast. Over the course of the next hour and a half I spoke to three people who could not explain why my automatic payment had been turned off. There were a lot of theories, “You must have turned it off” They had no record of that. “You changed credit cards and didn’t tell us” Nope! “Your credit card was declined” Nope! I actually verified this with the credit card company.
The customer service rep said she could take a payment for the amount due on the account and take care of the situation. No problem, I gave her the credit card number, yes the same one that is on my automatic payment account, and she said “You are all set, is there anything else I can do for you?” I said, “let me make sure I can log in to my email before I let you go.” I was rather shocked by the response, “Oh, it will take from 24 to 72 hours to get your service restored.” As a comparison, DirecTV stays on the line with you until you verify that you are receiving all the stations you subscribe to (I have changed out a few receivers over the years).
At this point I needed a supervisor who could make a decision and get me turned back on. Much to my amazement, she confirmed 24 – 72 hours “unless I wanted to go to the “local” Comcast office and pay the amount in cash. Once I realized she was going to do nothing for me I ended the call. The local office is only about half an hour out of the way when I go to work. So this morning, off I go to the “local” Comcast office that opens at 8:00 (or as I soon found out, 8:00 is merely a suggestion). So in to the office I go when it opened at about 8:25. I was the only one there so I thought I would be able to take care of this quickly (the concept of dealing with Comcast is new to me, I have so much to learn). After watching the rep brush off his coat, fold his gloves, put his lunch away, rearrange his post-it notes, sharpen his pencils, and a few other critical tasks it was time to pay my bill and be on the way. Not exactly, I had to tell the whole story again but I knew I was walking away with my internet and cable working because the supervisor last night told me exactly what I had to do. After being accused of maxing out my credit card (the reason the automatic payment was not taken) to paying the wrong account (that’s a whole other adventure. My wife set up an account for our son in college. Thankfully she deals with Comcast on that one). I was then informed that it would be up to a week before my account was turned back on. He finally said the best he could do was tomorrow. I left thinking it was scheduled for tomorrow. Wrong again, I think because nobody can tell me what’s going on.
I thought I would log in to my account and see if the payment had been received and check the automatic payment but I was completely locked out. No way to check anything at Comcast, even email. Unfortunately this goes on and on. I spent another hour and a half on the phone with Comcast trying to get this situation rectified. I spoke to a CS rep that was friendly; she even went in and “fixed” my automatic payment account because “whoever went in there did something so payments weren’t being made”. She saw that I made the payment last night but could not understand why my account was not working. I think she was on a VoIP phone because the echo was horrible. It probably took twice as long because I could not understand her. I finally asked for a supervisor hoping I would get a better connection.
I got a better connection and the supervisor said since Comcast’s computer system had not updated, the payment was not showing in my account. I had confirmed with the credit card company that Comcast had received the payment early in the morning. He could not understand how the previous CS rep knew the exact amount I had paid when she told me is was credited to my account. He told me it takes 24 – 26 hours for payments to be credited to accounts because of Comcast’s computer system. He said once the payment is credited to my account it should be turned back on. The remainder of the conversation made me feel like a character in Catch-22. I have to log in to my account to see if the payment has been posted so I can talk to somebody about turning my account back on so I can get my email and set up automatic payment even though he confirmed that automatic payment is enabled for my account.
I’m not sure what Comcast’s forte is but I’m going to guess that it’s customer service.
Onward through the fog!
Deb: A co-worker has Direct TV. We live in the Mid-Atlantic region where we’ve had a lot of snow. He’s switching to cable or FIOS because every time it snows, rains, or gets overcast, he loses half his channels. He was watching the Olympics last night and his signal just faded out to snow. They artfully avoid that subject in those Direct TV ads where the pitchman says “Don’t be that guy!” Yeah. I DON’T want to be that guy!)