Comcast Must Die

This must be your first experience with Comspastic service? Otherwise your shock and anger would be replaced with resignation and disgust. We see the ads all the time offering great deals to new victims, I mean subscribers...but Heaven help you if you're a current subscriber. What amazes me is that thirty years in, cable marketers can't come up with anything better than a teaser rate, followed by a rolloff of subscribers once the teaser rate goes away, followed by another teaser rate. How about this, Brian: instead of spending all that money on postcards, hire enough people to answer the phones and solve some problems?

I canceled my subscription last Fall. They cut my cable with the explanation that, '...some people in your neighborhood are not paying for their service, so we cut off the whole Wrigley neighborhood and then reconnect those who call us up...' Nice. After 3 weeks of waiting to get reconnected, I received about $150 worth of service as compensation and then canceled as soon as I could. It astonishes me that they spend so much money on advertising and so little on customer service.

Is there a Comcast customer who hasn't been through Bob Garfield's pain??? A friend of mine has a multi-chapter story that is on par with Garfield's. Their service provider network is in drastic need of overhaul. Perhaps the right hand and left hand should talk once in awhile. Trish Orman, Pueblo, Colorado

You got an appointment on a Sunday?!?!?! I had to take two half days off work because the guy who was supposed to show up on the first appt didn't and then was found sleeping in his van.

why doesn't goodby resign the business?

Wait till it all settles down, then expect blackouts...sorry, I mean "service interruptions." I mean phone, TV, Internet all down at once. Happened once when my AT&T cell service was also down. Digital solitary confinement. Suggest dumping the phone at minimum. Forget the free service. Run while you can.

The worst part is that their competitors (e.g. Verizon) are no better. Customer service is a bitter pill for these companies -- one they'd rather not swallow.

Just remember, the goverment broke up the old AT&T so they would have competition and the public would get "better service."

Have had my "just one moment" with Comcast - just as I did with AT&T, Verizon, Sprint & many others. I think it's nature of the beast - lingering monopoly /civil service mentality, too many acquisitions, breakups & recombinations in a brutally competitive price-driven market. Give it more time - like another 30 years.
Bennett Zucker

It's not much better with Cablevision here in New York. I've got the same "Triple Play" package....sounded great but the reality is: after 2 years my phone still doesn't do all it's supposed to. Call Waiting is a LOUD CRASHING SOUND that interrupts any call I'm on. Leaving me and the person I'm talking to to scream "Hello? Hello? Are you still there?" Cablevision's answer: "Your phone must be too close to the cable." Almost every single call I make breaks down into pulsating interruptions. So instead of hearing " How are you today?", I hear "-ow -re -ou -day?". I hang up and redial nearly 100% of all calls. Cablevision's answer: "We don't see any problem, maybe you need to disconnect your converter and plug your phone into your computer." Huh??? And speaking of my computer, they "ugraded my service" and the result is slower than ever service and the web pages are too large for the screen. I have to manually adjust them now. Their response after not being able to fix it "It must be your computer.". Not true, my computer is more than adequate to handle anything. Oh, and if anyone can get the Auto-Callback feature to work, let me know. They have never been able to get it up & running. Their response? "Oh, it's not working?". Makes me miss the old days of NY Telephone.

It happens all over the world, all the time.
Patricio Cavalli
Buenos Aires, Argentina

I am increasingly convinced that the cable/internet/phone service cabal is the repository for all of the ignorance, incompetence and idiocy in the world not currently spoken for by the current occupant of the white house. That they have the unmitigated gall to use the word "service" in reference to what they do is a grammatical crime against humanity.

Comcast and their ilk would seem to have taken to heart (assuming they have one) the you'll-get-nothing-and-like-it approach first popularized by banks a few years back. Of course, as any smart drug dealer will tell you, when you've got something people think they need, you don't have to be nice about providing it.

God bless you for speaking the truth. My weekend project is filling in the holes Comcast punched through my house and did not fix.

Guy was late, put the cable box in the living room, the modem in the bedroom, had me sign a piece of paper... all without saying a word AND not giving me a copy of what I signed, which ticked me off to say the least. Since I am not technologically inclined, my roommate and I had to call them back for another guy to come out and hook it all up. We waited for 6 hours... he never came. The guy who actually did show up the next day claimed we couldn't get cable in our bedrooms... bs if you ask me. At least he got the internet working. The other guy had left us a broken modem... which he would have found out if he bothered to hook it up, like he is paid to do! We asked for a refund for all installation fees and three billing statements later we actually got it. I actually think they overcompensated us! Seriously, if there was anyone better around, I'd switch in a heartbeat. - E Armstrong, Dallas, TX

I haven't had any issues with Comcast yet but I haven't changed service or done anything different. I just watch our bill go up each month or so it seems. Services is the same. Hmm? I had an experience with Charter One. They disconnected my parents cable service because they said that my parents were getting divorced. They had us confused with another neighbor who had the same sounding last name but the spelling was different. Attention to details is not their strong suit. They lived on the same road but different number. I'm arguing with customer service about the fact that my parents were not getting divorced and they have us confused. I did not know about the neighbor with the similar last name nor that they lived up the street from us. I found out later. I kind of thought this was the case but the woman on the other end would not entertain this notion and look into the matter. She just wanted to argue. I got them to write an apology letter because we were so angry with their arrogance. They could never make a mistake. The apology letter was bizarre because they didn't accept any responsibility for their error. They could have been politicians. It was like, we are writing this letter because it was requested but we don't see how what we did was wrong. It was something to that effect. How about you can't read or pay attention to details? It was not us and you turned our cable off. Some driver crashed in front of my parents house and caused power to be out during Christmas and the weekend. My stepchildren came over and there wasn't tv. The horror! I don't care but it keeps them happy and from having to hear, we're bored because they won't bring stuff with them to do because they are too lazy. I can only do so much. I am only the stepmom. I would pack stuff but I just can't do that or I would. Charter One is just as bad as Comcast. I'm not impressed with Time Warner either. It just goes to show what we think will be true is often not. Competition can make things worse because once services are equal, the only thing to differentiate is price. That's not good for anyone because customer service is cut. We need to get rid of the neocons who want to keep everything the "same." They are in perpetual denial.

We are going through a similar nightmare right now. We have had 3 visits by these incompetent fools, who installed the WRONG box twice and it started overheating. Then they were supposed to call us back, they didn't. After multiple more calls by us, we make yet another appointment for 6PM sharp for yesterday. The morons show up at 4:00, no one is there and they leave. We called back to speak with the person who made the appointment, and guess what? It's his day off! Tonight (yeah right!) they are scheduled to show up again (5th attempt) to put in the right box. Third world countries do better. Why do we allow these JERKS to remain in business. LEts get these complaints to the people who need to see them at Comcast. In any other industry, this would not fly. Why does it fly with this one?
Jill Tanenbaum, Bethesda, Maryland

A consumer Jihad is exactly what is needed. Perhaps what should be done is to buy the web domain ComcastMustDie.com and establish a blog so that all of the folks that have been screwed by Comcast can tell their story. You could put a link to the new Comcast Jihad website and release a press release to drive traffic to the site. The anger and disgust expressed there would be huge.

There is no doubt that Comcast is a serial abuser of its customer's time of the worst kind, much like the much maligned Home Depot, only worst. Given the depth and pervasiveness of this abuse one can only assume it is an intentional tactic to increase profits at the expense of customers.

Perhaps if the noise gets loud enough, they'll run Brian out on a rail much like Bob at Home Depot. Of course, he'll probably be a much richer wiesel like Bob, even given the massive amount of abuse afflicted on customers.

Bob Babcock- Atlanta, GA

I actually have a pretty good track record with Time Warner Cable in NYC. However, when I moved into my new apartment a year ago I had a nightmare experience with Verizon for my home phone service. Without going into details, it took a few weeks to sort out (included a tech that supposedly showed up to do the install but didn't need to come to my apartment to make sure it worked - it didn't).

I have learned my lesson and will not bundle all my services with one company to prevent digital isolation when something goes wrong.

Actually, I signed up for Verizon FIOS back in March. They upgraded me from a DSL package I had for a few years, and installed new fiberoptic cable from my old copper wire service. I could not be more satisfied with the installation and service. They showed up when they said they would, they explained the installation process, were reasonably neat in drilling holes, running cable, and caulking the gaps in the holes when finished. A technician came on a Sunday (a day after the installation was finished) to review the internet and phone service features (I did not get their TV service - we prefer the local news coverage channel Cablevision provides). When I did have questions, particularly with speed issues, I called customer service, and they were helpful, courteous, and overall terrific, and solved the problem to boot.

Those Comcastards!

This is why I moved to DirecTV years ago. (although I am stuck with Time warner for my broadband). DirectTV's service on the phone is outstanding - they can do a lot from HQ without a visit, and when I have needed a visit (only twice in 10 years) our local service people have been on time and competent.

yeah, like everyone else I lived through comcast hell with loss of service, knucklehead installers making the situation worse, multiple visits from 'technicians' breezing through my house for minutes at a time, and then the signing ritual. Ever look at those after they jam them in your face before they run out the door? False start and stop times, undecipherable work descriptions, etc.

So I left the country and moved to Germany -- the land of precision and efficiency. Right. T Mobile, called TCOM here must have taken the US playbook but layered it with rules, lots and lots of rules. Install lead times is months and when questioned about why "zeese are zee rules!" If you call 'customer service' you are charged 13 cents per minute including wait time. How is that for rules! As long as there are monopolistic providers you will find basically the same crappy situation no matter where you live.

I have had similar issues with Comcast. Over a month to get a cable hook-up and each time they arrived they were more than a day late, no explaination, and kept bringing a single DVR tuner when I kept requesting a Dual. Each service repairman swore he brought a dual. Having to wait another 2-3 weeks for them to come out and change out the single for a dual. They did this for six months before finally bringing me a dual tuner. I spent my entire work days waiting for them to show and they never did, never picked up the phone, and never returned a call. Funny, the only thing they ever did on time was cash my check.

Uh, I guess I'm an exception. I have both Comcast cable and internet service, and whenever I've had a problem with either, the Customer Service folks have been able to help me over the phone. Granted, they do constantly call me to try to get me to switch my phone service to them, too. However, the doorbell system in our building is tied to the phone service, so if anyone gets VOIP service, they can't use the door buzzer. I found that out at 2 am when an inebriated friend of one of my neighbors kept buzzing my apartment to get let in. I refused to do so since I didn't know her. Ended up having to call the police to get her to stop, and told the building manager about it. They told the other tenant to either get off the cable phone service or work out some other way to get their friends into the building without bothering somebody else. That's why I won't go VOIP.

I am tickled by these posts. There are very few institutions in this society that inspire the hatred I feel towards COMCAST. I too, wasted an entire Saturday at home in Jersey City waiting for the installer to show up. Of course, he never did, and when I called to inquire - the operator said he came by and nobody was home - a blatant lie. Customer service offered nothing for my inconvenience - I wasn't even given priority in rescheduling. I hung up and immediately ordered DIRECT TV - COMCAST CAN KISS MY ASS!

I'm thinking about having t-shirts printed up that say "I am a Comcast Survivor." I'd probably get rich selling them in the Bonita Springs, Fla. area where I live. When we moved to our new house in February, I decided to take advantage of Comcast's heavily-promoted "special offer" of $33 a month each for internet and digital phone service (cable tv is provided by our homeowner association.) I had no gray hair at the time. Now my hair is almost white. In my 55 years, Comcast is, unequivocally, the WORST, most INEPT company with which I've ever dealt. It took two days (two separate installers) to install the equipment -- requiring me to stay home both days to let the Comcast people in "between 1 and 5 pm." The internet worked for a week, after which I could only get a "Welcome to Comcast" screen that wouldn't allow me to go any farther. Luckily, I was able to pick up a neighbor's wireless internet signal. The phone line was down for 5 of the first 20 days; when I called (on my cell naturally, once waiting more than an hour to speak with a human who, it turned out, was, in the "billing" department and said she didn't know why the call had been routed to her -- she guessed it was because there were so many complaints their customer service agents couldn't handle them), I was informed they didn't know when the phone service in our area would be resumed because there were equipment problems. When my first bill arrived, it was for nearly $200. Comcast billing personnel informed me their installers had installed the wrong internet equipment, for which I was being charged. A supervisor finally conceded there had been a mistake on their end which, she said, happens often because someone in the local office who takes orders doesn't quite understand the differences between Comcast's various services. When I would call the internet service line, as I did almost every day, the people on the other end were clueless and said the internet should be working. Some of them questioned why the installer had installed the make and model of modem he had chosen, saying it was the weirdest configuration they had ever seen, and asking me why I specified that. I replied that all I had requested from the git-go was internet service and I assumed Comcast knew what equipment needed installing. I could go on and on but that would give me flashbacks and I'm trying to forget the nightmare so suffice it to say I finally --after three months -- called Embarq, which had provided service to our old home (poorly I might add -- I was glad to be rid of them when we moved but little did I know what was in store for me) and they came out and installed high-speed DSL and unlimited telephone service -- at a cost of only $3 per month more than Comcast. I hugged the Embarq installer as if he were liberating me from prison. He said he spends his days servicing former Comcast customers who are fed up and are going back to Embarq. When I took the equipment Comcast had installed back to my local Comcast office, there was a line out the front door of people doing the same thing. Those of us waiting in the line exchanged Comcast horror stories. Once I had my receipt for the equipment, I ran to my car, rolled up the windows and whooped with glee and relief. Oh yes, I almost forgot -- one time Comcast came out to shut off a neighbor's phone and cable service but cut our lines instead. And I would be remiss not to mention that, in the three months I was a Comcast customer, I received numerous "customer satisfaction" surveys by phone (they called my cell -- a good thing because they probably couldn't have reached me had they called on their line because it rarely worked) and by mail. Each time I responded that Comcast was the WORST company ever. Last but not least, every time I called, I was asked for my home phone number. Each time agents replied they had no record of that number! A horror show.

Getting cable television is wasted time that leads to wasted time. I get netflix and pick things up off itunes when I know I want to watch something. Comcast's service is bad for the whole Ad industry. L Spencer, Los Angeles, California

Comcast is THE WORST. It took three service visits to install our bundle. The first time the repair man was 45 minutes late, making me wait a total of 4 hs, 45 mins (I am still waiting for the $20 credit I was promised 3X as part of their OTG, "on-time guarentee"). He did not check to see if the cable box worked before he left. It did not. Neither did the phone. The second service man said he was not trained to fix the phone, only the cable, but he did not have a new cable box - what do they keep in that van for service and installation calls?! After a third visit and probably four hours on the phone and 12+ hours waiting for repairmen, our cable was set up. And this is the truncated version of the ordeal. I would give DC DMV higher marks (anyone who lives in DC knows this is low). Wish I had other options, but since I rent, they are limited. -K. BAYER, WASHINGTON DC

Yikes - sounds like my experiences in all but one instance. I originally had Comcast cable TV and Internet services (fefore that was someone else, and before that ...). Cocmast started out many years ago as a conscientious service provider.

As the time grew closer to their buy-out from TimeWarner, the service deteriorated. Once the buy-out was completed, and after numerous ads telling me I was going to love TimeWarner, I found that out of all the carriers I've had over the past 20 years, TimeWarner was perhaps the pitifully worst. After 1 year I bailed (although I still have their internet service at a reduced price). We're totally happy with DIRECTV, - although it is not without its problems - but here's the point:

The service providers (all of them) spend most of their money buying out other providers. Each wants to dominate everything you bring into your home - phone, TV and internet service. instead of spending money on infrastructure to provide a higher quality product, they spend it on interest. As consumers we are getting more choices, which ultimately will be the reason things improve. Until then, no matter who the provider is, I'm afraid we'll get more of the same type of customer service that is described in this example. Come on FCC, Congress and other lame-o's - deregulate the industry, get you fat butts out of their business and allow the free market to develop competitive and quality products.

WD Santa Clarita, CA

They are THE WORST. thank you Ronald Reagan.

This article about sums it up. At least I have one other option; AT&T and the Dish Network. I know, DSL is not as good as cable but at least I have more than one choice of service providers. If At&T does not work out, then I can always go to free wifi coffee shops for internet and back to reading books for entertainment. No one said purchasing a service was mandatory and television is not a necessity.

Comcast and all other enslavement brands like them had better take note. Your days are numbered. It may not be tomorrow or next week, but soon...and for the rest of your short life. As 'consumers', we are fed up with the lies, the betrayal and the avoidance. Until Comcast begins seeing itself as one of two parties in a relationship and starts conducting themselves accordingly, we will continue to respond as anyone would in a forced relationship...bitter, resentful and wishing for any better alternative out there. It will come and we will be there en masse. There is a new movement afoot...empowered consumers are about to unite and I relish being there to see it. My words to Comcast? It's the relationship, stupid.
ke www.cword.org

I also have phone/TV/internet with Time Warner Cable in Torrance, CA, (they swallowed up Adelphia, as Comcast did elsewhere.) I recently got a new TV so I called TWC from my office to make sure I could go swap out my cable box for a new HD cable box at the Santa Monica office close to my work; instead of the office in Torrance closest to my house. They put me on hold for ten minutes, and then said, "Yes", no problem, you can swap boxes at any location. You can guess the rest. Drove to Santa Monica TWC office and was told, "No", you have to go to the office closest to your house. What a waste of time.
I wrote an angry letter to the President of TWC two weeks ago, with no response, and now I am adding to the pile of unsatisfied customers.
Whatever happened to Good (or even tolerable) Customer Service?!?!

I feel your pain as well. Comcast was so terrible that I switched to iTunes and DVDs for my television viewing and don't regret it. Plus I save a ton of money. Unfortunately I had to keep Comcast for my cable modem service, but I won't give them a penny more than I need to to get online, and the sooner I can switch to FiOS, WiMAX, or something else the better...

Two weekends?!?! Count yourself lucky! A year ago when we moved to Atlanta, from Dallas, I logged more than 12 hours just in phone calls trying to resolve errors.

Where possible, I have "fired" Comcast. But there are not a lot of options.

If you want results and real customer service, you have to stop dealing with their "customer service", which 9 times out of 10 is contracted out to a third party. The reason why you keep getting the run around, is that the technicians are also contracted third party companies, but not the same companies as customer service.

If you want results, go to the top. Do not write to them, but call BRIAN ROBERTS, CEO / CHAIRMAN. Call corporate headquarters at 215-665-1700 - corporate HQ is in Philadelphia, PA. I did this in Dallas, and while I did not obviously speak with Brian, I did reach an executive assistant in the executive offices who then did all the phone calling and facilitating to solve my problem.

If that doesn't help, then be patient. It is only a matter of time before cable is an outdate technology. I was so happy to hear about AppleTV, as it is the first foray into a new delivery method for television content.

If you do find a way to rally the troops, I have been thinking for a year about taking out an ad in the NY Times or the Wall Street Journal, and writing a "Dear Brian" letter, explaining why I have not only fired Comcast, but why I will never invest a dime in their stock.

I certainly hope that the title of this piece was unintentional. To post hopefully innocuous death threats and calls for Jihad on or even near a date which in our nation's history is blackly marked by such violent outpourings of emotion should be considered inappropriate at best. I understand that the everyday toils of life can be frustrating, but if lacking cable service is your biggest problem, you should be joyfully counting yourself among the most fortunate of mankind.

I do believe, pursuant to my previous comment, it is an ad agency's responsibility to tell the client that their marketing dollars would be better served if they put them into customer service. See my post here:
http://adaged.blogspot.com/2007/06/do-something-dumb.html

Eventually, some new ISP will be to Comcast, Verizon, AT&T what Toyota and Honda are to Ford and GM. As consumers we should not accept this service. Even if we have to keep buying it. WOM is powerful and if enough people say something sucks, eventually Virgin or Google will come in with an alternative.

Use of the word 'jihad' in the title of this silly rant (today of all days) was thoughtless!

RE: Use of the word "jihad" and the date. You'll note this piece was written and posted two days ago.

I had the same experience with Comcast in Washington DC. I had just moved there and had zero TV in my new apartment. I killed an entire day off of work with no comcast appointment arrival. I was accused of not being home. Rescheduling took another week. I literally had to buy a rabbit ear antenna to temporarily get some kind of TV in my home.
I have never had any experience close to this from Time Warner NYC.
Their interface is incredibly inferior to TWC as well. And they cost more.

I have to agree w/other comments about the poor comcast experience and, in the spirit of adding something positive to the universe, echo the positive experiences with both DishNetwork and Verizon FiOS. Totally professional, courteous, and refreshing after my dealings with Comcast. Too bad they're not putting the same energy into their customer experience as they do into their advertising creative.

Had similar issues with telco service in Seoul and Shanghai ("we came, no one home!") but PCCW in Hong Kong was fantastic... until it was time to move. Great phone/iptv/broadband but three months after I had cancelled my service, I was still getting billed and getting scary warning emails! Although I had actually gone in person to their customer service center to cancel and had a receipt to prove it, I was told there was no record of this transaction on their computers! Unbelievable but true. Needless to say, I never paid.

Here's thoughts, Bob, to help your Jihad:

- Choose a tag -- something easy ("Comcast Service") -- and suggest folks tag their own blog posts and videos with same. Make sure there's a subcategory area for it in Technorati. Flickr photos of any damage done in walls. YouTube videos, with responses. Etc.

- Form a Comcast Service group in Facebook. Add a voting application.

- Send this post to equity analysts who follow Comcast.

- Start a "dollar a minute rebate" campaign for every minute someone's kept on hold by customer service. Also have free month of service added for every day a tech doesn't show up during the appointed hours.

test

http://youtube.com/watch?v=iotpm5pHm_Q

Says it all, really.

Comcast mixed up some of my bills by always tacking on an extra 10 dollars here and 20 dollars there. They were always fast to make it up with heavy discounts and credits IF I called in, but I can't help but wonder how much they're getting from customers who aren't paying attention.

Also, cancelling is a nightmare. Don't dare misplace the receiver set or you'll owe Comcast an outrageous figure just short of $850. Don't forget the remote - that's another $45. May God have mercy on your wallet if you have multiple receivers.

Installation, now that was pleasant for me. In Boston I received an installation appointment scheduled a full 2.5 weeks away. The wait was a bit torturous but the installation person was courteous enough to call my cell early in the day to notify me about when he'd be showing up during the scheduled 3 hour time block. He promptly did the job and I'll add - was pretty good looking. I know that tale belongs on "Ripley's believe it or not" given Comcast's track record but its true!

Bob -- Had the same experience here in Bethesda, MD and wound up with more than 6 months of free service. Switched to FIOS for web & DirectTV after my free period ended. I had been a Comcast customer in PA & MD for over 7 years! They lost me forever. Have now switched to FIOS for TV service as well and it has been fantastic.

Bellsouth is just as bad. I ordered DSL and they came out and turned off my phone then switched it to my neighbors and I finally had phone and dsl a few after I was supposed to. Mike, Fort Lauderdale.

I have had the same experience with Comcast recently. I would love a "do it yourself" kit to hook up cable. If some idiot who can barely tell time can do it, why can't an idiot like myself do it?!?

amen

Try ClearWire for your internet. Much much better and you don't need installation from a technician. Just plug and surf!

So glad i'm not the only one!
At our house, we've turned their word "comcastic" into the household word for crap/nonworking/ineffective/useless/shitty/etc.

I have had similar experiences with Comcast. The first tech showed up on a Saturday and didn't even work for Comcast!! They had outsourced the repair to some joker that spent most of the time chatting on his cell phone. Monday I called Steve Burke's. I told the receptionist I was calling about HIS CAR and she put me through to his office immediately! Problem was solved within a few hours after they sent out a supervisor and lead tech together. I received numerous follow-up phone calls and a card from Philadelphia. Anymore I go straight to HQ with problems.

Time Warner is just as bad. Pretty much word for word the same thing happened to me when I went for the All-In-On/All-My-Money package. A no show, hours on the phone. No call-backs. Phone service that still didn't get turned on for weeks (they kept explaining that the order was entered wrong - but still not fixing it). To make matters worse, they only credited my around a week's service. If you want everything combined, it's a monopoly and they have you by the balls. I don't see this changing. - L.F. New York, NY

Thanks Bob for starting this movement for fairness - I've come across these postings on other sites in our Worldwide Web... they treat their employees like $H!T so it's no wonder that this top down mentality is carried over to us consumers. Perhaps these comments will humanize the issue in this desensitized corporate controlled world. We need a REVOLUTION to fix this imbalance. So thanks for starting it with your mega-platform.

http://www.indeed.com/forum/cmp/Comcast/05390c183c137e1c757d4a?p=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3l5O5xWlvo

My Comcast disaster story involves the attempted interface between Comcast and my favorite old (new) technology, TIVO.

I was an early TIVO user and advocate, some would say fanatic. I had three TIVO boxes and only gave them up when I switched to HD TV's. They degraded the signal so much the other benefits were not worth it. So I switched to the Comcast DVR. Same as TIVO, right? Not even close. Although it did record in HD, the interface was clumsy, I never saw the end of a live event, and I was constantly missing programs I thought I had recorded. Comcast makes a bad DVR.
Then I saw a review of the new TIVO HD. I read everything I could, and then called TIVO to see if it worked with Comcast. "Absolutely", they said. It works great with Comcast. You need to get two "cable cards". Uh-oh. ..I called Comcast to get the cable cards and the operator said they did not work with TIVO. "Are you sure?" I asked. "TIVO told me they did work." So back to TIVO. "Oh, you need to talk to a supervisor. The best way is for the three of us to get on the phone together. I would be happy to set up that call if you would like." So I got on a three-way call between two companies that hate each other and me. Very strange.

After some coaxing by the TIVO rep, the Comcast supervisor admitted that the cable cards did indeed work with TIVO, but we needed to set up a service call to get them installed. Now, let me tell about a different experience I have had with Comcast repair and installation technicians. They ALWAYS show up on time at my house. I think it's because they know exactly where I live. They have been to my house nine times; no kidding, nine times. There's the inside the house guy who never talks to the outside the house guy. The cable guy, the internet guy, the phone guy.... And nobody talks to anyone else. They keep coming back to fix stuff the other guy messed up.

Back to TIVO. On the allotted day, at roughly the allotted time my repair technician, a guy with whom I am on a first name basis, arrives at the house. His greeting to me was: "I hate cable cards, they never work." "Why do you want TIVO?" "The Comcast DVR is great.""This will never work.""Did you know you can't get a program guide with cable cards?" I said, "Hi Joe, let's give it a try." Comcast must LOVE this guy, I'll bet he's employee of the month.

Installation of cable cards involves plugging the cards into two slots in TIVO, then calling a super-secret number and reading a bunch of numbers to the rep on the other end of the phone.After a lot of banter between the cable guy and the rep, with the cable guy repeating: "This is never going to work", I started seeing channels appear on the TV. Once that happened, the cable guy was out of my house like a circus clown shot out of cannon. His last words were: "Good luck with that mess."

Man I love TIVO. I'm getting all my shows, never miss the end of a live event and there is even a bunch of new stuff that comes over the internet. TIVO is back, and it's better than ever.

The really unfortunate part is what Comcast has done to poor TIVO. Here's a company that should own the world, but can't get out of its own way from a marketing standpoint. I know as a media guy I'm supposed to hate TIVO, but have you seen the new internet stuff you can do? It's really cool.

So, as an end to the story, my cable bill is all screwed up with these people coming to the house all the time. I'm not surprised they can't get it right. My wife called to straighten out the bill and at the end of the conversation she asked the rep if she had heard of TIVO. "Yes", she said, "That's for satellite."

Bob, I pretty much signed created a profile on AdAge simply to comment on your story. While I was furious at Atlanta's local telecom provider and it's awful job of installation that went similar to your but a little less dragged out, it only lasted a little while. Then I read your article and the memory brought the anger back, better than ever. Charter Communications is who provides all the schmucks who don't get Comcast in the Atlanta area with an even worse product, because you are referred to the service first (upon move in to a sponsored apartment area like mine) by a brochure that tells you to call the local rep. I did that and all was well. For 40 bucks (a promo rate that lasted a year, which sounded alright) I got blazing fast 5 meg internet. Installation was maddening since they too wasted a weekend of mine. I was so happy to wait since I was finally going to be connected to the world. No such luck, no phone call. I called the rep, who was in the grand canyon, and she actually did it all straightened out. The installation came a week late, but oh well. Things were going fine...until the bill came. 40 bucks grew up...it became 58. Well, sir, we're showing that you don't have any other services with us, and for that we charge an extra 10 or 15 bucks. I can't remember which amount it was, it may have even been more it's been so long ago. This fee is not marked down in any of the literature I have. It wasn't mentioned AT ALL by the useless, clueless and apparently "missing" rep; I called her with a very blunt message about this issue, she never called back. Good thing she's in sales. I've had ex-girlfriends call back after WORSE sounding messages. I squeezed the customer service person, or thing, since she sounded dead-ish, for a mere 20 dollar credit, which was only a one time thing, since "now, sir, you're informed of the full cost, and it's your ability to cancel service if you so wish." To Comcast and Charter I say this: enjoy your monopolies while they last, for they won't. To customer service and sales reps I say this: do your damn jobs and "serve" the "customer", because as horribly unqualified as you sound and undoubtedly are, you -too- are human and know the feeling of being ripped off. Maybe internet service is a hassle you have the perks to avoid, but auto mechanics are still out there. Ha! For that matter so are building contractors, and repairmen...plumbers...PC-buying...bedding and furniture salesmen...

The main problem with getting Comcast to fulfill an appointment is that the majority of the installers are contractors and not Comcast employees.

I work for Comcast in MD. You people are the reason half of us employees hate our jobs and 95% of us hate all customers. You are disgusting and pathetic. First of all, our residential services are for entertainment purposes only. Stop being cheap bastards and pay for the business services if you're running a business out of your home. If you were smart and did what you're supposed to do when you receive a contract of some sort, you would know that we have NO obligation to fix your downed services within a few hours...residential services are guaranteed a time frame within 24 hours, and it doesn't have to be one you like or take...it just has to be available. So when you get fired from your half ass job at the newspaper because you were too cheap to pay up, we can and should laugh in your face. Second, there's NO reason why you should NEED cable to survive! Read a damn book, do a puzzle with your family. What did you do 10 years ago when you couldn't get online because your dial-up modem wasn't working? YOU FOUND SOMETHING ELSE TO DO! Find something else to complain about, please. I can answer any complaint you have. #1:Why are your techs late? Well they're late because you dumb freaking people don't mention half of your problems when on the phone with customer service scheduling the tech...so when the techs get out to the jobs, they almost always take longer than expected...resulting in the tech being late to other appointments. #2:Why am I on hold so long? Because you people call for each and every thing! Your TV is not Comcast's responsibility. Comcast is responsible for Comcast equipment...not your shitty Sony that suddenly stopped having sound. When the sound cuts off for 3 seconds, comes back, and it's still working--don't call in! You're making life harder on yourself! And you're making life harder on other Comcast customers who have a VALID reason for calling in. Oh another thing...half the time the problem with your cable is the shitty wiring that was previously installed in your home, NOT COMCAST'S RESPONSIBILITY! haha! You bought an old dilapidated house with old funky internal wiring. That's your problem, do NOT call into Comcast and scream til you're blue in the face. We can fix it, but yes, you are going to be charged. Why? Well like I said-NOT COMCAST'S EQUIPMENT! I came across this site full of pathetic people posting pathetic stories on accident...and I'm glad I did. You have all given me even more of a reason to talk down to you when you call in. Oh, and those promotions you would get if you were nice? Yeah--no luck in hell now. Hope you guys are happy!

I have a few quick things to say. It is very pleasant to me to read multiple posts regarding Comcast and their all around awfulness. I personally think Cable companies that offer phone service is a complete joke. If you need phone service, why not call a traditional regulated phone company. Since they are government regulated, they have to deal with your complaints in a timely manner e.g. If your phone service goes out they are required by law to fix it within 24 hours or they will get fined. Second, if you're looking for a "triple play" almost all phone companies offer them, AT&T, Verizon, Embarq, and so on. Many of these companies offer a variety of triple plays starting at only $90 per month. Finally, if you get some incompetent representative on the phone that cannot assist you, hang up and see if the next one is better. If not call back and keep trying, you're eventually going to get someone that takes pride in their job and will make sure they get the job done. If that never works, make sure you get names and employee identification numbers and if they do a crappy job, you can go online an register a formal complaint and use that information to your advantage. And last but not least, if you are with a phone company and are thinking about "switching to cable" for your phone service, take a minute and think about it real hard. You'll be glad you did.

Happily divorced from Comcast --- and married (happily) to Verizon for their Triple Play and FIOS. Thank God. No wonder Verizon is kicking Comcast's butt, after our experience, and that of many neighbors.

The post near the top of this list of posts really says it all --- the one from one Amanda Johnson, of Pasadena, MD. Even if it is a fake, it might as well not be. I hope Comcast found her and fired her, if she is for real. She probably got a promotion though!

Who can blame the lady described in the Wash Post article a few months back:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...101702359.html
Note the reference to the Advertising Age article, too.

Note also: YouTube video, re Comcast guy who came to a customer's home and FELL ASLEEP on her couch, and still did not complete the work. It made national news.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvVp7b5gzqU

Oh, by the way, based on what neighbors here have experienced when ditching Comcast, if you decide to disconnect the service, you may also face hassles, like the person who posted this, at YouTube (currently on page 2 of comments associated with that video). . . :

"You can't blame him, because COMCAST does everything extremely SLOW. Their service is real bad. I disconnect the service 2 months ago, continue receive the accumulate bill from them until now, I called many times tried to correct it. They said it will take "A WHILE" for a technician to go out there to disconnect it. Last week I received a bill from a collection agency even after I paid the actual final prorate bill to them. "

Here's one more:
http://wereindebt.com/day-429-comcas...ice-nightmare/

I could go on and on about friend's and neighbors' poor customer-service experiences, too, but will not, for the sake of brevity. (Oops. too late for that! ha ha.)
Seriously, you might want to look at other options, if there even ARE any where you live. Don't fall for Comcast's massive (and occasionally clever) ad campaign.

I just read the comments from the COMCAST customer service representative and was shocked. Yes, I'm sure you get a lot of calls from people that don't understand something or are calling for the wrong reasons. But, rest assured, there are a lot of legitimate compaints. I've had problems with equipment and wiring and splitters that weren't left over from previous homeowners or old, COMCAST installed this wiring. I was told by technicians that they put too many outlets on one splitter and the signals weren't reaching all the boxes. My question is, why wasn't it installed correctly by the technicians the first time ? Why did I have to experience problems and have to call them back out ? Would Amanda Johnson of COMCAST call me an idiot too ? Perhaps she would try to blame it on me.

Ms. Johnson should rethink her career choice. I work as a Customer Service Supervisor at a very large mailing organization and I handle customer complaints every day. Even if the customer is at fault or doesn't understand something, I still politely explain everything to them. Sure, they screw up sometimes and many times I have to fix their errors. I still am very patient and happy to help them anyway and I let them know it. That is what I'm being paid for ! Perhaps COMCAST should invest in training for their customer service staff and supervisors, it is apparent that it is desperately needed.

ABSOLUTE HORRIBLE Comcast customer service in Chicago !!!
My Comcast cable goes out every 3 weeks - like clockwork. I get the following message:
ONE MOMENT PLEASE, THE CHANNEL WILL BE AVAILABLE SHORTLY
This has been going on since January 2008. It is now early May 2008.

When I go into the Main Menu -> Cable Setup -> Display, it shows Disconnected - Not Connected. I tried to explain this to Comcast and was told my cable is out because the box was physically disconnected and I needed to re-connect the box. What ?!?! If the box was disconnected, how am I able to go inside the Cable Main Menu and read this to them ?? This proved that Comcast knows NOTHING about their equipment nor how it's works.

I have called Comcast easily over a dozen times and what do/did I get:
1) Hung-up on.
2) Techs no-call, no-show.
3) Lied to - Repeatedly by Comcast about the scheduled day/time when the tech was "suppose" to arrive. This part is really really bad and apparently legendary. Countless times I was told that a tech will to arrive between 8 & noon or between 1 & 5PM and like an idiot, I waited - and waited - and waited - and waited. Called Comcast, like every hour to check on my scheduled appointment: no clue, I mean totally clueless - hugh waste of time. I was told they have no control over dispatches. And yet, you have to contact them to schedule a dispatch. What the HELL !?!?
4) Techs, if and/or when they do show up, have absolutely no clue on what is the problem and apparently why they were dispatched - I guess they are told to just show up.
5) And most importantly, tech not fixing the problem as my cable went out Tuesday, May 06 and is still out.

The few and I do mean few techs that did show up told me the following:
the problem is with the signal - the problem is not with the signal - the problem is outside - the problem is inside - when this happens, to call Comcast and have them send an INT signal to the boxes. This is like wiping out and re-sending the cable box configs any Favorite Cable Channels settings are gone. But you have to beg and plead with Comcast to do this and this is a TEMPORARY FIX. A few weeks later, cable goes out.

Another tech told me directly to -my -face to call Comcast and cancel the service as this would get their attention to fix the problem. I could not believe a Comcast tech was telling me to do this.

At others times I was told that the tech would come out and replace both HD cable boxes. Techs, again the few that did show up, were empty-handed - no replacement cable boxes. Techs did not know what I was talking about when I asked where were the new boxes. Comcast told me that they were sending out a tech to replace the boxes. Their reply was they were not sent to replace anything - and then asked, once again, "what is the problem ??" It is as if for the past 5 months, I have been talking to an empty phone in an empty room. Again, tech shows up with no clue on the reason they were dispatched - they just show up - and even that's a maybe - they may show up or they may not. No one knows.

I chatted via their chatroom last night about this 5 month old trouble to Francis. This one stated that their Engineering Department is aware of the "issue" and are working on it right now. Sure they are !!!! When asked was exactly was the "issue", she replied I needed to contact some local office, as she " could not " tell me directly. I again pressed abouth this mysterious " issue ", only to be told information about it cannot be given out. Huh ??? I replied that it sounds like they already knew there was some kind of trouble and failed to notify the customer. Also, this " issue " is only affecting me. I live in a building with 90+ units, yet this " issue " is only affecting me - only ME. This was sounding like some kind of BS, big time.

I have been in the customer support field for over 10 years with many different companies and have NEVER seen such BAD service as Comcast. It is as if they are deaf, dumb and blind to the ability of providing SERVICE to

their CUSTOMER. Isn't that what they are suppose to do ?? Customer Service means giving Service to the Customer.

Where is the follow-up call to the customer to confirm that they are back up and working ?? Where is the call to the customer to let them know the tech is running a little late ?? Or cannot make the scheduled appointment ?? Why do I, the customer have to call the provider to find out what is going on ?? Common courtesy dictates a call TO the customer would be nice, instead of a pissed-off call FROM the customer.

What is needed is another cable provider in Chicago. I will take ANYONE/ANYTHING over Comcast, I wish I could get satellite service, but I live in a condo that faces East. For satellite service, like Direct TV, I need to have an unobstructed view of the southwest sky.

Apparently I am left with no choice but to cancel service as the cable goes out at will with no fix and no cares/concerns from Comcast. None at all.

I pray to God in Heaven to please let Verizon FIOS, RCN, WOW-Wide Open West, or ANYONE get in my area.

and provide cable television service - and FAST !!!

First of all it is so good to know that I am not alone. I have truly been through hell with comcast. I was offered this special price for the internet, phone and cable TV. The price first quoted was a lie. I have had problems on top of problems - I can never get a call back and after talking to 6 different representatives no two has given me the same information. Asking to speak to a supervisor is a total waste of time. At the end of each conversation they all have the audacity to ask me the same question: "Is there anything else I can help you with" I want to tell them that their comment implys that they have done something to help me. But of course they haven't so I am usually at a loss for words. To my fellow victims who complained about them taking their time hooking up the system I can only say count your blessings and run for your life. I am looking into all my options including Better Business Bureau - I'm sure some of you have done so already - so I'm wandering if some of comcasts representatives moonlight at BBB. You tell me. I will pray for us all as I have since this NIGHTMARE of COMCAST started. Bless you my fellow victims I wish you all well.

THIS SITES REGISTRATION SYSTEM IS TERRIBLE. In the age of wikipedia when anyone can edit without even registration, this sites registration system is archaic and a joke.

Now about comcast:

I have a screenshot of being number 121 in the queue to chat with an online representative:

http://www.igottheconch.com/index.php?title=Comcast#Comcast_customer_service

Tonight I was on hold with comcast 29 minutes 30 seconds before the battery on my phone went dead.

The previous call when I tried to call I was on hold for over 20 minutes.

I'm surprised there aren't an infinite number of posts here. EVERYONE I know who has ever had a Comcast product has similar tales of woe. The only reason they're still in business is because they're allowed to operate more like a public utility than a private enterprise. As soon as my contract period expires I'm switching to a "competitor", the only other company that can provide these services in our county. Our story? No need to repeat others; from the time we agreed to the bundled service until we had an operational system we had dealt with 3 different "technicians" (2 of 3 I wouldn't have let into my home if they had not been here to "hook us up")and nearly a month had transpired. The bottom line is that they advertised a product prior to the time they actually "had" the product.

I work for comcast myself, I will say first off that the first person is one of the type of person I hate. The average customer could not possibly know if its the tv, the wiring, the box, the signal or what when it goes out, when you took the job you knew what it was for, you get paid for what you do so deal with it or move on.

Second off, many of the customers need to realize that almost every rep there is more than happy to help you when we pick up the phone but once you start screaming at up, demanding to speak to someone above us before we even know whats going on, dont expect me to bend over backwards for you, I am paid to help you, not take abuse. If you want to complain about the techs then do it, write a letter, make sure that you also compliment the times things are done right so that we can weed out idiots like the above poster.

If you want help with your service, a promotion, or whatever, ask clearly and give us the time we need. We cant help it if the help desk takes 20 mins to answer, or the time you where on hold, but we WILL generally help you in anyway we can. Bear in mind for every 1 of you there are 100 people with no problem at all. I agree that a 99% happy rate is not enough for a service that these days can be a life line to people, I agree about staying away from the phone service if you have ever had other service problems or are in a smaller city.

I guess in the end, understand the idiot above is not like most of us, and that you can catch alot more fly with honey!

Comcast is aweful.

Starcryx
I appreciate that you work for Comcast and admire you for your pride in your company, but I am sorry... in the last 6 months the ability for your company to provide decent service has went completely down the tube. In this same period 8 families that I know are in the same position we are relative to terrible service. The people on the phone are very nice... no question. The technicians are reasonably nice as well... it's just that they all have different ideas of what is wrong and in reality none of them know what is wrong. It's like trial and error. Their favorite way to fix things is to send a reset signal. Their promises are never followed up on. We literally have had to call Comcast 12 times in the last few weeks because something doesn't work right. One weekend, we called them 3 times.
I really wish there was a cable alternative in the area. Comcast just continues to get bigger and bigger and they get worse and worse. Sorry to say but they are terrible.
We are going to send letters to the BBB and any other federal agency that oversees this industry ... sending letters to Comcast does no good. No one really cares. It's a shame that COX is not in our service area.
Terrible terrible terrible company, decent people, lousey product service and they can not continue to deliver such rediculous service and get away with it for long.