Comcast

[TheVBs]

Am I allowed to say here, that I hate Comcast with every fiber of my being? Every time we call them, for any reason, it is an absolute nightmare. So awful that it would be funny if it weren't so frustrating. This isn't just one experience either, this is the norm. I called to make a change and the person on the phone actually said that I wasn't allowed to because it's my husband's account. First of all, did he dig that up all the way from the 1950's? Second, they have no problem taking payments from checks with my name and signature on them. And third, my husband told them to correct this and add my name months ago.

So he takes time away from work, does an online chat and asks for two simple changes. He said it took well over a half an hour and two different agents to make two changes! The number of times you hear, "I can't help you with that", "I have to transfer you", "Thank you for your patience", "I'm still checking on that." Argh! :mad:

So, finally, after he gets off the chat, he goes to do something in the account and finds that he's locked out!! Seriously! So then I have to call AGAIN and what do you think I hear? A safe bet is one of the phrases above.

I am stunned. I have never had these experiences consistently with any other company. I'm at a breaking point. We love the high speed internet, but I'm ready to dump Comcast. It's like they're actually making it difficult for us to stay!! We're in Michigan. For those of you who have tried other services, I'd love to know what your experiences are like. I know ATT offers internet. Can anyone offer feedback on them? I did call them to make a change in our phone service earlier today and guess what? The first person I spoke to said, "Yep! I can do that!" And I was on the phone for all of 3 minutes! That's service.

So sorry for the rant. I'm just in utter disbelief over this experience right now.

[SBETigg]

I've actually had really good service from Comcast. I know, it's hard to believe when you mostly hear the horror stories. Happy customers generally don't talk as much as the people with gripes, I guess. But I'm sorry it has been such a hassle for you.

For what it's worth, I've heard horror stories from customers of almost every other provider as well. It's worth it for you to change if you're so unhappy with the service, but I'm not sure you're going to get that much better anywhere else. If you were coming from somewhere else and asking about Comcast, I would be giving you a glowing report... but clearly that is not always the case.

[PirateLover]

We have not been without our issues since we switched to Verizon, but in the customer service department, Comcast is probably the worst company I've ever had to deal with, and I know many who feel the same. Granted, it's been 5+ years now since I've switched- right before the Xfinity re-branding took off. My mom says that Comcast customer service has gotten a bit better since then but I can't speak to it. Verizon will try to pull fast ones on our bills, but one 5 minute phone call always clears it up. With Comcast it was usually a long wait time and then being forced to deal with a condescending rep who 90% of the time just seemed miserable.

On the other hand, like Sherri mentioned you often hear the bad more than the good, so I will take a moment to praise good customer service. Chase Visa and Scholastic Books have some of the best customer service ever!

[DizneyRox]

I went with Comcast Business and can't be happier actually. Had their residential and I was very put off, switched around and Internet was just awful with anyone else.

Service is much better for business customers in my experience. I can get a tech out within 24 hours if necessary (hasn't been in a few years) and always pleasant on the phone or in person. Not that I don't believe you, but there is a difference between residential and business accounts.

[magicofdisney]

I had that, "We can't help you because only your husband's name is on the account" **** also with DirecTV. And like your problem, calling them is a nightmare. I'm beyond flabbergasted with most business's customer service now days. I feel like NO ONE truly cares anymore. On the rare occasion I find a company that WANTS to genuinely help me, I walk around with a surreal feeling of euphoria for a little while. ;)

[SBETigg]

Oh, by the way, it's my name on the Comcast account, but my husband deals with them instead of me sometimes. All I had to do was tell the rep that I authorized him to deal with the account and now it's on the record and he can address any issues with Comcast as well as I can. The account holder just needs to be there once to authorize you to deal with it and then you can.

[Janmac]

Here in central Missouri my niece has ATT internet service. She was having intermittent service outages, called a few times, got a person but no real solutions. After a few calls a technician was sent out, did find a physical problem in their equipment and she's had no problems since.

Her "Comcast" is Ameren UE - electrical service. They do not publish a telephone contact number. Kinda tells you something there.

We have ATT cell phone accounts and I'm less pleased with the cell phone customer service. But not as unhappy as with our land line provider - Windstream.

Don't know about ATT internet, but ATT cell used to only want to deal with the account holder, which would be DH. Lately, I've not had that issue. Btw, we have Dish and they have been great with the customer service.

One problem my niece did have with ATT is that since she had their internet, their land line and their cell phone service, she got 3 bills. Didn't realize the first couple of months in her new house that this was the case until ATT shut off the land line for lack of payment. She had had problems with her mail being delivered, and assumed, with all the other stuff going on, that the ATT bill she was paying was the land line and the internet combined. She does without the land line and still has the internet through the land line phone line. :confused:

Jan

[brownie]

The account holder can add other authorized people to the account. It's for everyone's protection. You may not want a soon to be ex-spouse or an irresponsible significant other to have the ability to make changes to an account.

[TheVBs]

I'm really glad to hear that there are people who are having positive experiences with Comcast. That's encouraging. I just wish I was one of them! We looked into the alternative services and they're much slower than what Comcast is offering, which is probably why they get away with having such inconsistent customer service. I don't know if we can change to a business account, what that entails, or if that would improve our service, but we'll certainly look into it. As soon as I can bear to deal with them again. I appreciate the suggestion!

I do get the safety aspect Brownie. But, considering that the last two times we've had to deal with them, they were clearly told by DH to add me as an authorized user to the account, this point doesn't hold a lot of water. We've been "assured" once again that I've been added, but we won't really know until that's been put to the test.

I'm totally on board with giving positive feedback on good experiences as well! I agree that it's usually only the complaints that get shared and I try to make a point of giving good feedback when I can. Even when I have a complaint, if I have good experiences to share with it, I will. Unfortunately, I had no good experiences to pass on with my Comcast complaint. Our interactions with their customer service department are always a comedy of errors, at best. I did at least make sure to say that everyone I spoke to was friendly and professional, in spite of being utterly useless. In the past I haven't even been able to say that! So, that's an improvement I guess. :thumbsup:

[Kenny1113]

I agree. I love Comcast when it's working well. However if I have an issue that I have to call them about I truely cannot stand them. No issue is ever resolved. Like a pp mentioned no one cares anymore it's just people reciting a bank of questions and solutions (whether truly applicable or not). I have had 5 different agents give me different probable causes for an issue I had about a year ago and none of them worked. :( I had no show tech 3 times when we moved and wanted to start up service at our new house (under contract or else I would have left at that point). There is no such thing as a simple phone call. :( there is a discrepancy on my account and I cannot access it online (some one else opened an account using the same phone number ) however trying to get it resolved is a nightmare, I just let it be.

Again I do love it when it's working, we have fast internet fewer interruptions with service than we did with the other provider.

I will say, we didn't switch to them for cable Bc of the customer service. I actually had started to and cancelled that portion within the 3 days because no one could help correct what the tech did not do.

[baldburke]

Hopefully the CBS subscription service catches on and others will follow. I know Disney is considering it for ESPN. I know a number of people hold their cable only to be able to get live sports. Otherwise they'd ditch in a minute! I would really like to be able to pick the channels I pay for as opposed to getting stuck with all the garbage Comcast gives me.

[TheVBs]

We haven't had cable in years. When the digital switchover happened, Comcast sent us some equipment, and we had non-stop problems with our cable service. I was having to call every week. Their "customer service" drove me so insane that one day on the phone I just snapped and said, "Cancel it!" And of course, had to repeatedly say it and get transferred to a "supervisor" before they could cancel it. Funny, I wasn't told then that I wasn't an authorized user on the account and we had the internet service then as well. Was that perhaps the moment they decide my DH was the "primary account holder"?

Anyway, best choice I've ever made. We ditched a $60 cable bill for a service we rarely used, to just using Netlix and love it.

Internet however, is another matter. As already pointed out, there's not another service out there that compares to the speed you get with Comcast.

[MNNHFLTX]

Oh my goodness, don't get me started on Comcast. We have an utility easement behind our garage and Comcast has laid two cables across our backyard in the last six months without burying either one. We have called them numerous times, but as we are U-verse customers and not Comcast, what we get are excuses and all-out lies about sending out a team to bury them; they even add insult to injury by trying to "sell" us on Comcast. I refused to let them hook up the second cable until I had assurances (and phone number) from their contractor that they would have a team come back in two weeks to bury the cables. When we tried calling that number two weeks later to find out the status it was a disconnected number--yet another lie. We have to be extremely careful when mowing or weed-whacking not to damage or cut the cables since that could subject us to federal fines. It's definitely been a lose-lose situation for us and in our eyes, Comcast stinks.

[NJGIRL]

I hate Comcast also.....We also have problems with our service and talking with customer service is ALWAYS a nightmare that turns into a shouting match. Not to mention our bill goes up every 6 months for some reason or another.

The only positive is that the service people that have come to our house are terrific.

[TheVBs]

Beth, that's insane! I can't believe they can just leave cables exposed on your property and you're liable for them. :mad: That just leaves me speechless.

[Mrs Bus Driver]

Oh my goodness, don't get me started on Comcast. We have an utility easement behind our garage and Comcast has laid two cables across our backyard in the last six months without burying either one. We have called them numerous times, but as we are U-verse customers and not Comcast, what we get are excuses and all-out lies about sending out a team to bury them; they even add insult to injury by trying to "sell" us on Comcast. I refused to let them hook up the second cable until I had assurances (and phone number) from their contractor that they would have a team come back in two weeks to bury the cables. When we tried calling that number two weeks later to find out the status it was a disconnected number--yet another lie. We have to be extremely careful when mowing or weed-whacking not to damage or cut the cables since that could subject us to federal fines. It's definitely been a lose-lose situation for us and in our eyes, Comcast stinks.
Surly there is someone in your local government that you can contact about this. After all they may have the right to put cables through your yard but leaving them out like that is a hazard.

[Ian]

Honestly it's pretty much all big companies that are like this. We once switched from Comcast to FiOS and they were worse so we switched back.

Classic inside-out thinking ... corporations make decisions on what looks like from the inside and never consider what it looks like from the outside to their customers. They think having "specialists" that deal with every possible slice of issues a customer might have (billing, service interruptions, etc.) makes sense for some reason whereas customers really just want to call one number, talk to someone pleasant, and get help with whatever they need without being transferred 1,000 times.

[TheVBs]

So true Ian! But what about all the complaints they get? Are the people who make these decisions inside big corporations unable to process that? "Gee, we're the most hated company in America, do you think we should do something differently?"