For the past month or two, the cable in my living room hasn’t worked. Well, Comcast has beaten me into submission, gotten the desired Pavlovian response - I simply accepted it. The picture that pixilated, or went off completely? The code that said the channel would be available shortly - but never was? Must be my fault, Comcast knows what they’re doing!
That is, until I had to call them about the move. They told me my new place was in the same cable zone, and I had to take the same equipment with me. I wasn’t about to take this cable box with me unless I knew it worked. So I put in for yet another service call.
Let me explain something: I’ve had 23 Comcast service calls, and I’ve only lived here one year and eight months. Out of all that time, I’d say both cable boxes and the internet access worked all at the same time maybe 40% of the time - and I’m probably being generous. Out of all those service calls with technicians of widely-varying ability, I watched as they climbed the pole in the back, checked the wiring in the basement, did just about everything EXCEPT REPLACE THE FRIGGIN’ BOX.
I’d ask them why, and they’d say they had to check everything else first.
Well, the guy who showed up this time wasn’t all that articulate. But he listened when I said, “They’ve already checked everything except the box.” He checked the connections, said he couldn’t find a problem and was going to replace the box.
Guess what? It’s worked perfectly ever since.
And they want to know why I don’t want to use their phone service…
The secret, though it often takes time (though not as much as waiting for their service techs to arrive), is to take your cable box to one of their facilities (I use the one at Delaware and Reed). Tell them it’s broken. They’ll replace it on the spot without checking it. You will unfortunately wait in line for some time (as it’s the same window as people who pay their bill in cash), but they don’t have time to confirm or deny what you’re saying, so they’ll just replace it.
Oh sh*t! I was considering replacing my crappy AT&T DSL service with Comcast.. Your horror story kills that idea. Deregulation is just peacy, isn’t it?
Lionel, I did replace it before, but that was when the trouble really was the wiring.
When I first got my cable internet, I didn’t.
That is, it didn’t work.
I called Comcast. That same day–a Saturday–two guys with a laptop arrived; they really knew their stuff. They replaced, at no charge, several couplers that pre-dated internet service, and substituted their cable modem for mine until I was able to get mine replaced at CompUSA. (There was a rental charge for using Comcast’s modem, but they laid it out up front.)
I have no complaints about Comcast customer service here in Delaware. The only time it’s dropped for me since Comcast bought whoever was here before them was when some bozo ran into a light pole at the foot of the street. Before Comcast took over the service (this was before I had cable internet), the cable dropped several times a month.
I’m telling this story not to impeach yours–I know you’ve been struggling with them ever since I started reading your blog and probably before–but simply to point out that sometimes even Comcast gets it right.
Incompetence /= evil.
And, no, I wouldn’t get their phone service. I used to know someone who used it (in Boston) and was very happy with it, but I like the comfort of having a real physical telephone wire come into my phone.
But, ya know, I almost never answer that phone. Almost all the calls are from our best friend, “Unknown Name/Unknown Number.”
I finally gave up on Comcast and dropped them and switched everything over to Verizon. So it was one big, uncaring company for another but there has been a difference. Both my internet and TV service has been better.
Now of course to get this you have to live in a neighborhood that Verizon deems worthy, i.e. with enough money, to be upgraded to full fiber optics. The internet has had no issues or outages and even came with a free password secured wireless router. The TV is cheaper than comcasts basic digital and has more channels. The phone is basically unchanged
Thought I’d share this story with you: the day before we moved, my partner and her father took the cable box back to Comcast. While in line, they saw that one guy who was actually at the counter grew quite agitated because the workers wouldn’t let him use the bathroom there. Sooo, as he really, really, had to use it, he let loose right then and there with his bowel movement. Then he started cleaning himself up with some paper napkins, dropping the crappy things on the floor, all the while saying, “I TOLD you I got to go, why didn’t you let me use your bathroom. Now you got to clean this all up.” The Comcast employees, probably fearing an escalation, just matter-of-factly let that all go.
This is all true - I didn’t make up any of this shit. As bad as their service can be, I don’t recommend this course of action, however.
when my box busted i just called them up and told them i needed a new box and they came with a new box.
i’m not happy with them either. i never had a single problem when i lived in west philly when they still had time warner, and i’ve had way too many service calls too. i fucking hate comcast. but i think i might hate verizon more.
oh and you need to reset the cable boxes all the time…i have the dvr one and that thing crashes a couple times a month.
and while we’re griping, i’ve lived at this place for almost a year and have yet to get a correct peco bill, but that doesn’t stop them harrassing me about not paying the bill with wild overcharges on time. i do pay my bills on time religiously, but not when it’s double what it should be because they can’t seem to get me a working meter.
i think they finally gave me working ones, but now they haven’t sent me a bill for almost 2 months…i’m waiting for the disconnect notice now. haha, lovely how businesses run, huh?
I had Comcast in Indiana and I have had good service, just that their service personnel sometimes give me the idea that they don’t own any electronic or electrical gadgets at all. They don’t listen too well, either.
Being in the field service business myself, I have to listen to the customer and pepper the hell out of them with questions to get to the bottom of their machine problems.
Get Vonage, much cheaper and never had a problem.