Watch Out Fer Yer Comcast, Bud

Scott Hardie | June 1, 2004
Any other Comcast customers here? Any other extremely dissatisfied Comcast customers here?

They're the cable providers to my new apartment complex, which provides the cable television for free. I don't care about the television, but I do want Internet access through a cable modem, which means I have to pay extra, of course. I wish they charged me per usage like other utilities, because the damn thing is offline half the time, unable to draw a sufficient signal. I thought it was just a busy network here at this upscale apartment complex, since the problem is at its worst during evenings and weekends, but the neighbors had no complaints about their own service.

I can't live with being disconnected for hours at a time, so I've been trying to get a technician to fix it. But what really steams me is Comcast's response to the problem. First they told me that picking up a replacement modem would fix it; and little surprise, that did nothing. Then, after I waited over a week, a technician came by and replaced one of the cables; after he left, the problem returned. I called back and scheduled another appointment this past Sunday at 5pm, but nobody showed up. When I called to ask when they were coming, the automated service reported that the appointment had been moved to Tuesday. (Thanks for telling me about this.) I asked the operator three separate times to make sure that my appointment was "after 3pm on Tuesday," and he confirmed it each time.

So, I head into work early this morning and arrange with my boss to work late the next two days so that I could have the afternoon off. I get home at 3pm sharp, and what do I find? A message left on the answering machine at noon by the technician, asking why I wasn't home and informing me that he was moving on. Well, guess what, assholes, so am I. I would rather switch to dial-up, from Verizon no less, than continue to put up with your piss-poor service and aggravating technical difficulties. You and Michael Eisner can have each other.

Melissa Erin | June 1, 2004
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Anna Gregoline | June 1, 2004
Comcast - Scott, I can comiserate. I had a devil of a time setting up my internet - but I think it was AT&T somehow when I first started - but haven't had any problems lately. Everything is working now though. Tech support anywhere is the worst these days.

Dave Stoppenhagen | June 2, 2004
I feel your pain Scott, I hate Comcast. I used to have AT&T for cable when I first moved back to Illinois and never had a problem. A month after Comcast bought them I had nothing but problems, when my wife and I moved to Elgin I kept Comcast because it was quick to hook up, little did I know that there service is even worse in Elgin. When I called to have techs come out and work on it they told me my cable box was bad 3 different times. I finally told them to screw off and got the dish.

Scott Hardie | June 5, 2004
What is wrong with this company?!

A friend talked me into trying again with Comcast. After the last cancellation/no-show, they scheduled an appointment for this Saturday morning to fix the modem, and I decided to wait it out a few more days.

So I get home on Thursday night, and there's a message on the machine: "Hello, it's Comcast at 4pm, where are you?" How did Saturday morning become Thursday afternoon? When I called back on Friday morning to confirm that the appointment is still for Saturday, the snooty operator told me "No Sir, the appointment was yesterday" as though I'm some kind of idiot. So I scheduled a new appointment for Saturday morning, and just to be safe, I came home for lunch on Friday afternoon and called back to confirm that the appointment was indeed Saturday.

Little surprise, I just got home on Friday night and there was another message saying "It's Comcast at 4:30, where are you?" I called in and the operator insisted that my appointment was today. Let me get this straight: I set an appointment at 9, I called back at 3 to confirm it, and by 4:30 it had changed on me? How fucking incompetent can one company get?

So now I have a new appointment set for tomorrow afternoon, and either I or my mother will be in this apartment at all times until then, just in case they feel like showing up in the morning. No matter what, someone will be here to greet them. That's why I'm betting on a complete no-show this time.

Melissa Erin | June 5, 2004
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