Everything I want is on Comcast analog, except for the SciFi channel. So a new season started 3 weeks ago, and my digital receiver is quite unhappy. Techs have been out for the last couple of weeks and cannot figure it out, other than when it gets hot, they have problems.
So I decided to have a chat with the billing people to see if I could get a credit for part of my bill:
Nate.12638 > Thank you for contacting Comcast Live
Chat Support. My name is Nate.
I am happy to be of assistance to you this evening.
May I please have your name as well
as a brief description of the issue you are experiencing
or question you have?
bruce > Hi Nate, this is Bruce.
bruce > We have digital cable so I can watch Sci-Fi.
Everything else we watch on analog.
It's been cutting in and on for three weeks now
and the line techs cannot fix it. They say it's the heat.
Nate.12638 > Hi Bruce.
Nate.12638 > How may I help you today?
Nate.12638 > OK Bruce. What can I assist you with today?
bruce > I'ld like a credit for my digital cable which I cannot use.
Nate.12638 > Bruce, we'll be happy to give you a service credit
once the problem has
resolved itself. We give full service credits.
If you'd be kind enough to contact us once
the problem has been resolved for over 24-48 hours,
we'll be happy to apply a credit for you.
Nate.12638 > Is there anything else I can help you with today?
bruce > Oh, so I should call you back in September?
Nate.12638 > Please call us once the problem resolves itself, Bruce.
Nate.12638 > Is there anything else I can assist you with?
bruce > no thanks
Nate.12638 > Not a problem Bruce.
Nate.12638 > Thank you for contacting Comcast Live Chat Support.
For your convenience,
we're here 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
You can also contact us via phone
at 1-800-266-2278 (COMCAST). Have a great night!
Nate.12638 > Analyst has closed chat and left the room
I don't think Nate thought I was funny. So I called into the 800 number and they're investigating.
So I cannot get service because they cannot fix the problem. I cannot get a credit because the service doesn't work.
But if you pay your bill one week late you get a nasty gram talking about them cutting off your service.
Stay tuned.
And, that sorta service attitude is why DirectTV was on my roof today. See my latest post over at my blog "The Rant Factor or Who Sucks Less?"
Sad, isn't it?
Posted by: Mary Schmidt | 08 August 2006 at 02:37 PM
I came home tonight to watch the SciFi channel's Eureka only to discover the "You aren't subscribed to this channel" message. I have been watching this show each week for the past three weeks, so I found that odd. I called the comcast number and found out that $47 a month doesn't give you the SciFi channel (the "Enhanced" digital package). Funny that it is included in BASIC cable everywhere else. I'm in an apartment, so I can't get satellite service. It's amazing that they wouldn't even do anything to help you. I'm sure they have a million extra boxes, why can't they swap it out? Why can't they just refund the difference between your package and the cheapest one until they fix it? Because they know that it's either not possible for you to go with a competitor or it is a lot of hassle and most customers won't switch.
Posted by: Ian Clifton | 08 August 2006 at 11:36 PM
Ian,
You might want to doublecheck re getting satellite. I've seen the dishes hanging outside of apartments.
And, $47 for basic? Without Sci Fi? Yikes. Good luck.
Posted by: Mary Schmidt | 09 August 2006 at 02:41 PM
My Comcast service person came out and found a duplicate splitter in the system which the 5 technicians before did not notice.
I have SciFi and a credit for last month.
But here's the tragic part. Comcast has no CRM system for their technicians. They have no way to know what was done, by whom or even what the diagnostics readings were from last time.
As a former systems admin this blows my mind. What a waste of money in the field. There have been tools availabe since the 80's to handle this, yet Comcast has none. Very sad. And wasteful.
Posted by: brucefryer | 10 August 2006 at 11:45 PM
Just a warning ... those Comcast CSRs are a vindictive bunch. I had posted chat logs with these guys, demonstrating their level of ineptitude at times, and received threatening comments to the blog concerning lawsuits and so forth.
I later discovered that Comcast deems web chat with CSRs as protected text since it travels through their web domain, and removed the posts with the transcripts.
Anyway just a heads up. Yeah, these guys actually Google themselves. Weirdos. (I arrived here from a referrer left in my own web stats log, I'm not nate.12638 or whoever.)
Posted by: Ghosty | 16 October 2006 at 03:07 PM