Comcast

These letters spell out what I have been going through with Comcast for the past year now. One of the worse cable and internet service providers I have ever had to deal with.


February 4, 2009

To Whom it May Concern:

Once again, I find myself writing a letter to Comcast … This has become a monthly occurrence it seems. I’m getting really annoyed now because I have wasted hours of my time writing letters and on the phone with Comcast.

On Jan. 2, I wrote a letter to Comcast which I have included with this letter regarding our experience with Comcast over the course of 2008 including the outages on Jan. 1, 2009. I received a call from a customer service representative saying he was from Rick Germano’s office in response to my letter. I was told I would receive a FREE month off of my cable services for the problems we had encountered and that he was crediting that to my account immediately. I was happy with the service and was thankful to be receiving that credit which I do truly feel is owed to me for the troubles we have endured.

Today, I received my bill and much to my disappointment we didn’t receive any such credit. In fact, we did not receive any credit at all for the service we were without for two days on the New Year’s holiday. Is this the kind of service we are to expect from Comcast? To be lied to and then still have to pay for a service that was not rendered? This is seriously unbelievable and unfathomable!!! I am so absolutely disgusted with Comcast. I am to the point where I really just want to go without television service all together because I am sick of paying for an unreliable and now untrustworthy company.

I do plan on hearing from you company and I do plan on these issues being resolved immediately.

Sincerely,

Brian Decker


Letter Sent 1-2-09

To Whom It May Concern:
I definitely understand why Comcast has a lower customer service rating than the IRS after my dealings with them over the course of the year. Let me recap my experiences with Comcast during 2008.
In February, after moving to the Flint, MI area, the first technician who came out to our home was unable to completely install our cable service because he did not realize we had a filter on the line. He spent at least four hours on the phone while he was at our home and no one was able to help this technician out. He finally left and sent someone else the next day. We wasted several hours during this process and we were left without complete service for 48 hours. I’m sure, however, we were still charged for the time we were without service.
Also, during the same visit, the technician told us he could not return our original cable box because it was provided in Bad Axe, MI. I was told by that office the technician could have returned it for us. However, we were forced to drive nearly 2 hours to return the box because of the technician’s lazy attitude.
In April, the cable service to our second television was disconnected because a technician mistakenly unhooked our cable rather than another apartment resident because the wires were not properly labeled. The technician who came to repair the problem insisted he labeled the wires and the problem would not occur again. We were without complete service for nearly one week.
In September, I canceled HBO premium services and was charged a $1.99 maintenance fee. Who charges customers to cancel a service? This is the most absurd thing I have ever heard.
In October, we were without cable entirely for four days because for the second time a technician unhooked our cable instead of another apartment’s. We were told we could be charged a $35 service fee if the problem were in the house. I assured the customer service representative it was not our problem and told them I refused to pay the fee. The technician arrived and confirmed that our service had been disconnected by mistake. He told us we would not be charged for the service visit. On our next bill, we were in fact charged the $35 fee. I immediately called Comcast and I was told the fee would be reversed so I did not include the fee on my payment. On my next bill, the fee had not been reversed and I was charged a late fee for that portion of the payment. I called Comcast again and was assured the fee was reversed again. The following day we received a harassing phone call from Comcast saying our service would be disconnected if we didn’t make a payment. Again, I called Comcast and was told my account was paid to date. So, let me recap … because a Comcast technician was stupid enough to unhook the wrong line we were without cable television for 4 days and I had to waste at least 2 hours of my time calling Comcast on four different occasions. That is just ridiculous.
In December, the television stations were testing the switch from analog to digital service and since that time my On Demand channel one service had not worked. Why am I paying for a service that Comcast evidently is unable to provide to its customers?
And finally today, Jan. 1, 2009 … we awoke to guess what, no cable, way to go Comcast. Happy New Year, I guess they wanted to ring in the New Year right! We called Comcast and were told service was out in the entire area and technicians were working to correct the problem. I was given a service date of Jan. 4 though if the problem was not corrected. So, I guess I must wait four days now for cable. And not once was I offered a change of my bill. Instead on two separate occasions I was offered Comcast phone and Internet service for a low monthly rate of $33. Why, may I ask, would I want to purchase a service from a company who cannot even provide me with the service I already subscribe to. If I had all of these services I would now be without my television, phone and Internet for four days on end. The people who call themselves customer service representatives are really just glorified salespeople. Finally by 5 p.m. Jan. 1 we call for the fourth time and our call is sent to a call center in Louisiana. Mind you, we called a local number. The lady at the service center knows nothing about our service problem, nor can she connect us to anyone in the local area who knows about the outage. Give me a break! So, here we are on Jan. 1 without television. We happen to like football … Guess we will have to wait until 2010 to watch the tournament of Roses.
Comcast better be prepared to offer us a very generous discount on several months of service if they would like to keep us as customers. We will be sharing our thoughts with several friends, relatives and the Internet world as well! Happy New Year Comcast!!!

Sincerely,
Brian Decker