Comcast .:. It’s Craptastic
July 2nd, 2007I see it only fitting that my first post should be about a company that has wasted so much of my time these past few weeks. Until recently I have not had any real complaints about Comcast or their services, but that has now changed.
With our recent move to a new location I requested a transfer of service. The process started out smooth enough but quickly degenerated into a nightmare of phone calls to support representatives that were woefully uneducated in Comcast protocols. It has been about three weeks since the initial request for the transfer of service was initiated. We still have no internet connection and no explanation as to what is going on.
I have been bounced around to approximately six different people that have tried to “help” me with the transfer. The first person that I dealt with scheduled a technician to complete a site survey to make sure that we could get service. The site survey was scheduled for a Thursday and was suppose to be accompanied by a phone call to me half an hour before the technician was to arrive. Thursday came and went and no phone call. Friday came and went and no phone. Shocker!
I called Comcast the following Monday to see what was going on. Customer service rep #1 says that she would need to transfer me to her supervisor. Enter CSR #2. CSR #2 informs me that she isn’t sure what happened and that she would need to “investigate” and that she would get back with me. Wonderful. In the mean time I find out that there is a Comcast technician at our new office location and that he has just completed the site survey. Later that evening I received a call from CSR#1. She informs me that she is new and that they have had a few people quit recently and that was the cause of the mix up of the previous week.
Ok, well at least the site survey has been done. We shall forget the fact that it was two days late and that no one bothered to call and let me know what was going on. I called CSR #2 to let her know that the survey was completed and to ask when we could expect the results. “It generally will take three days for the results to come back” she tells me. I also was handed off to a sales rep as her departments role was complete in the transfer process.
CSR#3. This gentlemen informs me that he can schedule a technician to hook up our service the following Tuesday. Phenomenal! Tuesday comes and the tech is actually there. Not on time but hey at least he showed up. And to his credit he did call to say he was running late. The tech is there for only a minute and discovers a “problem”. He will be unable to get us hooked up today. Apparently the surveyor “missed” the crucial fact that the cable drop was on the opposite side of the road that our office is on. Seems like a pretty important thing to note on the site survey doesn’t it?!
The technician says he will take care of getting the process started for acquiring permits from the state to get our internet installed. Wow I am a sucker. I half believed him. I wait a few days and no call from Comcast. I call CSR#3. He doesn’t answer so I leave a message. I call the next day, no answer. I leave another message.
Approximately two days after the second message was left I get a phone call from CSR#3. He tells me that they will have to pull permits and that it will take a minimum of two more weeks. JC. CSR#3 gives me his supervisors extension.
Enter CSR#4. I talk to CSR#4 and ask why my phone calls are not returned promptly and how the surveyor could have missed the very important detail of the location of the cable drop. She has no answer for either question but apologizes for the difficulties. Great it is all better now. At this point I still have no definitive answer on whether the permits have even been filed for.
There is more of a back story about establishing internet at the old location but that is a story for another time. = (
I now pass the baton to my partner James as I am disgusted with Comcast. He manages to get yet another number for someone that is supposedly a local comcast guy. CSR#5 comes on the scene.
CSR#5 speaks with James and says that the permits are being acquired. A few more days elapse. I decide to call CSR#5 to check on his progress.
Monday message #1 is left, message #2 is left.
Tuesday message #3 is left, message #4 is left.
Wednesday message #5 is left.
I give up at this point.
So today, Monday, July 2, 2007 a full week after the first message was left for CSR#5 he gives me a call. WOW, thanks for the prompt response. He tells me that he was just returning my calls and that he is transferring me to someone else.
CSR#6. Woo Hoo! I explain briefly what has transpired over the last few weeks as it probably won’t make a difference anyway. She half listens to what I say and then proceeds to tell me that she will need to investigate whether or not we need a site survey done. OH MY GOD! I might as well run full speed into a wall. It would probably be more productive than explaining to the walking dead what has lead me to this most unpleasant encounter with her. She acknowledges what I just reiterated about the site survey and says she will call back. She actually does call back within half an hour. But just to tell me that their system is down and that she will call back later. Right.
I wait by the phone with eager anticipation.
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