My Comcast Customer Service Experience Nightmare

 

I have just been through one nightmarish customer service experience with Comcast.  Gary and I just got our HDTV capable TV. We have been planning and budgeting for a set for months.  Finally, we made our purchase.

 

Then we decided since we currently get our internet service through Comcast that we simply bundle into it HDTV cable and also phone.  I met one of their salesmen at a booth at the San Francisco Pride Festival. I did not sign in then but called him later.

 

First of all, the salesman was very difficult to get a hold of and he really did not seem engage through the process.  I had to follow up with him a few times to close the deal and to really understand what package I was actually getting. 

 

Then when the tech came to install the Cable Service, the salesman had forgotten to include the HDTV part in the installation – the whole reason we got the package!  When I called him, he brushed it off and seemed to be annoyed and instructed me to either have him order one to be delivered or for me to got to a customer service location to pick up an HD DVR.

 

I was furious.

 

The tech guy who did the installation was great. He was helpful. He explained the service. He apologized for the salesman. So as I will find out not all of Comcast service people deliver poor service.  He left after the installation.

 

On the following business day, I had to leave work early and go to Comcast Customer Service Office.  I needed to be there in person.  I was treated well there and I picked up the HD DVR.  I went home and installed it.   I called the 800# and activated it.   Beautiful.   HDTV channels at last.

 

Then I went to log into my computer.   No connection.

 

I checked.  I rebooted both the modem and the computer.  Still no connection.  I check all the wires and connections.   All connected.  I called Comcast.   Each individual I talked to was pleasant.  Of course, first level support could not help me after running some tests.

 

One rep names, Josh, was especially helpful. He called California and found that because of some code he could not change it and that some sales department guy told there was nothing that can be done.  I was basically out of internet connection for maybe a week or so.   Of course, poor Josh, was not able to transfer me to this guy so I could talk to him. 

 

Gary takes online classes.   I need internet connectivity at home because I often log into work remotely from home and of course I also blog among other things. 

 

I still did not understand what this code was all about.  No one could explain it to me. I asked Josh if I could speak to his supervisor.  His supervisor came on the phone. This man came on with major attitude and he basically said that there was nothing I could do about the situation. I have never been treated so insolently as a customer.   To give you some background, I manage vendors who handle customer service type functions for my national company so this was especially appalling to me.  The supervisor simply told me to contact my local office.

 

I spent about 3-4 hours on the phone with no resolution to the problem.

 

The next day during my work breaks,  I tried to get the local office.  I called information and looked on the web. I was simply routed to a series of customer service numbers where I was still not able to receive help.

 

Then on my commute home from work last night on the BART Train,   I got on my cell phone can called Comcast.  I got on the phone with a tech rep.  He identified a rate code had been placed on my file that had caused the internet outage.  He cancelled the code. It will take 24-72 hours and I should have my connectivity restored.

 

I will sort all the rest of it out later.

 

I had a poor salesman who did not explain clearly to me all the details of the package and all the transitional process that needed to take place.   In fact, I was told there was to be no interruption to my service.

 

I am not cancelling my Comcast Service.  I am pleased with the package.   However, I am blogging (from somewhere else) about my poor customer experience and will be also writing them.  Although there were definitely great customer service reps in my interactions, there were enough of the bad ones and also ineffective processes that Comcast needs to take notice of…they almost lost me as a customer.