Comcast Sucks

Some of you may have seen me complaining about Comcast on Twitter last week. So I thought I’d explain the full extent of their suckiness.

For a long time, my internet has had a tendency to not work at random times. It will just go out for a few hours. If I called Comcast about it, they would have no clue about it, claiming there was no outage in the area. It would do this a few days in a row sometimes and then be fine for a few months.

A few months ago, before the baby was born, I had enough and had them send out a person to check it out. They came, looked at a few things, change the cable that ran from the wall to my modem, and I got charged $45 for this honor. The problem still kept occurring randomly.

Then, a few weeks ago, it happened again and at a particularly annoying time. I don’t remember exactly but I think I had just gotten the baby down and had a 45min window to play, when it decided not to work. So I called and complained again. This time, they talked me into their service plan ($3/month so I don’t get charged $45 when they come out) and an offer for a faster internet speed for a discounted rate (for 6 months).

I went ahead and bit. The faster internet was cheaper than I was currently paying (for 6 months) and included basic cable. Since the Olympics and football season are coming up, I figured it would be nice to have access to some channels. So I got the new modem and new service, hoping this might resolve things.

It didn’t. Last week began a chain of events that let to an increasing amount of frustration with Comcast.

Wednesday, 7/18

• Wake up and the internet is going in and out every 5min. This is more annoying then out for an hour or two and back.
• Call and schedule an appointment for their tech to come check it out

Thursday, 7/19

• 10-11am the Tech is scheduled to arrive. I work on the baby’s nap schedule so he’s awake during this period.
• 11:20- No one has shown up so I called Comcast. They inform me that the appointment was canceled. I get three, contradictory, answers as to why. Person on the phone fills out a report and says a supervisor will call me back within 2hrs.
• 3:30- No one has called me back so I call again. Talk to a supervisor. Says he will look into it and call me back within 30min.
• During this conversation I get an email saying I have a new appointment scheduled for 730am Sunday. I tell him I never scheduled this and that is a terrible time. He says he’ll get it corrected and we’ll reschedule when he calls me back.
• He never calls me back

Saturday, 7/21

• Get an appointment reminder from Comcast about my appointment the next morning.
• I talk to an operator and explain the situation. They reschedule my appointment for 12-2 on Sunday.

Sunday, 7/22

• 11:30- I get a call from Comcast asking me how my appointment with the tech went. I inform the person that my appointment is scheduled from 12-2 and the tech hasn’t shown up yet. He says I don’t have an appointment then. I go ballistic.
• I demand to talk to a supervisor. He informs me I’m not on the schedule but he can squeeze me in sometime before 8pm. I say I had an appointment, I’m not waiting around all day for them. He reschedules for Tuesday.
• Finally, at the last second, he see something that shows I was, indeed, supposed to have an appointment from 12-2. He informs me they tech will be a little late.
• 4:15- tech shows up. Very friendly guy, checks a bunch of things, points out a few things that might be problematic, but aren’t definitive.
• Also informs me that Comcast is fixing a problem to the hub in the area because lots of people have been complaining. First confirmation that there is a problem on their end, something everyone has denied up to this point.

So, in the end, it took them several times to get a tech out here, all when it probably is not necessary because they might be finally fixing the problem on their end. They promised to call me back multiple times, never did. They canceled appointments on me or rescheduled them without consulting me. All in all, they get a giant “F” for customer service.

The really, really annoying thing about all of this is that I have no choice but to deal with them. The only other internet providers in my area are DSL or dial-up. And it’s not even good DSL, just crappy 1.5mb/s. We stream a lot of video and online games. I don’t think that’s going to cut it.

Monopolies in an unregulated capitalist system don’t work. Comcast has no reason not to suck. And we have no choice but to use them if we want high-speed internet.