We've Been Fooled By Comcast

Question

Here's my story - and I do apologize that it's so long, but sometimes every detail is needed to make a point. We've been lied to by Comcast. We recently (2 days ago) switched from AT&T to Comcast. AT&T was in an outage for 3 days with no general time frame for resolution. I work from home, so it is ESSENTIAL that we have Internet service in our home. We could not wait for AT&T to resolve the outage, as my job was on the line - so we called Comcast (1-800-XFINITY) on Monday night and signed up for Internet services. We were happy with AT&T, but sometimes you have to do what's necessary. We were 100% clear that we needed Internet ASAP, and explained the situation. The CSR  assured us more than once that this would only take 20-30 minutes to setup and activate.  I was so relieved!  We were then told by the CSR that we could pick up the modem and do a self-install to save the fees of having a tech come onsite. We both work in IT, so of course we chose this option. She then said that ALL WE NEEDED TO DO was hook everything up, and call in to activate. It was around 7:25pm, and the retail locations were closed, so we waited until Tuesday to pick up the equipment. I went in on Tuesday night to pick up the modem from the retail store, and decided to add cable onto our package while I was there. It made sense to get everything all from one company. I took the modem, my 2 cable boxes, and headed home - overjoyed to be rid of the no Internet nightmare. Boy was I wrong. I hooked everything up, called in to activate, and was told there was an issue activating. The CSR informed me that the account was in a 'voluntary disconnect' state, and there was an open work order on the account. You can imagine my surprise. How could our account be in a disconnect state if we never connected it to begin with?  And voluntary?  Who volunteered that for us?  And a work order?  FOR WHAT?  We never even started services.  We didn't even have it for 24 hours! She then explained to me that the services needed to be turned on at the pole.  Ok, well, this I can understand. My husband and I both worked for Time Warner, so it made sense.  What doesn't make sense is that nobody told us this would need to happen. Not even after the fact. No email - no phone call - nothing. This was scheduled for us after the purchase was made. How did that CSR not see that the services were disconnected at the pole?  Why did she ensure us that we would have Internet within minutes?  To make the sale?  Pretty shady, Comcast. Even if that was not the intent, why don't your CSRs have this information? And why don't you let customers know you're sending someone out to activate their services? That's not even the worst part. The work order is scheduled for 7/11/15.  That's 11 DAYS from now. I let this CSR know that this is completely unacceptable, and we absolutely needed an earlier date. She said it was impossible because a special team needs to come out and do this... come on now. A special team?  To turn something on at a pole?  Give me a break. She checked again, and after a lengthy hold time - said it was completely impossible to get it earlier. We've been had. I can't believe a company would do this. I have been unsuccessful in trying to get an earlier appointment. Nobody seems to want to help when I call in or chat. I can guarantee there's something you can do.  I don't need Internet to check facebook, tweet something stupid about the confederate flag, or forward lame emails to everyone on my contacts list.  I need it to work. I need it in my home for my career. AT&T ALWAYS gave priority to individuals who work from home whether they had business class services or not. It looks like Comcast doesn't care at all, and you really are just a dollar sign. Two days in, and I already feel like I'm being lied to by Comcast.  This is the worst two days I've ever had to experience from an ISP.  If we can't have Internet by the weekend, we won't be staying with Comcast. I know my piddly $131 a month is nothing to you, but we have a lot of influence over a lot of people. And big or small - you should be doing everything in your power to help every single customer.  Taken from your corporate page: OUR VALUESAs we shape the future of media and technology, our 139,000 employees strive to earn the respect and trust of our customers, our shareholders and members of the communities we serve. You've failed to do this on every level, and we've only been a customer for two days. How is this possible? I require someone to contact me and get this resolved TODAY. No exceptions. You failed to let us know that this was an issue from the start, you failed to provide accurate information after the issue was discovered, and you failed to earn the respect and trust of your new customer. You have all the power in the world to fix this. Fix it.   

Answer 1

kettou wrote:
Here's my story - and I do apologize that it's so long, but sometimes every detail is needed to make a point.
We've been lied to by Comcast.
We recently (2 days ago) switched from AT&T to Comcast. AT&T was in an outage for 3 days with no general time frame for resolution. I work from home, so it is ESSENTIAL that we have Internet service in our home. We could not wait for AT&T to resolve the outage, as my job was on the line - so we called Comcast (1-800-XFINITY) on Monday night and signed up for Internet services. We were happy with AT&T, but sometimes you have to do what's necessary.
We were 100% clear that we needed Internet ASAP, and explained the situation. The CSR  assured us more than once that this would only take 20-30 minutes to setup and activate.  I was so relieved!  We were then told by the CSR that we could pick up the modem and do a self-install to save the fees of having a tech come onsite. We both work in IT, so of course we chose this option. She then said that ALL WE NEEDED TO DO was hook everything up, and call in to activate. It was around 7:25pm, and the retail locations were closed, so we waited until Tuesday to pick up the equipment.
I went in on Tuesday night to pick up the modem from the retail store, and decided to add cable onto our package while I was there. It made sense to get everything all from one company. I took the modem, my 2 cable boxes, and headed home - overjoyed to be rid of the no Internet nightmare.
Boy was I wrong.
I hooked everything up, called in to activate, and was told there was an issue activating. The CSR informed me that the account was in a 'voluntary disconnect' state, and there was an open work order on the account. You can imagine my surprise. How could our account be in a disconnect state if we never connected it to begin with?  And voluntary?  Who volunteered that for us?  And a work order?  FOR WHAT?  We never even started services.  We didn't even have it for 24 hours!
She then explained to me that the services needed to be turned on at the pole.  Ok, well, this I can understand. My husband and I both worked for Time Warner, so it made sense.  What doesn't make sense is that nobody told us this would need to happen. Not even after the fact. No email - no phone call - nothing. This was scheduled for us after the purchase was made. How did that CSR not see that the services were disconnected at the pole?  Why did she ensure us that we would have Internet within minutes?  To make the sale?  Pretty shady, Comcast. Even if that was not the intent, why don't your CSRs have this information? And why don't you let customers know you're sending someone out to activate their services?
That's not even the worst part. The work order is scheduled for 7/11/15.  That's 11 DAYS from now. I let this CSR know that this is completely unacceptable, and we absolutely needed an earlier date. She said it was impossible because a special team needs to come out and do this... come on now. A special team?  To turn something on at a pole?  Give me a break. She checked again, and after a lengthy hold time - said it was completely impossible to get it earlier.
We've been had. I can't believe a company would do this.
I have been unsuccessful in trying to get an earlier appointment. Nobody seems to want to help when I call in or chat. I can guarantee there's something you can do.  I don't need Internet to check facebook, tweet something stupid about the confederate flag, or forward lame emails to everyone on my contacts list.  I need it to work. I need it in my home for my career. AT&T ALWAYS gave priority to individuals who work from home whether they had business class services or not. It looks like Comcast doesn't care at all, and you really are just a dollar sign.
Two days in, and I already feel like I'm being lied to by Comcast.  This is the worst two days I've ever had to experience from an ISP.  If we can't have Internet by the weekend, we won't be staying with Comcast. I know my piddly $131 a month is nothing to you, but we have a lot of influence over a lot of people. And big or small - you should be doing everything in your power to help every single customer.  Taken from your corporate page:
OUR VALUES
As we shape the future of media and technology, our 139,000 employees strive to earn the respect and trust of our customers, our shareholders and members of the communities we serve.
You've failed to do this on every level, and we've only been a customer for two days. How is this possible?
I require someone to contact me and get this resolved TODAY. No exceptions. You failed to let us know that this was an issue from the start, you failed to provide accurate information after the issue was discovered, and you failed to earn the respect and trust of your new customer.
You have all the power in the world to fix this.
Fix it.
Apologies for the issue and the experience that you described above. I am working with our Houston area team now so that we can get this resolved and also understand where our processes broke down.
You will hear from someone soon. Thanks for your patience.