I write this post from my living room, like I do many of my posts. I use my super awesome Craigslist find of a Macbook Pro like I normally do. Tonight however, I am using the mobile hotspot feature of my Galaxy Nexus to publish this. Why would I do such a thing when I pay for internet bundled with my TV from a provider with a “customer guarantee” such as Comcast? Noting that I have probably told you everything you need to know to figure out my situation, I am going to give you the back story and the summary of tonight’s tech support conversation.
Timeline View:
May 2012 – I decide I want more internet speed for less money. I make the decision to switch from AT&T Uverse to Comcast Xfinity.
June 2012 – Random drops in connection. Usually last only a few minutes. I don’t complain because I think I will get someone from customer support that blames it on a snowstorm or the drought or a mis-alignment of my flux capacitor. For the record, I follow a strict maintenance schedule with my flux capacitor.
July 8, 2012 – My Comcast rented modem no longer powers up. I call support. They schedule an 8-9am appointment for the next day. The person tells me there have been intermittent issues with my modem for a while. I already know this.
July 9, 2012 – 8:00am rolls around, 9:00am rolls around. 9:05am – I call Comcast to find my tech. After 20 minutes of waiting to talk to someone I am told he will arrive between 8 and 9 and call before he comes. After a lesson in telling time, I am told I will receive a statement credit and someone will show up sometime that day. At 3:30pm a tech finally shows up. He replaces the power supply to my modem, tightens down the coax, clicks refresh on my browser and says he is done. I mention the intermittent issues and that the person I spoke to said they have been happening for a while. He tells me that since the internet is working at the moment he doesn’t care because it is working and the line tests fine.
July 11, 2012 – I lose internet but the power on my modem is still up. I reset everything (router and modem) to no avail. I try this several times. Eventually I call Comcast. I explain the situation and the troubleshooting steps I have already taken and even include the note about having service out on the 9th. She tells me that my modem has been reset 3 times and that isn’t normal. I immediately know this isn’t going to be good. Customer support providing me “new information” which is nothing more than a repeat of what I just told them. The lady has me reset it several more times and even asks me to restart my computer. I am getting angry as I have explained several times that the problem is not on my end. She also keeps mumbling that the modem keeps showing up as offline – which should be a red flag when it is powered on but showing up as offline, but no. More dumb troubleshooting and conversation that doesn’t fix the problem. She starts to tell me that we should try bypassing my router, but I sigh heavily and she finally gives into scheduling service.
Now she gives me available times and all of them coincide with meetings I have for work. I ask about evening times and she tells me they don’t offer them. Come on Comcast! If this is true (which I honestly doubt it is as the Comcast intelligence of my customer representative seemed to be equivalent to a monkey with a typewriter), do you not care about your customers that have day jobs? 49% of Americans still have jobs! Work around them! If it isn’t true and there are evening appointments, how do I get one? Right now I am scheduled for service on Saturday morning, which I am not happy with. If the tech is late, I will cancel my service – something I know Comcast won’t care about, but I will feel better.
I never had these problems in my more than a year with AT&T’s Uverse. Their technical support provided a nice self-service portal and when that didn’t fix my problem, they sent a technician with replacement gear without much hassle.
Until Saturday I am rocking the Verizon 4G LTE goodness being pumped out by my Galaxy Nexus. The speeds I am getting with it are greater than the speeds I have been getting with my Comcast service and it is just there when I need it. I am starting to consider ditching Comcast altogether and just use the 4G hotspot. Don’t worry VZW, I am playing your game and giving you the $30/month for the hotspot feature.
Comcast – consider yourself on notice. While $68/month may not be a lot to you, it is a decent amount to me.
I know others out there have good horror stories. I would love to read them! Comment below and share them!