Comcast Xfinity Review

So, after 7 years of having Comcast, we decided to take advantage of the 2-year $119 for all 3 services promotion. Actually, it's a great promotion as I live off the internet, my family watches TV and we have a home phone for emergencies. Unfortunately, as a current customer, I was ineligible for any upgrades. So, we canceled our account and set it up in my wife's name. It took 1 week for everything to be set up and we lost our old phone number (who cares, it's an emergency number anyway).

The service was installed 7-14-2009. Since then, we have had 54 (FIFTY-FOUR) SEPARATE solicitations. Let's name a few: Wall Street Journal, 24/7 security, TeleEurope, ARC, Sullivan Promotions, Viking Magazines, Homestar, Des Moines Inc, etc. I called Comcast and was very irritated that my number is unpublished and they would sell my name and phone number. After calling and talking to them, they told me that "there wasn't a code for an unpublished request" in the system and that my phone number was readily available to anyone who searched the public records.

So I asked when they distribute the names and numbers. His response was at the end of every month. Then he backtracked and told me its all done electronically everyday but Comcast doesn't earn a single cent off this publication. Yeah right. He told me to put my name and number on the DO NOT CALL list and if I had any further questions or should he put my name and number in the unpublished registry for a fee of $2.50 per month? Uhhhhhhh...I hung up on him. :)

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND -- I disconnected my service with Comcast. I called the old number to make sure it was disconnected. The Comcast number referred them to my private (non-Comcast) cell phone number. I immediately called them and I was told that it would take 72 hours for them to correct the problem (NOT TRUE). I spoke to with useless "MANAGER". For the next two days, the number continued to give out my PRIVATE non-Comcast cell phone number. I called again, in a matter of 30 minutes, the problem was resolved. Comcast is a terrible company. Most of the customer service representative do not know how to help the customers. I filed a complaint with the FCC!

SOUTERN NEW ENGLAND, MASSACHUSETTS -- Hi there, I can tell by all the negative complaints about Comcast services in general that a lot of us are suffering under what can nearly be described as a monopoly on a product which seems almost too cheap to be true; then you get it and realize that it really is too cheap! We live in Massachusetts, for any here in Southern New England. My partner and I first signed up with Comcast and got their full-digital package (cable, cable internet "service," and "digital voice").

The telephone service can only be described by negative terms; just to name a few: abominable, reprehensible, impossibly time-consuming, horrific, and exasperating. I'm sure others can think of many others. The first address, we had to have repair techs come out no less than 6 times to fix the problems that were often caused by the tech before them.

We got several menial $15-30 credits on our bill - mostly because of the lengths of time we had to use day minutes on our cell phones and because I not only have a terminal illness, but I was trying to recover from TWO (2) back to back bacterial-community acquired pneumonia and the stress was causing serious issues with my breathing when getting nowhere and trying to bang the concept into the service reps head that, hey "I NEED PHONE SERVICE; THIS IS A NECESSITY, NOT A LUXURY AS AT ANY POINT MY LUNGS COULD FILL UP AND I WOULD NEED 911 AS WELL AS ACCESS TO MY DOCTOR'S OFFICE 24/7/365. Hello, are you listening?"

I never verbally berated the reps because they didn't screw up the service, but I did threaten to go to the top of the chain of command if they didn't get it right. Just to drive my point home a bit further, I asked innocently enough, "Do you have a phone number for the S. New England Executive Office's Problem Resolution Center?" No one seemed able to get the number to me.

So I recited it to the head of the regional c. service supervisory team - it's in Chelmsford, Massachusetts and the NUMBER TO CALL IS 888-309-2583 and the person to talk to who will take action, and not just to help me but who has records of every person to whom I've talked to. Her name is ** and her extension is as follows: **. Wow, did they work hard to please me after that little tete-a-tete.

Once again for those who are scanning for the NEW ENGLAND PROBLEM RESOLUTION CENTER IN CHELMSFORD, MA is: 888-309-2583 and the extension for ** is: **. I hope that this information will help at least one other exasperated consumer/lassoed bull get back at Comcast for any shoddy service. You can use this number just to get customer service to act the way you should and to assure that when you ask for some reimbursement for your time, cell bills, frustration, stress, etc...you get something better than peanuts.

Oh, and incidentally, my next call at our new address - after 3 service calls in the first week, all of which were justified as things which should have been checked out when the service was first installed, is going to be to ** at the Southern New England Executive Offices. Sincerely, Thethorinater

HORROR STORY 1: Only a week after having my service installed at my place of business, I experienced a complete service blackout. I had no phone, no fax, and no internet. My business relies on all three of these services, so no service meant losing money. I called in, and I was told someone could come take a look at what they thought was a "faulty modem" the next evening. The next evening? That would mean I would lose many valuable phone calls.

I was extremely upset, but since there was nothing that could be done, I though "at least customers can leave us a voice mail, and I will call them back on my cell". WRONG! Everyone that called, heard the same thing, "CLICK". The line hung up on all my customers!

Finally, about 6 hours later, the service returned on its own. I guess the faulty modem box was magically repaired. I called them the next day to tell them that the service came back, but that maybe it was a good idea for someone to come take a look at my lines to see what could have caused this. After all, it's not a home that was left without a phone; it was business. They said that if the service returned, someone would go out there for a fee. A fee? What? That's right! Even though it was extremely serious that I had no phone, no fax, no internet, no means of dialing 911 in case of an emergency, and not even a working voice mail, I would have to pay. Nice.

HORROR STORY 2: About 4 days after my first bad experience with Comcast, I decided to call and ask about the international calling rates. I was going to travel, and wanted to call a car rental place in Mexico. I did not receive a welcome kit with all that was included in my plan, so I decided to call. To make a very long story short, I was transferred 7 times. Yes! Seven times! I was on the phone explaining my question for about an hour. I kept getting transferred to the same number!

Finally, someone told me that I was supposed to have been taken care of at that number I had initially called, and that he was going to place me on three-way calling to hear them when they told me they couldn't help me. That way, he could tell the manager that they weren't doing their job. What the hell? How unprofessional is that? I ended up finding the rates online.

Horror story 3: I received my first bill and I am being billed for cable TV. Who the hell ordered cable TV? Nobody. I called again to have that removed and - surprise, surprise! - I was transferred a total of 5 times, and once I had to call again cause the system hung up on me as I waited. Finally, (about 40 minutes later) I was helped by a man who said, "Someone at your business must have called and added cable TV to the package". WHAT? I am the only one who makes ANY type of order. I am the owner.

I politely told him this was impossible, so he then said, "Oh! I just noticed this is a free service. I added the charges on internet, and the charges on phone, and they equal the amount you're being billed, so then it's free." What a sarcastic moron! I tried telling him that I received a bundle discount that was being cancelled out by the addition of the cable TV, and he said, "Where is this on your bill?" Since I didn't have my bill in front of me, he said "Being the nice guy that I am, I will wait so you find your bill". I told him I had it in my office at work, but that I appreciated his help, and he said "Okay", and hung up!! I HATE THIS COMPANY! WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE PEOPLE THEY EMPLOY?

BEAVERTON, OREGON -- Comcast Of Oregon LLC - purchased AT&T Broadband Digital Telephony service back in 2004. Comcast never had billing correct entire time and required me, the customer, to quote tariff rate posted at Public Utility Commission to resolve billing issues over a three-year period. Comcast Corporation decided to cancel Digital Telephony Service and start Digital Voice (same technology - but required "soft migration"€ of users off DTS onto DV - Read: Comcast doesn'€™t pay tariffs or isn'€™t subject to FCC PUC rules). I opted out and choose to port-out my existing phone number to Verizon.

Comcast botched the work order and my cancelled service. Three levels of escalation with Comcast management refused to rectify the problem (wouldn'€™t acknowledge any ability to resolve; guess they were used to the ways of cable). Under DTS, the FCC and PUC tariff rules apply. I filed with both agencies and escalated one level and had immediate response from "executive level" at Comcast. Beware of DV and the limitations of what a reduction in service means to you, the end customer. As for me I will remain with the local exchange, interstate, and international carrier who specializes in telephone communication. It is your money, spend as you see appropriate, but beware when complications to service, due to weather, capacity, where you experience service interruption.

I hate Comcast service as much as the customers do. I dread coming into work everyday to hear screaming customers. Usually it's the same problems everyday; no dial tone, cannot access voice mail, cannot receive calls, techs not showing up etc. I truly I have empathy for all Comcast customers out there. It's not that we don't care as customer service reps, it's that we really can't do anything and I feel helpless. There are some reps that really want to help and some that don't care but, that's any company. The following are some facts to know about Comcast:

Customer service: A lot of the employees are outsource (national call center) and aren't able to connect you to extensions. The training sucks. We're thrown out to take calls not knowing much, except to sound like we know what we're talking about. We have agents telling customers things that aren't true because we don't know and don't have realiable resources to give the correct answers. Honestly we only receive irate customer calls and a few simple good calls. I wish Comcast will get their ** together.

Comcast doesn't seem to tell new customers that there is an additional charge to connect jacks to our service. We're only required to connect one phone directly to EMTA. They are really slick. Wait before you sign up for the bundle package because it's a contract and you have to pay to terminate service when in the bundle. If you are considering Comcast because that's the only company in your area, make sure you write all your questions down to ask. Believe me they won't just give you information. Ask how many jacks they will activate and if there is an additional charge, etc.

Requesting supervisors: When customers request supervisors, just to let you know, we have regular agents that are assigned to take supervisor calls and do not have any more authority than the reps. Majority of the supervisors aren't even trained on the service, only thing they do is audit the calls, make sure their employees are meeting their handle time, attendance etc.

Service calls: We aren't responsible for scheduling. The customer service reps can only give you what's available. We aren't able take out another customers appointment in the place of yours. We can contact some of the dispatchers based on your location to force in a sooner appointment.

Dispatch/technicians: Comcast hires contractors that don't know what they're doing and don't care. I believe they are paid commission by how many jobs they complete. When you have an appointment scheduled and they call your contact number, if you don't answer they will not get out the truck and knock on your door. The tech cancels your appointment and moves on to the next house. Isn't that wrong? Well the customer service reps cannot do anything except schedule another appointment and hope it doesn't happen again. We do consider no dial tone as an emergency but we get some many calls in regards to this that dispatch is usually booked.

Tickets: To help the rep out and yourself, always ask for a ticket number and keep it for your records (starts with cr1******). Each rep is SUPPOSE to create a ticket for any problem you have that needs to be repaired. These tickets are forwarded to another department depending on the issue to be investigated. Unfortnately some problems cannot be repaired right away, it takes a few days, which I understand why you all get upset.

I've seen tickets kept open for months and have never been touched. The only thing we can do is call that department and guess what they tell us? They tell us that they will escalate the ticket, AGAIN. Then we're forced to tell you that it has been escalated and you should hear from someone within 24 hours. Outages: We don't have any info on what caused outages or know if tech are really working on the problem or not.

There are some customers that call that say they never have a problem with the service. It really depends on where you live. To me it's just like cell phone service and not dependable. If live near a lot of trees I wouldn't suggest this service. Most of our problem calls are from Atlanta, MA, NJ, CT and PA. I totally understand how you all feel. Sorry for all the typos. I just typed this up really quick. If you have any questions, post a response and I will try to follow up with you.

BOCA RATON, FLORIDA -- I had digital voice installed on September 25th. It went out the same day, taking my internet with it. It took 8 days and 3-4 hours a day calling Comcast to get someone out. I got hung up on, disconnected and lied to. Nobody calls back. Every time I had to call back and go through the menu again and get a new person who put me on hold. I had to call them on my emergency cell phone, spending a small fortune. I had to call a lot of people to give them my alternate number. I could not work on the computer or pay bills.

When it WAS fixed, they could not re-connect my internet as I was on a special for $20 a month and they could not put in that code. They re-installed me at $33 a month. They could not give me a full credit as that would have to go to a supervisor; would I like to hold? I am writing to the FCC, Comcast and everybody else in an official capacity.

DANVERS, MASSACHUSETTS -- LET THE BUYER BEWARE. When we switched to digital phone service several mos. ago, we believed we would get the same speedy repair service as we always got from our local phone co. We were wrong. When I called to say our phone was dead I was told that the "earliest truck available to fix it would come sometime on Monday"...meaning we would be without phone service for five days. We do not have a cellphone! I complained loudly, said I was cancelling our bundled contract and asked to speak to a supervisor...then they tell me it can be fixed tomorrow afternoon. FCC does not regulate this.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS -- I signed up for Comcast in an effort to make very affordable calls internationally. Upon the entire sales-seduction process, I was informed that my calls internationally would be less than 10 cents per minute. In fact, I said "thanks I'll think about it." Called back and spoke with someone else to ask again. Same information. So I said OK - I'm in. Boy was I shocked when I got my bill and it was 4x the amount I imagined it would be!

I immediately called to find out why the charges were so high. I was told that calls to a cell phone were of a different rate than calling to a land line. Then some garbage about cell towers and taxes, etc. I kindly explained that I was a new customer and I had been informed that calls were less than a dime a minute, and was given zero knowledge that there was a difference between calling land lines and cell phones. I said I will accept these terms from this point forward, but I need them to retro-activate the costs and apply them to the originally affirmed sum. I was told someone would "call me back." Of course they didn't.

I waited three days, and called again. I explained the situation again, and the woman said I had an "open ticket" to correct the problem, and they would honor it "and call me back." Subsequently they put a block on my international calling while it is "under review." I thought that was rather responsible considering it could be ripe time for them to earn more money! So here I wait through the weekend, staring at the phone hoping Comcast calls soon. This is ridiculous. I loathe to think I'm about to spend more time and breaths explaining to yet another person about my situation and to please figure it out asap!

NORTH READING, MASSACHUSETTS -- Our phones lose a signal all the time. We are talking to our hospital and the phones go dead. We call in and get no satisfaction. This NO SERVICE happens all the time.