A Happy End

Finally, after a few months, I have a stable connection. Someone from Comcast called me to schedule an appointment to rewire my unit. They even sent a technician ahead of the scheduled date (without prior notice), but unfortunately I was about to leave that day.

So, at the scheduled day and hour Mr. Loren Knott knocked on my door. I should say I was disappointed by his first words, because I was expecting someone to promptly rewire the unit, but nobody had briefed him, apparently. Well, he is clearly an experienced troubleshooter and knows how to deal with frustrated customers. He said something like "I don't know what the other technicians said to you, but if you explain the problem to me, I can solve it" and promptly gave me his ID card and number to take note. I was talking to a pro.

He did everything that was possible at that time (replaced a wire section which was probably compromised, double checked the distribution box) and also gave me some informations about signal levels, instructing me to take a screenshot of the diagnostic page in case I saw some number out of range. I asked him if he wanted to wait a few days to see if those fixes could have solved the problem, and he said "we will monitor this, but we will rewire it anyway to be sure". Also, he said a full rewire is actually scheduled to be done in my apartment complex - yet nobody knows exactly when - but he was able to run an external temporary line, depending on my property manager approval.

What was really amazing is that he kept me informed during the next days about what was going on - and this is something I never had before from Comcast. Even when I texted him as he requested to inform about my connection status, he was already ahead of me and aware of the situation.

After a few days, the rewiring was finally done (and, even better, it was a permanent line, not a temporary one). It was about 1 and a half weeks ago, and since then my modem NEVER reseted again.

I have only one final suggestion to Comcast: it's completely unfair that, having so many unhelpful technicians, supervisors and customer service representatives, Mr. Loren Knott has not been promoted yet to supervisor, tech trainer, manager, or whatever title you can give him to help customers even more.

P.S.: Thanks also to @ComcastMelissa - I'm sure if it was not for her work monitoring social networks, I would still have a modem resetting every 10 minutes.

1 week waiting for a reply from we_can_help

Last Saturday (1 week ago), I sent my contact info to some Comcast e-mail addresses as requested by @ComcastMelissa, which replied the e-mail I sent to we_can_help@comcast.com. At the time I write this, my connection dropped 4 times in the last half hour (I arrived at home a half hour ago). No reply from Comcast so far. Yesterday I sent another e-mail, just in case:

"Unfortunately, as usual, still waiting for a reply."

I think it would be more honest to hear something like "give up, we won't fix your connection". My property manager jokes about this saying "they will solve the problem when you move to another apartment".

we_can_help - A New Hope (I hope)

Last Saturday, a few hours after sending an e-mail to we_can_help@comcast.com, I got a reply from Melissa:

"Good Evening, Mr. Farias.

I’m sorry for the trouble with your service and for the frustrations we’ve caused.  Please “reply to all” with your service address and your best contact number.  We will work with area leadership to see this is addressed.

Kind Regards,

Melissa Mendoza
Social Media Specialist

National Customer Operations

@ComcastMelissa"

I had promptly replied all as requested. Waiting for almost 48 hours (ok, I was not really hoping to receive a call during the weekend).

----

Some technicians said there is a 'customer satisfaction warranty', which means you get credited 20 bucks if you complain again about a problem which was supposed to be solved. It seems you are also supposed to receive this credit if a technician is late on a appointment. Considering I've called at least 30 times, a technician was late at least 1 time and another technician simply didn't showed up, a simple calculation should result in, let's say, 29 x 20 + 20 + 20  = $620.00. I had been credited 2 x 20 = 40.00, as far as I remember. If I had not complained about the 'residential trouble call' charges ($50.00 each), the balance would be now -$60.00.

Also, at some point I received an 'We're sorry' letter, with a cupom for a free on-demand movie. The instructions say: 'return this cupom with your next bill'. Unfortunately, I receive my bills electronically and the payment is done automatically via checking account. I can't even enjoy the 'we're sorry' cupom.

Why do I still believe I'll get some reply?

As usual, 72h have passed since the customer service representative promised somebody would contact me in 48h regarding to the ticket CR302095938. I start to think it would be easier and cheaper (surely less stressful), if I had got a pliers, opened Comcast distribution box and replace the wires by myself.

Calling again to at least get my 50 bucks back

Since after 1 hour the supervisor Mr. Darrell didn't call me back as promised, I called the customer service again. After 11 minutes on the phone, the guy on the phone said I am going to be refunded for this "residential trouble call" on my next bill. Also I told him about this blog, and he said he was going to read it when he get home. Maybe I'll gain an insider fan.

Comcast - a soap opera

Dear Comcast.

I’m experiencing the very same connectivity problem for at least 4 months and you still didn’t solve the problem. My connection keeps dropping, sometimes every hour, sometime every minute, many times a day. I’ve talked to customer service about 30 times, and you sent technicians to my home at least 8 times. The modem was replaced at least 4 times, as well as the power source. Now I have not only connectivity problems but also wi-fi problems due to your new all-in-one modem/router - which according to your own technicians has known wi-fi issues.

At some point you reached the conclusion the problem was the wire itself, and you said it must be replaced. Mr. Roberto, technician, promised to come back to solve the problem as soon as his supervisor figure out if my apartment building was under contract. He never came back. He never answered my calls. He never returned any voice mails.

Then you sent another technician, who came to my home only to say: “my supervisor, Mr. Jesse Fort, wants to let you know that there is a network problem, not only with your unit, and a ticket was opened to the network team".

Two weeks later, on Sep 13 2012 I sent the following mail to Mr. Fort:

“Hi Mr. Fort

2 weeks have passed and I haven't heard from you. My modem keeps resetting, so I assume nothing was fixed so far. What's the current status?”

After a week, no reply, so I called the customer service again, asking about this supposed network team ticket. Nobody was able to find such ticket, so the customer service opened a new ticket and I was supposed to receive a call back. Nobody called me. I called again and the customer service said the network team closed the ticket. So the ticket was reopened and I was supposed to receive a call back. Nobody called me back again. I called again and asked for a technician, so at least I can talk face-to-face to someone.

Then Mr. Alan came, and I asked him about the supposed network issue. He called his supervisor, Mr. Rick Russelle, and they said there was no network issue. I asked him: “so they lied to me?”, and he replied “yes”.

Mr. Alan then came to the same conclusion: the wire must be replaced. He promised his supervisor, was going to call me back as soon as he figure out if my apartment building was under contract (again, the same story). At some point Mr. Russelle called me to say that he was going to check if my building was under contract and said he was going to call me again in 15 minutes. I’ve waited 3 weeks. In those 3 weeks, I’ve sent e-mails and left at least 2 voice mails. In the customer service, nobody was able to contact him.

So, since I had his business card, I got my car and drove to the address in the card - 3760 Haven Ave, Menlo Park. I knocked on the door, but nobody opened. I thought of pass through the gate when it was opened for some truck to pass, but I got afraid someone could misunderstand me and call the police. So I called the customer service again, while in the parking in front of the building. I spent literally more than 1 hour in the phone. I begged for them to ask to Mr. Russelle or Mr. Fort come to talk to me, but they said they were not able to talk to anybody in the building. So, in the end, they promised someone was going to call me back in 24 hours.

That week was funny, because every 24 hours I had to call the customer service because 24 hour ago the same customer service promised someone would call me in 24 hours but, as usual, nobody called me back.

By the way, at some point I was charged 50 dollars for “residential trouble call”.

In one of these calls, I was able to talk to a supervisor, Mrs. Criselle (not sure how to spell), extension 292349, who promised she would take care of this and call me back in 24 hours. In fact, she did - to let me know that someone was going to call me back in another 24 hours.

At this point, I had the first glimpse of hope. I received an e-mail reply from Mr. Jesse Fort on Oct 15 2012 (1 month and 2 days after my e-mail) saying:

“Good afternoon.  I just wanted to let you know we have a contract in place at your complex.  I have turned over a request to have our MDU rewire team to rewire the building, not just your unit.  Thank you.

Jesse Fort
Tech 2692
Supervisor, Install/Service
Menlo Park F.F.O.”

So I replied to him:

“Sounds good, but since I'm waiting for months, I should ask: when? I've just talked to my property manager and nobody contacted him so far.

Thanks”

Since he didn’t reply after 9 days, I called the customer service again and asked to talk to Mrs. Criselle. Unfortunately, I tried it twice, but both times they said the extension number was invalid (it was supposed to be 7-digit) and there was no supervisor called Mrs. Criselle.

Well, yesterday I called again, telling the whole story one more time and asking: “please, you know what the problem is, so fix it, I’m begging you”. So another ticket (CR302095938) was opened and someone was supposed to call me in 48 hours. So far, nobody called me.

Now the cool thing is, I’ve checked my bank statement and noticed an unusual charge from Comcast (I have automatic payment enabled). So I’ve checked my Comcast statement and, guess what? Comcast charged me AGAIN 50 dollars for “residential trouble call”.

Well, now I called the customer service again, hoping at least you can give me back my money, and asked to talk to a supervisor. The guy put me on hold. After 15 minutes, the call dropped. I called again. Another guy put me on hold again. After a few minutes, he said “my supervisor (Mr. Darrell) is busy, please give me your number and he will call you back”. Well I’m waiting for a half hour. In this meanwhile, I wrote everything I remember since the first time I called Comcast 4 months ago regarding to this problem, so the next time I call the customer service, instead of telling the whole soap opera again, I can simply say: look, I’m tired of telling the same story over and over... please, go to this blog and read it.

Marcelo Bukowski de Farias
Palo Alto
October 27, 2012