For the Kafka/Samuel Beckett fans out there, I present the following string of events...
Several months back, I made a payment. They waited 20+ days to credit it, which coincided with my rent, so it flopped. Of course they wouldn't budge. It was my fault, since I stupidly adhered to this bizarre "Your payment will be posted in 3-5 business days" part of their pay-by-phone recording. 3 days, 21 days, what's the difference?
Ever since then, I've been a payment behind. With my pet's failing health, I wasn't able to make an August payment, so I figured I'd wait till the service went out & pay then (I'd have an extra check). When it did, I called up & made arrangements to pay. Problem solved.
Except when I came home the next day, my service had been cut off again. I called, got stuck in automated hell. Took over 90 minutes to get a human being. Then spent over an hour going back & forth, finding out the woman I'd spoken with the night before hadn't processed the payment properly. Long story short, I got the service restored. Problem solved.
Oops! Around 11 I tried to record something. Oddly, my DVR service was missing. No record function. No saved shows. (Three years' worth of recordings, gone.) Couldn't rewind. Not only that, none of the menu options were available, save for basic setup options, like the menu color, etc. Called them back. Another hour wasted screaming in rage. They had NO IDEA what happened to the DVR. Must be because the box was "so old." (2016 is prehistoric?) They promised me a new box, credited my account somewhat as compensation for the lost programs. They upgraded me to X1, gave me a ton of new channels, free this, free that, free 2 year Netflix subscription, so sorry, so sorry, & dropped the ridiculous landline charge they'd been insistent I keep.
Saturday the tech showed up to exchange boxes. Big new modem, shiny new box. YouTube & Netflix! Oh boy. Problem solved.
My internet's been going out periodically ever since. Not even in a normal way. I'll be on YouTube, going from one video to the next, or downloading something, & a pop-up on my computer will tell me my internet connection's gone bye-bye. Huh? No problem streaming things. Makes no sense.
Save till tonight. Internet goes kaput. My wi-fi network vanishes. The first two times today it crashed, it came back on its own in a few seconds. This time, it was well & truly gone. So I call Comcast.
Five minutes later...
"Would you like to discuss your account?"
"NO!"
"I'm sorry, I didn't get that. Let's try this. For technical support, please press 1."
I press 1.
"Let's try this. For Billing and Payments, please press 1! For NFL Redzone, please press 2! To return to the main menu, press the Star key."
I press Star.
"Thank you for choosing Comcast." -beep-
Call them back.
Same death spiral, but after 5 minutes, I get a guy named "Angelo."
Here's a "best of" from my call (feel free to put the Benny Hill music on in the background):
1. Angelo called me "ma'am" approximately 85 times, even after I corrected him repeatedly. Halfway through the call, Angelo claimed he was his own manager. (At least when I pretend to be someone else, I try to change my voice in some way.) Also, when we ended the call, he reminded me that his name was Angelo.
2. Angelo accused me of putting the new equipment in myself, since no technician had ever visited me. Nor had an appointment been made, he said.
3. Angelo was upset I didn't know which/how many wires had been replaced.
4. Angelo then told me that the cable box I'd installed myself had successfully fixed the internet issues I'd been having, even though the problems only started AFTER I got the new box.
So...there'd never been a problem, and if there had been, I'd fixed it myself using THEIR equipment. Which I'd never been given, since their tech never came by. Oh, and while I was typing this, my internet went out again (4th time today). And they gave me two different times that their techs would be visiting to "fix" the problem. Does trump work for their customer service department?
I've lost track of how many boxes I've gone through, how many times they've shut off my service due to their own mess-ups, how many hours I've spent going in circles with their horrid automated service, and how much sanity I've lost since becoming the primary person on the account 7 years ago (inherited from my parents). This company deserves a negative integer for a rating. Minus infinity would work, & would be quite apropos.
PS When the "technician who never showed up" came by, he asked me which phone # I go by. I only have one. He wrote out two numbers. One was my old phone #. The other...I have no idea whose number this was/is, but I'd never had such a number, nor known anyone with it. Somehow a completely innocent person's phone number ended up on my account. How do these people get dressed in the morning? read more