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Comcast: A Rant; Why I'm cancelling my service
Topic Started: Nov 21 2006, 07:17 PM (605 Views)
George K
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Finally
Comcast
8101 W 183rd St.
Tinley Park, IL 60473

Gentlemen:

I am writing to inform you about the reason I decided to terminate my service with Comcast. In July of this year, I added High-Speed Internet to my existing cable TV service. The installation went well. The technician arrived at the scheduled time, the installation did not take long, and immediately after the installation, the service was operational. My previous cable installation was on the north side of my home, via overhead cable. The installer indicated that he had to relocate the installation to the south part of the home, and he left the cable on the lawn in my backyard. He assured me that Comcast would be burying the cable within two weeks.

At that time I asked if permits would be required for the work. I was informed that Comcast would handle all required paperwork.

By mid-July, I was beginning to be concerned, for the cable was still not buried. I made several phone calls (unfortunately I do not recall the dates of the calls) to have the service buried, and I was given at least two appointments for the service. It did not occur. My wife called as well, and she was told that if the cable was not buried by a certain date, the installation would not proceed for the ground would be frozen. She also asked about the need for permits and was told that Comcast would obtain all necessary permits.

I called again in early October to have the service buried. I was given the date of October 15th, a Sunday. The installation did not occur on that date. When I called at the end of that week, I was told that it had been completed. The fact that I could see cable lying on my lawn indicated that someone didn’t know what the status of the job was.

I called in early November for another appointment, and was, once again, assured that the installation would proceed. It did not. Once again, I called last week, and was given the date of November 21st. By 3PM this afternoon, the installation had not occurred and I called to check the status of the job. I was assured that the job would be completed by 8PM. I informed the service person that if the job were not completed, I would be calling at 8:01PM. She told me that would be fine and that I should ask for a supervisor.

The job was not completed.

I called this evening at 8:15 and asked to speak to a supervisor. The call was disconnected. I called again, spoke to a service representative and asked to speak to a supervisor. I was told that there were no supervisors available at this hour. I told the service representative that I had been told that one would be available and insisted that I speak with someone who could help.

I was connected to someone who asked if the trench area was marked and if anyone had been out to dig the trench. I told her no. I was asked if I had called SBC to confirm underground service location. I informed her that I was never told that I should contact SBC and besides, my phone service is overhead. She indicated that it was obvious why the job had not been completed: I had never called SBC.

I was never told to call SBC. It is not my responsibility to do so. I am not an employee of Comcast.

Accordingly, I am cancelling my service with Comcast. This type of miscommunication, extended promises of service dates, rescheduling of service is completely unacceptable. I currently have DSL service at my home (which I did not cancel fearing problems with the cable) and a satellite dish. Both of those services have been reliable, steady, and relatively inexpensive. Calls for service have been answered promptly; installations were clean and on time. Unfortunately, Comcast does not seem to be able to meet those standards.

Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. I will be sharing this story with my colleagues, friends, and Village representatives.

Cordially,

A guide to GKSR: Click

"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... "
- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles.
- Klaus, 4/29/18
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Mikhailoh
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
Can't say as I blame you. Warner Cable used to be just that bad. Since they became Time-Warner a few years ago they improved greatly.
Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball
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Nobody's Sock
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Fulla-Carp
Sorry to hear your Comcast woes.

I've been on Comcast for some time now and it's the fastest dang thing going.

Picture 3 different size pipes:

Dialup is a straw.

DSL is a garden hose.

Broadband is a firetruck hose.

That's as close an analogy I can put it.

Regular rates are $45.95 a month where I get it but I signed up on one of those 6 month specials for 20 bucks a month and when it ran out I called them to cancel.

They asked why, and I told them I couldn't justify the regular rate as I don't use the danged internet except for posting in some stupid coffee room and so the guy put me on hold for a while, then came back and offered to extend the 20 dollar special for another year.

I've gone through this scenario twice more since.

I guess for 20 bucks a month, you guys are worth it. :wink:

"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known."
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George K
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Finally
Though the speed is very nice, I really am quite satisfied with DSL at 1.5. Cost is the same, and as I said, it's more reliable - been down once in 4 years. Comcast seems to go down about once a month - gotta reset everything. And the carpy service (c'mon, you can't bury a cable in 5 months) just speaks to lousy service should I really need something. I'm lucky that the guys that mow my lawn didn't cut the cable!
A guide to GKSR: Click

"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... "
- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles.
- Klaus, 4/29/18
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Aqua Letifer
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ZOOOOOM!
George, Comcast is a product of fear. They really don't care much about their customers since for every one person who drops their service, there's 10 more saps that sign up in their place. They use the number of their customers to legitimize sh!tty service. If there were another cable provider that we could get here, we'd change in a heartbeat. I don't blame you at all for dropping them.
I cite irreconcilable differences.
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QuirtEvans
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I Owe It All To John D'Oh
Unfortunately, we can't get DSL in this neighborhood. Ever. The rest of the town has it, but there's something about the wiring they used (paired?) that makes it impossible to connect DSL here without rewiring the whole neighborhood.

Yeah, not doing that. So it's cable or satellite, until internet-through-the-electrical-outlet is available here.
It would be unwise to underestimate what large groups of ill-informed people acting together can achieve. -- John D'Oh, January 14, 2010.
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Frank_W
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Resident Misanthrope
Well, you could be paying through the nose for Charter Communications broadband. (and putting up with sh!tty customer service, intermittent connectivity, extended outages, etc. etc.)

"Thanks for calling Charter COmmunications Customer Service! Press 2 for English! Press 3 to speak with Satan!" :veryangry:
Anatomy Prof: "The human body has about 20 sq. meters of skin."
Me: "Man, that's a lot of lampshades!"
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BeeLady
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Middle Aged Carp
QuirtEvans
Nov 22 2006, 09:09 AM
Unfortunately, we can't get DSL in this neighborhood. Ever. The rest of the town has it, but there's something about the wiring they used (paired?) that makes it impossible to connect DSL here without rewiring the whole neighborhood.

Yeah, not doing that. So it's cable or satellite, until internet-through-the-electrical-outlet is available here.

Same here, though for our town it is that we are too far from a DSL switching station.

Comcast came down our street 2 weeks ago, dug a trench and and hooked up the first three houses. The remaining 5 of us were told we could get it at a cost of $2000 per house. Not gonna happen.

In checking at town hall for alternatives, such as poles etc. I discovered that Comcast violated the wetlands protection act in that they did all that digging beside a stream with no permits. :mad2:

I'll stick with satellite, thank you.
"My wheel shall sing responsive to my tread,
And I will spin so fine, so strong a thread
Fate shall not cut it, nor Time's forces break"
"Distaff and Spindle: Sonnets by Mary Ashley Townsend" 1895
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plays88keys
Pisa-Carp
We have Comcast, and their service has been pretty good but it wasn't always this way. They are the only high speed internet provider for our area, but they are getting some competition from Verizon once their fiber optic network is ready. Verizon was in our neighborhood all summer laying the cables.

We will most certainly switch.

Good luck George. I hope writing that letter was a form of catharsis for your frustrations, as well as a complaint to a slacker company.
You can never get enough of what you don't need to make you happy.
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John D'Oh
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MAMIL
I could actually feel my blood pressure rising in sympathy as I read the letter. I'm almost tempted to cancel our Comcast account even though our service is OK and we're in a completely different State. This kind of thing just makes my blood boil. :mad2:
What do you mean "we", have you got a mouse in your pocket?
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JBryan
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I am the grey one
I cancelled mine yesterday because of this letter and I did not even have Comcast.
"Any man who would make an X rated movie should be forced to take his daughter to see it". - John Wayne


There is a line we cross when we go from "I will believe it when I see it" to "I will see it when I believe it".


Henry II: I marvel at you after all these years. Still like a democratic drawbridge: going down for everybody.

Eleanor: At my age there's not much traffic anymore.

From The Lion in Winter.
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RosemaryTwo
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HOLY CARP!!!
Solidarity.

I am currently on hold with Comcast. They took over Adelphia, my local cable / DSL service. They have been bugging me to change my e-mail account, which I have put off doing, b/c I'll have to order new letterhead and business cards. I finally went online to do this, and I couldn't remember my password. When cued for my mother's maiden name, I typed it in. It kept getting rejected. Typed in my mother-in-laws maiden name. Rejected. Typed in my maiden name. Rejected. They kicked me out, gave me a phone number. Called that number. They gave me another number. Called that number. Got a recording telling me they're having problems. So sorry, they said, they're working hard to fix the problems. Also, the wait time to talk to a technician is unusually long, I'm told. All of this, and my first e-mail from them told me to "hurry up" and change my account.

Getting high blood pressure and a stiff neck holding the phone,

Rosemary
"Perhaps the thing to do is just to let stupid run its course." Aqua
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QuirtEvans
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I Owe It All To John D'Oh
Comcast has actually been very helpful to me, setting up and maintaining my wireless network. Go figure.

There's always Hughesnet, George. And then you can get NFL Sunday Ticket.
It would be unwise to underestimate what large groups of ill-informed people acting together can achieve. -- John D'Oh, January 14, 2010.
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Luke's Dad
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Emperor Pengin
You could always move to where I live and get it through your power line. So far so good, and about half the price you are paying for comcast.
The problem with having an open mind is that people keep trying to put things in it.
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RosemaryTwo
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HOLY CARP!!!
I finally got through. They told me to stop trying. Try again later. No one can get through now. Lots of effort for that.

Fine. Procrastination is my forte. -_-
"Perhaps the thing to do is just to let stupid run its course." Aqua
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Ben
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Senior Carp
Frank_W
Nov 22 2006, 08:26 AM
Well, you could be paying through the nose for Charter Communications broadband. (and putting up with sh!tty customer service, intermittent connectivity, extended outages, etc. etc.)

"Thanks for calling Charter COmmunications Customer Service! Press 2 for English! Press 3 to speak with Satan!" :veryangry:

:lol: :D
- Ben

"Playing 'bop' is like playing Scrabble with all the vowels missing." - Duke Ellington

bennieloohoo@gmail.com
Or you can just PM me. :P
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Luke's Dad
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Emperor Pengin
RosemaryTwo
Nov 22 2006, 11:56 AM
Solidarity.

I am currently on hold with Comcast. They took over Adelphia, my local cable / DSL service. They have been bugging me to change my e-mail account, which I have put off doing, b/c I'll have to order new letterhead and business cards. I finally went online to do this, and I couldn't remember my password. When cued for my mother's maiden name, I typed it in. It kept getting rejected. Typed in my mother-in-laws maiden name. Rejected. Typed in my maiden name. Rejected. They kicked me out, gave me a phone number. Called that number. They gave me another number. Called that number. Got a recording telling me they're having problems. So sorry, they said, they're working hard to fix the problems. Also, the wait time to talk to a technician is unusually long, I'm told. All of this, and my first e-mail from them told me to "hurry up" and change my account.

Getting high blood pressure and a stiff neck holding the phone,

Rosemary

There's a great radio spot by DirectTV regarding the Comcast takeover of Adelphia. It's an automated greeting stating "Thank you for calling the new Comcast, which recently took over your previous provider, Adelphia. Unfortunately, please stay on the phone as your call is very important to us, and we will get to you as soon as we possibly can...Which will be right after we order the new corporate coffee mugs.....And pick out the carpet for the boardroom....and then we've gotta figure out how we're going to pay for all this......"
The problem with having an open mind is that people keep trying to put things in it.
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bachophile
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HOLY CARP!!!
i love letters like that. im about to write one concerning my auto insurance, (long story which wont interest anyone) im just in the process of hunting for a bettter deal before sending the letter and your cordial (:devilgrin:) but honest tone is wonderful.

my only comment is on this line...

Quote:
 
I will be sharing this story with my colleagues, friends, and Village representatives.


i think u do us wrong by not mentioning that u share this story with the most lovable bunch of idiots and cretins that ever graced a computer forum.
"I don't know much about classical music. For years I thought the Goldberg Variations were something Mr. and Mrs. Goldberg did on their wedding night." Woody Allen
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bachophile
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HOLY CARP!!!
in fact, what a gas it would be if we all sent an email to comcast with a copy of your letter saying that we got this mail, are outraged as friends of yours, and are spreading the word across the globe....u know, cc the letter to one's whole address book and ask them to pass it on...

"I don't know much about classical music. For years I thought the Goldberg Variations were something Mr. and Mrs. Goldberg did on their wedding night." Woody Allen
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RosemaryTwo
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HOLY CARP!!!
Quote:
 
There's a great radio spot by DirectTV regarding the Comcast takeover of Adelphia. It's an automated greeting stating "Thank you for calling the new Comcast, which recently took over your previous provider, Adelphia. Unfortunately, please stay on the phone as your call is very important to us, and we will get to you as soon as we possibly can...Which will be right after we order the new corporate coffee mugs.....And pick out the carpet for the boardroom....and then we've gotta figure out how we're going to pay for all this......"


:lol:

Well, I feel better already. Might be nice to get one of them new mugs out of the deal.

Still using my adelphia e-mail account,

Rosemary
"Perhaps the thing to do is just to let stupid run its course." Aqua
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George K
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Finally
bachophile
Nov 22 2006, 01:24 PM
in fact, what a gas it would be if we all sent an email to comcast with a copy of your letter saying that we got this mail, are outraged as friends of yours, and are spreading the word across the globe....u know, cc the letter to one's whole address book and ask them to pass it on...

So, what're you waitin' fer?
A guide to GKSR: Click

"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... "
- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles.
- Klaus, 4/29/18
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plays88keys
Pisa-Carp
bachophile
Nov 22 2006, 01:24 PM
in fact, what a gas it would be if we all sent an email to comcast with a copy of your letter saying that we got this mail, are outraged as friends of yours, and are spreading the word across the globe....u know, cc the letter to one's whole address book and ask them to pass it on...

I am LOL big time! :lol:

bach sweetie, I love the way your mind works. :devilgrin:
You can never get enough of what you don't need to make you happy.
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George K
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Finally
Bump and Followup

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

A letter to my village offices;


8 December, 2006

Village Offices

Gentlemen,

Enclosed please find a copy of a letter to Comcast regarding the installation of high-speed cable internet access. The system was installed in the summer, and after multiple phone calls and missed dates, the cable was never buried in my back yard as Comcast had promised.

I cancelled my service on the 21st of November, and was told that service would be disconnected on the 27th. I left town on the 26th for vacation and during that week I received a call from Ms. Lxxxxxx Wxxxxxs regarding my decision to cancel service I also received a letter from her (also enclosed). Her letter was dated December 5th, and in it, she indicated that if she did not hear from me by the 8th, she would consider the matter resolved. I returned her call on the 6th of December. I did not realize that during the week I was gone, Comcast buried the cable in my backyard.

I am more than a little bothered by the fact that Comcast allowed themselves into my backyard after I had cancelled service. I am particularly disturbed by the fact that a trench was dug in my backyard to bury the cable after I was no longer a customer. I never authorized such work, and certainly would not have, since I was not a Comcast customer after the 27th of the month. Ms. Wxxxxxxx indicated that Comcast has a responsibility to maintain their equipment. I maintain that if I am not their customer, they have no right to enter my property without my expressed permission, and they certainly do not have the right to dig on my property. Does this activity not constitute trespassing?

I would appreciate your attention to this matter.

I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

George K
A guide to GKSR: Click

"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... "
- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles.
- Klaus, 4/29/18
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Optimistic
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HOLY CARP!!!
unbelievable
PHOTOS

I must have a prodigious quantity of mind; it takes me as much as a week, sometimes, to make it up.
- Mark Twain


We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
-T. S. Eliot
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The 89th Key
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To war! :sword:
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