Why wait for Comcast to set up your internet service when you can activate it yourself? That’s what Alex and his roommates thought when they activated their service in June, unaided by a tech. Comcast had scheduled a tech to install Alex’s service, but the tech didn’t show until several days after his appointment, when he was told his services were not needed. This greatly angered Comcast:
“because [Alex's roommate] called Comcast himself to set it up (in effect doing exactly what the tech would have done, had he bothered to show up), no one was being billed for our internet! So, instead of notifying anyone, they flipped the switch and turned it off.”
Comcast explained to Alex that his modem’s MAC address was blocked, and would remain blocked until they spoke to the data warehouse, which was closed. When Alex finally got through to the warehouse, he was told that his MAC address could not be unblocked, and that he would need a new modem; but even with a new modem, Alex still could not get on the internet. He could, however, have another maddening conversation with Comcast.
I told them that because they apparently blocked the old MAC address, we are now using this modem. He says that they need to send us a new modem; I said no, you said yesterday we can use a different one, and this is a Motorola Surfboard (gnarly!) just like the old one. He says hold on, then came back and took the MAC address. Hold more, then takes the customer serial number from the modem. This time he forgets to put me on hold, and I can hear him talking with someone and laughing. I’m really hoping he calls me a name or something, but other than whatever lolocaust he’s having, it seems ok. Finally, he comes back and says the exact same thing they said two days ago: they need to add our MAC address to their database, which the guy can’t do from where he is.
Alex is still without internet service. It may be time to summon the indefatigable solution mavens of executive customer support to speed the internet’s safe return.
The Sisyphean Struggle of Trying to Get Internet from Comcast [WTF, Comcast]
(Photo: Steve Rhodes)
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@Jaysyn:
The reason that all this furor was going on is that the Jacksonville gov’t was trying to gain concessions for agreeing to transfer the franchise to Comcast.
Good luck trying to actually cancel a franchise and hand it over to someone else – the litigation would outlast us all.
I work for comcast. If you own a modem and want to use it, we have to put it in to the inventory, stating that this is a valid modem and in your home. During this process, the software looks up your mac address to see if a duplicate is on the network or tied to another account. If that is fthe case then they cannot activate the modem. If the customer was doing a self install kit, most likely his billing codes were set to take start a week or two out. This happens a number of times at the payment centers then the work order needs to be rebuilt. I am sure there is great error on the part of Comcast. If you live in Colorado, I would be more than happy to assist you.
First @ doctor_cos
THANK YOU! It was all I could do to get through the comments area when I was continually seeing “wall guard”.
Second @ WEISCHRIS
You are so very right…. Period. (Im in CO too…been there, done that
)
I have worked in the cable industry in various systems &/or has my husband. From Comcast, to Adelphia, to AT&T, to Charter, to TW, to Everest Connections… the process is “basically” the same in the manner that WEISCHRIS has described above.
I agree as well with the poster that states that not everything works all the time. More power to you! Life isnt PERFECT. I think that needs to be a wide spread realization.
My sister signed up for Comcast internet. The install guy showed up on time but claimed he couldn’t finish the job because Comcast hadn’t released the “codes”. He claimed it would take Comcast a couple hours to get him the codes and he needed to go to another job. He promised to come back later that day and we asked for his cell number–but he never showed up or returned any of our calls. My sister called Comcast and the customer service rep walked her through the installation but Comcast still charged her the $100 installation fee even though she did the work for them.
comcast is crap anyway overpriced shit