Comcast Credits Your Payment To The Wrong Account, Disconnects Your Cable
Reader Adam wrote in to let us know that he's switching to FiOS after Comcast credited his payment to the wrong account number, accused him of not paying his bill, disconnected his cable, lied about it, then couldn't get it back on for several days.
The drama started when Adam moved and Comcast kept applying his payment to his old account. After a few months of this, they shut off his cable and told him he owed around $300, which he gladly paid over the phone — only to realize that he'd just paid Comcast twice for the same service and that his cable still wasn't back on.
His original email was understandably quite lengthy, but here's how he signed off:
The worst part of it all, LOST is on tonight and I am missing it.
Oh yeah, I am picking up a wireless signal from a neighbor since my internet is out. Be sure to also tell people to secure their networks since you never know who is on it.
The whole mess was eventually straightened out — but Adam decided he'd had enough of Comcast and switched to FiOS, which is where we join his story.
Adam writes:
As I have been updating you on my serious of issues with Comcast and their breaking of protocol, lying to a customer, and inability to handle even the simplest of requests the saga is finally over but not without one last instance of poor customer service.
On Friday 05/15/09 I had FIOS installed but my Comcast billing cycle went through Monday 05/18/09 and on Sunday 05/17/09 at 6:30pm I called Comcast to cancel my service and was unable to speak with a person regarding billing.
I called 2-3 times to try to speak with someone but kept getting taken to the same area on the phone system, and finally after selecting I was having trouble with service was I finally able to get a CSR on the phone. I told them I would like to cancel my service and when they asked why I said I was done with the level of service I got from Comcast and had FIOS installed.
The person said they were sorry to hear that but they were unable to complete my request and I needed to call back on Monday 05/18/09 during business hours because they only had technical support on the weekends. In my last statement to Comcast, I explained that this was exactly the reason I am canceling their service.
I called to handle an issue with them, and it should not matter what day or what time I called, because if I have a billing problem I should be able to speak with a person immediately, but that area is not open on Sundays and there was no one that could help me. I bet if I wanted to start service or purchase additional items like movie channels, pay per views, etc.. someone would have happily done that for me.
I went to the Comcast billing office this morning to return my equipment and cancel my service, and upon telling the person what I wanted to do she did not seem to care or ask any questions, just accepted the items and gave me a return receipt.
Adios Comcast, it has been an unpleasant 6 months with their service. If I can be just 1 person who stands up to them and refuses to accept substandard levels of service, then hopefully I can inspire others to do the same thing.
Thanks again for all your help while I was trying to remedy my situation with Comcast. If i had not had The Consumerist, I would probably still be trying to figure out where my money is and just calling the general help line and never being able to get to the executive level, even though they were just as inept, at least I have it on the official record with them. Now let's just hope that check is actually in the mail to me.
One last piece of advice, Adam. Hang on to that receipt.
(Photo:mojojornjorn)
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Comments:
@HalOfBorg: It sounds like he paid it to get the cable back on, then realized his mistake. He was probably frustrated/angry and didn't think it through.
@HalOfBorg: I'm guessing that he gladly paid what he thought he owed, then realized that he didn't owe it. At that point he was probably less glad.
So far, Comcast has the inside track on the WCIA 2010 trophy.
Keep it up!
If you had access to FIOS, why didn't you switch in the first place? -_-
The indifference you get when you cancel your Comcast service is astounding. After Comcast lied about a promotional rate and assured me that my receipt included that provision (I had it right in front of me and it was completely blank; not even a signature), I told them to come yank their glitchey box out of my wall. They couldn't have cared less.
That's why they nickel and dime you with installation fees up the ass. They know you're likely to cancel within a year.
Time Warner Cable did the same thing to my fiancée after she moved. We eventually became so frustrated with their customer service’s inability to get the billing straight that we just switched to AT&T U-verse (FiOS still isn’t available in our neighbourhood). The funny part is that the account was still in her deceased mother’s name because Time Warner refused to change it without opening a new account (which they did during the move without telling my fiancée beforehand). After arguing about the issue, Time Warner refused to waive the late payment fees and we just closed the account. I assume they just wrote it off, because her mother’s estate was already settled.
@dianabanana: Comcast's on demand is superior to Fios's. Since we haven't really been watching on demand as much as we used to, we are now considering the switch to Fios.
He obviously had some major issues with the atrocity that is comcast's customer service. I am well aware that they suffer from chronic ineptitude. However, the customer's tone in the last part annoyed me. Why is it that we can expect that every company will have every department available to you at all times? The way I see it, it is Comcast's decision on whether to allow you to dispute business transactions on non-business days like weekends. It is standard practice among most businesses (except perhaps some banks) that those kinds of discussions will have to wait until Monday. As long as I can call them about my cable being out for the fourth time this month, I'm fine.
(muttering under breath about people these days and their sense of entitlement)
/rant
Funny, both my parents and grandparents have not had any problems with Comcast in 15+ years. This is more surprising due to the fact that both households are in Comcast's monopoly areas. My parents' only problem is the ridiculous price for the Tier 1 or 2 "digital package" service they receive.
I would wonder if AT&T has U-Verse in their area, but our own shitty luck with The Death Star's wireless service leaves me uneasy.
The same exact thing happened to me, when I got a pay or disconnect letter, I called and paid with a credit card. They still disconnected me, told me there would be a re-connect fee and it was a week wait. I returned my equipment and received a refund check for over payment. I have been with DirecTV ever since. Why do companies have such a hard time transferring service to a new address?
@dianabanana: Because in some parts of the country (Portland, OR for one) FIOS is 100x worse than Comcast *gasp*! In the few months I had the FIOS triple package there were ZERO days all services worked. 30+ hours on the phone did nothing but send out repair guys who "fixed" it. Two years back with Comcast triple play and I've had zero issues ever.
@sleze69: Not in my neck of the woods it aint.
Well, actually I can't really say that since I have no experience with FIOS. All I can say is that FIOS would have to have abysmal, nearly non-existent "On Demand" service in my neck of the woods for Comcast to beat them out in that regard. Ugh pretty much sums up how bad it is out here in Santa Fe.
AstroPig7: We eventually became so frustrated with their customer service's inability to get the billing straight that we just switched to AT&T U-verse
Good luck with that.
/Can't stand AT&T due to the crappy customer service I received on a phone line about 8 years back.
/Also can't stand they way they advertise their services (really guys, after 8 years you can stop sending me spam asking me to switch back).
/not to mention their U-VERSE goons knocking on the door all the time. Door to door? Seriously guys?
@Riff-Raff: i wonder if they're paying 180 a month for cable and internet like my mom does. but we're eligible for a free 12 month upgrade on the internet service bc of the NFL Network fight...I really wish Verizon hadn't pulled out of New Hampshire...
I didnt move but went through something similar with Comcast. I upgraded to digital with a DVR and they told me that they had to give me a whole new account and cancel my old one (something about my billing being on an old system). I updated my online billpay to the new account number but for two months they applied every bill to the old account. I even called to tell them that it was going to the wrong one and they assured me it would be fixed "no problem". On month three, I got the disconnect and they advised me again that they were working on it. Then they disconnected me and advised while they could see the money on the other account, they wouldnt restore service unless I paid the 3 months again. Three reps, two supervisors, and one of thier accounting reps could never get it fixed. I got Qwest for service and six months later, Im still getting harassed for the "past due" but never got a refund.
@dangerp:
Look, here's the chief factor involved in all of this bullshit that you seem to have overlooked; Comcast pro-rates your bill for time used during the month. Being jerked around like this just adds more to your bill. Granted it's not a hugely substantial amount, but the principle of the matter is that you're being forced into a situation in which you'll have to pay more simply because the desk-jockey who took your calls; and who likely has access to the same information that the desk-jockey you'll talk to on Monday does, was told not to deal with you on the weekend by the head office. Just because.
Sure it might not be a huge deal in the scheme of things, but as someone who has no qualms with holding a guy you've never met to your own personal standards, I would hope that you'd understand how simple principle can move folks to stop taking unreasonable shit from the folks they pay to provide them services.
Ya know, Lost is on ABC, which in many areas you can pick up over the air (free) in HD, even!
I used to have the Comcast Triple Play package which was $99 a month for a year when I had it. When my year was almost up, Comcast called me and said they were calling because my promotional rate of $99 was about to expire and they wanted to "save" me some money...
What was their solution to save me money you ask? They wanted to offer me the "Premier" package for a reasonable rate of $129.99 a month for a year. How does going from $99 a month to $129 save me any money?
I decided to educate the CSR on what my definition of saving money was... I told her to drop my digital phone service (which I wasn't really using), told her to drop me from standard cable to basic (was mostly watching network channels anyway), and then made her give me an introductory 6-month rate of $20 for Internet or I would drop that too...
Final tally... I went from $99 a month to $32 a month for 6 months, then $54 a month after that. They never called to "save" me money ever again.
@lordargent: We’ve had surprisingly good service from AT&T since we signed up in 2008-12, but just by saying this I’ve probably jinxed it. Although, the pamphlets they mail us advertising U-verse are amusingly worthless. I can only hope that this inability for systems to communicate never spreads to what we pay for.
This kind of stupidity is actually probably more common than we think. It all stems from the fact that when you move, Comcast does something unbearably stupid: they essentially link your account number with your address. The effect of this is that when you move, they cancel your account number for your old address and issue you an entirely new account number for your new address. Unfortunately, for whatever reason Comcast is not smart enough to be able to connect the two logically; the one hand has no idea what the other is doing.
This happened to me a couple of years ago, and it was unfathomably stupid. I figured it out before I accidentally paid them multiple times for the same thing, but the fact that I had to figure it out at all shines very poorly on Comcast.
The easiest way to fix this would be to realize that you don't need to cancel an entire account because someone is moving but keeping their service, but we all know that Comcast doesn't like to do anything that involves the words "easy" or "fix".
I am the one who sent this story to them, so yes my name is Adam. if you want to read the entire ordeal you can at this website. [comcraptic.com] It is post #580, from apd09
Why should they keep there billing office open 24/7? I can see the need for 24 hour technical support, but these are people- why shouldn't they get a weekend too?
I've had technical trouble with comcast sometimes in the past, but I have never paid them twice for service I'm not receiving- this seems like an honest mistake on the part of a CSR originally and then a customer who isn't paying enough attention to realize what's going on, if your bill goes through on Monday, cancel on Friday, easy.
Am I the only one that thinks "Comcastrophe" rolls off the tongue a little easier than "Comcatastrophe"? Somebody back me up.
@dangerp: Considering many people do not have the luxury of being able to make long drawn out phone calls during business hours, yea, having someone who can actually DO SOMETHING during off hours really is not asking that much.
Knology did the exact same thing to us when they changed their account numbers. I had the right mailing address but since I had not been informed of the new account number yet, the check had the old one on it. When they went to put the check under the new acct number manually someone put it on someone elses account.
They disconnected our service. Took a full day off of work faxing, getting proof and arguing with this idiots and it still took them a week to get our service turned back on. Then to add insult to injury another department started calling demanding payment after the issue was resolved because nobody updated them.
Needless to say I am no longer a customer.
Similar experience here. They made a second account when I created my first, but it existed at a non existent location apparently and they never thought to contact me on my phone (which was supposedly listed as the number).
This account obviously piled up hundreds of dollars in money owed to them as I wasn't paying two bills. One day my internet was disconnected and when calling to figure out why, they tell me that it's because I haven't been paying and we manage to figure out that this second account exists. No warning call to ask me for money even.
As the fees had been owed for about 8 months, I'm not sure why they chose this random time to disconnect me, but by this time credit collectors had been sent my supposed debt helping my credit to look great too.
Comcast is on my list, they could offer me free service, daycare & college tuition and I still wouldn't take their "service" . If they offered free healthcare I might sign up, but it's still iffy.
When I cancelled with them to go satellite I was charged for 7 months (when I was to receive a credit of $42), each month I'd re-verify that I'd cancelled and each month they'd assure me it was "taken care of". In the end they tried to bill (and by bill I mean I got a letter from collections) me for an unreturned cable box, thank god I had the return receipt, which I drove to their office where I demanded my $42 NOW!!
My list, just FYI:
Comcast.
AT&T
Cingular
SF. Chronicle
Starwood Resorts
@DrNick: "Why should they keep there billing office open 24/7? I can see the need for 24 hour technical support, but these are people- why shouldn't they get a weekend too?"
And people working graveyard shifts or weekends shifts for technical support aren't people and don't deserve a weekend?
It's not like the same person is going to be working all day long all weekend, every weekend. It's just another way for the company to add two or three more days of service on.
Does anyone else get aggravated when Comcast bills you in advance for service? Maybe it's just me, but having to pay my bill for the June service month by 6/8 really burns my bagel.
Maybe I can ask my employer to pay me for the rest of June before I show up.
@bohemian:
Oh totally. And there are tons of people who don't go to church/recognize Sunday as a religious day/have flexible schedules, etc etc. who could man the phones on the weekend. Not so hard.
The exact same thing happened to me except they cut my service off twice. They also promised many times to refund the overpaid amount but never did. I'm still wrangling with them. ick
@AstroPig7: Time Warner did the exact same thing to me also. I think it's standard operating procedure. I didn't get all of my money back, but after I got within $50 I didn't have any energy left to call them again.
I don't bother with securing my wireless. I'm on a cul-de-sac, and the neighbors behind me are way too far to even think about getting a signal. And if I help somebody that needs a little connectivity, that's fine with me.
Besides, when I was visiting my son last month, he didn't have a router (had I known, I would have brought one with me -- and probably just given it to him...), but a neighbor had a strong enough signal for me to use. So I tend to return the favor (going on about 7 years that way now....)
@aliasmisskat: That's strange, my father lives 1.5 hours away from a major city and gets 21 channels over the air, some in HD. Guess it depends where you are.
@adamczar: the only one we can pick up with any remote reliability is the CW. i'd rather pay for cable, than watch that drivel. or, gouge my eyes out. kind of equal in their appeal.
The same thing happened to me when I tried to pay my electric bill online via Wells Fargo (before I knew about this blog, unfortunately). Wells Fargo sent my payment to a non-existent phantom account, while the utility company continued to hit me up for money and eventually threatened to disconnect my electricity. I had to pay a second time just to keep them from cutting off the electricity.
The first utility company answering-service employee that I talked to claimed she was taking all my details to file an inquiry, but when I called back later to check something else (and spoke to a different rep), it turned out she hadn't recorded a thing because she evidently thought I was some sort of scammer.
They were willing to consider looking for my money - which had vanished into the ether because it wasn't real money to begin with, just numbers in a computer - but first they needed proof from the bank that I had tried to pay. Turns out Wells Fargo's policy is that they "don't contact payees", so there was no way to put these two entities in conversation with each other. Wells Fargo didn't have any kind of check stub or anything they could mail me, either The closest thing I could find to prove that I'd paid was a printout of my bank statement. I faxed it to the utility company....and they lost it. So the next day at work I faxed the document every HOUR. And they lost it - all eight copies, somehow.
Anyway this BS continued for two months, and at last I called the electric company to check on the status of my missing money. They had found it, they said - but they said I'd been delinquent on my bill for some months (I hadn't) and so they used the found money to pay off my balance. By then I was just too sick of it to argue. Needless to say, though, I now pay all my bills with an old-fashioned paper check every month!
Let me be the first to say:
He was paying his bill, then 'gladly' paid it AGAIN?