We’ve done seemingly countless stories in which the only reason a company paid attention to a wronged consumer was the involvement of the media. And in most cases where this happens, the customer’s problem is finally resolved, never to crop up again. But that’s not always true.

The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff Gelles has not one, but two tales of Comcast customers who thought their problems were behind them only to have the issues come back from the dead.

The first horror story involved a man who, after 25 years as a loyal Comcast customer, moved and was unable to get anyone from Comcast to actually come out and install service at his new home. If that weren’t bad enough, Comcast billed him $215 for the non-existent service.

After the Inquirer got Comcast HQ on the phone, the customer was led to believe that his account had been squared and he could move on with his Comcast-free life.

But then he got a $292 debt collection notice from a Texas-based agency. Again, the Inquirer had to call up Comcast HQ where a rep now says the collection has been canceled and won’t affect his credit report.

“His collection was being processed simultaneously with the resolution,” a rep told Gelles about how the customer ended up in collections.

A second Comcast customer wrote Gelles in January saying she cancelled her Comcast service two months earlier and returned all her equipment, but was still being billed for more than $600.

Gelles forwarded her issue on to Comcast HQ, which initially seemed to resolve things. She says her $600 bill was changed to a $48 credit. But now she says Comcast is coming after her for $50.

And once again the Inquirer had to become involved, contacting Comcast to nudge the company to look into why no one could possibly do basic math.

At this point, it appeared as if Comcast is just wiping the slate clean on this account, saying the customer didn’t owe them anything and she wasn’t owed anything. It wasn’t what she wanted, but it was better than nothing.

But even after receiving multiple calls from Comcast reps confirming that her account had been zeroed out, the customer got a bill earlier this month for around $1.50.

Calls to Comcast resulted in no explanation and unfulfilled promises for calls back.

Finally, after a third intervention by Gelles, a Comcast rep swears that the account is now clear of any debt.

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