A 14-year-old boy broke into a Central Florida home and ordered more than $100 worth of porn movies on the family's television, police said.

[Local 6]

Some construction work was ongoing in the neighborhood, and it disrupted the underground cable services. Verizon and the electric provider fixed their wires within a day. Cablevision couldn't figure out how to fix their underground wiring, so they proceeded to run a coaxial cable out of the pedestal on my front property, up a tree in my front yard, where it was tied on with some copper wire, thrown across the street, tied to a lamppost head again with copper wire, dropped back down the lamppost, into another pedestal. It sat like this for well over a month and Cablevision insisted there was nothing they could do about it...

I made three service appointments to fix it and each time I was told my picture quality was fine. I eventually got them to fix it by lying through my teeth that I was about to cut down my tree. There was absolutely no lighting protection, and in addition there were exposed conductors from the previous underground installation hanging out right in the open. But also, no one from Cablevision ever asked to use my tree as an ad-hoc telephone pole, and in fact, when they were installing the wire in the tree, one of the technicians gave us a hard time about accessing our own driveway. Am I surprised? Not at all. But I did promise Cablevision I was going to get them some press over it.

Happy to oblige.

Cul-de-sac’s Cut Cable Causes Cablevision Craziness

I'm writing cause I'm at my wits when and don't really know what else to do. Approximately 4 months ago I called up comcast and explained to them that I needed to have the movie channels discontinued since I don't watch them anymore. I also told them I wanted to add the Baseball package which I really missed the year before when I didn't order it. The guy explained to me that my bill for everything I had would go down to approximately $115+40 for my baseball package (for the time it was on). Sure enough my next bill was 115 since the baseball season hadn't started yet.

The following month I got this bill for $380. I called and talked to a couple people including a manager, who's names I wrote down, they all insisted that I owed comcast $380 or else. Finally, I got in touch with a sweet old lady from the billing department to whom I explained that I had spoke to a rep the month before who had told me I would only owe $115+40 for the baseball package. She asked for some time to look into the issue and through the call logs and said she would call me back. Sure enough she called be back and said that she couldn't put me on $115 a month but could put me on $120 a month package which I was fine with she said she'd fix it and everything would be fine by the next bill.

May bill comes in and again the bill is for $320. So I called comcast again to find out what the issue was and they insisted that I had not fully paid my bill in past couple months. I told them the names of the people I spoke with and to look into the account notes in the system. Again we went through the whole song and dance and the lady said she'd fix it and I should call back in a couple days to verify that the problem had in fact been rectified in the system. She even gave me her extension and name and said I should ask to speak with her. Well I call back and when the comcast agent picks up the phone I asked to be transferred to Debbie. He responded that he couldn't and that he would help me with my problem today.

Well, we got in to a discussion on how I had already told this story a million times and didn't want to have to tell it a million and one times and that I had dealt with Debbie and that I wanted to speak directly with her cause she was familiar with my case. He informed me that their system was not capable of transferring people from one agent to another and that he didn't know who Debbie was, which was funny considering that the gentleman I had spoke with earlier that day said no problem but she wasn't at her desk and to call back. So I told him I wasn't talking to him and I wanted to speak with his manager. The agent again informed me that he couldn't transfer me to his manager cause the system wouldn't allow it without me telling him my problem first and that even if he did his manager was working with the same tools as him and couldn't transfer me back to Debbie. After this round robin of me say I wanted to speak with Debbie and him saying he couldn't transfer me cause the system wouldn't allow it, he said that he would go find his manager and see about what he could do. Upon returning he informed me that his manager said he could transfer me to Debbie if I told him what my issue was. Upon which the following discussion came out of.

Me: So you lied to me?
Comcast Agent: No sir I did not lie to you.
Me: You told me that there was no way to transfer me from one person to another in the system, that is what you said!
Comcast Agent: Yes sir I did say that but...
Me: So you lied to me then!!!
Comcast Agent: Ok sir I lied to you.
Me: Apologize to me!
Comcast Agent: Well sir it wasn't really lying.
Me: Apologize to me or else were going to wait here until you do.
Comcast Agent: Ok... Sorry.
Me: What are you sorry for?
Comcast Agent: I'm sorry I lied to you.
Me: What did you lie to me about.
Comcast Agent: I'm sorry I lied to you about being able to transfer you to another agent.

Normally I try to be a little more nicer to people but I can't stand people treating me like I'm 4 and lying to me. So I told him my issue and he said he would fix it. To which I got his name and told him if I found out he lied to me again by telling me he would fix it then I would be calling him back.

June comes around and I get a bill for $320, again its wrong but this month I'm moving so I make a payment for the amount I really owe and call up to get the rest taken care of. The lady tells me that she'll fix it but its going to take a day in the system cause its got to go up for approval. So, with boxes all around me, I tell her ok and that I just need to schedule a move and that it.

Now she informs me that they can't process a move until the account is corrected so I'm stuck without cable for a couple days but I should call back Monday and verify that everything is fine. So this morning I got onto Comcast's website to find out if the changes had been made, and talked with a gentleman by chat, who informed me that comcast had already credited me with $245 and that I should be grateful for that. I asked him to look at the notes for the account to which he said that he couldn't see any notes made by people who called in but only by instant online chat.

Needless to say my problem is not in act fixed and I don't know what to do. I've called and I've called they say its fixed and then the next month there a huge bill. My apartment building only allows comcast no DishTV, DirectTV or FIOS. I've had it up to here with Comcast but need internet and would like Cable TV.

-Christopher

You didn't mention where you lived, but from the sound of things, your community might have a franchise agreement of some kind with Comcast. Contact your local government and ask them how to file a formal complaint about Comcast and their inability to send you an accurate bill. If your email to us fails to impress, that might get their attention. If nothing else, it'll give your town hall some more ammo to throw Comcast's way when they're feeling annoyed, and we're in favor of that.

Nancy writes:

Time Warner is charging me for movie purchases which I have not ordered. My current bill is 1400.30. The overwhelming majority of these movies are pornographic. My bill informs me that among many others, 17 were ordered on May 8 and 14 were ordered on May 10. Time Warner says it is impossible (their word) that these movies were NOT ordered from inside my house using my remote control and my cable box. I am a 60-year old English teacher. I have never seen a porn movie in my life. I LIVE ALONE. No one else has access to my house when I am a work. My husband who works out of another state is helping me in an effort to rectify this mess.

So far, we have been through the telephone drill (on hold, rude customer service clerks), a 90-minute visit to my local cable company where I was told that "maybe your dog ordered them," a phone call to the Time Warner CEO's office in Connecticut (national, not district) where I talked with a Customer Relations rep, a call from a Customer Care rep at district level, etc. None of this has helped. I was told at every level that the only way known to man that these movies could have been ordered is from inside my house using my equipment. I am 100% certain that they haven't been ordered from my house.

It looks like I'm going to have to swear to that under oath in court because my husband and I have agreed that we will not pay for these movies (52 movies since 4/21, most of them costing $11.99 —- I didn't even know there were on demand movies that cost $11.99). Though I have been researching this problem for hours and hours and have seen comments from others being charged for movies they say they didn't order, I have not seen anyone with a problem with Time Warner of this magnitude. Can you think of any possible way this could have happened?

17 porn flicks in one day? We're young. We're ambitious. But that's too much—by far—even for us.

Nancy's situation calls for a dose of common sense, which means executive customer support. Call Jeff Simmermon, Time Warner's Digital Communications Director, at (203) 351-2221, and see if he can't help wipe off those misfired charges.

(Photo: Getty)

"We hope that parents will talk with their kids and remind them to never let a stranger in your house," says Henrico Police Lt. Doug Perry. "Either act like you're not there or say your mom and dad are in the bathroom or whatever, to make them think that a parent is present."

Jefferson is a registered sex offender who was convicted of rape 1984.

Please remember to always ask for ID and never let strangers into your home when you are alone. Even if they really work for the cable company.

UPDATE: This guy works for Double J Communications, which was working for a subcontractor to S&N Communications, which in turn was working on contract with Verizon. Verizon has asked S&N to terminate the contract with Double J.

Cable worker charged for allegedly touching girl in Henrico
[NBC12]

The powerpoint, created by a Comcast account executive and currently getting passed around inside one of their call centers, sounds a giant klaxon that the company is extremely screwed up. It warns of the perils of not addressing bad tech behavior, demoralized employees, high turnover, baroque customer service templates, and metrics that force employees to upsell additional services on top of the ones that aren't even working right in the first place. There's quotes and stories from real customers, like the one about the tech who said he had to go out to his van to get a screwdriver, and just drove off, rather than bother completing the install. Or how routine it is for techs to ring or knock and then bust out before they can even get to the door. Or how customers are getting lied to over the phone about plans and pricing. The embarrassments just keep coming and coming. Some choice quotes:

"On average, gas is $4.07 (too high for unnecessary truck rolls) and very shortly cable will go from a 'need' to an option for some people."

Comcast Quits Early

Technicians are not showing up for appointments and it appears they are not being held accountable.

* Comcast technicians and subcontractors routinely cancel/reschedule customer appointments without approving or even notifying the customer of the change when they are tired of working.

* Several of my customers have complained that the technician was rude or short with them when they refused to let him come earlier than scheduled.

Scott of New Hudson MI (01/29/07) “I made 3 separate appointments to have Comcast come out and install cable, phone, and high speed internet as part of their Triple Play deal. The first appointment came and went, nobody showed up or called. Set up another appointment, but they did call to cancel that one…”

We've got it here in Google Doc, but for the full effect with all the nifty sound effects, download the original powerpoint (right click and "save link as).

Elizabeth writes:

After having a horrible experience with Comcast when I moved to my new home, I decided that I would go ahead and give DirecTV a try. So I called up customer service to have someone come to set it up. I should have hung up from the first service person I talked to. I requested to have one HDTV receiver and two standard receivers installed in my home. Customer service kept telling me that I was a previous customer and still owned one of their boxes. (As it turns out, when I was in college, a roommate got us DirecTV and put me on the account - we returned the boxes three years ago, but apparently no one ever updated the system.) After explaining to three different people that I have not had a Directv receiver in my possession in three years, one man finally understood the situation and arranged to have someone come on Tuesday, June 17th at noon with two standard receivers and one HD receiver.

Tuesday arrived and that morning I received a call from the "professional installer" to let me know he anticipated he would be running behind schedule and would be there at 12:30. At 12:30, he calls to let me know that he needs lunch so he will be there at 1. One rolls around and he is not there, 1:30 rolls around and still not there. 2 PM he calls to let me know he is lost and needs directions. I provide him with directions to my townhome and he arrives - with only the standard def receivers. He then tells me that they were not ordered. Not ordered? How is that possible, I KNOW I requested an HDTV receiver for our brand new plasma tv? He claims DirecTV told him that we had one from three years ago. WHAT? I didn't even know what HDTV was three years ago - I was a measly poor college student with a tv from 1994. I explain the situation and he says there is nothing he can do, but he would install the other two.

So here is where things go horribly wrong. He asks to use the bathroom. I hesitated, because I am very protective of my cleanly home - but thought I had to be gracious. After being in there for twenty minutes - he emerged with the most horrible stench of poo escaping throughout my home. In an attempt to disguise my disgust I started explaining all the locations of the televisions. He asked if I got an okay from my association (because I live in a townhome) and I explained that the association rules approves Comcast and DirecTV for cable. He then tells me that he had to leave because he didn't have a ladder and wasn't going to be able to install anything today. WHAT? A satellite installer doesn't have a ladder?

So now I have taken a half day off work and have no cable.

Hope you can post my story so more people will stay away from this terrible customer service. And maybe you have some advice for how to file a meaningful complaint with DirecTV. Last I checked, professional installation didn't mean your home turned into a rest stop for the installer to unload in.

Many thanks and thank you for your stellar web site.

We think DirecTV has misunderstood what "having a duty to your customers" means. Ha ha, get it?

Elizabeth, try contacting the CEO of DirecTV. Here's an example of a success story from another customer who was having trouble with installation, and here's the CEO's contact information. If you need more tips on how to get your problem resolved, try our "Ultimate Consumerist Guide to Fighting Back."

Update: Elizabeth wrote back to us:

I called DirecTV last night and complained and they told me that they were sorry but that all they could do was send someone else to my house. I am hesitant to let them come. What is the etiquette for letting service technicians use your restroom? Can you say no? You should also write something on that topic!

We don't know if there's an consistent etiquette for that sort of thing. Commenters, what do you think? Is it okay to just say "No"?

(Photo: iLoveButter)

He made a rational business argument. He calmly laid out the problem and course of events. He rationally argued it was both foolish and unacceptable to treat a a high-value Comcast customer in this manner. In an artful and subtle flourish, vaguely referred to how solving the problem would be a good way to avoid more negative publicity for the company.

It got results. A Comcast exec who got the email forwarded to him called the executive customer service department, from his house, and told them to get this solved, pronto. That's the power of the executive email carpet bomb. Just one of your recipients needs to realize how completely stupid and unacceptable it is for a business to be run in the way that caused your complaint.

Chris' complaint letter and followup email below.

June 12

To Whom It May Concern:

Last evening I called 1.800.COMCAST in order to set up a transfer service appointment for my impending move from one county to the next. I have been a loyal Comcast customer despite more than one instance of dissatisfaction over the last year (over billed, poor service, empty offers, followed by more inaccurate bills, etc.). I currently subscribe to the "Triple Play", HBO, HD service, as well as the Center Ice package in the winter time. I have also called and left a message with the executive customer service department, office of the President (215.640.8960), without response. The following, is what transpired happened yesterday

I called the 800 number and navigated my way to the the transfer service department. I spoke with Tony, operator ID UP4. I first asked him if I moved and took Comcast with me, would I be eligible to receive the free 19" HD TV offer that is currently being advertised in the Philadelphia area. He said that I was. We then proceeded to verify addresses, and set up the appointment time for the tech to arrive at the new address to set everything up. This request was put in on Wednesday, June 11, 2008, with service to be disconnected here on the 27th, and reconnected at the new address between 3 and 5 PM on the same day. This was by far my best and easiest interaction with Comcast, ever. I made extra sure to let Tony know this, as I was thoroughly pleased with how easy this process was, as advertised.

I spoke way too soon.

Moments after hanging up with Tony, I realized my internet was not working. I tried fixing it locally on my end first, by restarting my computer and resetting my modem and router among a few other fixes that usually work. Neither worked, so I called back (reference number CR127432486).

To make an extremely long story short, I spoke with Janet, operator ID 29842, who told me that because the transfer service request went in, it put a flag of some sort on my internet account which deactivated it until the transfer date. Because I notified Comcast that I was moving, they disconnected my internet for what was to be over two weeks! I asked to speak with her supervisor, as this answer was highly unacceptable to me. I then spoke with Janet's non-technical supervisor Adam, operator ID 29858 (he was not positive this was his correct ID, and also gave me ID NATG01). He only reiterated what Janet had told me earlier, twice. What I fail to understand is if he is a non-technical supervisor, how is he qualified to answer these types of questions, let alone instruct others? Further more, all he was able to do was reiterate what Janet had told me, which is what he told her. He had no solution, new information, or most importantly, help.

Adam the non-technical supervisor then proceeded to tell me that there was absolutely nothing he could do, and that it was most likely a simple glitch in the system that your IT department would have to look into. He did not offer to escalate this problem to the IT department for resolution. My favorite part of this horrible experience is when Adam actually agreed with me how extremely absurd that this situation was, that my internet was disconnected because I called in advance and notified Comcast of the move. To have a supervisor agree with a complaintant, but not have an ability or initiative to fix the problem, is truly amazing.

I was then transferred back to Janet in order to cancel my transfer service request. After being on hold for what seemed an inordinate amount of time, she informed me that the transfer service department told her that they could not cancel the request, it wasn't their fault, and she had to call the digital phone department in order to resolve. This confused me even further, considering my phone was working fine, as I had been on it for over 45 minutes so far on this call alone. If neither my phone nor my cable were affected, I don't understand how the phone department would be able to cancel this request. Tony, in the transfer service department, never informed me that my internet would be disconnected as a result of the original request.

I feel at this point, I should be able to request a transfer of service for the time and date originally requested (June 27, 3-5PM). I also feel that my internet at my current residence should not be disconnected as a result of this request. I'm paying for the service, I should be able to use it. Additionally, I (according to Tony) am eligible for the free 19" HD TV giveaway. I expect to be eligible for this still, despite what transpired. And most importantly, I expect an apology for more of my wasted time trying to correct my service with Comcast.

I hope a speedy resolution is in your interest, as I'm sure that it will cost far less then even more bad publicity than your company has already endured. I not only ask this for myself, but for what I'm sure are many, many other unhappy customers who have faced the same brick wall in trying to transfer their services to a new address. This is border line false advertising - Comcast has made moving services near impossible, not easier! For as much as I pay every month, Comcast should be very interested in keeping my business, and not losing it going forward. Telling people that the problem is their fault, that there is nothing Comcast can do to fix it, being generally unhelpful and unresponsive are traits which I do not consider good business practices. I believe that one business day is more than ample time to return a call of an unhappy customer. Comcast, obviously does not.

I eagerly await your reply.

Sincerely,
Chris E.

Account Number: [redacted]
Cell Phone: [redacted]
Home Phone: [redacted]
[home address redacted]

June 13

Hi Theresa,

It took Comcast exactly 1 hour and 7 minutes to call me after I sent this email last night. I heard from Courtney, who worked at corporate, who had copy of email in hand. Her boss called her from home, and asked her to contact me ASAP, which she obviously did. Her boss wasn't even on the original email, so the email must have circulated the company very, very quickly. Courtney proceeded to give me her direct number, her boss' direct number, and her boss' assistant's direct number, and assured me that either her boss or his assistant would call me today with resolution. As promised, Michelle (the asst.) called me mid afternoon today. This must be all that Michelle does, because she moved with exceptional accuracy, efficiency, and speed. I think she might actually be a robot. She promised the problem was fixed, that there is indeed a workaround to this massive glitch in their system, I have my original appointment time, and will receive the HD TV offer. And as you can tell from this email, my internet continues to work. So, everything seems to be on course now. Michelle said she would check in with me a day or two before moving day to make sure nothing has changed, and will continue to follow up until everything is done. I was unimpressed that 24 hours was not long enough time for someone to call me back after leaving a v/m at corporate, but the efficiency in solving this in the last 24 hours since, has been impressive when compared against all previous Comcast encounters. It's unfortunate that this sort of service cannot be obtained via normal channels. But, a huge thanks to the Consumerist (I'm an avid work-time-reader-because-there-is-nothing-better-to-do) I got the answer I was looking for.

Thanks!

Chris

If you want to send an executive email carpet bomb of your own, here's how to do it.

(Photo: Getty)

First off I would have to say, I really love being a cable guy. It is a very respectable job, and I have been doing cable for just over 2 years. It's a decent job with good benefits. I love people. I love being around people. Particularly in the area I work in, I don't typically have to deal with your everyday morons. Most customers are very happy to see me arrive, and I am usually very happy to meet them as well.

Keep some things in mind though. First of all, we are human beings, and if we at any point realize that there is going to be a substantial amount of work to do in order to get your services up and running, it may and probably will become irritating.

And every once in a while, we get the one customer, and we just fucking hate you.

1. We call you to confirm the appointment and to let you know we're on the way. We get there. You're not home, so we leave, and we end up having to come back to do the damn job because you are liars and said you were home, when you weren't. We are on schedules you asshole. You can wait another day or until the evening to get your shit installed.

2. Your dogs shit everywhere in your yard. Pick that shit up, we have to work in it. Slob.

3. Your dogs shit in your house. Shoot your dog please.

4. Your children are climbing on us. Control them. I for one love kids, and love playing with them but put that bugger in the crib sometimes.

5. Your house smells like ass. Clean up your plates that have plants growing on them now. This bowl that had milk in it is molding and looks like green beans now. It's gross. Pick up your shitty diapers, and spray some air freshener or I'm coming back in with a surgical mask on (yes we have those), and I would prefer not to hurt your feelings.

6. Your router. Do it your damn self.

7. Offer us a drink, it's hot, we're probably going out of our way to make sure your shit works!

8. We're not going to assemble your piece of crap computer! We're not going to fix it either, we're the cable company, not Geek Squad.

9. We're not there to set up your surround sound system. We are not Circuit City.

10. MOVE YOUR CRAP OUT OF THE WAY!!! If we have to access your attic to change splitter configurations (or to do a wallfish), move your own shit out of the way, it's not our job to move your boxes and luggage in your closet. We're not Mayflower or any other moving company. In fact we're not there to move any furniture, electronics, computers, clothing, boxes, etc. IF ANYTHING HAS TO BE MOVED, YOU NEED TO MOVE IT OR YOU DON'T GET YOUR CABLE. If we break something we have to pay for it. Here's a solution, move your shit before we get there (ie. dressers, entertainment centers — move these AWAY from cable and AC outlets, so we have access)

11. If you are ordering Internet make sure you have a computer there for us to test it on when we arrive. common sense.

12. If you are ordering digital phone, you don't need a phone there (we have test phones), but don't expect us to run 3 phone outlets for free. the sh*t aint happening.

13. If your installation has to get rescheduled, don't flip out. Its not our fault your drop got cut and has to be road-bored, and we are only adhering to our companies policies.

14. You don't get a new box every time a new one comes out. That's not how it works. They are all designed to do the same thing. If there's a problem we'll replace it, but don't waste our time.

15. YOUR INTERNET IS NOT SLOW, YOUR COMPUTER IS!!! Take a few weeks to learn about how computers work. It's important nowadays because computers rule the world right now. 95% of the time, if the internet is slow, your computer either has too much porn/spyware/adware/virus, etc to properly function. Run the recovery disk or fix it otherwise. Because if the signal levels are correct, your internet is going to be fast. modems usually don't just go bad.

16. Dogs - A lot of us love animals but put those bitches up if they bite. It's not funny. That's why so many of my teammates hate dogs!! I love them, and most other animals but some of you idiots don't train your animals. Put the mean ones away somewhere (preferably somewhere that is not important to the cable installation).

17. Put some damn clothes on. It was your choice for you to have us there at 8am, not ours. I'd rather be sleeping still. So get your ass up.

18. Coax wiring — don't try to do it yourself, because you probably don't know what youre doing. Radio Shack and Wal-Mart coax cable sucks. It's usually RG-59 equivalent and is good for nothing. We use RG-6 or better. and the connectors, and dielectric/outer sheet layer differences on our cable make worlds of difference. Thanks for trying to help, but trust us on this one.

19. If your house is over 450 feet from the tap (or pole) don't expect premium services (digital cable, internet, or digital phone) to work well, if they work at all. You probably shouldnt even have cable.

20. If you are ordering digital cable, make sure you have a working TV there for us to test it on when we arrive.

21. Contractors are hard workers, but there are bad eggs everywhere (contractors & in-house alike). Some of us were contractors before we worked directly for the company! Don't hate!

22. Don't get an attitude, when speaking to the tech, unless the tech has one first.

23. We physically CANNOT give you free HBO. your set-top box is provisioned from the office, not from your house.
This request, although typically offered for humor-purposes, is getting old.

24. THERE IS NO CABLE SWITCH. YOUR CABLE IS NOT TURNED ON WITH ANY TYPE OF SWITCH OR SIMILAR DEVICE. IN FACT: Less than 1% of my jobs are connected properly with good parts where I only have to connect it at the tap. We almost always have to tone outlets out, sometimes run new ones, scrub old ones, add equipment to your account, correct job codes, etc.

25. If we are not assigned your installation, we do NOT want to pick it up early. Unless the tech is VERY bored with no other work, he will probably not want to do it early, don't ask.

And finally. If you feel like we did a good job AT LEAST let us know, and gratuity is nice too. You tip the Pizza man and wait staff at a restaurant right? Well they are just doing their job, and if they are nice and give you the service you want, you tip them. We work harder for our money, and we are way underpaid too, so don't be shy!! We remember these things!

We don't expect $50 or anything crazy like that, in fact we don't expect anything, but if we have to spend 3 or 4 hours crawling your house to rewire it, and hang a new aerial drop just so you can have service. Come on. And be nice to the service/repair techs too!! They have WAY more experience and they have to work just as hard (or harder) to fix an issue the installer left behind.

Somehow, this guy makes Jim Carrey's character look well-adjusted.

CUSTOMERS - WE F*CKING HATE YOU [Cable Rant Forums] (Thanks to Long Island Pc Tech!)
(Photo: Getty)

The article says,

In Weatherly's case, he says he never kidnapped the technician and he never threatened him with his dog. He admits to being angry and dissatisfied.

"After you pay a monthly fee you expect some service," he said. "But why would I kidnap the cable guy? I was polite to him and told him to leave. The TV was under warranty."

Because it's a pending police matter, Comcast's policy is not to comment, said Terri Weldon, a spokeswoman. "We cooperated fully with the police, and the report should relate everything that happened," Weldon said.

When asked about disgruntled customers who spawned several opposing Web sites, Weldon said customer service is Comcast's top priority.

Weatherly's version of events differs from the affidavits. The technician arrived several days after he logged the complaint, Weatherly said. The Donelson retiree had complained that his new Sony TV had no picture.

Weatherly said the technician dismantled his surround sound system and didn't fix it. Unhappy with what happened, Weatherly said, he told him to leave it as it was because the TV was under warranty.

Comcast drives us insane too, but Mr. Weatherly, please get a grip. We hope everything goes well with your mental evaluation and you get your problems sorted out. If you are lonely in the meantime, we're sure you would have a lot in common with the smashem-up hammer-totin granny.

Cable man's alleged abductor ordered to get mental exam [The Tennessean] (Thanks to Econobiker!)
(Photo: Getty)

Comcast Treats M-Card as Two CableCARDs, Bills Accordingly [Christopher Price]

ABC 7 Baltimore says the man was handcuffed and crashed through his own window in order to escape the robbers:

The victim, who was handcuffed and had been shot in the stomach, apparently tried to flee the intruders by jumping through a window.

"He had handcuffs on, and I can say he broke out the window in the bedroom there and he had the handcuffs on," said neighbor Marvin King. "He rolled over, got up, and called the police."

One witness says he saw the men messing around with the cable box outside the apartment before going to the victim's apartment.

Always remember to ask for proper identification when allowing telecom workers into your home. It's also a good idea not to be alone.

Shooting Suspects Flee In Comcast Van [WBAL](Thanks, Jeff!)

Man Wounded in Bizarre Home Invasion-Shooting [ABC7]

(Photo: Tyler Durden's Imaginary Friend)

Comcast is facing a potentially heavy fine from the FCC for (possibly) improperly interfering with Internet traffic, and they're hoping that this new "protocol-agnostic" method will be more palatable.

It sounds like bad news for heavy users, however:

The new Internet traffic method will put the online traffic of ordinary Internet users ahead of heavy users at certain times to maintain overall Internet speeds, Douglas said. Thus, the Internet experience for heavy users - so-called Internet hogs - could slow during periods of Internet congestion.

If successful, Comcast will implement it throughout the system by the end of the year.

Comcast to test 'Internet hog' controls [Philly.com]
(Photo: cmorran123 )

David writes:

I'm writing this as I sit waiting for the next level of service. It's been 3 hours and 10 minutes and my 5th Time Warner phone call of the day. A little background first... I recently got commercial class internet so I could fix my bandwidth problem. My wife had already called a couple times to tell them that her name had changed when we got married. I told them that when we linked accounts I wanted her name to be changed because it never took. Instead of doing this, they changed the name of my company to "Christi [redacted] Company."

We got new commercial internet and it was a little faster, but not what I expected. The tests ran fine showing it was fast internet, but there was a lag. Running a traceroute clearly shows this. It just hangs while waiting for road runner nodes to respond. It does this randomly all the time and this makes pages load slow. This is what the engineer said would be gone after 7 months of Time Warner managers coming out to my house and finally bringing him out to talk to me.

Yesterday my service was going in and out because of a problem in the area. I called and they gave me a credit for one day of internet service. It completely screwed up my day of work. I had an unusual balance, but I figured my wife had forgotten to pay the bill. No big deal. I asked them if this would be an issue. She was at work and had the credit card. I obviously had no internet, so I couldn't log in to our account and pay it as usual. They said that wouldn't be a problem and that I could call or log in tomorrow.

Today started with the cable and internet not working. I called the residential number and went ahead and payed the bill with a credit card since the internet wasn't working. The billing department said there was no record of a disconnect and it must be a technical problem. I asked if they could at least check the cable because it was residential. They said it was all commercial and I would have to call them. When I talked to commercial tech support, they said my account was a soft disconnect. I told them that billing said it was not disconnected. Commercial tech support told me I would have to call billing back.

When I told them that I just got off the phone with billing and that they had told me to call commercial tech support, they put me on hold. 15 minutes later they came back and told me everything was ok. Everything had been reconnected and should be working now. I reset everything and nothing was working. She didn't know why the internet wasn't working and stated working on it. She couldn't access the cable boxes for some reason. She had me read the MAC address off of one to try and get to it. That didn't work either. She told me I would have to call residential back about the cable boxes. I told her that earlier in the morning they stated that they couldn't do it because it was all commercial. She said she would work on my internet and give the box time to reset. She would call me back later.

On to the cable problem. I called residential back and they couldn't find my cable account. This is when things started to make sense. I gave her my wife's number and it came right up. It said that it shouldn't be disconnected and everything should be working. But the boxes in the house still were not working. We figured out that there were still two accounts. The one in my wife's name that she payed online, and the one in my name that we thought was linked to the commercial account. It turned out that all the payments we had made on her online account didn't apply to the new commercial internet. We had been getting double billed. All the new commercial internet bills were going unpaid and were therefore soft disconnected. But since there was no internet, the bill I paid this morning paid all of the commercial internet balance since I had called in under my name. She helped me figure everything out and was going to get a technician out here. I asked her if they would came same day, since one of the promises of the commercial internet is that if its down, they'll fix it the same day.

She wasn't sure since the cable was residential. When our 45 minutes of digging through problems was over I asked her why they were both disconnected since only the commercial internet was behind on payments. She wasn't sure. She was going to connect me to someone to link the accounts. She connected me after about 10 minutes on hold. She took time to explain the situation to him. The guy asked for my account number. I asked him which one. I told him that was the problem. I gave him the residential account number. Then he asked for my pin. What do you mean? He said there was a pin number on my wife's account. I had talked to people already about the account. Why would I need it now? He said there was nothing he could do until I gave him a pin. So I asked him to transfer me back to the woman I had been talking to. He told me that he couldn't because she was in the commercial department. I told him that she wasn't. She was in residential and I needed to reconnect to her because she had figured everything out already. I was put on hold for 15 minutes. After that I heard a ring and Jason Rutlage's voicemail picked up. Who is that? Now what? All I could do was hang up.

I called back and had to explain to someone that I had to find the lady from earlier. All he could see was that I talked to some guy. At that point, the internet lady called back. I put him on hold and clicked over. I explained that we have no idea what's going on. Both services are paid and should be working, but they're not. She said someone could come out tomorrow. But they promised me that someone would come day of if there were any problems. She said she would see what she could do and call me back. I clicked back over and gave the guy my wife's phone number. He looked at the notes to find the woman I was looking for. After 10 minutes on hold I heard some clicks. A bunch of noise started coming out of the phone. I kept saying hello for about 20 seconds and a woman answered... "Thank you for choosing Time Warner. How can I help you today?"

AAAAHHHHH! I was speechless and had no idea what to do next. I briefly explained that I needed to find this woman and I told her what was going on. I gave her my wife's number and she asked for a pin. I don't know it, that's the problem. I explained that there were two accounts. She told me that I needed to disconnect one of them. NO! Don't do that. That's the last thing I want. I want the services working for one, and then I want the extra money back that I paid. She told me to call the commercial department back. I hung up and called them.

Commercial told me that a technician is scheduled to come out between 3 and 5. They can't do anything else. Now I have to call residential back. At this point I noticed that the internet sync light was on. I have internet, but no cable, and the season finale of Lost is on tonight. I got a knock at the door. It was the commercial internet guy. He had just hooked it up outside. It turned out that it was a hard disconnect on both. The internet and cable was physically disconnected. But he couldn't turn on the residential cable because he was a commercial internet guy and he would get in trouble. He called and verified that I still had residential internet service and was being double billed. He said that he's the only one that does commercial disconnects and he didn't disconnect me. He called residential services and they said the account was in good standing and there were no disconnects, so he went downstairs and connected it for me. Apparently someone came to disconnect someone else and pulled my cable instead. The neighbors were moving. It might be them. Now everything worked, but I was still being double billed.

When I called Time Warner to remove the double billing, it had been 4 hours at this point, she kept asking me why I "feel" like I'm being double billed. Again, she asked why I "felt" like I was being double billed. I began to read this whole thing to her in order to get her to understand. I had been writing all day as it unfolded and I sat on hold. She finally stopped me and decided to work with me. I asked her why anything was disconnected at all. She said it WAS supposed to be disconnected. I replied, "Soft disconnected, not physically, and not cable TV." So she issued me a credit for internet and video for one day. Total credit... $8. Money I lost by not working on what I was supposed to be working on... $400. Not to mention that I lost 6 hours of my life over this. Now I've been on hold for the last hour to remove the old residential internet from my account. In that time I've proof read and finished writing this. This started at noon. It's now 6:15pm. As of now, nobody can tell me why anything was ever physically disconnected.

—Dave

Dave, you've been more than patient with TWC. If you'd like to try speeding your complaint to the top of the pile, here's some contact information for you.

(Photo: meghannmarco )

Hey, guys. Jonathon here. Just wanted to let you know that a Comcast supervisor called me this afternoon to apologize for the response I got from both the first and second tech. His name is Mike, though I left his last name at the office. Anyway, he indicated that these techs do most certainly have the authority to waive the $1.99 fee and apologized for causing me the inconvenience. I then asked him what we could do to lower my bill even more since I'm trying to save money. He went through all of the specials and crunched some numbers with me. Turns out that the only thing they could offer in the way of a discount was the $99 introductory package they offer new subscribers. Not a bad deal, but would only save me money if I needed phone service. I don't, so we didn't.

Point is that Mike was very cool. He took the time to help me, looked up info on the Comcast Tivo rollout for me, gave me the skinny on cable cards, etc. I know that you don't usually print happy good-time customer experience stories, but I figured if I took the time to bitch about it in front of 6,000 or so people it would only be decent to give them props where due. Granted, it would have been cool if they were helpful from the get-go, but there you have it.

-Jonathon

Congratulations. It looks like you didn't have to choose between the $1.99 fee and the free cancellation of Comcast after all. For other Comcast customers that are trying to save on their bill, don't forget about the magical "customer retention" representatives, who depending on your location, have broad authority to cut your bill down to size.

PREVIOUSLY: Canceling HBO Costs $1.99 But Canceling Comcast Is Free, Which Do You Choose?
(Photo: Getty)

The starting point for comparison is 1996, when Congress deregulated the telecom industry, ostensibly to spur competition. Startups and cable companies quickly trammelled the telecoms' ability to dictate prices, but nobody emerged to take on cable.

Kevin J. Martin, chairman of the F.C.C., said in an interview that since 1996, when Congress increased competition in telecommunications, prices have dropped for many other services.

“We’ve seen the opposite occur in the cable industry,” he said. “The dramatic increases in pricing we’ve seen are one of the most troubling issues from a consumer point of view.”

In 2007, average monthly revenue for each Cablevision subscriber was $75, up from $65 in 2005, according to SNL Kagan, a research company. At Time Warner it was $64, up from $54.50.

The industry isn't changing its prices or practices because consumers aren't changing their habits.

“I work eight hours a day facing a computer. When I come home, the last thing I want to do is mess with another computer,” said Eric Yu, 24, a college student in San Francisco who pays around $80 a month for cable.

Mr. Yu said he watches only a handful of channels, including some in high definition like National Geographic. But to get them, he has to pay for a premium package. “I just pay the bill and try to forget about it,” he said. “It lessens the pain.”

Well, some are...

Evelyn Tan, 22, a friend of Mr. Yu, takes a different approach. She pays Comcast $33 a month for Internet access and does not get cable television — but she does watch TV programming.

In fact, she watches ABC shows like “Desperate Housewives” and “Gray’s Anatomy,” which are free on the Web. When she wants to watch shows or movies that are not readily available online, she says she easily pirates them. “I would not pay for cable TV at all,” she said.

A la carte programming isn't coming anytime soon, but the monopolistic anti-consumer juggernaut Verizon might provide some relief as it elbows its way into the television business. While Verizon is no better than its cable competitors, its arrival opens a brief window for competition by allowing consumers play one giant against the other to eek out slight savings on cable programming.

Of course, those slight savings might only bring your rates closer to what you were paying two or three years ago. Neither the Times nor the FCC think cable is worth the cost. What do you think?

Cable Prices Keep Rising; Customers Keep Paying [NYT]
(Photo: Getty)

The article says,

They're (the family) holding onto hope that she'll regain consciousness.

Three-year-old Kayleen Smith's uncle Daimen Morrison said, "She loves flowers. Boy, if we had a yard full of flowers, she'd pick every single one of them."

He adds, "Everybody knows that she's the sweetest, smartest, little thing you'll ever meet. She's just something else though. She makes my father more happy than I've ever seen him," Morrison said. The girl is clinging to life in Huntsville Hospital after an accident Saturday morning.

Witness Wesley Hadley says, "I said a prayer right there. I didn't know what else to do." Hadley saw the accident happen as he was traveling south on Memorial Parkway.

Near Sam's Club and Lowe's, he says, "Two Comcast vans passed me... I estimate, probably about 75 miles per hour." In a 50 mile-per-hour zone.

Hadley says one continued straight and another tried to turn right near O'reilly Auto Parts. "I knew he wasn't going to make it." Hadley says a woman with her two granddaughters was approaching a stop sign.

The Comcast driver hit the van and flipped before resting upside down. The witness describes seeing the accident in slow motion, a horrible sight with tremendous force.

Kayleen Smith is now off life support, but is still unconscious.

Her nine-year-old sister was also in the vehicle, but escaped serious injury, as did their grandmother. The Comcast driver has been released from the hospital and refused to comment.
Family of the other employee confirms to me he was working that day, but could not elaborate due to the investigation.

Hadley says, "They were racing. It looked like they were racing. They were going in and out and trying to keep up with each other."

Morrison says, "I just hope this shows anybody out there that wants to act foolish on the road, that people can lose their life and everything that means everything to them."

Comcast could not provide details on employee procedure or the status of these two employees.

Comcast General Manager Butch Jernigan gave us the following statement: "Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved. We will cooperate fully with local authorities, but cannot comment further because of the on-going investigation. At Comcast, the safety of our employees, customers, and the general public is a top priority."

According to Huntsville Police, no criminal charges have been filed at this time and the accident is currently under investigation.

We're saddened by this story and hope Kayleen pulls through. We hope that Comcast learns that the money they save in cheap outsourcing has real costs. We've witnessed things like the Comcast Contractor Doing Donuts as well as the Comcast Tech Falls Asleep On Couch which were amusing and fairly innocuous. Unfortunately, Comcast has now graduated up to reckless and dangerous. It's tragic that it takes these kinds of accidents for companies to realize that the value of saving a few dollars is nothing compared to the value of human life.

Witnesses say two cable cars racing causing serious accident [WAFF] (Thanks to Brian!)
(Photo: WAFF)

Greg wants to know why AT&T doesn't feel the need to honor its quote for a Dish Network package. He notes, "I were to claim I made a mistake in agreeing to a two year commitment, I hesitate to think you would let me claim that I should not be held accountable for that." But it's not that AT&T "mistakenly" quoted him a price. An AT&T rep gave him one price, and another rep agreed to honor it and to make a note on his account. Now there's no record he ever spoke to anyone, and the rep who originally helped him won't return his calls.

Here's a copy of the letter Greg sent to AT&T's execs:

Dear Mr. Stephenson and Mr. Pund,
 
I apologize for raising my concern to your level, however after 7 months of inability to get my problem consistently resolved through the customer service centers, I felt stronger action was necessary.
 
I have been a customer of AT&T/Dish Network since July of last year.  When I agreed to leave Comcast for your company it appears (we would find out retroactively) that your sales customer service representative erroneously priced the bundled satellite, internet, and phone package.  I entered into the verbal agreement based on the price that was given to me by the representative, whether she made the mistake or not.  Over the last 7 months I have been told that while this person made a mistake, I would in the end have to pay for it.  This person was a representative of your company and if I were to claim I made a mistake in agreeing to a two year commitment, I hesitate to think you would let me claim that I should not be held accountable for that.
 
Upon finally working with a manager at your Arlington Heights, IL customer service location I was able to get the situation resolved, or so I thought.  A manager named Lenell had agreed to go into the system monthly, with a reminder on his calendar, to adjust my bill to the agreed upon amount.  This was $89.98 due to the fact that we had added services such as HBO and DVR.  Since this agreement, the bill has consistently not been corrected and I am having to spend multiple hours every month to get it adjusted.  I have left multiple messages with Lenell's desk, only to have them go unanswered.
 
When speaking with a customer service representative last night I was told that the case notes do not have any notation about Lenell crediting me this amount every month and that he gave a "good faith" credit to adjust it.  I was also told that it was outside of policy to change a bill to the price Lenell agreed to so they could only give a ~$35 credit which would put my bill at $130 versus the $89.98 that was agreed upon.  Again, as a representative of your company, Lenell agreed to adjust my bill and has failed to live up to that expectation whether it is in your policy or not, and I am now being told by your customer service team that I am incorrect that this agreement was ever made.  For this reason I am attaching the detailed notes that I have kept since October 2007.  I think you will find that these notes match precisely with the calls I have made to your Customer Service Centers and are very detailed about the exact conversations that were held.  I have also requested that every recording of every conversation I have had with your customer service team be pulled in order to verify my claim.  I do not appreciate being called a liar in a round about way since notes were not kept properly by the agents at your sites.
 
Again, I apologize for having to raise this to your level, but feel that when a company agrees to service a customer at a certain level, for a certain price, they have an obligation to live up to that.  I would not have left Comcast had I not been given such a good price quote.
 
I would also like to notify you that I will be running a comprehensive credit report and if I find any negative reports from AT&T associated with this issue, I will be filing a claim with the FCC and pursuing legal action.
 
This was an opportunity for your customer service team to make a great impression on how issues can be handled and resolved, and I believe that the entire team has failed.
 
At this point, I would like to pay my service current at the agreed upon rate and terminate my service.  I would prefer to pay more at Comcast than to have these struggles ongoing.  I am looking forward to your response.

(Photo: mrbill)

Judging from the number of comments, I get the feeling that this will be welcome news for baseball fans that are, or are considering becoming, FiOS TV subscribers.

We are currently working with MLB Extra Innings and we’re optimistic that we’ll begin offering the package soon. It won’t be everywhere, all at once unfortunately, but we are working hard to get MLB EI on FiOS TV for as many fans as we can as soon as possible.

Though Verizon didn't actually announce anything in the post, it was picked up by a few blogs and websites and more than a few Verizon customers and potential Verizon customers took the post's headline to heart, signing up for FiOS with the belief that Extra Innings would be available by the start of the 2008 season.

The "announcement" (or lack thereof) turned out to be premature and for months a steady stream of enraged baseball fans have been leaving vicious comments on Verizon's post. Here are a few:

Thanks for getting us jacked up for nothing.

Well, since the season starts tomorrow morning, I signed up for MLB EI through Cablevision this season. By draging your heals, Fios has lost out on this willing subscriber for another 7 months. I'll check in with you again next winter - hopefully the landscape will have settled somewhat by then. I can only switch if I can be sure I will be able to get MLB EI. It seems silly to give up customers like me who will pay tons of money for extra services, but so be it.

I too have left and contacted Directv as the seasons starts tomorrow. you've lost another customer not so much becuase you didnt get the deal done but becuase you've mislead us. i would have just signed up for mlb.tv if it werent for your misleading statements.

Wow, Red Sox kicked off the season today and I'm sitting here in Portland, OR with no Extra Innings even though I was told the package would be offered when I agreed to leave Comcast.....If I knew it was going to be like this I would have never left as now I have NO Red Sox games probably for the season!

Please send information about MLB Extra Innings. My husband almost divorced me last year because I switched our TV service to you guys and then I couldn't get extra innings. If you don't get it this year, I will be forced to discontinue service with you and start up with our cable company that does offer extra innings.

Very disappointing Eric. Why would you EVER make an announcement like this and then go to ground and ignore us. I have bounced around among a number of cable companies over the years as I move from place to place and each one is more disappointing than the next. But, this takes the cake. You started this thread - you owe us an explanation IMMEDIATELY!

Why would you even announce that last month unless a deal was imminent. That was a reckless act by whoever authorized it. I'm guessing the reason why we haven't heard from Eric again, is b/c he's been fired. The only legitimate reason for announcing the potential deal that I've read on this blog, was to keep people around for at least one more month. What a terrible way to do business.

What really makes me angry is that back in January, the salesman that sold me Fios told me that Fios would be getting EI. Had I known, I would not have switched.

No salesman should ever promise something like that just to make a sale, that is just bad business...I should have known better as he also said that Fios would be getting Sunday ticket in '09. I am not holding my breath on that one either.

You'd think at some point Verizon would decide enough is enough and treat their subscriber's interests as a priority. While they're debating how they'll split up millions, the baseball season is now well under way. You guys had all winter to hammer this out and you didn't. When I signed up for Verizon I was specifically told they'd have the EI package, so I left Comcast and signed up, thinking I was sacrificing nothing. Baseball is an important part of cable for a lot of viewers, and we're willing to pay hundreds of dollars a year to watch these games. Wake up, Verizon. We're sitting here willing to give you our money. Wait much longer, and I, like a lot of others, will just walk away. This is one of the most despicable things I've ever seen a cable company do, promise their customers over and over a service is coming yet never delivering it.

This was a total scam on your part and you should be ashamed of yourself. I live in the Boston area and if you don't have EI by May, I am going back to Comcast.

The last update on Verizon's blog instructed the angry customers to order MLB.TV (Major League Baseball's internet service) in lieu of Extra Innings. FiOS customers could then "see games with the broadband speed and clarity that FiOS makes," whatever that means.

Did a Verizon CSR promise you Extra Innings when you switched to FiOS?

MLB Coming to FiOS, Mom and Apple Pie Rejoice! [Verizon Policy Blog]

Consumerist Forums reader "1gunit" discovered free porn while channel surfing on his new HDTV. It began when a strange program appeared that started to automatically fast forward itself through what was some presumably boring dialogue. When the program began to play at normal speed, "1gunit" realized he was watching someone else's "On Demand" porn. How did this happen? His letter, inside...

About a month ago i discovered that i was getting a few unlisted channels on my cable tv. I do not subscribe to "Digital Cable" I get "Extended Basic" (basically all the channels you can get with out the box) one of the 1st shows i came across was a porn and to me and my wifes surprise right after a rather interesting scene it started to fast forward to right passed all of the talking parts. It was then we realized we were watching other peoples "On Demand" shows. It varies from Blues clues to PPV movies to hot girl on girl action
This only happens on my newest tv which gets HDTV channels the Chanel's in question are in the 107 range..107-1....107-10. I asked about it at my local charter office when paying my bill and after a lot of apologizing and assurances that I was the only one this was happening to (more on that below) they took my number and told me some one would call the next day its been 8 days still no call and I still get free porn.

I went to work the other night (At a group home for mentally handicapped people) and guess what they get the free porn as well

I'm just wondering of anyone else is getting the same thing on there HDTVs. I'm not really complaining I like free porn (even if the jerk with the remote fast forwards through the redheads)but I bet someone a little less open minded than me will freak upon discovering this.

We commend you on your strength of character because most people wouldn't complain about free porn. For most adults this would be no problem but naturally there are others such as children who should not be able to freely receive adult programming. Since you also observed this phenomenon at work, it must mean that this situation is at least partially widespread. Because you have already reported the problem once with no relief, you should elevate this problem to someone in a higher position and see if they can help you bring a happy ending to this story.


Free porn on my charter cable [Consumerist Forums]
(Photo: Getty)

While we all love to hate Comcast (and boy have I had my issues with them), I'd like to give them kudos for having a responsive and effective customer retention department (at least for Chicagoland).

I came home today, and found a RCN cable flier hanging on my door. Long and short of it was that they're offering my Comcast-equivalent level of digital cable for $35/month and high-speed internet for $35/month for new customers for the first 12 months.

I called up Comcast's 1-800 number and explained the flier and I was thinking of switching to the guy I got on the phone. He told me that Comcast definitely wants to keep me as a customer, and could I please hold while he transfers me to "Customer Retention."

After about 30 seconds, an extremely polite woman named Shelia comes on the line. We reviewed my account (I have their digital silver package, with 3 DVRs/outlets, and basic high-speed residential internet). Prior to tonight my monthly bill was touching $175/month after taxes.

After about 5 minutes of playing around with the computer she got me a 12 month deal for my current services and boxes for about $86.44/month AFTER tax for cable, internet, and DVRs. No contract extension, no hassle, just an honest attempt at giving a good customer a fair deal.

When I called I expected to have to fight and bitch and moan to get to about $125/month after taxes; imagine my complete surprise when I didn't have to fight, the CSR actively worked WITH me to get to a number I could live with, and did it while treating me with respect, courtesy, and acknowledging that they were asking for my money, and I had a right to get the best deal I could. At the end of the call, I asked to speak to her supervisor to tell him what a great job she had done, and that she had easily kept me and my wife as customers...and he seemed genuinely happy to hear it.

God knows Comcast has their problems, but every once in a while I interact with a person there that really does get it, and makes sure that I, as their customer, gets a fair shake. Even beyond saving me almost $100/month, the way she treated me has earned them a great deal of good-will from me.

Comcast should look to CSRs like Shirley, because it's the Shirley's of their workforce that will help turn them around.

(Photo: Tom Simpson)

(Thanks to Waldon!)

On Tuesday, April 15, 2008 a Time Warner representative came to our home to install the digital telephone modem which would also provide our internet service.
 
My husband observed an insect walking on the modem box and asked what it was and the employee seemed dazed and confused.

After the installer left, my husband and I saw cockroach after cockroach emerge from the modem. We killed them as quickly as we could. We have never seen roaches in our house before. Our house is free-standing and many yards away from neighbor homes.
 
I called Time Warner insisting that they come to remove the modem. The woman I spoke with insisted that I had to be wrong and that it was impossible for cockroaches to be in the modem. She refused my request that Time Warner come on the following day to remove and replace the offending modem, which housed a swarm of roaches.
 
We wrapped the modem up in plastic and duct tape.
 
On Saturday, April 19, 2008 when the representative came to replace the modem, we had arranged for a witness to be with us. We took the modem to the front porch, removed the plastic bag, and a number of cockroach bodies fell out. The Time Warner worker agreed that modems sometimes came from other people's homes and were reused. He suggested that the modem may have first been used in a contaminated home or that it was possible that the first installer may have had cockroaches in his truck.
 
In the meantime, cockroaches of all sizes and ages are in our study. We try to kill them as we can. We would not have had this infestation were it not for the Time Warner modem.
 
Yours sincerely, Natalie Columbus, OH

PREVIOUSLY: Comcast Skips 3 Appointments, Hangs Up On You 6 Times, Makes You Want To Cry
(Photo: u2acro)

I HATE dealing with tech support. This time, I bit the bullet because my internet connection wasn't working.

UPDATE: Stephanie's problem has been fixed.

I don't want to do that without letting people know what a terrible experience . I thought Qwest was bad...but I think I have officially seen a new "worst" in customer service.

Since the tech was expected yesterday, Comcast has:

• missed three "scheduled" appointments, including one occasion when the tech claimed to have shown up when he hadn't.
• altered the date/time of one of those "appointments" without notifying me
• hung up on me half a dozen times ("dropped" call) every time I ask to speak to a supervisor
• put me on hold for over fifteen minutes each time, only to drop the call after that
• promised me compensation they haven't put on my bill.

I can't believe they even exist as a company, they have been so operationally incompetent. There doesn't seem to be any way to get real answers because their phone support doesn't appear to take case notes, and I've had two supposed "supervisors" make promises that they have not documented. I'm at a loss.... I want to cry. I just want to check my email. It shouldn't be this hard.

Stephanie No, Stephanie. It shouldn't be this hard. And yet it is. We recommend posting your experience on the internet as Comcast has become very PR-conscious for some reason. Oh wait, you just did!

(Photo:Spidra Webster)

Comcast's big push to repair its image [Philly.com]

Cablevision writes:

"There is no direct connection between the digital transition of broadcast television stations that will occur across the nation in early 2009 and Cablevision's decision to transition away from the duplicate analog feeds of a certain number of channels that we already carry in digital format.

Unfortunately, Cablevision goes on to say:

Neither our customer service training, nor our customer communications, link the two in any way."

As for Cablevision's training, we spoke with four customer service representatives and each one said the same thing. These weren't rogue agents conjuring up their own unsupportable explanations. Two CSRS put us on hold to consult their materials, came back, and repeated their assertions.

When we asked the agents to tell us who instructed them to mention the FCC, they expressly stated that they were following Cablevision's training. We strongly suspect that if we (or you) called back, we would again receive the exact same answer. Could all the agents have made the same mistake, and lied about their training? Absolutely, but Occam's Razor seems to shred any suggestion of a coincidence.

Cablevision admits that their agents repeatedly provided incorrect information. Two questions remain: Are they now lying about their training; and, how will the FCC admonish Cablevision for their deceptive and predat