At one time or another, we’ve all felt like customer service has gotten it completely backwards.

Never quite like Rob’s experience, though, where they literally got it backwards.

Literally.

“Robert > neercs sht otni eyt tonnca i wonnow i cannot tye into this screen
Laurie.5661 > Sorry, I cannot read what you just typed. Do you have another question?
Robert > derorrim si txte ym ,xob eht otni epytyyt i newhw on when i type into the box, my text is mirrored
Robert > nekorb si loot tahcsith this chat tool is broken
Robert > wnok to ek wo i i would liketo know
Laurie.5661 > I will report that Robert.
Robert > won trevnco nac ylurt i fi if i truly can convert now
Robert > deviecre i eciton ylno ethe cnsi since the only notice i received
Robert > ouy mro fraeh i litnu gginthyan od ton od dias said do not do anythingg until i hear from you
Robert > ouy mrof dareh otne vha i dan and i have not heard from you
Laurie.5661 > Robert you are experiencing an issue with the chat program that I will report.
Robert > ?tcerroc ,nohtisueq ym dae rlltis anc ouy tub ,ok ok, but you can still read my quesiton, correct?
Laurie.5661 > You need to go to welcome.comcast.net and migrate your mail.
Laurie.5661 > In order to adequately assist you with this problem, we require a more free flowing dialogue. Please call our technical support line at 1-800-266-2278 (1-800-COMCAST) and we will be more than happy to assist you. “

Full transcript, inside…

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Rob writes:

“Neat stuff. I was recently a not-unhappy Adelphia customer. My account, and that of my neighbors and local family, are being converted to Comcast. Since I received the first notice in the mail, this has been nothing but trouble. That notice said I should do nothing until Comcast contacts me via email. To this date I have received no email from Comcast.

My problems started when my formerly-reliable internet access began being down more often than up. My neighbors were experiencing the same thing with the added feature of complete loss of email capability. My father-in-law, for whom I am the “tech guy” was down too, and unable to send (but could receive). He had received no notice either. I contacted tech support to find out what happened to his email and they told me I needed to change his outbound server address. I did that and it corrected the issue. I suppose we were supposed to guess that was the case and then guess the new server address.

Today, his problem happened to me. Having been through the issue with him, I knew to change the server address. Worked for me too. But I was also not instructed to make the change. So I am, I think naturally, concerned that other unannounced changes will be coming my way. I decided to contact customer support over chat to see what was going on. The transcript of that informative exchange is below.

One item of particular interest (I think) is the interesting thing that happened to the chat window at the end. As I typed, each letter I typed was shown in mirror image! Made for an interesting support call.

None of this gives me much confidence in my new ISP….

Rob”

Laurie.5661 > Thank you for contacting Comcast. My name is Laurie. I will be happy to help you with your email today.

Laurie.5661 > You may be getting an error number in Outlook Express, or Outlook that starts 0x800CCC?? What are the last two digits of that error number, please?

Robert > i am not getting an error – i am contacting you to find out why my outbound email server changed prior to my receiving notice

Robert > the same issue happened to my father-in-law, who i support

Robert > the transition to comcast has been extremely problematic for me, and many of my neighbors

Laurie.5661 > Are you asking about your Adelphia or Comcast account, Robert?

Robert > i am concerned other changes will not be communicated in time

Robert > yes

Robert > adelphia

Laurie.5661 > A welcome website has been created for new customers coming to Comcast as a result of the merger. At this web site you will find information about Comcast’s exciting products, have the ability to view product demos, as well as read the latest details of the merger.

Time Warner customer welcome page:

http://www.comcast.com/welcometwc

Adelphia customer welcome page:

http://www.comcast.com/welcomeadelphia

For further help, please call 1-888-683-1000

Robert > i want to know when we will receive proper notification of changes that cause our service to break

Robert > i don’t care about the merger

Laurie.5661 > Robert you need to go to this site and migrate your mail to Comcast.

Laurie.5661 > https://welcome.comcast.net/Login.do

Robert > i have not been notified to do so

Robert > the only notice i received said i would receive a notice

Robert > i have nto received a notice, but my outbound server changed

Robert > as did my father-in-law’s

Laurie.5661 > You should have received an email in your primary Adelphia account. We cannot change your server setting.

Robert > i have no information about changing email addresses, servers or anything

Robert > i realize that

Laurie.5661 > What do you mean by “my outbound server changed

“?

Robert > over the weekend, my father-in-law was n ot able to send email

Robert > i called support for him, they told me his outbound mail sever had changed from mail.adelphia.net to smtp.comcast.net

Robert > he received no notice of that change

Laurie.5661 > This site will lead you throught the migration. Your Adelphia mail will be forwarded to your Comcast account.

Robert > it just stopped working

Robert > this morning i had the same problem

Robert > no notice

Robert > had to change the server

Robert > to get it to work

Laurie.5661 > I am sorry if you did not receive the email advising you of this.

Robert > i have not been told to migrate yet

Laurie.5661 > Click on this link to verify your settings:

http://faq.comcast.net/faq/answer.jsp?name=17739&cat=Email&subcategory=Outlook%20Express

Robert > my settings work at the moment, my fear is that other changes will occur and i will get no notice

Robert > i need you to send me the email

Robert > as far as i know, i do not have a comcast account yet

Robert > not one has told me i do

Laurie.5661 > I cannot send you the email. Please go to https://welcome.comcast.net/Login.do and migrate your mail.

Robert > what is my comcast account?

Robert > how do i sign in?

Laurie.5661 > Sign in with your Adelphia username and password.

Laurie.5661 > Should you need to contact us again by Chat, Email or Phone, your reference number for this issue is:

Laurie.5661 > 78022506

Laurie.5661 > Is there anything else that I can help you with today?

Robert > that page is not available or has been moved

Laurie.5661 > I am at that page now, Robert. https://welcome.comcast.net/Login.do

Laurie.5661 > Just type welcome.comcast.net and you should pull it up.

Robert > neercs sht otni eyt tonnca i wonnow i cannot tye into this screen

Laurie.5661 > Sorry, I cannot read what you just typed. Do you have another question?

Robert > derorrim si txte ym ,xob eht otni epytyyt i newhw on when i type into the box, my text is mirrored

Robert > nekorb si loot tahcsith this chat tool is broken

Robert > wnok to ek wo i i would liketo know

Laurie.5661 > I will report that Robert.

Robert > won trevnco nac ylurt i fi if i truly can convert now

Robert > deviecre i eciton ylno ethe cnsi since the only notice i received

Robert > ouy mro fraeh i litnu gginthyan od ton od dias said do not do anythingg until i hear from you

Robert > ouy mrof dareh otne vha i dan and i have not heard from you

Laurie.5661 > Robert you are experiencing an issue with the chat program that I will report.

Robert > ?tcerroc ,nohtisueq ym dae rlltis anc ouy tub ,ok ok, but you can still read my quesiton, correct?

Laurie.5661 > You need to go to welcome.comcast.net and migrate your mail.

Laurie.5661 > In order to adequately assist you with this problem, we require a more free flowing dialogue. Please call our technical support line at 1-800-266-2278 (1-800-COMCAST) and we will be more than happy to assist you. Again that is

1-800-COMCAST or 1-800-266-2278.

Laurie.5661 > Customer has closed chat and left the room

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SIDEBAR: A letter to the editor appearing in Rob’s local paper.

— BEN POPKEN

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