Comcast cut Ian’s Speakeasy DSL line while installing a fiber optic cable for his live-in landlord. Ian couldn’t convince Comcast that cutting another company’s line was a problem:

All calls to Comcast have been met with cynicism, contempt, and out-right lies. Among the things i was told was: there was no independent line, the line belonged to Comcast, my landlord was the problem, the house was wired improperly when built (you know, back in the ’70s when DSL was all the rage, right?), and then was eventually hung up on.

Fed up with Comcast’s lies, Ian hopped in his car and drove to the nearest Comcast office. Ian writes:

I share a house with my landlord. He lives in the basement, I and my two roommates live on the first floor. We share water and electric utilities, as well as the cable TV bill. You see, the landlord has full Comcast service (cable tv, phone, Internet), but since we only use the TV, we (the upstairs tenants) only pay for that portion of that bill.

Being a long-standing “hater” of Comcast’s shenanigans, I decided when I moved in to get my own ISP. I subscribe to Speakeasy. We can discuss the merits of their service/price later, but suffice it to say that I’ve been extremely satisfied with Speakeasy’s service and customer service to this day.

Today, my landlord had scheduled a service call for his Comcast telephone. He only uses it for a fax machine. Comcast told him he should upgrade to some fiber optic nonsense since he’d have to do it sooner or later in the near future. Well, while the technician from Comcast was here, he was told by both my landlord, and a roommate who was present, that we had an outside line running into the top floor of the house that was independent from Comcast’s. Specifically, that independent line was strung by Qwest/Covad when I subscribed- it is not, nor has ever been, the property of Comcast.

The technician told my landlord and roommate that he had to disconnect our line to do what he had to do, but that he would reconnect it when he was done. He did not. In fact, he physically clipped the line. After being asked if he had reconnected the line when he descended the pole, the technician muttered something and hastily left.

All calls to Comcast have been met with cynicism, contempt, and out-right lies. Among the things i was told was: there was no independent line, the line belonged to Comcast, my landlord was the problem, the house was wired improperly when built (you know, back in the ’70s when DSL was all the rage, right?), and then was eventually hung up on.

All attempts to reach the technician have been fruitless- it just goes to a voicemail. All attempts to reach the tech’s supervisor have also been an exercise in futility. I plan on contacting the FCC tomorrow morning.

We are currently awaiting a response from Covad about when they can come physically remedy the problem.

I have copies of the work orders, logs of the calls to Comcast’s customer service, and i’m sick of waiting on hold. The added frustration of having all this occur after comcast’s normal service hours is driving me nuts. I’m afraid that Covad will bill us for the repair (which involves god knows what since whatever comcast did in the first place), when Comcast should pay for their mistakes.

I’m not sure there’s anything you can do to help me, but i figured at the very least, this would be another PR blow for Comcast.

Just in case anyone is curious, my call to Speakeasy was met with polite service, and a measurable response time (4 hours from when I called, i’ll have my answer). Calls to Comcast was met with cynicism, spite, and insulting behavior.

Down with Comcast!

When calls to Comcast failed to produce results, Ian decided to pay them a visit.

At the end of yesterday’s efforts to get Comcast to fix their mistake, we were told to expect a technician between 1-3pm today. At 3:30, with out a tech having shown up, we called back. We had to explain all over again what the problem was, and deciding i was too frustrated to deal with these people again, I handed off the phone to my roommate. As he was talking to them, I called a friend and had him look up Comcast offices in Denver. Turns out I drive by one everyday.

I grabbed copies of the work orders, jumped in my car, and headed to the nearest Comcast office. Turns out the building i went to was the Customer Service Call Center for the area. Having gotten nowhere with the woman at the front desk (not her fault, she was a security guard, not a receptionist), I stepped outside for a moment to think when I saw two men in Comcast shirts talking to each other. I approached and said hello. Turns out they were sales reps for Comcast commercial services. I asked if they could point me in the right direction. They did one better.

One man, Randy, went inside while the other (his name was Jason i think, he wasnt wearing ID) stayed with me. Using PTT on their cell phones, they relayed information from me to what I was lead to believe was the Technician Supervisor.

After a short while, Randy returned. He told me there would be a technician at my house in about 30 minutes to see what he could do. I was not sure how to take it, this was not the first time i was told to go wait for a tech.

Randy came through. 35 minutes later a tech pulled up, said he was sent by his supervisor and a sales rep named Randy Hughes. This tech, Yoseph, was very polite, entertained all our questions with convincing, competent answers- even threw the ball for my dog a few times.

Yoseph spliced the wires back together, told us it would last until our own ISP guys could put it right for good (Covad is scheduled for friday morning).

So, the tubes are no longer clogged with horses and poker-chips. We’re back up and running like before. Its just sad when a couple of random sales guys did more in 5 minutes than half a dozen CSRs did in hours on the phone.

Cutting another company’s lines is illegal. Beyond complaining to Comcast, Ian should also file a formal complaint with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission.

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