Matt owns his own cable modem, and it’s worked fine so far with his $165-a-month Comcast Triple Play package. He wanted to check into how he could reduce that ridiculous $165/mo burden, so he chatted online with someone from Comcast to see what his options were. Then he ended the chat and went back to whatever it was he was doing, and Comcast killed his cable modem. Update: Comcast says the end of life (EOL) event was not related to Matt’s chat with the CSR.

Just thought that I could share a little story about my adventures with Comcast. I have been a subscriber to Comcast services for 7+ years, and have always found fault with their services, for a variety of reasons. There aren’t really many options in the northeast US, unfortunately.

As a Triple-Play subscriber, my fees have been increasing regularly, and Comcast has been less than agreeable when it comes to reducing my bill, which tops $165 a month for Premium cable TV, mid-range Ethernet, and telephone service.

This past Sunday night, I encountered an all-new low in customer service. Resting at home after a wonderful weekend, I opened my monthly bill and decided to contact Comcast about the price of removing some services, just to see what my options were. I was also watching a Netflix movie that was streaming to my networked DVD player, and doing some computer work. As it is Sunday night, I have to resort to using Comcast’s horrid browser chat.

As you can read in the transcript, I asked several times that no changes were to be made as this was just a cost inquiry.

Immediately after my chat was closed by the representative, my movie stopped playing, and my browser locked up. Force quitting my browser and re-launching, I see a Comcast logo and a message reading that my cable modem is ‘End-of-life’ and I will have to obtain a replacement. As you can read in the transcript, I stated that I owned my cable modem, and it was not a lease item. No internet, but my Comcastalicious phone works, so I am now dialing tech support at 2AM EST. My first contact was with a young woman who stated that she could not reverse the ‘EOL’ action, and that I had no options. When I stated that the action was taken on a perfectly fine cable modem that had been working up to a few minutes before, she attempted to send a refresh signal and the phone connection was severed.

I called back on my cell, waited several minutes and finally spoke to Scott, who was definitely more helpful, who was able to ‘break open’ (his words) my phone modem to allow a computer based internet connection. He also stated that he could not reverse the action that ‘EOL’ed my cable modem. I would have to call in the morning on Monday to get a replacement arranged. Wahoo!

The following morning, I called to speak with customer service, and it took several attempts of forceful but polite requests for a replacement modem, free-of-charge. I drove out to the local office that morning, and traded my old and fully-functional cable modem for a new Comcast-approved modem. After several attempts to have Comcast tech support provision the new modem, I am proud to say that I am back up and running after more than 24 hours, but also well aware to keep an eye on my subsequent bills for additional lease charges! And I will be having the disconnection of services, like phone and premium cable as soon as I can.

Here’s a shortened version of the chat he had with the Comcast CSR, where you can see that both of them agreed that no changes would be made to the account. (I’ve only edited out phrases that didn’t contribute to the topic.)

user blumarbl has entered room
analyst Rizande has entered room

Rizande> Hello blumarbl, Thank you for contacting Comcast Live Chat Support. My name is Rizande. Please give me one moment to review your information.

How may I help you today?

blumarbl> I tried calling, I want to remove voice, and premium cable services, and increase internet to unlimited, but I need to know the cost before I do so.

Rizande> I see here that you want to remove some services but keep your internet service, is that correct?

blumarbl> I wanted unlimited internet, and to remove voice and premium cable, but I want to know the cost first.

Rizande> May I please ask if the account has a bundled package?

blumarbl> Yes, this is a bundled package, but no discount, the cost is $170 pre month, now. Break the bundle, remove services, and recalculate.

Rizande> Let me go ahead and check that on my end to see what I can do to assist you with your concern. [Asks for account info.] What I’m going to do now is to pull up your account and check on my resources. Please give me 2 minutes to process this for you. While I am still pulling up the account, allow me to share a unique Comcast feature. [Blah blah blah upsell.] Thank you for patiently waiting.

blumarbl> Please do not change services, this is for calculation purposes only.

Rizande> No worries, blumarbl, there will be no changes.

blumarbl> Thanks.

Rizande>You are welcome. I have reviewed the account and checked on my resources. I see here that the account has a bundled package of $139.99 per month.

blumarbl> Yes. Plus equipment rentals, and voice services, and taxes and fees. What would I pay for unlimited internet, and basic cable TV services?

Rizande> It seems to me that in removing the other two services and keeping the internet services, the internet service would have an estimated monthly price of $46 to $50 per month. The leased modem is $5.

blumarbl> No, I own my modem.

Rizande> I see. As for the basic cable service, the monthly rate is $18.80.

blumarbl> 20 for the cable, 50 for the internet unlimited. Is that correct?

Rizande> Yes, that is correct, blumarbl

blumarbl> thanks, for your assistance. Have a good night!

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