It’s tough for a reader to surprise us with a Comcast complaint, but Brandon’s story is truly bizarre. No matter what he does, he can’t convince Comcast to hook him up with cable TV because he’s a business customer who uses Comcast for internet service. Brandon says multiple Comcast reps confirmed the odd policy.

He writes:

What I wasn’t prepared for was the fact that Comcast was completely and totally unwilling to honor the agreements I had already signed with them. I had signed a contract and wished to honor it even though I was moving; I felt it was the right thing to do. My contract specified for business class internet with static IP addresses, and basic television.

But even though Comcast is one company with corporate offices in Philadelphia, it is operated in such a way that each area has its own offices and own accounts. This meant that Comcast couldn’t simply transfer my service from Point A to Point B; no, instead they needed to open a new account, send out a technician, issue new equipment, and treat the process as a whole new installation.

After fighting them on the contract length (they wanted to replace my 12-month agreement with a 36-month agreement) and then on installation fees (12 months was okay, but for a $200 installation fee), I finally scheduled the installation.

The technician arrived and was one of the most personable, pleasant, professional Comcast installers I’ve ever dealt with. He installed the modem, router, and wired the house; however, he told me he couldn’t issue new cable boxes for the television because the video portion of the account had not come over. I accepted this, because someone else’s mistake is not his fault. Little did I know this was a brewing mess.

Apparently in the time that I have had service, Comcast now bars the addition of video services onto home-based business accounts (my account is a home-based business). However, since Comcast’s terms of service bar use of their residential services for VPN access (required for many people who work from home or contract), it puts home-based businesses into an extremely awkward position: either have business class internet and no television or television and no Comcast internet.

I engaged the Comcast Twitter team, who did what they could to assist me; they even sent a cable box to my address. But no amount of cajoling, discussing or communicating could convince Comcast that they should install television. They simply decided canceling the account was the better choice. I even reached up to the vice president level with my request, but it remained unheard.

If you run a home business and use Comcast, how have you maneuvered around this problem?

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