Reader T was pleased to answer a call from a Comcast rep who offered a deal that would give him more channels for less money. He eagerly accepted, only to receive a call from Comcast the next day that informed him there was a hold on his account and he should work to get it removed immediately. Confused, he called Comcast’s customer service and found reason to turn his smile upside down.

He writes:

The rep informed me that the hold was due to a digital converter box never marked as received in their system (their fault), the rep apologized, removed the hold and said I should be good to go. I asked if my new plan was ready to go, the rep said there was no account activity. Strange, but not unheard of, after all, I’d just changed the day before. I figured I get another call from Virginia the next night.

No such luck. Not that night, nor the next, nor the next. I tried calling the number, but would just get one of those, “all reps are currently busy, please try calling later” messages. I called Comcast’s main number, explained my ordeal, as well as the package I was offered and the rep had no idea what I was talking about. They informed me they’d never heard of the deal I was offered, and that “there was no way we’d be offering you a deal that good for so cheap.” Frustrated, I asked to speak with a higher-up. Same thing. More frustrated, I asked who the hell had been calling me for the last week, to which the manager-type replied, “I have no idea, but we don’t offer that package.”

Angry and not wanting to say anything I shouldn’t, I hung up. The manager wasn’t even willing to offer me ANY type of discount, I was pissy, and it was probably best to sleep on the whole thing.

The next day I called again, asked to speak to a manager immediately and explained my ordeal to the rep on the phone. She was understanding, but unapologetic. I asked to transferred to the cancellation department.

After a few minutes on hold, I finally got someone and once again explained my predicament. Here I was finally given an answer to my question of who the hell was calling me. It was a satellite office. Comcast apparently outsources upgrade-calling to smaller companies. These companies offer deals that Comcast doesn’t and supposedly can’t replicate. To keep me around, the rep offered to just keep me at my current price, which was all I really wanted. By the end of it, I got what I needed, but not what I was initially offered.

I guess the moral here, or the interesting part anyway, is the fact that Comcast uses these other companies to do their dirty work, but they aren’t connected to Comcast in any way, meaning what you talk to them about isn’t transferred into their main system. The calls don’t show up on their log, nor do the supposed contracts. Seems like kind of a weird way to run a business to me.

Have you fielded offers from Comcast contractors? How have they turned out for you?

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