Feeling like you’re forced to do business with Comcast because of a dearth of other options is a bad way to start things off, as Consumerist reader M.K., says, “I would never deal with Comcast if I felt that I had the choice not to.” But after checking out a Comcast offer that was priced right, M.K. decided to take the leap.

M.K. admits to past bad experiences with Comcast, but after his Internet service provider was purchased by another company, resulting in an unreliable connection, he thought, what the heck, why not see what Comcast can do?

After waiting a month with unreliable service, I decided to check what service Comcast provided. I saw that they had dozens of sites on the internet offering Comcast deals. One of them offered a free modem(which they didn’t make clear until after placing the order was free after rebateS) and service for $39.99/month for 6 months. For that introductory price, that sounded like a good deal. On November 29, I placed an order.

I got an email asking me to call to schedule installation. I didn’t want “professional installation,” because as someone who works as a network administrator and has a degree in networking, I can set up my own equipment. But I called them anyway. When I did, the person I spoke with said I could also just drive to the Comcast location to activate. The next day I drove there all of the way across the city to activate, but they had no record of my order, so I went home and called again.

They said “Have you ever had service at this location before? We’re showing unreturned equipment.” I explained to them that before I’d signed up with Comcast *last time* I’d read that when people were cancelling, Comcast was claiming ownership of customer-owned modems. Because I had read about Comcast doing that I’d bought my own modem and had kept the receipt, and that after I cancelled, just as I had suspected they might, Comcast called me up and demanded that I return the modem I had owned before ever having done business with them, and further demanded that I drive all of the way across town to prove to them that I had owned it. Only after threatening legal action did I get them to look at my account and see that yes, I owned my modem and they did not.

After I explained that, the rep went away for a few minutes, and said that yes, she would be able to continue. She said that the earliest available date would be December 12 between 3:00 PM and 5:00 PM, and that the installation charge would be $20. I wanted it done earlier, but I said that that was okay.

On December 12, at 2:50 PM, I got a call from the installer saying that he wouldn’t be able to make it, because of the rain, and the earliest they could reschedule would be December 15. I immediately called Comcast and explained that I had been waiting for a long time and didn’t want to wait that long. They said they would have someone check and would call me back. They never called back.

The next day when I got home I got a note on my door saying “Sorry we missed you.”

So I called Comcast and their first question was “Were you home all day today?” as if they were going to charge me for the missed appointment. I explained that no one had told me that they were going to send someone out, and this rep said that the earliest available date would be December 19.

After explaining everything, she said they’d try to send someone out the next afternoon. He came, and didn’t have to come inside to set anything up, because I’d already set everything up. All he had to do was unlock a box outside and twist two cable connectors together. He did that and left and everything was good.

Everything was good, that is, until M.K. checked the bill and the $39.99 for six months price was nowhere to be found. Instead, he says he was overcharged.

I called them up to talk to billing. They say they have no record of my promotion, and that I have to call back tomorrow during normal business hours and talk to customer retention. I have a printout of the order, and I’m mad as hell. They overcharged me $57.96, $27.96 for the service and $30 for the installation. Comcast sucks.

One thing Comcast does seem to be good at? Nabbing Worst Company In America nominations. Fingers crossed for this year, Comcast!

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