Anyone else have a terrible experience with Comcast?

[RyRob813]

When I moved to college and my new apartment, I decided to use comcast to set up my cable, since that's what I have back home, and it's always worked fine.

When the installation guy came to set me up, he told me I needed a different guy to do the job. When the second guy came, he thought he was there for the same reason as the first guy. When the third representative came, he said the job couldn't be done. Finally the fourth guy set me up.

All I wanted was your run of the mill, BASIC BASIC cable; nothing fancy. They claimed that the box they gave me was the most basic thing I could have, even though it included over 600 channels and all that On Demand crap I don't bother with.

Since I got the box of frustration, it goes blank unexpectedly, flickers, goes black and white for a half an hour at a time, and is more of a source of annoyance than anything.

Yesterday afternoon when I turned on my TV, I got a message that said "One moment please, this channel should be available shortly," on every channel. Over 24 hours later, it's still there. After three calls to Comcast, and two "resets," I still have no picture at all.

According to Comcast, I can either get a new box, or have a field technician come and determine why THEIR SERVICE ISNT WORKING, with no guarantee of a fix, for 30 dollars.

Every cable connection I've ever had has simply been a cord connecting from the TV set to the wall, and they've always worked great. I don't understand why I need this stupid box, and why they promote it if it doesn't work as well, (other than the cost.)

Anyone else experience this horrible customer service from comcast?

[santucci218]

i love my comcast. i have every channel, dvr, hd, internet, and home phone.

i rarely have problems and when i do they are resolved with a great attitude and in a timely manner.

[Linas]

Ever since i moved into my apartment 2 years ago, comcast was the only provider in my area unless i wanted a dish. Problem after problem. I cant stand them. My TV usually is never a problem, but my internet connection is so intermittent it just drives me nuts. Im not paying $109 a month for my internet to go out on me at least 2x a week. Ugh man, comcast, i hate 'em. I really do.

[MJ5150]

Nope, zero problems.

I know that many of the Comcast guys who come to your house are independent contractors representing Comcast. They get paid piecework, and an install like you want pays pretty much nothing. There are other more lucrative installs to be done. It is entirely possible that you got the run-a-round from the techs looking to make some money instead of being stuck with a sucker install that only pays like $23 if I remember correctly.

-Mike

[Trevorus]

Just take the box out of the circuit. Hook your TV straight to the wall. You won't get any of the On-Demand stuff, but you can still watch the basic channels.

[hover]

No experience with Comcast, but I can tell you I hate Charter Communications with every fiber of my being.

[frostymoose]

Comcast broadband is crap. TV's alright.

[MadMan118]

Your best bet is to give up on comcast or as I should say crapcast cable TV. The broadband internet connection works MOST of the time, not always. It seems you and I have the same problem and both you and I have gotten the same response from the craptastic cable service. I shot my cable box to peices with my Remington 870 and got satellite instead.
MUCH better service by far.

[stabbicus]

Originally Posted by Trevorus

Just take the box out of the circuit. Hook your TV straight to the wall. You won't get any of the On-Demand stuff, but you can still watch the basic channels.

+1. I do that will all of the other TV's in my apartment. Works a treat!

[Jeff Martinez]

Definitely take the DCT (cable box) out of the signal chain. You can return the box to any Comcast payment center. Make sure you get an invoice indicating that you have returned it, so you don't get charged for it. On top of the fact that you don't even want it, it sounds to me like you have a bad cable box. You can find the nearst location on the comcast.com website.

As was mentioned a few posts up, you unfortunately were likely dealing with contractors as opposed to in-house Comcast techs. They do get paid based on how much work they do, and a basic install is very little work. You can request a Comcast tech, as opposed to a contractor. These techs are not paid by the job, and they can be held directly accountable for the satisfaction of the customers they install.

When you call into the call center feel free to ask for (or demand) a supervisor if you feel that you aren't getting good service.

The potential $30 tech charge would occur if the tech arrives to fix the issue and it is determined that the problem lies in your equipment, not the Comcast equipment.

Hopefully this helps.

BTW, I don't hate this company. They provide me with a nice paycheck, and great benefits.

[Jeremy Crockett]

Comcast, Time Warner, I hate cable. They will never have another dime of my money... NEVAR!

[Bad Brains]

Comcast is a garbage company with garbage employees.

They have no problem giving you crappy service, but as soon as you're one day late on a payment, they have no problem taking the time to remind you.

[Jeff Martinez]

Originally Posted by Bad Brains

Comcast is a garbage company with garbage employees.

Ouch, that hurts.

[coreyfyfe]

Comcast is ok when you have options. When it's the only choice, they don't give a rats ass because you're stuck with them no matter what. At me last apartment, the building's cable/internet was managed by comcast and you had no other option. They charged us $125/month for cable and internet. Our cable would randomly go out, usually only for a few minutes at a time, and our internet bandwidth was limited. We were running a wireless so there were three computers sharing the internet, but I've never had this problem anywhere else. If all three of us were online at once it would make it seem like we were running dial up. It wasn't the fault of the wireless either, we would usually reset that first thing if we started getting problems and rarely, if ever, did it help.

Could have just been crap wiring in the building, but seriously, having Comcast at that apartment blew.

Currently, I'm just using the wire from the wall and someone else's wireless at my new apartment and the internet is the fastest I've had in a long time. Haven't had the time to get my own service set up yet. My friends who have the apartment next door said we have a choice between comcast and RCN here, so we'll see who we go with.

[Jeff Martinez]

Generally speaking, in apartment complexes/buildings, most signal loss is due to internal wiring. This falls on the shoulders of the building owner/manager to maintain. Any cable company will ensure that the building receives enough bandwidth for the number of residences within the building.

I'm going to throw this out for y'all. If you have any questions regarding Comcast, PM me. I can't guarantee that I can fix it directly, but I can at least give you TB brotherly help. IBefore my current position, I did tech support, so I know a bit about the inner workings.

[jazzbo]

Do checkout:

Comcast Cable Company - San Francisco, CA