I need to make the dreaded “cable guy” appointment with Comcast to install Internet access. Hey, it’s 5 AM sleepy heads!
The email Comcast sent me says “Comcast is available to assist you 24 hours a day / 7 days a week.”
I call the number, type in my zip code and an greeted with “the office is closed, please call back later”.
Unfortunately AT &T uVerse isn’t available in the building. Let the CableFun(tm) begin!
Sadly, to say I think Comcast 24 hrs a day / 7 day a week must only apply to which state you are in, its always 24/7 in some parts of the States and I really beleive they dont consider Saturday or Sunday part of the 24/7 policy. ( Thats why I dropped Comcast ) Hey !! I just had a thought, Maybe you could fool ’em and type in a bogus zip code, (accidently, on purpose)
Chapter ii
Now the office is open. Despite the email to me having the address, phone # and email address I entered online, after providing the confirmation #, they ask for the same information again.
“Sorry sir, the previous tenant didn’t turn off the service, so we’ll need you to come to the local office and show us a copy of your lease.” Where is the local office?” Please hold… Long pause [click]
So now that I have a copy of the lease, they tell me a copy of the lease is worthless, because it is too easy to create a fake one (perhaps they could call the management company of this 1100 unit complex?)
So they drag me down to the local office (there is no phone# there). After playing 800 phone maze game, I agree to visit the office – all of this is because the prior tenant didn’t cut off the service. It’s not my fault. They call him and leave a voicemail. I suggest I’m getting unhappy and am looking for other alternatives already.
The Comcast office is located at Milwaukee and Higgins if you’re stalking me 😉 – the parking lot is way too small for the number of businesses there. Eventually I park.
As 3Tooz suggested, I am greeted by bullet proof glass, an intercom system they don’t use, and a blast resistant door for passing equipment through.
The woman handling me is -very- slow. Eventually when she finds me in the system, suddenly she gets very friendly. She must have read the note about me being angry. While this is going on, Ken (the prior tenant) has called back and confirmed he doesn’t live here any more.
So I get handed my self install kit through the bomb proof door and I’m on my way.
Art, If the local office is somewhat obscure as it is in our city, (even though the trucks are visible from the st.) You will need a picture ID to get in to show them a copy of your lease. Ive never even seen a bank that was as paranoid, as Comcast. chain link fences, locked doors, and a drive up window that is double thickness or bullet proof glassed in with a secruity intake sliding drawer. And thats in a………..decent part of town.
So people hate them?
Part of our area has Comcast, other parts are Wave Cable. I have service with both of them with Wave being better.
However, my Comcast doesn’t have security guards, snarling dogs, chain link or those plexiglass cages. It does have a snarling representative (just joking). I walked in a while back with my remote that was broken. She said “that’s an old one”, handed me a new one and didn’t even ask my name, address or account.
Jay
I wouldnt say hate, They aren’t happy when the monthly bill keeps creeping up. Here’s another little item
My gardner used to work for Comcast, as an installer, He had been making over $ 70,000 a year, they told him he was making too much money and they needed to cut back ! First they decreased his area ,by overlapping installer’s , then he was the subject of a decrease in workload, “laid off”, fortunately , he had a gardening business “before” he worked for Comcast, and he only had to buy a couple items that he has previously sold, Now he’s regained most of his old customers and is happy to be back in the gardening business. he say’s Comcast really gave him the shaft
I got my self-install kit home, plugged in the modem, everything lit up, and the laptop from work was on the internet as soon as I typed in my Comcast account number – great!
Now let’s go wireless so I’m not tethered to the modem. Let’s plug in the wireless router. Hmmm the power adapter doesn’t want to plug into the router. Hmmm… the router wants a 4.5v DC power supply and they gave me a 12 volt DC power supply (sealed together inside a plastic bag) – whoops!
Back to 800 number hell. I explain the problem, the woman keeps insisting on calling it a power cord rather than a power supply, and suggests the remedy is going back to the comcast office and getting a replacement. I have a few other ideas, this being an obvious screw up where Comcast repackages their used equipment to rerent it for $7 a month – perhaps you could fedex me the right power supply? Maybe I just go to a store and buy a cheap wireless router for $25. But I go back to the Comcast office after work (it closes at 6 PM) and stand in line for half an hour (I’m starting to have balance problems). After they lock the doors, a woman helps me and takes the old router and gives me a new one and informs me that my account will now have a $20 credit for the inconvenience their mistake caused.
I get it home, and this time it’s a matching set, and it actually works. WiFi node BR549B is on the air!