Comcast worst company ever. Again.

Discussion in 'Stocks' started by wilburbear, Jan 4, 2012.

  1. that's dumb this is over the $7 modem rental fee. they been charging it for years but it us to be $5. there is not 1 cable company that does not charge it. if you got luck good for you. the people who had reps come over and sign them up stop whining you saved a lot of money for 2 years.
     
  2. GTS

    GTS

    FIOS doesn't charge for their equipment, both the optical network terminal (which is not a cheap piece of equipment) and the router.
     
  3. While I was a Comcast customer I came home from work to find the TV listing channel had been removed. When I called and complained they say “You have to upgrade. We no longer support listings on that level…” So I cancelled my Comcast service and installed WOW. This listing channel had been one of 11 channels that had been removed from our service with no written notification.

    About 45 days later I received a bill for over $175 for their modem. They stated they no longer picked up modems. I either had to pay the $175 or take the modem to their lone surviving service center in my area. I drove the 20 miles to their service center and waited 2 hours in line to return that modem. The line stretched out of the door and around a corner. When my turn finally came I had to fill out 2 pages of paper work to get a credit.

    The next bill had a credit that wiped out the $175 charge. But I now had a late fee. I must have put in 4 hours of time trying to get this charge off the bill. I was assured it would be taken off. Then the next month a new bill arrived with detailed warnings. I had enough. I filed a complaint with the BBB. Comcast called me and said it was all a billing misunderstanding.

    I didn’t trust them. I kept the complaint open through the billing cycle. Sure enough they screwed up in that cycle. The bill showed a credit to cancel the late fee and then the charge being reinstated with more warnings. This time I went to my lawyer. He wrote a simple note explaining that we need confirmation in writing that the account was closed and no charges remained. A few weeks later finally got an apology from a Comcast regional sales manager along with a statement that I owed nothing.

    I have rarely seen in business the level of arrogance that Comcast uses in its customer service. I will never do business with them again.
     
  4. Bob111

    Bob111

    they all suck. and if you look close enough into your bill-1\3 of the payment (specially for wireless phone services) goes to a gvt in forms of various taxes and fees.
    that's why i like something like netflix-$8 and we are done. no taxes,no fees.
    when we "renegotiate" our current plan with verizon- they royally screwed us on long distance phone service,when they "forgot" to switch us the the plan we choose over the phone. three 1-3 min calls overseas and my phone bill ballooned to 500+ dollars for those 3 calls alone. took me 2 months to solve the issue. all the way up to regional manager and her direct phone number. not only i got every single penny back(all the taxes and everything,when lower level CS assure me that it's not possible(yeah..right..when you buy at walmart and then return-for some reason walmart doesn't keep your taxes,why verizon should be different? ). anyway-every penny back + 1 year of HBO + 100$ off equipment rental(dvr). that's how you deal with those fuckers.
     
  5. None of this is too surprising. Look at what the banks were trying to pull. Unfortunately (for them), you have far more choice in where you bank than where you get your internet and it's much easier to switch.

    In my area I can get: Comcast (Cable), Verizon (DSL), or Clear-wire.
    I already have Comcast after bailing on the other two, so my options are limited.
    FIOS ain't happening and hasn't been ever since Frontier.
     
  6. piezoe

    piezoe

    There is absolutely no question that Comcast is one of the worst run companies in the U.S., from the viewpoint of the consumer. However form the viewpoint of the stock holder it is a brilliantly managed company. In many communities Comcast has a monopoly. So, of course, what you get from Comcast is what you would expect from a monopoly.

    The share holders are wrong. It is one of the worst run companies, and their treatment of customers will eventually come back to bite them in the ass.
     
  7. SREC

    SREC

    All major cable companies have a monopoly, since they own the lines. You may have someone like RCN trying to break in, but they are essentially leasing the lines from the company with the monopoly, like Time Warner.
    In general, all of these companies are relatively the same. Time Warner may seem a little nicer than Comcast, but currently, their service sucks and is overpriced. Roadrunner used to be great, now it's not reliable service. TWC does not play games with the bill, but they suck in other areas, one being technical support.

    What many here fail to realize is that the cable business is running on razor-thin profit margins. It's barely profitable and the only light at the end of the tunnel is the VOD service. So the nonsense from Comcast is like a dog fighting for scraps. When it comes to cable service, these companies are struggling. The recession/depression is hitting them hard, as Cable is still technically a luxury and one of the things to go when cost cutting. At the same time, it is easily replaced by cheap & free options thanks to the internet.

    Verizon FIOS cable is scary from what I have read. I am interested in getting their internet since TWC Roadrunner is no longer the quality it used to be, but their cable service is a potential nightmare. Then you have satellite providers, which often play the bait & switch contracts, plus the obvious weather issues.

    It's interesting to see what happens next. Meanwhile, this thread has reminded me to call up Time Warner, complain about our crap service, threaten to switch to FIOS and see what financial compensation they will give us on the next bill.
     
  8. the1

    the1

    Ummm....I haven't even read the article (and won't) but I have a feeling this has more to do with the $7 fee. I switched to Comcast's bundle package a few years back (including VOIP) and it was the biggest mistake I ever made. The internet was going down constantly -- no phone. It was a weekly or biweekly thing. I had a kid who had Croupe at the time (thankfully he grew out of it) and had I needed to dail 911 (which we have many times for this) I would have been fucked. Yeah, I had a cell but it's not like a land line that displays your address to the dispatcher.

    Still got Comcast to this day and the reliability has been rock solid but based on the experience above the customer service I got from it I'll never trust Comcast. Just like I'd never buy another Ford no matter how high their quality ratings go. When you lose a customer you tend to lose them for life. I use Comcast only because I don't have a choice but man....do I have a back up plan, as well as a back up for the back up plan :D Comcast is still is piece of shit in my view. :mad:

     
  9. GTS

    GTS

    In areas served by more than one company there is no monopoly. I can get Comcast or FIOS and both offer the same three services (TV, internet, phone) and they do not share any lines, completely different mediums.

    I'd be interested to hear what you have read that scares you. I've had the FIOS triple play in two different residences and would not switch back to cable if they offered it to me for free (I'm serious). Other than abdominal VZ billing and customer service everything about FIOS is great (e.g. once you make it past the initial install and get the billing straightened out its smooth sailing)

    Cable companies with their legacy HFC networks just cannot compete with an FTTP solution like FIOS. Maybe the average customer doesn't care but technical folks tend to appreciate the difference not just in what is offered today but what they can will be able to do in the future.
     
    #10     Jan 5, 2012