I have had Comcast internet for a number of years in
Houston, TX. When the service is finally hooked up and working, there are
typically no issues, but getting it to that point can be a nightmare.
I was soon relocating to a new apartment a couple miles
away. I had service already, and simply needed to transfer existing service.
Comcast’s website appeared to have a simple option to handle this. I thought, “wow,
this is nice!” – but I jumped to conclusions too soon. As soon as you confirm
the information, you have to speak to a representative about it.
Thinking that it would be a relatively simple conversation,
I made the call at the beginning of my lunch break at work. The agent was nice
enough, American, but that didn’t end up mattering one bit. He explained the
complications of my request because the person that was still residing in the
apartment that I was moving into already had service.
After placing me on hold for 5-10 minutes at a time, he
explained that he had to place a cancellation order for my old account number
and then establish a brand new account (I didn’t like the sound of that), but
that I should just plug and play as soon as I move in. I have my own modem and
have done this numerous times, so I expected it to be relatively smooth once
moving. Time of call: 1 hour.
In my new apartment, 2 weeks later….
Connect the modem and router and try to get online. You get
a “Welcome to XFINITY Activation!” page. “Ok..”, I click “continue”, then am
prompted to enter the account number that I was given along with the phone
number associated with the account; next page says “This account is not
eligible for automated activation” . . . you’ve got to be kidding me. I hang it
up and decide to try calling early in the morning, thinking that there won’t be
a long hold time.
I call, am on hold around 15 minutes before being connected
to someone. After that person takes my info and “researches” she determines
that she needs to put me in touch with someone in the account activation
department. At this time, 45 minutes have elapsed and I need to head to work. I
am connected with the new person as I am leaving through my apartment’s parking
garage and my call drops. Hopefully… hopefully, this guy will call me back.
Nope! Time of call: 45 minutes.
After work…
I really need internet as I am also a full time student, so
I bravely attempt my call at 11:30pm. Hold time: 35 minutes. I am connected
with a sweet, but clueless sounding woman out of Virginia. She starts by
telling me that there is no record of my service. WHAT?? Knowing that they will
simply hang up on me if I get upset, I calmly reply and explain that I just
need to get service connected the easiest way possible.
She then starts to ask me dumb questions like, “what do you
use the internet for,” “what type of devices do you use,” etc… I just say, “I’m
fine with the 25mbs and have no need for cable or phone.” Then I am on hold for
10 minutes like my request was overly complicated. Looooong story short, she
quotes me something like $45/mo for the first 12 months then the cost jumps to
around $90/mo. What? Jumps to $90/mo for regular internet? I told her that I did not want to have to worry about being overcharged at a later date, so she puts me on hold again for another 10 minutes... comes back and tells me that she EMBELLISHED the amount! The price after 12 months would be around $65/mo. Ok, whatever... just get me connected.
It is now 1:15 a.m.
After I confirm to be signed up, she then states that I will
have to call back for the activation line in the morning as they are closed. I
almost die. Why in the world would I have been on the phone for this long
if I wasn’t going to get service? Time of call: 1 hour 45 minutes.
I was, however, able to activate it online after the call
and it did work.
Being that I now have 2 comcast account numbers, and knowing
how quickly they are to botch their billing and send you to collection (I
review credit reports for a living), I continued to monitor the old account and
notice that they are charging me $40 for an unreturned modem… a modem that I
never had. Fine, I pay it… better than calling them again.
While I am logged in, I check the speed upgrade options
because I didn’t feel that the representative gave me all the options. I see a
50mbps package for new accounts at $19.99/mo and selected the upgrade option “add
to cart”, continue… then it makes you chat with someone in India. Uh oh. I
should’ve left it alone. After about 30 mins of chat, the agent explains that
it is only available to those that have cable or tv – but I did check the
restrictions and this was the one upgrade that did not list those
prerequisites. No change was made. Chat time: 1 hour 15 minutes.
I wake up this morning to use the computer and the browsers
opens up to:
“Welcome to XFINITY Activation!” and then…. “This account is
not eligible for automated activation”
O….M…..G……
That’s it. 4 hours and 45 minutes of my life that I will
never get back because of Comcast. I’m calling AT&T.
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