Can I just vent about HORRIBLE service for a second? (long)

[AlmiraGulch]

Let me start by saying that I hate Comcast.  I hate them with the rage of the heat of 1000 suns.  Their product, when it works, is quite good. The problem?  It rarely works as it should, and so I have to spend hours and hours and hours on the phone with them, only to have NOTHING resolved.  

 

They've sent technicians, they changed a modem to a "new" one, only for me to find out from a phone representative two days later that it was outdated.  They've been supposedly shipping me two new HD cable boxes that never showed, and a new modem/wireless router combo that has never showed.  They transfer me from department to department and then I get cut off.  All. The.  Time.  It's so frustrating I've gotten to the point where I literally have to take a Xanax before I call them!

 

Yesterday I decided to dump them from every product I possibly can, which means TV and phone.  I can't get rid of them for internet because I'm required to have a broadband connection for work since I work from home, and I have no other options where I live.  

 

I switched my land line (which again, I wouldn't even have if I weren't required to for my job) to AT&T.  Painless process.  Then I went through a super easy process to switch my TV to DISH.  The guy was great, it was easy, and I was pleased.  That is, until I had to call back about 15 minutes later to ask a question.  I was transferred to NINE different people.  Nine.  By the time I got to the 9th person, I was ready to cancel my entire order, but I didn't get a chance, because apparently one of those 9 people had already cancelled my order!  I never asked them to, or even implied that I wanted to!  I was so incredibly frustrated.

 

The point is that I see this type of thing is almost common now.  It's such a source of stress for me I want to do everything online, and I do, as much as possible.

 

Have any of you had such horrible experiences, or am I just a magnet for it?  And, does anyone have an stories of GREAT service they've experienced lately, or consistently?  I'll make a point of going to those places if you do!  I'll start with one.  The service at my local grocery store, Publix, is so good and friendly, and shopping there is such a pleasure for me that I go there even though other places are cheaper.

[Twigs]

:grouphug:  :grouphug:  :grouphug:

[PrincessMommy]

Vent away.  I feel your pain.   Ours is Verizon for internet only - because their service is awful.  We'd probably get rid of it for that too if our gamers didn't like internet satellite so much. We moved to land-line too and we have Directv for the tv.  I think Verizon and Comcast have some of the worst reputations. 

[*Lulu*]

I would like to say I had a better experience with Dish but, alas, I cannot.

 

I have had superb, consistent customer service from USAA for my entire adult life. According to my grandparents, who have used them since the late 1950's, they have never had a bad experience with them. My parents have had the same experience, as have my sister and her husband.

[AlmiraGulch]

Vent away.  I feel your pain.   Ours is Verizon for internet only - because their service is awful.  We'd probably get rid of it for that too if our gamers didn't like internet satellite so much. We moved to land-line too and we have Directv for the tv.  I think Verizon and Comcast have some of the worst reputations. 

After I hung up with Dish I called DirectTV.  We'll see how that goes.  Some local friends have said they've had good service with minimal outages, even in storms,  so I'm (naively) optimistic.

[AlmiraGulch]

I would like to say I had a better experience with Dish but, alas, I cannot.

 

I have had superb, consistent customer service from USAA for my entire adult life. According to my grandparents, who have used them since the late 1950's, they have never had a bad experience with them. My parents have had the same experience, as have my sister and her husband.

I have a good friend who says the same about USAA.  I'm not eligible to use them, but if I were, I would.

 

And speaking of them, I have a few others I've had good service with.  Progressive and Nationwide were both very good to work with.  Progressive even just took my word when I told them the damage to the front of my car was because someone backed into me and not because I rammed into something.  It really looked like it could have happened either way, but they chose to record it as a claim where I was not at fault.  Sweet!

[Lady Marmalade]

We switched our internet from Time Warner to AT&T U-Verse not that long ago.  AT&T has been wonderful.  Hook-up was really easy, and when we moved and had issues, they helped me out a lot.   We ended up without internet for a period of three weeks because we had a lapse in time between moving out and in, and they gave me a credit for those weeks we weren't using the service.

 

We also switched our cable to DirecTV.  Wow, service with them has been wonderful. 

 

The only thing that I have an issue with is that we signed up for U-Verse as part of a "package" with DirecTV, and ever since then, AT&T keeps asking us if we want to switch our cable to U-verse as well.  I get at least one e-mail a week asking me to switch, and several pieces of junk mail. 

 

But the actual customer service with both places has been great.

[RoughCollie]

You are not a magnet.  The cable and satellite dish companies are having a hissy fit because they are losing customers, and the handwriting on the wall says they will be obsolete before too long.  They could come up with a way to offer customers a choice of channels, with a corresponding fee for viewing them, but they don't want to.  They make more money keeping the system in which they charge customers for packages - hundreds of channels they don't want.

 

We have one choice for internet service and telephone (cable) and three choices for tv (cable, Dish, DirecTv).  I canceled DirecTv and substituted Hulu Plus and Netflix for it because I refuse to pay $100+ a month so we can watch tv.

 

Our cable company, which is our only choice for an internet provicer, unless we go to satellite, which would be too much worse.  The company decided to fight the fact that their customers are cancelling cable in favor of internet-based tv (Hulu, Netflix) by raising the prices for internet and putting a cap on how much we can use it.  Internet now costs us $50 a month more!

 

That is extremely poor customer service.  I'm also going to cancel their phone service.  The only thing stopping me is that suddenly instead of getting dropped calls on the cable-based phone (which for 2 years the cable company has not fixed until now, out of the blue), I'm getting dropped calls on my cell phone. 

 

When I cancel the phone, I expect the cable company to raise the price of my internet service again.  When they do, I am going to cancel the internet.  I have other internet choices -- I can go to town and use the computers at the office, or I can go to the library.  The kids can do that, plus use the internet service at their college campus.

[PrincessMommy]

After I hung up with Dish I called DirectTV.  We'll see how that goes.  Some local friends have said they've had good service with minimal outages, even in storms,  so I'm (naively) optimistic.

 

We've had DirecTV for a good 12-15years.  We love it.  (of course it used to be free for us when dh's company and DirecTV were together, but alas)... anyway, Yes, minimal outtages.  It's usually when a big storm is right over us and only lasts the duration of worst part of the storm (10-20min??).  I don't have to call someone, it just comes back up once the storm has passed.   My one piece of advice is to put the dish where you can reach it with a broom during snow storms.  Snow accumulation on the dish will knock out service.  At our old house we had it on the ground in the back yard- it was very convenient.  New house it's up on the roof.  There's was no other place for it.  Last winter (our first here) was mild, so we lucked out.

 

I'm sorry you're had such a bad time with the Dish people.  I can't believe they just turned off your service without your asking... Hopefully, they won't still bill you for it!

[Ravin]

We just don't do satellite or cable any more. We get plenty of programming between our antenna and streaming from Amazon prime, Netflix, and Hulu plus. We also don't do a landline, we all have cells. We did switch from Centurylink DSL to Cox broadband for internet at one point to save money. We would ideally have fiber optic DSL, but they randomly refuse to install it in our neighborhood, though they have it in the neighborhood across the road.

 

It would help if there was more competition. Out here the phone/dsl companies carve up and do not share territory.

[KatieJ]

I have Comcast cable, very very basic cable. No issues.

 

We have had At & T internet for a decade. Decided to get a higher speed last year. Oh boy. The people who sell the service over thephone do notthing but sell it. They will sign you up for whatever it takes to get a sale. it took me months and months to get the ongoing complications solved and the bill figured out. I could write a book. We had to switch to digital phone service (which the woman refused to admit was actually digital) had to pay for the tower on a monthly basis which they said I would not have to do, was charged for installation when I signed up for self install, and on and on it went. It was causing me physical symptoms it was so frustrating.

 

A year later and very recently, my son, who is also my neighbor, went thru exactly the same thing.

 

If there was someone to complain to who could actually fix this, I would.

[Halftime Hope]

I have the same issues with AT & T.   Getting something fixed on an account generally takes *months.*  I'm still trying to get a change sorted out that we made in October, but I think (hope) that it will finally get settled this coming biling cycle.  God's honest truth: one time I was on hold for 93 minutes. 

 

Over the past four years, we have found the fixing something with them on the phone (with a customer service agent) rarely takes less than 30 minutes, fixing a DSL outage problem nearly always took more than an hour on the phone with the third level of tech support, and they Would.Not.Go. directly to Tier Three, even though Tier One and Tier Two could not reset the software that created the outage.   We finally switched to Time Warner and it has been flawless.

 

Any time I have to fix or change something on the mobile account, I go in to the store.  It is almost always quicker that way, even though I have no less than 20 minutes just to get to and from the store.  If I felt we had a better choice, we would take it in a heartbeat. 

 

[Wildcat]

I have hated dealing with cable companies for at least 20 years and things are only getting worse.

 

We have one, count it, ONE option for cable in my city of almost 40K people. If we jump ship, it's to dish. I'm about to cancel my cable because we don't watch it, but because we are 'bundled', it's almost cheaper to keep it as the cost of phone & internet will go up. It's on my list of things to do once ds leaves for university in two weeks. 

 

Three bad service things stick in my mind with our cable company:

1. The installers came to install our service (phone, internet, TV). At that time, we still had 'the box'. They couldn't get the box to 'ping' and insisted we buy one of their new ones as ours was a generic box. ??? I told them it was one of theirs from six years previous. I got the "sorry little lady, but it isn't because I have worked here since the dinosaurs roamed the Earth and this isn't one of our boxes" dealy. I walked six feet to the file cabinet and pulled out the work order from six years previous with the giant XXX Cable Co logo on it and the matching serial numbers. I have never seen a chauvanist get so quiet so quickly. Magically, the box 'pinged' on the next try.

 

2. When we moved here eight years ago, we had them install our cable and they didn't bury the line. Apparently, one guy lays the cable and sets things up and another 'crew' comes to bury it. Six phone calls and three weeks later, and dh went out and buried it himself by lifting the sod and covering it up.

 

3. Our phone number---- was issued by the company I am with now. Switched to another phone company (in the days before internet, etc, when we were all looking for good long distance deals) and then switched back to the original company when we got everything bundled. Even though the number *originated* from my current company, because I imported it from another company, I have to *pay an import fee each month*. Yep. Makes perfect sense. NOT!

 

OP, 'they' say that misery loves company. Are you feeling any better from reading all of our stories? :grouphug:

 

BTW, I *heart* Publix and their sevice!!!

 

Kohl's is another business whose service has me coming back.

[Cinder]

Yeah we hate Comcast too. I will agree that we've always had great service with USAA and at Publix. My local Kroger is decent as well though I've had less than stellar experiences at other Krogers. Great service at Chick-fil-A too.

 

ETA: We don't have cable, just internet and phone through comcast.

[Parrothead]

I always had issues with Verizon. And there is no way ever, as in I'd go with out TV for the rest of my life before, using directtv again. Oh, and FedEx is horrible.

 

For best customer service I love USAA. And the rep at Belk was extremely helpful last week when I called.

[AlmiraGulch]

I have hated dealing with cable companies for at least 20 years and things are only getting worse.

 

We have one, count it, ONE option for cable in my city of almost 40K people. If we jump ship, it's to dish. I'm about to cancel my cable because we don't watch it, but because we are 'bundled', it's almost cheaper to keep it as the cost of phone & internet will go up. It's on my list of things to do once ds leaves for university in two weeks. 

 

Three bad service things stick in my mind with our cable company:

1. The installers came to install our service (phone, internet, TV). At that time, we still had 'the box'. They couldn't get the box to 'ping' and insisted we buy one of their new ones as ours was a generic box. ??? I told them it was one of theirs from six years previous. I got the "sorry little lady, but it isn't because I have worked here since the dinosaurs roamed the Earth and this isn't one of our boxes" dealy. I walked six feet to the file cabinet and pulled out the work order from six years previous with the giant XXX Cable Co logo on it and the matching serial numbers. I have never seen a chauvanist get so quiet so quickly. Magically, the box 'pinged' on the next try.

 

2. When we moved here eight years ago, we had them install our cable and they didn't bury the line. Apparently, one guy lays the cable and sets things up and another 'crew' comes to bury it. Six phone calls and three weeks later, and dh went out and buried it himself by lifting the sod and covering it up.

 

3. Our phone number---- was issued by the company I am with now. Switched to another phone company (in the days before internet, etc, when we were all looking for good long distance deals) and then switched back to the original company when we got everything bundled. Even though the number *originated* from my current company, because I imported it from another company, I have to *pay an import fee each month*. Yep. Makes perfect sense. NOT!

 

OP, 'they' say that misery loves company. Are you feeling any better from reading all of our stories? :grouphug:

 

BTW, I *heart* Publix and their sevice!!!

 

Kohl's is another business whose service has me coming back.

Is it bad that I sort of am?  :p

 

I'm also outraged on everyone else's behalf.  It's really horrible.  I'd just cancel the stupid TV entirely and use Hulu Plus and Netflix but my husband would lose his mind.  The kids wouldn't like it, either, but they don't really get a vote since I'm paying for it all.

[AlmiraGulch]

Yeah we hate Comcast too. I will agree that we've always had great service with USAA and at Publix. My local Kroger is decent as well though I've had less than stellar experiences at other Krogers. Great service at Chick-fil-A too.

 

ETA: We don't have cable, just internet and phone through comcast.

I actually don't really have problems with the cable through Comcast, but the phone and internet constantly drop.  Constantly.  As in, sometimes 12 or more times a day.  It's not just an inconvenience, it affects my work since I work from home and the phone and internet are how I do it. 

 

I only switched the TV service because I hate giving them one more cent of my money.  I'd change the internet, too, if I had an option.  DSL is too slow for my needs.   U-Verse goes everywhere in my town except my neighborhood.  Go figure.   

[AlmiraGulch]

I always had issues with Verizon. And there is no way ever, as in I'd go with out TV for the rest of my life before, using directtv again. Oh, and FedEx is horrible.

 

For best customer service I love USAA. And the rep at Belk was extremely helpful last week when I called.

I'm hoping I don't have your same experience with Direct, since I'm now stuck with them for two years!

 

I've had some issues with FedEx, too.  They just don't show up for deliveries, and when I call they say they attempted to deliver but the item required signature and no one was home.  Ummm.....no.  I work from home, and my desk in my office faces the street.  There is no way that truck could actually come down my street, much less to my actual house, without my knowing.  

[Parrothead]

You may come to despise DirectTV. But I hope not.

The FedEx guy told me last week, There are over 4000 item on that container. You are just going to have to wait." I was thinking , "But you are FedEx. 4000 items should be child's play. Apparently it is for UPS. "

 

I'm still waiting. Oh, and there is another item shipped FedEx on Thursday of last week for 2-day shipping. I'm still waiting for that one to arrive also. One would think 2 days would be Friday and Monday. Apparently not.

[Alessandra]

We are happy with our local cable company for internet. Good tech support when needed (like when I was setting up wi-fi & needed info). No problems.

 

Otherwise we use Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Aereo (for broadcast tv over the internet, also records, for $8/month). We have both Roku and Apple tv -- one time purchases, an idea I love, lol. 

 

I'm sure I've had horrible service somewhere, but I've blocked it from my mind; I will post if I remember.

[elegantlion]

I'll have to say my cable company was pretty good this spring. When dh and I separated I wanted to drop cable and upgrade the cable. Because the bill had been in his name only they let me start an entire new account, didn't charge me for dropping cable in the contract period (it's on his bill :D), and I got the new customer deal on the higher speed Internet. 

 

 

Bad customer service? Well I have a few, but even thinking about them raises my blood pressure. 

[Cinder]

I actually don't really have problems with the cable through Comcast, but the phone and internet constantly drop.  Constantly.  As in, sometimes 12 or more times a day.  It's not just an inconvenience, it affects my work since I work from home and the phone and internet are how I do it.

 

We've actually had pretty good service with Comcast. We have had service drop occasionally but not anywhere near the extent you have. It's the Customer Service that is unbearable.

[Mommy22alyns]

I actually don't really have problems with the cable through Comcast, but the phone and internet constantly drop.  Constantly.  As in, sometimes 12 or more times a day.  It's not just an inconvenience, it affects my work since I work from home and the phone and internet are how I do it. 

 

I only switched the TV service because I hate giving them one more cent of my money.  I'd change the internet, too, if I had an option.  DSL is too slow for my needs.   U-Verse goes everywhere in my town except my neighborhood.  Go figure.   

 

 

I had that problem with the internet dropping constantly a few months ago and it turned out to be our modem/router.  Just a thought.

 

I hear bad things about DirecTV frequently, but we've had it forever and no problems at all.  That's good, because I need DTV specifically for my baseball!

[Tita Gidge]

The rage of the heat of 1000 suns :lol: BT and DT, Sis!

 

I have to agree with those saying USAA is top notch when it comes to customer service.  I opened a claim with them this week, and they were not just helpful but dare I say delightful? My rep was sweet and seemed to enjoy her life or her job enough that it really made our interaction a pleasant one - all things considered.  Not ten minutes after I finished up with her, I spoke with the rep at another insurance agency (not mine) and he was flat, bored, and made no secret that he'd rather be doing just about anything else.

 

I hold elite status on American Airlines, and I fly a lot.  As a whole I have really good service; that is, only a few who are "primarily there for [my] safety" use that as an excuse to slack off on the service.  Even with all the drama going on with its bankruptcy and merger, I spend my money with AA for a reason.  I'm not sure I'll stick around once they become USAir - I've never had good service the times I've flown them.  I'm thinking about reducing my work travel to coincide with the merger.  I don't care as much as customer service if I'm paying rock bottom prices for a ticket, but if I'm flying over 100,000 miles a year then I expect a great product.

 

Customer service is definitely a dying art!

[MomtoCandJ]

We haven't had any issues with Dish, have had them for about 2 years. Verizon mobile broadband sucks but haven't had any issues that hasn't been resolved to satisfaction with our phones. We have had Verizon cell service for 9 years. The broad band for almost 2 years (can't wait until March when we can change to some other Internet service), we are thinking satellite but maybe something new will be run out here by then.

[Greta]

Have any of you had such horrible experiences, or am I just a magnet for it?  And, does anyone have an stories of GREAT service they've experienced lately, or consistently?

 

 

We had horrible experiences with Comcast too.  Terrible, rude customer service reps.  Unreliable products/services.  Dishonest billing practices (they would "sneak" services onto our bill that we had never requested.  I would call and they would remove it.  Two months later it would be back).  Steadily increasing costs even without the fabricated "extras" on the bill.

 

We switched to CenturyLink and are so much happier.  They are always so kind and polite on the phone or online.  The process of switching was a breeze.  And get this:  once, I called for a totally unrelated reason and the rep said there was a new plan that she could switch me to that would give me faster internet at a lower price.  My husband did not believe that it was going to happen, but it did.  Our internet is twice as fast now, and we pay LESS than we used to.  :001_wub:

 

I had called Comcast once to say that it was getting so expensive that we were not going to be able to afford it, and asked if there was a cheaper plan we could switch to.  The rep basically told me to get lost.  When I called CenturyLink I wasn't even calling about the cost or the bill, they just volunteered that.  Wow.  What a contrast!

[Greta]

I'd just cancel the stupid TV entirely and use Hulu Plus and Netflix but my husband would lose his mind.  The kids wouldn't like it, either, but they don't really get a vote since I'm paying for it all.

 

That's what we've done, and I love it.  It always irked me to pay an arm and a leg for programming that was at least 1/3 commercials.  I watch my tv commercial-free now.  And hey, what's better than watching all nine years of a tv show over the course of one month, right?  :lol:

[Alessandra]

I remembered the bad experiences I had blocked out. Electric power -- it is so unreliable that it reminds me of some third world countries. My dc finally took over the calls to the power company, because I was screaming at the robo 'person' at the company. this is what happens:

 

-- you call

-- they tell you that you can pay your bill and do many other things online

-- they get your info

-- they tell you that you can follow all kinds of things at their convenient online site

-- eventually you get to press a number indicating there is a problem

-- the robo voice says that they are unaware of any outages

-- they remind you that they will only fix lines outside the house

-- they give you a fake time when it will be fixed, like 5:23 pm

-- they ask if you want to be called with updates

-- they ask if you want to be called after 9 pm, but don't give any other options

 

This would be barely tolerable if you are calling with a fully charged phone; otherwise it is infuriating.

 

We lose power several times a month WITHOUT storms; sometimes it goes out more than once a day.

 

Btw, we are not in the middle of nowhere; we are in a well-off suburban area.

 

Oh, and one more rather idiotic situation;

 

While my little street was used as a detour last week, a truck came roaring by, ripped my phone line into pieces, and tore the phone box off the house (the house shook). So, I call the phone company and get a robo on the other end. The robo insists on running a line test (which takes several minutes) before telling me that the test was inconclusive. and that the phone company was not responsible for problems with lines inside the house. Finally, I got a HUMAN on the line. It took only a second to explain that my shredded phone line was lying in my street (and the next intersection). Being HUMAN, the rep immediately understood that she had to schedule an appointment. I gave her a 5 out of 5 for service and for being an actual person.

 

 

 

[MollyAnn]

I have had plenty of dealings with cable providers and cell phone companies. The WORST customer service I had was a couple of weeks ago when I tried ordering Facts First online math drill. I was really silly when I ordered it because I thought since it was web based I would have instant access. 24 hours after I ordered and I hadn't gotten my confirmation email with my log in info I called. I was told it could take anywhere from 24 to 48 hours. After 48 hours I called and was told my order hadn't been released for processing and here was a number to call about it. Called the number and I seemed to be really putting someone out by asking for my order to be released for processing. 3 days later I called back and asked where was my access because within 15min of me placing the order 6 days earlier my bank account had been debited. I was transferred 5 times and given 4 different numbers to call to figure out what was going on. Finally I had it and requested a refund. They gave me another number to call. I just called my bank and requested they go after the money. My bank is USAA, I had my money back the next day. LOVE USAA. I have had them for 15years for all our banking, car loans, morgage, and insurance. I never worry about when I call them because I know I will be taken care of.

I got a phone call once from State Farm wanting to tell me about how great they are. All I said was "I have USAA" he said "Have a pleasant evening"

[*lifeoftheparty*]

I have a good friend who says the same about USAA. I'm not eligible to use them, but if I were, I would.

 

And speaking of them, I have a few others I've had good service with. Progressive and Nationwide were both very good to work with. Progressive even just took my word when I told them the damage to the front of my car was because someone backed into me and not because I rammed into something. It really looked like it could have happened either way, but they chose to record it as a claim where I was not at fault. Sweet!

Just so you know, USAA has changed a bit- now ANYONE can use their banking services. You just can't get insurance, or do Deposit at Home.

 

My mom and several of my friends have signed up and have various banking accounts with them now, at my urging ;)

 

We are eligible, so we can (and do) use them for everything. They friggin rock! Anytime some banking or insurance company tries to get me to use them, all I have to say is, "We have USAA."

 

They don't even try to compete- because they can't, and they know it ;)

[Anne in CA]

I feel your pain. I work for a large hotel chain that is known for excellent customer service, and inside our chain our hotel wins awards for exceptional customer service. So you can imagine how I feel when I need service from a company and they treat my business like it isn't important. The worst part is when I start imagining that I tell you that your 17 gluten free guests really should eat gluten, or you don't need a suite even though you are staying a week for your convention, or we are not going to heat the pool today, that guy has the day off??? No one would come back to the hotel if we did that crap, but utilities can pull this stuff.

[RanchGirl]

We've had similar problems with Comcast as well, including the age of the modem they lease us at ridiculous rates.  Husband goes to their office to get a "new" one that turns out to be only a few years old as opposed to 5.  So annoying.  Calling is an absolute waste of time, unless you need instructions on how to do a re-set (unplug for ten seconds).  They are super at explaining how to do that.

[AlmiraGulch]

We've had similar problems with Comcast as well, including the age of the modem they lease us at ridiculous rates.  Husband goes to their office to get a "new" one that turns out to be only a few years old as opposed to 5.  So annoying.  Calling is an absolute waste of time, unless you need instructions on how to do a re-set (unplug for ten seconds).  They are super at explaining how to do that.

Yeah, they replaced my modem with one that is also outdated.  I need a new router.  I've told them 1000 times I need a new router.  They have twice supposedly sent me out a new router/modem combo, but I'm still waiting for something to arrive.  Makes me mad.

[NicAnn]

I just had a terrible experience with Comcast today. I saw this thread earlier, but didnt look a it. After my phone call to Comcast I saw this thread again. I just knew it would be about them.

 

Terrible terrible customer service.

[Cinder]

Yeah, they replaced my modem with one that is also outdated.  I need a new router.  I've told them 1000 times I need a new router.  They have twice supposedly sent me out a new router/modem combo, but I'm still waiting for something to arrive.  Makes me mad.

 

Are you near a comcast store? You might get what you need if you show up in person. According to a friend of ours, depending which store you go to it could be a long wait so get there when they open. But he was nicely surprised to find no one at the store on Sat morn-- it was in a smaller town than the one he'd been to before.

[AlmiraGulch]

Are you near a comcast store? You might get what you need if you show up in person. According to a friend of ours, depending which store you go to it could be a long wait so get there when they open. But he was nicely surprised to find no one at the store on Sat morn-- it was in a smaller town than the one he'd been to before.

I do have one close to me and I've been to it before.  I was going in to change out my digital boxes for HD boxes for my TV.  By the time I got to the front of the line (after about 45 minutes), they only had HD-DVR boxes.  So if I wanted to change them out, I had to get the DVRs and pay for the service.  I did, just because I didn't want to have stood in line for so long for nothing. 

 

I think I'm going to have to go stand in the line again since I'm switching to Direct and will have to turn in my equipment anyway.  Maybe I'll just change out my router then, but I'm not even sure they change routers from that location.  Or, maybe I'll just buy my own stupid router. 

[StephanieZ]

You are going to die when you read my post.

 

I have three recent ravingly complimentary stories about awesome customer service. One is about . . . Comcast. :)

 

Amazon: I can't say enough positive thing about Amazon. When I have a return, whether a bad product or my error, they are a breeze to deal with. The whole process can be measured in seconds. They go beyond their warranties, and go beyond great service. When I wanted to return a book when I ordered duplicates, they just gave me the spare for free and told me not to bother shipping it back. When their secondary seller made an error processing my return, Amazon apologized, admitted the error, and refunded my money, all in under two minutes flat. When I break Kindle after Kindle due to my idiocy, they replace them for free or at a steep discount, even when I crush a three year old Kindle. They ship me hundreds of packages a year, and 99 percent or more of the time, they are here in two days or less. Their streaming is flawless. I love them. Someone should go buy stock because I am pretty sure they will own the world soon.

 

Lenovo: power surge through the Comcast cable line killed my new modem, my old router, and a nine month old Lenovo desktop. I called Lenovo just to see if it was still kosher for me to upgrade to the accidental coverage warranty after the fact of my dead computer. Obviously, the standard warranty doesn't cover power surges that blacken and kill the computer. You know what they did? For free? As a courtesy? Sent free parts and a service tech 120 miles roundtrip to my house to fix it! For free! And sent more parts with a second tech a few days later to finish the job! Each tech was insanely courteous and competent. No charges. Fixed computer. Hello? Have I moved to Heaven?

 

Comcast: We only use the cable Internet, but we have also basic tv service due to some deal when we signed up. We don't have any TVs actually hooked up . Right before the power surge, my modem went bad. It was a rented modem, so I finally ordered my own modem. Anyway, between that bad modem and the subsequent power surge, I had Comcast guys out twice to fix problems. They were on time or early, considerate, helpful, courteous, and competent. When they drove on part of my muddy weedy yard on their way out, they stopped, came to my door to profusely apologize! If I hadn't insisted it was no problem, I am sure they'd have been back with sod, lol. I admit that when I have called them in the past trying to reduce my bill, I was never particularly pleased, lol, but I can't blame them a whole lot for denying my attempts to get new customer deals when I was not a new customer. But, on service for problems, they have been very helpful and timely.

 

Now, we live in WV. Service is generally much better here than in NoVA where I grew up and have lived most of my life. I also found service exceptional in UT when we lived there. I think a lot of service issues boil down to regional and cultural norms. However, Amazon and Lenovo were both national call centers, I am sure, so those companies are doing something awesome on a national level.

[StephanieZ]

Ps. I am in charge of computer purchasing for my home, my mom, and our family business. After a decade of Dell only purchases, my computer guy brother, who is in charge of the multi million dollar tech budget for a mid size company, recommended I try a Lenovo a year or so ago when I was replacing yet another dying Dell. I was willing to try something new because the Dells had been dying faster than I like, and their service hand't impressed me terribly.

 

So I tried that first Lenovo. In the past year, I have bought about eight Lenovos for my family, my mom, and work, including a $3000-4000 server at work. The lady who sent the repair folks to my house didn't know all that. Guess what, though, they just bought some very serious loyalty and goodwill. Hell, I ordered two more Lenovos the week that one got fried, and that didn't even include a replacement for the fried one since they fixed it!

[StephanieZ]

Yeah, they replaced my modem with one that is also outdated. I need a new router. I've told them 1000 times I need a new router. They have twice supposedly sent me out a new router/modem combo, but I'm still waiting for something to arrive. Makes me mad.

You really need to buy your own modem and router. You are wasting money renting them, and then if you own them then you buy just the ones you want!

[TravelingChris]

I am going to complain about my utility company.  It is owned by the city.  It is totally archaic.  I haven't lived in a place where they don't offer level billing.  Here they don't.  So my bill ranges from anywhere in the $300's to the highest has been in the $700's.  It is nuts. In every place I have ever paid electric and gas bills, they have offered level billing so that you only have to settle up once a year.  I wouldn't be surprised if they have a worse than usual delinquency rate on the bills because of the huge unevenness of the bills.  Also, they put everything in one bill so I guess that might make it harder for level billing- trash, water, sewer, electricity and gas, all on one bill.  The city claims it gets lower rates than elsewhere because of TVA.  I haven't found it to be the case.  I pay much more in utilities here than I have in any other place I have ever lived.

[AlmiraGulch]

 

Comcast: We only use the cable Internet, but we have also basic tv service due to some deal when we signed up. We don't have any TVs actually hooked up . Right before the power surge, my modem went bad. It was a rented modem, so I finally ordered my own modem. Anyway, between that bad modem and the subsequent power surge, I had Comcast guys out twice to fix problems. They were on time or early, considerate, helpful, courteous, and competent. When they drove on part of my muddy weedy yard on their way out, they stopped, came to my door to profusely apologize! If I hadn't insisted it was no problem, I am sure they'd have been back with sod, lol. I admit that when I have called them in the past trying to reduce my bill, I was never particularly pleased, lol, but I can't blame them a whole lot for denying my attempts to get new customer deals when I was not a new customer. But, on service for problems, they have been very helpful and timely.

 

I really love hearing this!

 

I will say (begrudgingly) that I usually have good service from the technicians when they come. They wear those things on their shoes, they really try to figure out what's going on, they almost always give me their direct phone numbers, and some have even given me their supervisor's direct number.  There's only so much they can do after a ticket is closed at the end of the day they're here, but it's a nice gesture anyway.  I'm really trying to see some bright side, somewhere.  

 

And I'll add my good service experience from today:  Carmax.  I took my car in for an oil change. They greet you when you drive up, are extremely personable, give you updates while they're doing the repair, and have even today fixed something that was wrong with my car (a small cosmetic issue) without me asking, and at no charge.  

[TeachingTwins]

We called Comcast a couple months ago and said their bill was getting too high, so was there anything they could do for us.  Nope, the special offers were only for new customers.  We just wanted to have them meet us halfway, so we wouldn't have to switch to AT&T.  So, we switched.  Of course, when my husband took all the equipment back to Comcast, then they were more than willing to come very close to AT&T's price.  Sorry, too little, too late. 

 

But, AT&T was even worse.  We spent hours on the phone and called six or seven times trying to get our phone number ported over.  We finally got fed up and cancelled on day 30.  Comcast was more than happy to have us come back and give us a price close to AT&Ts.  So, it would have been so much easier if Comcast would have just given us this deal when we threatened to leave.  Comcast is now the lessor of two evils for us.

 

[LMA]

Totally agree. We dumped the cable tv part and went to a digital house antenna because they wouldn't give us the special everyone else had in the area. 2 years later, they called and gave us a new pricing that was cheaper than what we asked for 2 years ago. Of course, the digital box they sent (and cost us $10 for shipping) failed. I returned it, along with the old rented telephony modem, to the customer center. The second box worked but the channels are not the ones they promised we would get. They promptly put in a charge the same day for the monthly rental of our telephony modem that we own. We had to prove that we had owned the modem even though they had no record of us renting a replacement.  

[OnTheBrink]

I could have written the part of your post about Comcast (I call it Coma$$). I've never tried to get Dish; we just got used to Netflix and Hulu. But it's good to know Dish's customer service is bad; now I won't be tempted to call them up!

 

Sorry for your frustration. I really wish there were more than two options for tv, internet and phones. 

[dm379]

I've been having really bad experiences with Century Link. Unfortunately they're all we can get where I live. It almost never works as it should and is a huge pain to try to get them to fix it. Most of the time I wind up setting my phone up as a hot spot and using the internet like that. It works much better. Luckily we move in 2 months so I won't have to deal with it for long.

 

I've been a huge fan of USAA for the last 13 years. But the last 2 times I've talked to them, I've received horrible service. One guy yelled at me because the POA I had sent him was expired and said he was going to report me for trying to steal information off of dh's account. I guess he never made a mistake in his life. I was at work last week and my boss was talking to them about something and I could hear the guy yelling at her from where I was. Either they're slipping or I've had bad luck.

 

Dh and I have been going to a lot of different campgrounds the last few months and every single one of them we've received wonderful service. I know we're talking about big companies here but I'm always surprised by how friendly and nice campground owners/workers are.

[DawnM]

We have TWC for internet. I hate dealing with them, but they are the ONLY game in town where I live, so we have to suck it up.

 

Their prices keep increasing too. We now pay about $55/mo for just internet.

 

We don't have TV service or phone service as we cancelled both, so we don't have to deal with them on that.