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[Note: I have been engaged for the last two weeks in the most frustrating, yet hilarious, running battle with Comcast to get a simple problem with one of my cable outlets fixed. Early on, I found out the email address of Comcast's Senior VP of Customer Service, a fellow named Rick Germano. Since we're into sharing on this blog, I thought I'd share with you the last couple of emails I've sent out to him (I unfortunately did not save the first two). ]
Wednesday, December 10:
Dear Mr. Germano:
Hi, I’m Rick, and I’m here to frustrate the shit out of you.
Well, almost unbelievably, here I am back yet again having to correspond with you about the very same HD box I wrote to you about on Saturday.
This box mysteriously began working at about 5:00 Monday evening. This was after your very helpful (and I truly mean that) Director in your customer service department named Alicia had sent a technician to my home on Sunday. Unfortunately, he didn’t really appear to have a clue what he was doing, and diagnosed the problem as needing a rewire, even though his sensor showed a very strong signal coming to the box. The rewire was scheduled for Tuesday, but since the box began working on Monday, I called and cancelled that service.
Today I get home, and the box has quit working again. Please bear in mind that this is one of SIX cable boxes I have in my home, and that I also have internet and telephone service via Comcast. Remember this, because these facts are important to rest of this sad and continuing tale of woe and misery.
So I called your customer “service” number again and spent about 20 minutes on the phone with a very nice young lady who I could tell was trying her best to be helpful and honest with me. She tried sending a signal to the box, which naturally did not work. So she was going to schedule a service technician to come to the house again.
But as she was in that process, she noted that there is an outage currently in my area, and said the system will not allow her to schedule a technician to come out. When I asked to speak to her supervisor, he refused to speak to me. When I asked to speak to Alicia, who of course can’t give me her last name, the customer service rep had no idea who I was referring to, which did not surprise me given the manner in which you obviously work to keep your service reps from interacting with anyone who might actually be helpful to your customers. (I actually fear you may have fired Alicia after I sent you the note on Sunday thanking you for putting me in touch with someone who is actually helpful and interested in providing service to your customers.) I requested that she ask her supervisor to let Alicia know of this neverending saga, but I have little faith he will even attempt to do so, given that he couldn’t sum up the common courtesy to speak to me for a few seconds himself.
I do not believe for a moment that the problem with this single box, which has been ongoing for six days now, has a damn thing to do with any outage in my area. Keep in mind that all the myriad other services I receive from Comcast are fully functional. If we had a service outage, I would not be able to send this email to you.
All I’m asking for at this point is for Comcast to schedule a service tech to come to my home. I want to do it now, because I know you will take a minimum of 3-4 days to get someone here, and every day that passes before the trip is scheduled sets the date of arrival back that much further.
I do not believe this to be an unreasonable request. If you believe it is, please let me know so I can begin to pursue other options for service providers.
Thanks.
Today’s letter…
Tuesday, December 16:
Dear Rick:
Can I call you Rick? I’ve corresponded with you so much these last two weeks that I almost feel I know you, one-sided though the information stream has been.
It has now been almost two weeks since the cable box in my living room ceased functioning, and it still doesn’t work. Before catching you up on the latest bit of incompetence-induced hilarity by your “Customer Service” people, let me recap where we’ve already been:
The Comcast Customer Service brain trust.
Thursday, Dec. 4: HD cable box goes out. I go to local Comcast store and trade it out. New box doesn’t work, so I call Comcast “Customer Service” line. Your CS rep tells me he has set an appointment for between 2-5 p.m. the next day. I arrange to take the afternoon off.
Friday, Dec. 5: It’s now 4:30, and no one has arrived, so I call Comcast to confirm appointment. CS rep says I have TWO appointments set up, one for Dec. 5, and one for Dec. 8. He assures me someone will be at my home in just a little while.
Friday, Dec. 5: It’s now 7:30, and no one has arrived. I call Comcast, and the service rep I speak to this time tells me there never was an appointment set up for Dec. 5, and the rep will be there on Monday.
Your appointment’s on er, uh, Friday! Yeah, that’s the ticket!
Saturday, Dec. 6: I find your web page, and fire off my first nasty note to you, complaining mainly about your CS reps’ outright lying to me, costing me half a day’s work in the process.
Saturday, Dec. 6: A very nice, helpful and competent person who identifies herself as a director in your CS department named Alicia calls me. She arranges for a technician to come to my home the next day. I calm down, for now.
Sunday, Dec. 7: Technician arrives at my home, can’t solve the problem. Says we need a line replacement, arranges for a line replacement contractor to come on Tuesday, Dec. 9.
I can’t figure it out – you’re getting a very strong signal here.
Monday, Dec. 8: I get home from work, and the box is suddenly working. I call Comcast to let them know. They cancel line replacement.
Wednesday, Dec. 10: Box stops working again. I call Comcast again, and become frustrated with CS rep, who refuses to schedule a repair appointment due to an “outage” in my area. I ask to speak to her supervisor, who refuses to speak to me. I fire off my second nasty note to you, which are now probably becoming a part of a display in your trophy case dedicated to your staff’s awful customer service accomplishments.
Okay, now on to the latest bit of this neverending Comcast Keystone Cops routine:
Wednesday, Dec. 10: I go online and spend yet another half hour of my time chatting with a CS rep who is actually helpful ( you will no doubt fire her after reading this) and agrees to schedule a repair appointment. Yay!!!!!
Friday, Dec. 13: Service Tech shows up, can’t fix the problem, says he is going to ask for a line replacement. I listen as he calls Comcast and puts in the request. He gets off the phone, tells me I will hear from someone on Saturday letting me know when the appointment will take place.
Saturday, Dec. 14: Big surprise, no one from Comcast calls to confirm appointment. I spend another 20 minutes of my time calling Comcast to find out a line replacement appointment has been scheduled for today, Tuesday, Dec. 16.
Tuesday, Dec. 16: Here’s a real shocker. Comcast guy shows up at our house ON THE APPOINTED DATE AT THE APPOINTED TIME!!! We are definitely making progress, I think, until the guy says that he is NOT a line replacement contractor, but just another Comcast service tech who can’t fix the problem.
Hoooboy, you guys are a riot! Yer killin’ me here!!!
But wait, there’s even more!
Tuesday, Dec. 16 at about 3:00: I get an automated call from Comcast asking me to respond to a Customer “Service” survey. I do that, and at the end, a computer voice says “Gosh, you don’t sound happy with your service call (as if that’s something surprising to you folks, hah-hah), please hold for a customer “Service” representative.” So I wait, and I wait, and I wait, and I wait, and…well, you get the picture. Finally, another computer voice comes on and says “golly, all of our service reps are busy, but your time is oh, so valuable to us, so please leave a short message and a phone number and someone will call you back.” It rings over, and then yet another computer voice comes on and says “Sorry, but you can’t leave a message because the voice mail box of the party you are trying to reach is full.” Click.
That there’s funny, I don’t care who ya are.
I mean, it was just like the icing on the cake.
At this point I must admit you and your customer “service” reps have ceased being a source of frustration to me and have now turned into an endless source of amusement. I write a newspaper column, and I’m planning to turn this whole series of events into a three-part piece. I appreciate all the material you have provided me thus far, and can’t wait to see what sort of hilarity turns up on Thursday.
Yours truly,
====================================================
I hate Comcast almost as much as I hate OU at this point. The day AT&T finally installs its fibre-optic cables in our neighborhood is the day I cancel my service with these sorry bastards.
Hook ‘em!!!
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Nate Heupel commented on the blog post Things To Do While Not Watching OU in the NCAA Tourney 7 minutes ago
Six, magnus. This is now the SIXTH week of my infant-induced involuntary abstinence program. I’ve found that large doses of Woodford Reserve (not cut with water) take the edge off.
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That would certainly explain his often hasty exits.
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HenryJames commented on the blog post Texas finishes sweep of Iowa 8 minutes ago
That would certainly explain his often hasty exits.
jones,
I think Workman speaks Spanish.
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Texas basketball has never been in better shape.
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He and Drogba yes.
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Does Mel Stottlemeyer habla espanol?
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I have A&M making it to the Final Four.
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Trips Right commented on the blog post Bracket Analysis: The Wild West Regional 1 hour, 24 minutes ago
Triston, exactly.
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Sailor Ripley commented on the blog post Beat the Barkers NCAA Tourney Bracket 1 hour, 25 minutes ago
Great video. Did Beilein have a similar look when Evan Turner pulled his heart our of his chest this weekend?
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Kevin Berger commented on the blog post Bracket Analysis: The Wild West Regional 1 hour, 45 minutes ago
I thought I hedged appropriately with the Onuaku stuff. If he’s healthy Cuse rolls. If not, they’re two and done.
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Vasherized commented on the blog post Bracket Analysis: The Wild West Regional 1 hour, 50 minutes ago
I am buying NCAA tourney credit default swaps insuring I cash out Mark Burry style HUGE when Butler knocks off UTEP in the first round.
This looks like a fucking NIT bracket compared to KU’s region.
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jc25 commented on the blog post Bracket Analysis: The Wild West Regional 1 hour, 51 minutes ago
I find it hard to pick against a Cuse team just because it lost its final two games to (1) a pumped up Louisville team on Senior Day in the last game at Freedom Hall and (2) a solid Georgetown squad that made it to the Big East Final and had also lost its prior
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Sailor Ripley commented on the blog post Bracket Analysis: The Wild West Regional 2 hours, 8 minutes ago
OK, Berger. Taking UTEP a long way. If you set my brackets ablaze, I will hunt you down and force you to arm wrestle a Juarezian Mexican midget wrestler.
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HenryJames commented on the blog post Texas finishes sweep of Iowa 2 hours, 9 minutes ago
Good find. That’s where I got it.
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bonecrusher commented on the blog post Texas finishes sweep of Iowa 2 hours, 16 minutes ago
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Vasherized commented on the blog post Texas finishes sweep of Iowa 2 hours, 44 minutes ago
Pitching and defense
You lied to us about this team.
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Vasherized commented on the blog post Texas finishes sweep of Iowa 2 hours, 44 minutes ago
Pitching and defense
You lied to us about this team.
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Kevin Berger wrote a new blog post: Bracket Analysis: The Wild West Regional 2 hours, 44 minutes ago
Go west young man. There’s gold in them there hills, which probably sits well with the 12th seeded UTEP Miners.
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dasmithjones said:
December 16th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Dish Network has been good to me!
Horn Brain said:
December 16th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Wow. I’ve never been in a customer service clusterfuck that actually had a punchline. Usually they just tail off into nothingness when someone finally comes and fixes my problem, then blames me for it.
EyesOfTX said:
December 16th, 2008 at 5:51 pm
Yeah, we had Dish Network when we lived in Arlington several years ago. It was fine. But my wifey works from home now, and needs the fastest internet service available. In Houston, where we now live, that unfortunately means Comcast, at least until AT&T is able to provide its U-Verse service in our neighborhood. They tell me it will be available to us in mid-2010. At that point, we’ll happily make the change. Until then, I’ll just keep corresponding with my good buddy Rick.
Longhorn in Canada said:
December 16th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
You wimps. You don’t know customer “service” until you have had the pleasure of being a Shaw Cable customer in Canada. Twice (yes, twice) at crucial times during the same basketball game, which just happened to be the final game of the NCAAs this last year, they switched to some local channel, because the idiot a**hole at their shop was too stoned to notice. The second time, I didn’t even need to call, as they could hear me yelling from 2 miles away.
Ah, cable. At some point I’m going to have to smuggle in a satellite box. By the way, Shaw keeps sending me letters asking me to switch my phone service to them. I reply that when I no longer care whether or not my phone works, I’ll just cancel my phone entirely, rather than switch to them.
Longhorn in Canada said:
December 16th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
By the way, how do you get the job of Senior VP of “Customer Service” for a freakin’ cable company? Talk about a cushy job. Sounds like it comes with a good salary and a corner office.
Your only responsibility is to make sure no customer ever gets any service.
EyesOfTX said:
December 16th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
Mr. Germano operates on the “fly in the soup” theory where providing customer service is concerned: If one customer gets good service, then everyone else is going to want it, too.
Brian Combs said:
December 16th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
Wow. Just a bit more incompetence and Comcast will qualify for a government bailout!
MoonHorn said:
December 16th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
Eyes, consider yourself lucky that 5 out of your 6 cable boxes work – them’s good odds with Comcast. My first experience with Comcast came when I moved to the Chicago area 3.5 years ago. Since then my Wifey and I have probably spent a good 30-40 hours on the phone with them. I have many stories like yours…none of them are funny. I think I hate them more than OU, but yet I still send them a check each month…what’s wrong with me?! Keep trying to convince myself I don’t need to watch TV ;-)
Gene Claud said:
December 16th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
If it is any solace, and I’m quite sure it is not, I’ve been engaged in a similar pitched battle with Time Warner in Kansas City to get an outlet fixed and outlets added. For your reading enjoyment, here is my latest online chat transcript, unedited except to protect my identity (this was during the Mizzou v. Cal basketball game on espnu):
Tim Randall: Thank you for choosing Time Warner Cable’s Online Chat support, my name is Tim. Please hold while I retrieve your account information.
Tim Randall: Hello!
Jeff: Hello! Two cable boxes, espnu is on downstairs, upstairs it tells me I don’t get that station.
Jeff: And tells me to call customer service at and then has no number.
Tim Randall: I understand that you are not able to receive Espnuu on one cable box
Tim Randall: Am I correct?
Jeff: correct
Tim Randall: Provide me the phone number on your account.
Tim Randall: I will be glad to help you with your concern.
Jeff: 816xxxxxxx
Tim Randall: Please give me the account holders name.
Jeff: xxxxxxxx
Tim Randall: Thank you.
Jeff: You’re welcome.
Tim Randall: I have sent a signal to your cable box. I need you to reset your cable box. Please remove the power cord for 30 seconds before reconnecting it. Once your cable box is restarted, please check to see if you are still having an issue and let me know.
Jeff: On my way.
Tim Randall: Okay.
Tim Randall: Can you give me the serial number of both the boxes.
Jeff: Please tell corporate that if they are going to the go to the trouble of having a please call customer service at message, they should provide a number and not a blank space.
Tim Randall: I would like to apologize for the inconvenience caused due to this.
Tim Randall: Please confirm the serial number of the boxes as follows SABKSQWZH AND SABQZKBGV.
Tim Randall: Let me know when the box completely re boots.
Jeff: It completely rebooted and the station still does not come in. I can’t give you the serial numbers of the boxes because I just smashed them to bits and called directtv.
Levander Williams said:
December 16th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
Gotta love those utilities. Bastions of incompetence and indifference, interspersed with a few shining examples of capability (speaking as someone who used to work for one). DirecTV is calling your name, my man.
You should put that letter chain together and send it to the Texas PUC. Nothing will actually happen, but it might actually make someone over at Comcast put in a few honest hours of work, since they couldn’t be bothered to just replace your HD box.
Unhelpful Librarian Type said:
December 16th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
Or, you could read a book.
bgood2texas said:
December 16th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
He looks like Bob Stoops, except minus the visor and plus a receding hair line.
Rick Germano said:
December 16th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
Actually, our operators are trained–in the unlikely event of an interruption of service–to recommend various classics of world literature.
Many of our viewers have remarked on their delight over “The Scarlet Pimpernell.” I myself reflect fondly on the many joyful hours I’ve spent with “Don Quixote” while my television screen remains pitch black.
BrickHorn said:
December 16th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
I write a newspaper column
Please tell me you weren’t referring to BarkingCarnival.com. If this unfiltered collection of monkey dung qualifies as a “newspaper,” then the terrorists have already won.
And I say that with all due respect, of course.
Beaten Dead Horse said:
December 16th, 2008 at 8:43 pm
Time Warner – Austin
3 DVRs have crashed over the last 3 years. You now what the means? All my taped Longhorn games are lost forever. Can’t be retrieved. Gone. I love me some Time Warner.
Vasherized said:
December 16th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
If this unfiltered collection of monkey dung qualifies as a “newspaper,” then the terrorists have already won.
Monkey dung? More like duckling foie gras. And terrorists have to laugh too every once in a while.
Nobis60 said:
December 16th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
If you haven’t played this card already, the magic words “PUC Complaint” have been known to get some giddyup out of the mouth-breathingest of customer service drones
EyesOfTX said:
December 17th, 2008 at 2:21 am
Brickhorn: no, I was not referring to Barking Carnival. :)
dedfischer said:
December 17th, 2008 at 5:12 am
The head of field techs for Time Warner in Dallas lives across the street from me. Hell, I had free cable until I got DVR. This probably doesn’t sound like a big deal, but I had almost forgot how handy it is to not have cable issues..
NM99 said:
December 17th, 2008 at 7:11 am
Not sure ATT is much better from a service standpoint. My neighbor has uverse. The fiber node box comes up IN MY YARD. At least I assume that it is fiber because it says so on the enclosure, my neighbor has uverse service, and ATT customer “service” has told me that their records show my neighbor has fiber to his house. Yet ATT ensures me that I have copper lines to my house. WTF?
That reminds me. Today is my weekly phone call follow up bitch session with them.
EyesOfTX said:
December 17th, 2008 at 7:17 am
Yes, I’m sure AT&T’s no better in terms of customer service, but they are cheaper and I’m not pissed off at them at the moment.
Dr. Clarkus said:
December 17th, 2008 at 7:18 am
don’t expect at&t to be any better. i had a very similar story trying to get my internet ‘turned on’ with them about 3 months ago. beat. down.
uthookem said:
December 17th, 2008 at 8:20 am
I’ve got Comcast for internet and Dish for TV…works out okay so far (except my DVR skips from time to time, always when an important play happens, never during a timeout). I’ve called once and if I call again I hope to get a new one.
Yippee!
huge said:
December 17th, 2008 at 9:23 am
oohhhhh, Vomcast
worst company in america
i have UVERSE and on its worst day, it destroys Vomcast
DTomlinson said:
December 17th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Eyes,
You don’t get Verizon Fios in your area?
8straight said:
December 17th, 2008 at 10:47 am
Grande is our provider in Austin and we have stayed with them BECAUSE of the service.
EyesOfTX said:
December 17th, 2008 at 10:52 am
Verizon Fios is not available in Houston, because Verizon doesn’t want to compete with AT&T in this market.
Horncasting said:
December 17th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
Another person here having issues with AT&T. In our case, after switching to U-Verse, we’ve been trying for months to get the pricing, consolidated bill and discounts on other AT&T services we were promised when we signed up.
Horncasting said:
December 17th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Please tell me you weren’t referring to BarkingCarnival.com. If this unfiltered collection of monkey dung qualifies as a “newspaper,”
I’m fairly certain barking carnival currently has a higher market cap than any US newspaper.
Blazerhorn said:
December 17th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
They all stink, but then again – the grass always greener…
Dish Network is the only one that I’ve experienced that actually seems to care about service – but then we switched to DirecTV because of NASCAR Hot Pass and NFL Sunday Ticket.
In the midst of our own fun with AT&T because some unidentified fax or computer has called our home phone about 800 times in the last six days. Dealing with the folks at the ACB (Annoyance Call Bureau) has been almost as much fun as Germano and his crew.
Rivals.com Tech Support said:
December 17th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
I have always found Comcasts Customer Service to be exemplary!
Mysterious Package said:
December 17th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
Gracias por llamar a time warner cable.
You Already Know This, But... said:
December 17th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
…have you seen the video some guy posted regarding his Comcast experience? Filmed the Comcast tech asleep on his couch while he was on hold with his own freaking Comcast office. Just fell asleep holding the phone.
Of course, in that time-honored and ubiquitous Nordstrom-esque customer service that the vast majority of American corporations provide, Comcast fired the tech.
Art Vandelay said:
December 18th, 2008 at 8:50 am
Eyes,
I would consider yourself somewhat lucky. Time Warner purchased the market here in Dallas from Comcast. I actually thought Comcast provided better services (faster internet connectivity, better cable packages, better on-demand choices). Time Warner has been awful for me. High Speed Internet that rivals dial-up, and customer service ranging from poor to non-existent.
I called TWC recently with a cable problem. The IVR asked for my phone number and then replied with “we are currently showing no outages in your area…. Press 1 to disconnect, press 2 to…..” WTF? So I was just calling to find out if there was a problem in the area, and now that you have told me there isn’t a problem I no longer need support???
Problem was eventually resolved, but I have the old “one tuner” DVR’s. That means I can’t record one show while watching another. “Sir, you can upgrade to the two tuner DVR’s at $8 per month (per DVR…. I have 3).” Can I copy my old recordings to the new DVR? “ummmm… let me check………. (much time elapses)… No”
Personally I think DVR’s are a step back in terms of function (not features). They aren’t portable. Trade in your box? Recording gone. Move to another cable market? Gone. System crashes? Gone.
I watched a VHS tape recently of the 1995 Texas vs. A&M game. I’ve moved four times and had at least five different cable providers since then. VHS tape still works.
Anyone had success with AT&T U-verse?
EyesOfTX said:
December 18th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Today, I sent this final letter to Mr. Germano:
Dear Rick,
Well, it seems our long and passionate relationship must now come to an end. Thanks to the efforts of —- —–, an extremely helpful and professional young lady who contacted me about 20 hours after I posted my last two missives to you on a blog I write, the issues with my cable service appear to have been corrected.
Within three hours of the time I spoke with Ms. —— this morning, Comcast had three service technicians at my home to evaluate and correct the issue. I was not present, but my wife and son tell me all three men were polite, professional and very efficient in conducting their work.
I knew we couldn’t go on like this forever, Rick; after all, all good things must come to an end. With any luck, I’ll never feel the need to contact you again. I know you will miss hearing from me every bit as much as I will miss writing to you.
I bid you adieu.
Rick Germano said:
December 18th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
You’re welcome, Eyes.
Everybody comes to Rick’s.
Melissa Mendoza said:
December 18th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
Eyes,
I’m glad everything was resolved today. You (and your readers) can contact us anytime with Comcast concerns. We are here if you need us.
Kind Regards,
Melissa Mendoza
Comcast Customer Connect
National Customer Operations
We_Can_Help@cable.comcast.com
Patient Procrastinator said:
December 19th, 2008 at 6:00 am
I am fairly certain that Comcast was founded by Louis XVI and Marie Antionette and has adopted a similar customer service mantra …. let them eat analog. The present uncomfortable silence is the sound of Customer Service vans encircling the nearest service facility.
Turn the page, Fred said:
December 19th, 2008 at 6:30 am
What I’ve seen from ATT U-Verse isn’t impressive. Apparently, their signals are highly compressed and the picture quality suffers from it. What’s the point of spending serious cash on an HDTV only to send a crappy signal into it?
If you don’t believe me, google U-Verse and compression, and you’ll find forums discussing it, comparing screen shots of U-Verse against cable, etc., from folks with more technical expertise than me.
Show Horn said:
February 17th, 2009 at 10:38 pm
I remember the crappy days of cable….I don’t know why any one would put up with that anymore.
DirectTV is a God send….great customer service and I always have a high quality HD picture and sound. Being stress free with your TV is the way to be!