So, what would you do....Comcast Epic Rant

[KenJulio]

Any reference to support is used very loosely!

Sometime on Thursday, my bandwidth was reduced to about 250 kbps and upload 16 kbps. So, I tried their online chat support, got someone who said I need to reset my modem, which made me think, if I reset it, I would lose my connection with you. Well, without me knowing, they sent a signal and I lost my connection.

Now I'm a bit pissed, so I made the mistake of calling their 'support' desk, got a 'person' which they sent another signal or changed a setting to my account so when I access the internet, I'm not being redirected to their activation server. I asked if there are any hardware issues or any changes to the network in this area, she advised no.

I checked if I'm able to get to a site, speedtest.net, I was, so I ran a quick test, so now, my bandwidth is now 300 and 32 kbps. I'm trying to explain to her that my bandwidth issue is not fixed, so keeps repeating, "Sir, I helped you getting to the site, now if you have problems with the site, you would need to contact their support." After a couple of times of restating my issue, I ask for a Level 2 support person, and she states, she is, being the smartass that I am, I STATE, "O, Rly!?"



I immediately ask for a Level 3 or network engineer or supervisor, so she puts me on hold.....holding....holding....click, now hearing the same phone menu options as earlier. So she dumped me back into the queue. I'm steaming now, I get another support person, she listens and starts doing some diagnostics, she sends another signal, now I'm waiting for my modem to reboot again.......back after a couple of minutes, she states that she's seeing a high percentage of packetloss to my modem, she states about 25%, which is really high. Ok, I'm feeling a bit better about this person, calming down. She does some voodoo magic and she asks me to go to a site, so I go to speedtest.net again, and viola, 15 MB/s, upload 256 kbps. I'm scratching my head wondering why couldn't the other person help, but never asked, for all I know theyre in different support centers and apparently the first person didnt document my call. Anyways, so she states, that they need to send a tech out and the first avail day would be late next week, which I scheduled. She also states, to replace the modem, so I considered that and if that works I would cancel the tech appt. At this point, I thanked her and ended the call.

Not over yet.....so 10 mins later while being the inquisitive person I am, I noticed my upload speed is back up to the high 700 kbps. At this point, I start uploading photos then went off to bed.

Today, I woke up and went to the woodlands to take some photos, got back this afternoon, checked my bandwidth, 19MB/s download and .06MB/s. So, I swapped out the modem, called their support again to help me bypass the activation server. As with their SOP(standard operating procedure), they muck around with my account and send a signal to the modem. For some reason, they are seeing intermittent connectivity to me, I then did a simple ping test to www.yahoo.com, watching the packets go out and noticing some delays and then missing packets, 10% packetloss. He states that anything higher than 4% is unacceptable, I'm thinking, we have geniuses working there. I ask him to check my neighbors as I know they have Comcast Internet and are also seeing the same or worse packetloss. I ask this rep, to check with their network engineer or possible change report for this area, he states, we are not authorized to view such information. I stated, this is unacceptable and I need to talk to a network engineer or supervisor. So, I waited on the phone for an another 5 mins before he comes back stating they'll call me back tonight.

I'm waiting..........

Some background about me. I've worked internet support, on the front lines, 2nd level dealing with businesses, and network engineer. Now I work as a process and change manager in IT for the last 8 years. I'm amazed at the disconnect they would have from their NOC(network op center) and their front line support teams. With as many tools for communications and hardware and network monitoring that are available, I'm just appalled.

End rant......well, until a 'supervisor' calls back

[photonewb]

their shoddy "service" is one of the reasons for my switch to Uverse.

[Steelsun]

All cable and phone companies are the same. They are too large to care if they have a small percentage of unhappy or cranky customers, cable companies especially so since they have defacto monopolies in certain areas.

[BSGp8ntball]

As soon as DSL became reasonable in my area I dropped Comcast like a hot rock. Time Warner was always good IMHO. As soon as service was switched to Comcast I had nothing but problems. Each problem ended up taking 1-2 hours of my life talking to endles brain dead drones. Each time you call (and they can see it's your 4th time today) you get the same SOP. Please unplug your modem, wait 30 sec... OH STFU I'm not 8 we've done this 3 time already it's not gonna work can we please move to step 12 already.......
DSL and Direct TV

[dliveleyphotography]

This is the reason we switched to ATT fiber optic as soon as they ran the lines in my neighborhood. Time Warner service went to crap when they switched to comcast.

[chrismg67]

As an AT&T technician and a new Uverse customer I'm glad to read that we (AT&T) are doing something right. Haven't had to use their support services yet. Everything has worked great to this point. I'm sure there are disgruntled AT&T customers too. That seems to the nature of the beast with any company. Some customers just can't be satisfied.

Ken, if you can get Uverse, give it a shot. I've been very happy with both my download and upload speeds. I get about 17 down and 1.5 up.

[VisualOddity]

You need a Time Warner Commercial connection. Too bad we aren't in Houston anymore (we traded Comcast for DFW). I know how all that happens from an inside perspective, and I hate to hear about it, as it REALLY makes me mad. There is no excuse for it, and it should be pursued... :(

[KenJulio]

So, 2 more calls today as I havent received a callback from a supervisor, first called they transferred me to a supervisor, which rang 4 times and then voicemail, left one at 230, waited an hour, called back, no joy as he was out to lunch, and asked for their manager's number or email. No joy there either.

So surfing some more in the support area, they have a feedback form. Sent a submission and got a response inquiring about details. I have a feeling the 2nd reply was autogenerated as it was the one inquiring about details. I replied back with the details I posted here and the calls this afternoon. I also laid out things they NEED to improve on.

Chris - as for Uverse, I would consider it, but my directtv account is significantly discounted, so moving over to Uverse is not an option right now as it doesnt appear it can be purchased seperatly from the DTV package. I could be wrong though. I looked at their 'regular' DSL package, I'd like more bandwidth than 768 up and 1.5 down.

[ndsimm]

Ken,
sent you a PM

I went to UVerse as SOON as they were available in my area because of the crappy service from Comcast (TWC was not nearly that bad)
Mind you, Uverse is not perfect, but they at least try to help the customer

Uverse has been dropping VRAD's all over so you might want to check and see if they are in the area....

[KenJulio]

I'd love to get away from Comcast, sadly this is bad timing, as I'm trying to upload images taken yesterday for an event. I may have to camp out at my father's store to take advantage of their T1 tomorrow. We'll see how it behaves, my upload has been fluctuating throughout the day, now it is normal.

Makes me wonder if theyre preparring to start policing how much bandwidth is used.

EDIT: I'm really waiting for FIOS from Verizon to land in the Metro Houston area.

[Cope]

Originally Posted by chrismg67

As an AT&T technician and a new Uverse customer I'm glad to read that we (AT&T) are doing something right. Haven't had to use their support services yet. Everything has worked great to this point. I'm sure there are disgruntled AT&T customers too. That seems to the nature of the beast with any company. Some customers just can't be satisfied.

Ken, if you can get Uverse, give it a shot. I've been very happy with both my download and upload speeds. I get about 17 down and 1.5 up.

Chris,

I have been with AT&T/SBC for many years. I had my share of issues with DSL, but I found a good friend at ASI who took care of me for several years.

I decided to go with U-Verse, and it as installed Thursday. I have had a few hiccups, but I have been amazed with the speed and good attitude with which they were resolved.

[SpeedRacerSlots]

Two thumbs WAY UP for the switch to UVERSE!!

[Cajungaltx]

My husband is also a technician with U-verse - and I think AT&T is doing a pretty good job from what he is telling me.

They are currently in the middle of a 'oops, we aren't striking yet, but we are maybe 'threatening' to strike'.... fortunately (unfortunately maybe) my husband left today for a 21 day visit with the Texas Army National Guard.... so if they strike, it won't affect us.

Now... if God would see fit to have them drop a Vrad close enough to my home, I'll happily pay Direct TV the $$$ early termination fee to switch everything over to Uverse.

Unfortunately - it hasn't happened yet... I'm still praying.

[Charles Putnam]

Ken

We switched from ComCrap to AT&T a couple of months after they took over from Time Warner. TW sucked in our area, and ComCrap just made things worse. All things considered, we're quite happy with Uverse for TV and internet, and having a real, hardwired phone line.

[c995990]

We got fed up with Comcast and moved over to AT&T DSL since Uverse isn't available in our area at this time. I got the fastest DSL service they have and have been very satisfied.

One note though and I am not sure if the DSL service caused this problem: We have Uniden Phones and when our DSL service was activated, the Uniden Phones stopped receiving calls, although we can make outgoing calls. Solution, buy new non Uniden phone, while it sucks to spend on a new phone, our DSL service has never been a problem.

Just my 2 cents.