Your Comments

A customer from Arlingon, Virginia, wrote in October 2007 about her frustrations with Comcast customer service:

I am appauled and disgusted with the lack of good customer service that Comcast exhibits. I have had the same problem since April 2007 with no real attempt to rectify it. There have been over 4-5 service calls set up and absolutely nothing has been done. I was told I was scheduled for a drop replacement that has yet to be done. I was told Comcast would take my information and then call me, but it has yet to happen. The Virginia CSR supervisor flat out refused to take my call. A CSR hung up on me. What kind of business are they running here? Customers pay every month for a certain level of service and they have fallen short very short of this. Comcast takes advantage of the fact that they have a monopoly of this service in certain areas. Well, it will not be like this for very long since Verizon, other cable companies, and satellite companies are coming up.

Suellen from Greeneville, TN, wrote in September 2007 about her Internet problems with Comcast:

My cable and internet service used to be Adelphia. They sold out to Comcast some time ago. That has been the worst move that could have ever been made. Since Comcast has been here, my television service is horrible. My signal goes out all the time on my television and my internet service goes out a lot also. They can't seem to find what day my bill is due by. This gives them reason almost every month to shut off my internet service. I have asked on the phone and in the local office and was told two different dates. I don't know which one is right. When you call for anything, it takes forever to get to talk to a live person. I have decided to seek another I.S.P and contact DirectTV and go back to a dish for my television and find another way to connect to the internet or not have it at all. I am so fed up with Comcast and their lack of customer service I would rather not have any of their services at all then to have to deal with them anymore.

When we moved here, we did not have cable in our area. I had DirectTV then. Cable came in and we decided to go with them for the local stations. But after dealing with Comcast for almost a year, I would rather go back to DirectTV with no local service than keep giving Comcast. It has cost me $85.00 every month for their bad service.

Joanne of Galesburg, IL, wrote in September 2007 about

I had cable and internet connected to my travel trailer on 9-18-07. On 9-22-07, the cable and internet went out. It was still out that evening so I went out to check the connection and found it to be red hot, and I could not get it disconnected from my trailer. I called out to my boyfreind to come out and get this off the trailer before it starts a fire! He received 2 degree burns to his fingers because it was so tight and very hard to get it unhooked. Finally, and luckily we did get it disconnected.

I called Comcast the next day and they said they would send out a tech on Tuesday. A tech did show up on Tuesday and I told him what had happened, so he went and checked out all the wiring. He decided to just run new cable to the trailer, then came back in and hooked everything back up only to discover that all my equipment was fried, and both my cable outlets were fried, and my powerbooster to my antenna was also fried. I then told him to take all the equipment with him when he left. He wrote down on the slip of paper that they leave with you, that he found that the cable was not grounded to the trailer and it appeared that when they came out to bury the cable that it had been cut.

So another man from Comcast came out to determine if the information was correct and he also determined that when the guys came out on Saturday that they had indeed cut the underground cable not in one place but two places. We are so fortunate that we did not get burned alive in our trailer.

I spent all day Wednesday on the phone to Comcast. I kept getting disconnected (hung up on). Everytime you call back you get a different person who wants you to tell them AGAIN what it is they can do for you, so you have to go over the whole story again. Then they say let me get my supervisor on the phone with you and they put you on hold. Lo and behold you are disconnected again and again. Then you get a new person on the phone who you then have to tell your whole story to again. I just wanted to give them a phone number so they could talk to the guy I took the trailer to so that he could give them en estimate of damages caused to my trailer so it could be submitted to their insurance company. How can they even begin to know what to submit to an insurance company if you can't even get them to know what the estimate is!

All I want is my trailer fixed so I can watch T.V. Oh, yeah, my check for this wonderful service that I cannot use has already been cashed. Lovely, isn't it?

Seth from Boca Raton, Florida, wrote in September 2007 about his frustrations with his local Comcast cable monopoly:

I hate Comcast. Where I live, we cannot choose our cable provider. We used to have Adelphia, which was okay. But the community switched over to Comcast. I go home from school once every week, and there has not been one time since school started August 15th that the on- demand has worked. It is always something else with Comcast. Give us the freedom to NOT choose Comcast!

David in Alpharetta, Georgia, wrote in September 2007 about his problems with Comcast phone servce:

Three months ago I received notification that Comcast was discontinuing their Digital Phone Service and replacing it with their new "Digital Voice" service. I had until October 1st to upgrade, or my phone service would be cut off. After review of their new product offering, I elected to not upgrade due to the high price and services that I did not need / want. On September 17th my phone service was disconnected. I called their service department and was routed to a 3rd party sub-contractor. Five days later with repeated calls to Comcast daily, I am still without phone service. On one of the calls, I was informed that all phone services in the area were switched to the new digital voice service. I've been with the Comcast for over 10 years and am appalled with the way they treat their customers. I am taking the approach that I should talk with my wallet and am now looking at alternative providers.

Sheri in Lawrenceville, GA, wrote in September 2007 about shoddy work performed perhaps by Comcast contractors:

We have had NUMEROUS issues with them since moving into our house a year ago. They had to run a new cable few months ago. Never buried it. Neighbor complained so they came to bury it today. In the process, they CUT THE CABLE, and now they are saying first appt. to come fix it is in 4 days! We have our business office in the house .. no fax, etc. .!

Bonnie in Silver Spring, MD, wrote in September 2007 about her problems with Internet connectivity:

In the last month I have had two Comcast technicians check my internet connection and determine the tap is wired incorrectly. Two times my account was assigned to maintenence to correct the wiring to the tap. The tap is made for sixteen connectors, the tap has more than thirty. The signal is weak to my internet due to the tap being overwhelmed. Comcast is aware of the problem and have even sent pictures of the problem to the supervisor. Still no correction of problem.

Rachel (she did not provide a location) wrote in September

Comcast is awful. I filled out an application for cable, they lost my application, but magically they still had my address in their computer. How does that work? When I filled out my application, we scheduled a date and time for them to come. Of course, they don't show up. So I call and run through the process of getting set up again. I specifically told them to set up my cable at one place and have my bills sent to another. The guy told me he understood. Apparently not, because they went to the wrong place. Therefore I had to call again. We set up another appointment for them to show up. Do you think they came? Of course not, no phone calls, nothing. So I just cancelled any/all services with Comcast. I will never in my life give Comcast my money, and will never recommend Comcast's services to anyone.

Joseph in Valparaiso, Indiana, wrote in September 2007 about his Internet service:

After several 9+ service calls within the last 5 months my patience has run out with the internet connectivity. It keeps going down, and up and down again. Tired of the same story with all the techs that come out. I am actually moving just so I can be in an area that has a different provider.

A customer in Detroit, MI, wrote in August 2007 about her problems with the Collections Department:

I wish to complain about the practices of the Collection Department of Comcast Telecommunication. The representatives worked out a payment schedule for me, stating that I could pay my cable package bill on September 18, 2007. This was about a month ago, and I had made arrangements during this time. I work for the Detroit Public Schools as a 10-month employee, so I do not receive any checks for the months of July and August. I paid for all of July, and paid $50.00 towards August. On 8/21/07, I received a bill for $292.93, with a shut-off notice. During the same day, I called Comcast to ask why did the shut-off notice arrive after payment arrangements were made. One of the Collection Department representatives was rude and very abrupt. I asked if I could speak to the supervisor, and the representative complied. Mr. Smith, the supervisor, albeit polite, told me that I did not pay the cable for July. I explained to him that I had my July bank statement present, it showed the online payment for the month. Mr. Smith began to state that my services would be turned off and made threats that I would have to pay to have my cable, Internet, and telephone reactivated.

I do not appreciate making arrangements and then receiving threats to the contrary. Also, I do not appreciate being lied to, in order to pay a bill. I usually pay my Comcast bill on time, and sometimes I've even paid early. I'm willing to cooperate, but honesty and fairplay needs to be applied. Thank you.

Eric from Martinez, California, wrote in August 2007, about property damage he suffered:

On August 19 Comcast service personnel were in our neighboorhood for a servive request. I have a cable wiring box in my front yard. This is not the service connection. That is in my neighboors yard. Anyway,these people came into my yard and knocked down my front fence and left when they found out that was not what they needed to service.They did not ask for permission to go in my front yard or tell me that they were there.

As a customer of 30 years Comcast owes me some respect. It should call me or contact me about a service issue needed to resolve by being in my yard. If anyone from Comcast enters my yard without telling me ever again I will file a complaint with the FCC. Just because Comcast has a box in my yard doesn't exempt it from private property laws. I want to be treated as if Comcast wants my business.

A customer in Appling, Georgia, wrote in August 2007 about his service quality:

The service that I have received from Comcast is the absolute worst I have ever encountered of any business in my life time. I haven't had phone or fax service for over a week. I have a business that I run from home in which I haven't been able to run Visa transactions, FAX or use my phone. Despite numerous calls to 1-800-COMCAST and operators telling us that someone would be out each and every day this week, no one has come. We have been disconnected several times after being on hold as well. We have been using our cell phones to contact everyone, racking up enormous bills, not to mention revenue loss in transactions, as well as an appalling lack of professionalism we have to endure. Customers cannot even contact us us. We switched to Comcast and had to pay $300 to cancel out our services with BellSouth. Switching has been a terrible mistake and I am going to let everyone know and seek legal action for my losses for my company which used to gross a little over $1M a year. I am contacting the BBB as well as our local News channels and will speak to anyone who will listen.

A customer from Arlington, VA, wrote in August 2007 about billing problems:

Problem Number 1: We switched our telephone service from Verizon to Comcast in mid February, 2007. Comcast sent a technician who had only been working with telephone conversions for one week, and though earnest, had to admit that he could not handle the job. The next day he and his supervisor arrived and after more than two hours had been able to connect only two of our telephones, leaving the other three useless. As well, the supervisor made an aesthetically unattractive installation of one wall mounted phone, ultimately saying that we would need to discard all of our phones and replace them with Uniden cordless models.

That evening we called our electrician for a second opinion, and despite the next day being Saturday, he came over, repaired the damage from Comcast’s workers and had all of our phones working after four hours. The total bill for his services was $317.95 ($300 labor; $17.95 parts and materials). Our initial call to Comcast, requiring more than 45 minutes of waiting and transferring between offices resulted in an agreement to pay the electrician’s bill and to credit us $30 for one month of telephone service for our inconvenience.

Problem Number 2: Unfortunately, Comcast never charged us the reduced fees that were associated with our conversion: from approximately $180 per month to approximately $130 per month. For five months, they overcharged us and when they finally listened to our complaint -- without asking for our preference -- did not credit the overcharges, but extended our two year contract for five months. Ultimately, the $30 and $150 were credited to our account, but six months later the electrician’s bill of $317.95 has not been credited. And after more than half dozen calls and more than three hours on the telephone, we’re now being called by Comcast’s collections department and receiving “Past Due” notices. Heck of a job Comcast!

A customer in Wheaton, IL, wrote in August 2007 about channels:

Hallmark is one of our favorite channels, several shows every week. How could you eliminate in an instant so much good wholesome entertainment? Get rid of some of the trash, not the good stuff.

A customer in Georgia wrote about subcontractors in August 2007:

I feel like Comcast contractors do not care what's in the customer’s interest. They act as if their rules are not the same as those governing Comcast employees. They treat the customers like crap -- bending and breaking the rules as they see fit. I had a contractor tell me that "Comcast can't authorize me to do nothing." They indeed give you guys a bad name!

A Virginia woman wrote in August 2007 about how Comcast had her husband recruit his own replacement:

My husband faithfully worked for Adelphia for 6 years until Comcast came. When Comcast took over, they promised of pay increases, better insurance, and job security amoung other things. The Comcast center my husband worked at recently asked their employees to refer people to apply online, since they needed positions to be filled. What ended up happening was that the supervisor "released" three employees making the most per hour(including my husband), and then hiring three unexperience technicians that each of the employees referred!! My husband worked 7 years for a company that literally had him to find his own replacement. Comcast sure has a funny way of "helping their community and employees."

Jason in Chicago wrote in August 2007 about missed appointments:

I scheduled a cable and wireless internet installation for July 29 from 8:00-12:00. The technician did not arrive during the four hour window but arrived around 12:30, and despite me having confirmed the appointment twice via telephone, I did not get to the phone in time to answer the technician's call while he was in my neighborhood and he did not stop or knock on the door. When talking to customer service I was transferred three times and placed on hold for 30 minutes before being told that because Comcast's policy is to not knock on your door but instead make one phone call while near your house, I would have to reschedule the appointment. I rescheduled the appointment for August 2 from 8:00-12:00. I confirmed the appointment via telephone twice. The technician arrived at 12:35 as I was leaving. Though I was prepared for his telephone call, he did not call me at all, and the only reason I caught him was because I was lucky enough to see him on the street. He did not have the equipment to install wireless internet with him, which necessitated him returning between 4:00 and 7:00. When I spoke to customer service about who within Comcast I could talk to about this incident, I was told the only thing I could do was write a letter. I wrote a letter, and the response I received answered none of my questions about their one call only policy, about why the technician never arrives during the four hour time period, and about what compensation they might offer for me having missed nine hours of work. The response I received informed me to call customer service with this information, even though customer service informed me I needed to write the letter.

William in Fort Lauderdale, FL, wrote in July 2007

It is absolutely ridiculous that Comcast can raise my rates by doubling my monthly fee for internet and tripling my fee for basic cable.

The rep stated over and over again that it was for only one year. I was not questioning that the promotion had expired. I was questioning the increase in my monthly fee. I would have never signed up for your service if I knew that my rates were going to double in a year. When I signed up for your service, I asked the rep how much the bill would be after a year and what I was told at that time was a lie. I was told that it would not go over $35.00 to $40.00. Now I get your monthly bill that shows a monthly fee of $64.64 including taxes. This way of conducting business is ridiculous.

A former employee in Utah wrote in July 2007:

I find it somewhat odd that Comcast is hiring so many people, even in Utah. For two years since Comcast took control of our area, longtime employees (10 years or more) were fired on an ongoing basis. I was fired after thirteen for what I considered to be customer relations. Comcast called it a reason to fire me. Only 2 months after receiving employee of the month. I am now employed by a company that has 2 other former Comcast employees, one of whom was fired because of a discrepancy in his application from 12 years prior (at the time the company was Insight Cablevision). In 2 years, about 20 to 30 employees -- including the manager that was doing the chopping -- were terminated. Comcast has been proudly announcing they are hiring quality employees at $11.50 per hour, which means they could hire two people for the price of one. Company loyalty seems to be a thing of the past.

A woman from Orange, NJ, wrote about privacy and rates in July 2007:

My Comcast bill comes with my ex-husband's name on it. This was not a big problem, but I wanted to have it in my name -- as I have been paying it for more than 23 years (it was originally Suburban Cable) -- and feel that I should have proven my credit worthiness by now. The woman I spoke with started by asking me for my Social Security Number. I questioned this and told her I wouldn't give it to her. She then hung up on me! Why do they need my social security number? In this day of ID theft, surely there is a better way.

Interestinly, I found a statement from 1985. I was paying $8.50 a month. Please don't tell me I have more to choose from now, most of what is available is useless to me. For the $60.26 a month I pay, I should be able to find something to watch that isn't crap. I look to see what is in the "free" on-demand movies... there is a good reason they are "free." And don't think I haven't noticed that the 100's of movies are being recycled to make it look like more! This is why I signed up for NetFlix.

Chris in Lancaster, PA, was upset about service in July 2007:

I am writing to express my disapointment in your service. When we had our triple play package installed, the technichian left without anything working. After 3 days and 7-10 calls later, our internet and phone started working, as did our basic cable, but the on-demand function did not work.

After 5-8 more calls later, we switched our service promotion dropping the phone and upping our cable service. Our on-demand then worked. However, when the first technichian installed our service, he left a wire hanging across our room, because the recepticle closest to the TV was "not hooked up" as he said. We questioned if it was able to be hooked up and he said it was but he wasn't able to do that and that we would have to make an appointment.

So we called to schedule an appointment. The day came and the sceduled technichian never showed up. So we called up AGAIN and this time was hung up on by one of the customer service reps. So finally we explained our situation to another representative and another appointment was set up. This time the technichian shows up, although 45 minutes late. He then explains he cannot "hook up" the recepticle. Instead, we would have to get a special technician who is able to "fish wires" and that we would need a note from our landlord.

So we called up again, furious as to why, when they knew this is what our technichian was coming out to do, they send someone who cannot install it. So we schedule another appointment, and get the note from the landlord. This time the technician does not show up. I call up and the customer service rep tells me the technician was there and that we were not and that he checked and we need to hire a private electrician. Both my fiance and I were there, we waited 4 hours, the technician could not have come because the Comcast hookup is in a LOCKED storage closet. Please explain to me how a Comcast technician has a key to my storage closet.

What happened to the customer is always right? I canceled my service...and since comcast has a monopoly on cable i am now without. I had to leave work early everytime waiting for technichians who rarely show up. I am just disgusted by Comcast's service and will also be writing a letter to the Better Business Bureau.

A woman in Delaware wrote in July 2007 about the stress of working at Comcast:

Almost 20 years working at Comcast. The stress has gone to extremes. I am smoking now, and I live from check to check. No advancement sales quota. When I was hired for repair, I feel like I have no way out. Unfair inhuman contions that doesn't include dirty work environment, constant monitoring. The Company says customer first and yet it is not fulfilled. They want more and more and pay less and less. We need a union in Dover for a decent pension, overtime hours when we work overtime, better vacation, a good pension.

Phyllis in Dallas wrote in July 2007 about the perils of Comcast contractors:

We called Comcast to install cable. The cable installer misjudged installing the cable. My husband saw him falling and came to his rescue. The cable guy's injuries were not that bad, but my husband's knee and right foot were cracked. The problem is now Comcast is stating that he is not their employee, and they are not negligent because he is a subcontractor. Comcast should have some responsibility. My husband lost his job because they sent some of his hospital bills to the small firm he worked for and he is diabetic. That happened 3 years to the month we have a court date Monday to prove that the contractor works for Comcast.

Kyle from Indiana wrote in July 2007:

Comcast is the worst company I have ever had to deal with. The only thing I wanted done was to have cable run into my living room. This has now turned out to be a task that has taken hours of my time on the phone, and three differnt repair men that were unable to do the job. On top of that fact everytime you call you have to start from scratch because nothing is ever recorded.

Lee from Haddonfield, New Jersey, wrote us in July 2007 with the following tip:

http://www.thescottreport.com/scottreport/public_utility_commissions.htm

Use the link above to contact your State Public Utility Commission and FILE A COMPLAINT AGAINST COMCAST! LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD!

A former Nebraska customer wrote us in July 2007:

Comcast service is lousy. The phone and TV are constantly out of service or operating poorly. Comcast offers monetary credit to customers for their inconvenience and loss of service, then conveniently forgets that they owe you a credit. Their customer service representatives are intentionally stupid and their policies are intentionally antagonistic. This way you get frustrated and hang up and they don't have to deal with you or your complaints. It is all a mind game that they play with you to save them money and cost you more money. I dumped Comast today!

A Nashville, Tennessee, customer wrote in July 2007 that we was feeling ripped off. This is the letter he sent Comcast:

To Whom It May Concern:

We moved into our home on 5-2-07, and had our internet/cable connection hooked up on 5-4-07. I paid the installer $137 that day using my credit card, which included the $35 install fee. That $137 payment (confirmation #369135) does not show up on my bill, nor is it mentioned when I call your customer service phone # and go through all the prompts. Where is that payment?

I then got a bill for $114, which says is due "immediately," and also does not reflect the $137 payment I made on the day of the install. On that bill, it shows ANOTHER $35 fee for the install. Again, that was part of the $137 I already paid on the day of the install. Why should I have to pay twice for that, and then also pay the remaining $102? The $137 paid for all of that. Now recently, I receceived a second bill and appears to be billing me for the month of June which seems fine, but does not reflect the $137 I paid on the day of install, either. I just now paid $114 online, and so that will be credited tomorrow.

I logged into the Comcast website and the CS dept. regarding this billing error, and they said they could not help me at all and that I would have to call CS at 244-5900. I've called that # 3 times in the last 5 days, and cannot get through to the Billing Dept. The message says Comcast is completely swamped with calls, and then refers people back to the website. And although I use the option for the Billing Dept., it continues to kick me back out to the main prompts. It refuses to connect me to the Billing Dept.

I hear that Comcast cares It sure doesn't seem that way. I am extremely busy, and to have to stop and take 30 min. to write this letter, in addition to all the other calls trying to reach your Billing Dept., and then ALSO to email you all this info via your website is asinine. What kind of service is that? Your commercials brag about excellent service, but I've not seen it. We just moved down from Iowa and are shocked at how we've been treated here in Nashville. Customer service seems to come last & customers are not appreciated. Please credit my account the $137 and also please remove the additional install fee of $35.

Roslyn in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, wrote in June 2007 about being without service:

I have been denied service by comcast for four months now. Every technician they send out has not fixed the problem. They have been out four (4) times for the same problem and have not fixed it. Your subcontractors on the fifth call did not show and have only given me excuses. I am angry about paying for service that is not there.

Alex from Georgia wrote in June 2007:

I live in an area that has only one cable provider (it is a fairly new area and cable companies have yet to provide service for the area).

Our cable provider used to be Adelphia until Comcast decided to take over. With Adelphia, the only time the cable/ Internet would go out was when they were doing maintenance on the servers and they would usually call customers to let them know of any outages in the area. Since Comcast has decided to take over, we have had many many problems. At first, things were okay, I figured that some of the problems I was having (Internet disconnect, cable going out) was due to the fact that they were moving servers and getting things set up for all of its new customers.

Not too long ago, Comcast changed all of the channels for the cable boxes and TVs without boxes. I was expecting to get new channels... but instead what I got was one new channel and the rest of my favorite channels (ones that I watched the most) are now gone and I have to upgrade just to watch them. They just now finally fixed the Discovery channel... for my TV it only had music, you couldn't hear anyone talking and the volume would go up and down at random. The TV channel switches are not my main problem, they are just extremely annoying and make no sense (Channel 2 Action News on channel 3, Channel 11 News on channel 6). The problem I have the MOST is trouble with the Internet. Comcast has made sure to provide the worst internet service I have ever used. I have never had Internet disconnect at least 4 times/ day. EVERY SINGLE DAY, I have wait while my internet tries to connect itself over and over. I never had any of these problems with Adelphia, but since Comcast took over, I now have barely any internet access. Yes, I did call customer service to see if the servers were down (the first time it happened) and they said my connection was fine... I told them that it wasn't fine at all and he took me through steps to get my connection back... I already knew how to get a connection back because I am an Internet fanatic... but I just wanted to see what this guy was about to tell me. He took me through all of these ridiculous steps including opening my web browser and going to my home page (I had noIinternet...) after they wanted me to open my browser, I was then instructed to shut down my PC for at least 5 minutes with the web browser still open... yes that's right... SHUT DOWN PC WITH WEB BROWSER STILL OPEN, think about it. I thought that with all of the fancy commercials they had, they might be able to afford decent technology, but so far, Comcast has turned out to be a major let down. Everyone I know that has Comcast has the exact same problems.

A Chicago, Illinois, customer wrote us in June 2007:

During the first four months of 2007, we had five service requests for our cable television. The HD channels were constantly freezing up like a satellite dish used to do in the rain or snow. Comcast would come out to fix the problem, and do nothing because "the problem wasn't occurring while they were there." They would say that the signal strength was strong and the wiring was fine, when in reality the wiring to the building or inside the building was junk and they simply did not want to fix it. Upon moving to a new residence, we canceled their crappy service. We are now paying 1/3 the cost of Comcast for better service and the same channels and faster Internet.

In June 2007, Peter questioned whether "On Demand" was actually free:

For the last week, my cable box's On Demand function has not worked. When reaching Comcast, I am informed that there is outage in my area (Colesville). When I then attempted to get credit for this OnDemand outage that I've been experiencing, I am told by the Comcast representatives that they cannot give me credit as this OnDemand is a 'free' service. I fail to see how OnDemand is free since I have to pay a subscription fee to Comcast to get access to it. I believe that I am entitled to a financial credit for not being able to receive this service from Comcast.

Angie in Wilmington, Delaware, wrote us in June 2007 about Comcast over-billing her:

I am fed up with customer service and Comcast service. I am currently on hold for about 20 minutes now, which seems to be the case every time I call in. I am canceling my service next week. I signed up for "autopay" a couple of months back. I was advised it would take 3 months and that I should continue making payments on my own. I did as instructed only to discover that Comcast deducted an amount after I made a payment. It took a week of phone calls to finally have that amount reversed, only to find out that the same thing happened this month. This time 3 payments -- only one that I authorized -- were deducted from my checking account. I have been put on hold, transferred and hung up on. I am not authorizing the payments coming out of my checking account and plan on filing any complaints that I can against the company.

Ellen in Gainesville, Virginia, complained in June 2007 about unauthorized VOC charges:

I have over $300.00 worth of unauthorized x-rated and non-xrated Pay-per-view movie charges and Video On demand charges. The history on my cable box shows zero PPV history yet Comcast continues to insist that it is coming from my house. While they are reporting increases in earnings and 181 million in ppv charges I have charges on my bill that are not mine and it may have been going on since 2002. The excessive charges showed up in April. I have been dealing with this issue since April and I am unable to get full resolution. G-rating and no ppv is set on my boxes yet charges keep showing up. My bill is $834.00 yet charges are still be charged. We have password protected and disabled PPV on the modem.

A Frederick, Maryland, customer sent us in May 2007 this letter he had written to Comcast:

Comcast, I have already tried your 800 number, and this is an EMERGENCY! I was on hold for over 20 minutes and no one helped me. What type of service is this? Something really awful happened.

One of your employees [or contractors] in MD named _____ (name unclear on invoice and he had no card to offer) was our cable guy. VALUABLE PROPERTY was stolen from my wife. No one seems to care, and all we want is ALL of the valuables that he stole from my wife RETURNED (and he knows what they are). We were and still are just moving in and he took advantage of us and how friendly we were to him. We welcomed him in our home and he STOLE FROM US.

He was three weeks late too. I would have been home otherwise. Cable was three weeks late. I wish I was with my wife the entire time. I got there 45 minutes afterwards. After that day, we have been looking for that VALUABLE and much irriplacable property for the last two weeks. We didn't want to accuse someone without being sure. No one else has been in our house since and the property was there before he came and took it. We have put up our other stuff and there is only one conclusion. _____ STOLE OUR PROPERTY (and even overcharged us for working from 2pm-5pm when he got here at 2:45pm).

Now we call your 800 number. Comcast should be the best. How do you allow your employees to steal? Do we have to have our eyes on them every single minute? We were friendly and talkative and nice to Henry. We only want the valuables he stole and we want a response or report written up. We gave this two weeks because I didn't think he would do this. I am brought up differently and I guess I thought wrong. He is no gentleman. Angry Costumer Who's Been cleverly robbed

Ellen wrote about her Internet problems in May 2007:

How on earth can I get Comcast to repair my high-speed Internet? We have been without it for 5 days. They have sent THREE technicians! Each one says the other does not know what they are talking about.

Daniella from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, thanked us for ComcastWatch in May 2007:

Wow. I saw the ad in today's Jewish Exponent regarding Mr. Goodo and Comcast. I then went online and found this site. It is amazing to me that Comcastwatch exists, I had no idea. My husband worked for Comcast for 3 years as a broadcast engineer for CN8 - the Comcast Network. In Feb 2006, he requested vacation time to accompany me, his then fiance, to South Africa to meet my family. His request was made in writing. He never recieved a response despite frequent requests. Finally the week he was to leave, everyone there, including his boss, wished him a good trip etc. When we returned 10 days later, he was fired for "taking leave without permission". Bullshit - they were looking to fire him (my husband had had issues with Comcast before) and they set him up. He was furious - what a way to return from a pre-wedding vacation. It is comforting to know that people are cognisant of Comcast's bad practices. Just because they are a monopoly should not give them the right to mistreat employees and overcharge consumers. Thank you for this website.

A customer sales agent (location withheld to prevent retaliation) wrote us in April 2007:

I work in the Comcast Inbound Sales department in ______. I've filed a complaint with the FTC regarding Bait & Switch advertising practices. CFR 16 part 238.3 states that a compensation plan that penalizes a salesperson for selling an advertised product is prohibited. Our call center violates this about 75,000 time / year, covering the ________ markets only. Selling Enhanced Cable, our "staple" advertised product (as opposed to non-advertised Digital Plus), results in lowered digital sales percentages, cutting commissions, disqualifying people from bonuses and, possibly, leading to termination.

If you ever called in and asked for pricing on Basic or Enhanced and were told full price, your consumer rights were violated.
If you asked for Triple Play and were "bumped" to Preferred, your consumer rights were violated.
If you were told the "only special currently available" was Triple Play, your consumer rights were violated.

At least that's how I read part 238.

A Eugene, Oregon, customer questioned in April 2007 the ethics of Comcast contractors:

I am wondering how many posts you have received regarding Comcast contractors picking up equipment that Comcast never acknowledges receipt of. This has happened to me twice now. The first time it took more than a year to get them to remove the charge from my bill. This time I had planned to return the equipment and get a receipt, but the tech came when my husband was home alone and he let the tech leave without getting a receipt. I think there must be a market in this equipment and these underpaid contractors are helping themselves.

A Richland, Mississippi, customer wrote in April 2007:

I have had good service with roadrunner high speed Internet until Comcast took over. Needless to say, I am not impressed with the quality of service that was provided, nor the attitude of the reps that I talked to. After talking to 15-20 people, 8 phone calls totaling 5 hours and 14 minutes and 6 service tickets in 2-1/2 weeks, for what Comcast said would be about 15 minutes, my problem was still unresolved. I resolved the problem myself by disconnecting Comcast and installing DSL with my local phone company. I also disconnected Comcast cable TV and had direct TV installed. The service is 5000 times better and I have more TV channels to choose from, than I did with Comcast. It is clear to me that Comcast is just here for the money and not for the service to their customers. Personally I would not recommend Comcast to anyone.

Jeff in Georgia was angry in April 2007 about all the broken appointments:

This is the worst run company I have ever seen!! I guess all of the horror stories I have heard about are true. I got charged 197 dollars for your service that I never could use because it was always broken. All the service appointments were either broken by the technicians or we were told someone else had to fix it. We then moved and had to reschedule 3 different times to get service, I still don't know if the 3rd time is a charm because, of course, they are 1-1/2 hours late right now!

Frank in San Francisco, California, wrote us in April 2007 about moving channels to digital:

We signed on to Comcast and their special offer (3 services, reduced prices, for one year). We are 76 years old and long-time Giant fans. All of a sudden we find that the Fox baseball channel, FSBA+ is no longer available unlesss we sign on for the Digital package. We think this is the kind of thing monopolies are used to doing, which is exactly what Comcast is. So far this year we have missed several games, which is the main reason we signed on for their cable service. We have been unable to contact anyone at their "Customer Support" number. We are on the war path and hope to dump these thieves soon.

Kelly in Baltimore, Maryland, wrote us in April 2007:

My partner and I had trouble with Comcast from day one. The installing technicians were rude and messy, didn't clean up after themselves. After a month without service, we were given a credit to our account, but a month after that, it was billed to us as "past due." After repeated requests for an audit of our account, and broken promises that a supervisor would call us, we gave up and paid the bill. We cancelled our Comcast service, and then they had the audacity to bill us for the next month. I just wish Baltimore City consumers had a choice in cable television providers.

James in Fort Myers, Florida, wrote in April 2007 about being transferred from Time Warner to Comcast:

I have just gone thru the Time Warner switch over in SW Florida - I need not tell you that it was badly planned, excecuted and is having lingering consequences. I am tired of the "Customer Care" people at Comcast. I would love to be able to vent my spleen to someone that might make a difference to the operation in this area.

William in Bethesda, Maryland, wrote in March 2007 that he could not even get Comcast to pick up the phone:

What is going on with Comcast??? I cannot get anyone to answer the phone. It just rings and rings and rings. Their customer service is horrible.

A Derwood, Maryland, customer wrote in March 2007 that he doubted Comcast wanted to fix his problems:

I have been having problems with my service for over 3 years now. I can't get anyone on the phone who really cares, and I am fed up with it. I have been told numerous times that the signal coming to my house is weak, that the line should be run to the opposite side of the house (side closer to the outside box). Despite this, they will not do it. Three times now I've been told my new line will be run, and all 3 times the same level technician comes out, does the EXACT same thing every time, and leaves without helping the situation. Show me where Comcast really values their customers.

When he wrote us in March 2007, James in West Park, Florida, was angry with the runaround:

This is ridiculous, I called on Fri 9 March 2007 to have someone come out and fix an ongoing problem with my cable. These problems have existed since I have had service: channels are grainy internet is intermittent. Almost all techs who have showed up -- if they show up at all -- show up late and say they will be back to take the cable that has been buried and place it on the house and that the cable that is burried is for indoor use only.

This is an ongoing problem and the customer serviceis awful. Today, 12 march 2007, a tech was to have been here between 0800-1100 but he never showed. I called and was told the time had to be moved to 1100-1400. I have a life and it doesn't revolve around when Comcast can get here. I am missing work and you are not paying for me to miss work. I want my problems with this service fixed. No one at Comcast really even cares.

A senior citizen from Norcross, Georgia, commented in March 2007 about the forced migration from analog to digital:

Since Comcast purchased our old cable system in 2003, they have increased our monthly rates by 25%. This year they increased them by 5% and took away C-Span 2 and a local weather channel. They put these on digital which costs us $21.00 a month more. We are seniors living on a fixed income, and when you contact Comcast all you get is the run around. No one can give me a reason for dropping the 2 channels from standard cable for which we now pay $53.29 per month.

Jason from Nashville, Tennessee, wrote us in March 2007 to direct us to two online Comcast stories:

http://consumerist.com/consumer/comcast/comcast-tech-bullies-customer-for-cash-breaks-his-hard-drive-drills-huge-holes-in-walls-and-baseboards-242318.php
http://www.comcastfixmyproblem.com/ (start at the end of the entry and read to the beginning)

A Sunrise, Florida, customer complained in March 2007 about the unilateral changes in analog service:

I want to keep my regular cable and not go digital. Comcast is taking more and more channels away without warning. They just took two more channels away. Instead of forcing me to go digital, they are forcing me to go satellite.

A Lanham, Maryland, customer wrote in March 2007 about billing problems:

I have had Comcast service for a little less than a year. On January 17, Comcast came to investigate a problem I was having with my channels jumping from station to station eradically. The technician replaced my HDTV cable box. When I received my bill the end of the month, I was charged for adult movies starting on January 19 and presently continuing being charged for movies I did not order.

I explained to Comcast if they looked back on my account prior to January, they would see that I have never ordered any movies let known any adult movies. They claimed the it was coming from the cable box that I had replaced on 01-19-07. I have called numerous times regarding this matter. Someone has found a way to tap into my service and order movies, it is not coming from my household. We are a Christian household and most of the time we are watching TBN and other non adult movies. I have been very upset regarding the enormous bills I have received from Comcast and I am contacting "7 on Your Side" and seeking legal advise as to what can be done since no one at Comcast seems to want to help solve this problem.

A customer in Stockton, California, wrote in February 2007:

I would like to advise you how Comcast in Stockton is doing. It's not doing, is the problem.

I have had several problems with the service that no one seems to want to fix. When I signed up for Comcast high-speed internet the girl who helped me told me that it would be $19.95 amonth. When I finally got the bill (we had not been receiving the bill, for some unexplained reason), I discovered they have been charging me $29.95 a month. When I called to discuss this problem, it seemed as if no one wanted to help me with this problem. When I asked for a supervisor, they stated that there was no supervisor and that they would be more than happy to take my name and number and have a supervisor call me back. I refused and told them I wanted to speak to someone when I call. It took them 45 minutes to get someone on the line to help me. Then the person told me that they were just there to make sure that the service worked, not to keep their customer base. Customers are a dime a dozen.

A physically disabled customer in Indiana gave the following account in February 2007:

I have been trying for 2 months to get problems resolved related to installation around the 1st of January. This is what I have faced:

terrible attitudes from the three installers that came out;
splitting the skirting on my trailor;
taking panels out I asked not to be removed;
tracking mud on my light colored carpet;
tearing holes in my belly insulation;
jerking cable so hard from underneath that was still attached to the DirecTV box that I was going to send back & pulling it off my TV;
unhooking everything from DirecTV box and just throwing it back behind my dresser;
leaving my room all torn apart with furniture all scooted out.

I am crippled and had to try to arrange everything back after they had left. This was not easy from a wheelchair. Supervisors have not called back. Time after time, they promise to call and resolve the matter, but they don't. Do you call this service?

Mia in Chicago wrote us in February 2007 about her unpleasant experiences with Comcast:

This has been the most unpleasant experience I've ever had!!!!! I have been trying to order Comcast for over a month now, after the MPU was suppose to come out and fix the wiring, I was then asked make another appointment to have the service installed again. Patiently I waited and then called back.

The person told me I already had the service. Humm, funny, cause no one ever came into my apartment to install anything. They told me 2 boxes were installed and I had already have almost $150.00 worth of pay-per-view movies ordered. They said they received lots of calls from some one claiming to be my boyfriend(i'm single) and had been ordering movies, I guess, every day, all day!!!

Now, I have to make ANOTHER APPOINTMENT just to have someone come out to verify that I don't have boxes in my apt. I asked the supervisor's 'supervisor' if they know what their techs were doing. And why do I have to make an appointment for that? Why can't they just track their tech who installed the boxes 'somewhere' and find out that way? They said it's procedure.

I was actually cancelling my AT&T service to get with this company! AT&T doesn't look so bad after all! This is so unbelievable I can't even think straight!!

Tom from Silver Spring, Maryland, wrote this email to the Montgomery County Council in February 2007:

Dear Council Members,

I am writing this email out of pure frustration and increasing anger about the service, or more accurately, the lack of service or caring of Comcast as a corporation and a so called provider of services to the residents of Montgomery County.

Last year I had an issue with Comcast that I wrote to you about. We were experiencing problems with the service line to our home. When Comcast sent someone out, they confirmed that the problem was with the line and they would send someone out to fix it. When that service technician left, he left our service disconnected completely. It took us 5 days of continued calling and an email to you at the council to get our service reconnected. This was a very frustrating time for us, but even since then the line was NEVER improved, so the signal has always been poor.

Most recently, I would guess I was taken in by all their wonderful commercials about Digital cable, high speed internet and now their offering of broadband telephone service. So I contracted with Comcast to cut our telephone service over, upgrade us to digital cable and provide the high speed internet service. Their so called Triple Play. This installation took place on January 25, 2007. The installation technician told us that the line signal was weak, so he ran all new cable from the telephone pole across the street into our house and all new cable throughout the house. He then installed 3 digital cable tv boxes, the modem for the telephone and internet service and got everything working. 2 hours after he left, we started having problems. It started with the digital tv service and then the telephone went out and the internet service went out.

To keep this email as brief as possible, we have placed 9 trouble calls since then (about 2 weeks). Every time someone came out they were incapable of correcting the problem. After many calls and many visits, we were finally told that the signal is now too strong and service was scheduled. We were told that this would happen this past Thursday, February 8, 2007. Needless to state, this did not happen. The telephone and internet service has been out completely now for third day in a row. We called Thursday and the representative on the telephone told us she would take care of it. When we called that evening, we were told there was no scheduled line service and they would look into it. When I called last night, I was told that there had been line service scheduled for that Thursday, but the Network Operations Manager had cancelled it and had not rescheduled it.

Why do I feel like I am getting the run around? What is wrong with this company? Who can hold this company accountable? Are they completely incompetent? Why are they allowed to continue to operate in Montgomery County? I am an angry resident and an angry tax payer and I DEMAND that you, as elected officials of this county, DO SOMETHING ABOUT COMCAST!!!! NOW!!!

A Comcast customer from Olathe, Kansas, wrote about his billing frustrations in February 2007:

Last month my bill more than doubled. It was $120 for TV, Internet, and phone, but they started billing me $270. I called and told them to get bent, that the service wasn't worth the $120 I was paying and it sure as hell wasn't worth $270. He claimed that was what the service was "worth" and that I had been getting a promotion price for the last 18 months.

After two days of calls to management, the guy said he'd re-issue the bill and put us back to the $120 price. He lied. They never re-issued the bill and they withdrew the full $270 bucks. When I called to complain, they claim there was no record of that two day ordeal on my account. No notes. No records. Nothing. To top it off, for the last three weeks the phone and Internet service has been off more than it's been on. The Company keeps blaming it on my configuration or the modem, but it's their lines that are the problem. (I had a tech out here today that confirmed that for me.) Thanks to the illegal monopoly that Comcast has set up with the city I live in (the city gets a kickback to keep other cable co's out) I have zero options and Comcast has zero incentive to do anything to fix their broken system. My next step is to contact the Better Business Bureau and the states attorney General to see if I have some recourse.

Zoe in Philadelphia sounded off in February 2007:

Comcast has offered by far, the WORST service and customer service I have ever experienced. It astounds me that they are in business. I am lied to, told incorrect information, and charged up the tail for nothing. To make one simple change I had to make FIFTEEN calls... and it still wasn't accomplished. The company is a sham. I have several letters written to them about their customer service, with no response. They obviously don't care about their customers, only how to screw them over for more money.

A single mother in Norwich, Connecticut, lamented in February 2007 the forced switch from Adelphia to Comcast:

My cable provider used to be Adelphia and, while they were no prize, Comcast is worse! It's almost impossible to get through to a human being and, once you manage to do so, their customer service is poor.

Today I had to call to make payment arrangements. I'm a single Mom who's having financial problems due to high utility costs, recent auto repairs and a daughter who recently had surgery. The rep. stated [and I am quoting her!] "Sorry, but we don't make arrangements and you are due to be cut off in two days." I asked to speak to a supervisor and was told that would be fine, but that wouldn't change anything. When I told the superviosr that I had done so before with no problems, she had nothing to say.

In February 2007, a Tacoma, Washington, customer did not find Comcast service very helpful:

About 3 weeks I go I started having problems with my connection. After running over a dozen trace routes I found that I was getting anywhere from 20 to 100 % packet loss.

I called the Comcast help center and they sent a tech to look at the problem. The first one sent told me that my cable to my apartment needed to be replaced. Also when I showed him a trace route he said it would get bumped up to the next level.

The following day another tech showed up to look at my Internet, and he said the first tech didn't know what he was doing. I showed him my trace routes, but he didn't really seem concerned. He informed me that my router that connects our two computers was responsible.
At that point I disconnected the router and showed him the same problem. He then someone on his side and was told that there was nothing that could be done.

I received a call later that day from Comcast who said that they were going to bump it higher. After an hour a two I received another call from Comcast and was told there was nothing they could do. The problem was at my end. When I tried to explain that on a trace route it was my 3rd thru 5th hop and always the same IP's she got a bit rude and told me that it was my problem. At that point I suggested I might get better service from Qwest she agreed and I hung up.

I just want to know why when there is proof on hard copy they refuse to admit that it is their problem. I have been a customer of Comcast for 2 years and never have I seen the total disregard that I was shown this last week.

A customer in Sterling, Virginia, wrote in February 2007 about frustrations with Comcast billing:

I am a high-speed internet access customer of Comcast (formerly Adelphia). I have been trying for the past four months to access my account (calling montly to pay the bills when I used to be able to pay online). In addition to this frustration, their "online service only" monthly fee for 6 Mbps downstream and 768 Kbps upstream is increasing by nearly 35%! The worst part of it all is that I have no other options for fast Internet service as they are somehow a monopoly here in Loudon County, VA. This is unAmerican. Who can help?

Christina in Alpharetta, Georgia, despaired in January 2007 of the long hold times waiting for customer service:

I give up....I just give up. I've never, ever been a quitter, but I have to say, after the series of phone calls (more than 40 minutes worth of just HOLD time), that I am just disgusted with the lack of service Comcast provides in the Alpharetta, GA area. To go on, would be futile.

Mike in St. Leonard, MD, wrote in January 2007 that he had had enough with Comcast Internet service:

We have had computer service since computers first became available. Comcast is the most unreliable service we have ever had. When I register my disgust with them, the telephone representative takes it personally..... I guess they get frustrated listening to complaints about their sorry service all day. Right now in my area Comcast is the only high speed provider. As soon as Verizon offers their service I will dump Comcast the very first day.

A customer in Walpole, Massachusetts, wrote in January 2007 about her issues with Comcast phone service:

About 2 weeks ago, I was contacted by comcast asking if I would like to change my phone service to Comcast. I agreed and gave them the info required. I also made a recording authorizing them to chage my service. A few days later, I decided to keep my current phone service. I tried to cancel the installation, but Comcast refused to cancel because the service was in my husband's name and he was the only one authorized to make changes on the account. If this was the case, Comcast should not have allowed me to authorize them to install phone service in my home. I refuse to have my husband contact them because he did not authorize the installation.

Peter in Bayville, New Jersey, wrote in January 2007, about his frustrations with service:

Once again i am being treated by your service group like I do not exist. About two or three weeks ago, my HD set-top box went out, and you replaced it this Friday. The replacement is now out of order, and Ii was told that no one can come out today Saturday. The next appointment is Monday, so for the entire weekend I have no service. I explained that I was treated the same way when I had your cable modem service. I dumped you and went to Verizon DSL. Ever since I dumped you, I get more calls from your group and more attention then I ever did when I was your customer. It amazes me that you treat your non-customers better then your existing customers. Now i will preceed to dump you for the TV service as well. I will look into going to a satellite provider or Verizon's new TV service.

Aaron in Jacksonville, Florida, wrote in January 2007 about billing errors:

Last October, my girlfriend and I moved in together into a nice rental home. Comcast being the only deal in town as far as cable is concerned (and my girlfriend being dissatisfied with satellite), I transferred my service to the new address. My girlfriend cancelled her service but brought the equipment (a digital cable box and cable modem) with her. Upon moving in, Comcast sent technicians out to do... something. My girlfriend was here when the first technician arrived. As he left, he offered to take her cable box back with her. Sure, why not? she thought, and so the Comcast Cable technician took the Comcast Cable box back with him. Here four months later, she is still being charged over $300 for this box. Comcast customer service reps appear sympathetic and offer to "research" the problem, but nobody ever calls back. They are basically accusing my girlfriend of stealing or losing this cable box. She gave it to ONE OF THEIR EMPLOYEES! Their repeated demands for the $331 payment (actually, it's over $400 but she has a $75 credit on her account -- Thanks, Comcast) have caused no end of grief and frustration but we are not sure what recourse we have. The dollar amount is somewhat significant for us independent full-time college students and we can't simply pay it and call it a lesson learned. If there was ANY other option in town for cable -- I'd dump these guys in a HEARTBEAT!

A former Maryland employee wrote in January 2007 about how Comcast is treating its workers:

I was an award winning, highly requested tech in my local system for 6 years. I also am a single father with an autistic daughter who, due to her illness, excersised FMLA to its maximum. I had recently had an increase in behavior problems with my daughter, and combined with the LBO that Comcast was involved in with adelphia, the HR and administration went from compliancy to complete hardball tactics.

I am now discharged, and Comcast is even so bold as to appeal the DLLR findings regarding the unemployment claim... I can't fight this monster! Comcast is effectively running me into the ground. I think it is predominately due to my vociferous protests and comments about a lack of employee representation as it was happening over the last 3 months of 2006 (I was discharged Dec. 2, 2006.) I am totally at the end of my financial rope.

I have managed to be a fantastic tech, raise a special needs child, go through a divorce, and still be an asset to the local cable system where I live, until Comcast came to town... now I am suddenly a liability?

David from Saratoga, California, wrote in January 2007 with a suggestion for poor quality HDTV service:

Comcast is unable to provide high def or digital signals with any reliability. FSN+ and FSN-HD are useless. The picture is all broken up, and there is essentially NO sound, except for an occassional blip. Would suggest that they should be refunding all the advertisers, broadcasters, and subscribers until they can get it fixed.

A customer in Colorado Springs, Colorado, wrote in January 2007 about the difficult transitions from Adelphia to Comcast:

I have been using Adelphia high-speed Internet access and cable for many years with little problems and almost no unwanted email problems. Comcast has acquired Adelphia in the Colorado Springs market, and everything has gone to hell. My cable service is dramatically worse and fuzzy. Internet connection speeds have fallen by 32% and I receive approximately 30-50 Spam emails a day. Contacting Comcast is next to impossible, and when you do make contact they have no idea of how to help you. As much as I hate cable companies and their greed, Adelphia provided the services they agreed to and were able to be contacted if necessary. Comcast is also unwilling to maintain the Adelphia mail servers which requires everyone with an Adelphia email address to move to a Comcast address, but of course in talking to 30+ people not one of them have been able to maintain the email prefix they have used for year due to it already being taken by a current Comcast customer. It appears that it is going to become necessary to drop Comcast altogether and move to satellite TV and DSL. DSL speeds are currently exceeding that of cable in this area!

A customer in Flint, Michigan, wrote in December 2006 about his longing to leave the Comcast monopoly:

My wife and I are in a countdown until AT&T brings its U-verse service to town. When it gets up and running in 2007 locally, goodbye Comcast. We are fed up with the poor programs given us (MYTV-5 for WDIV 4 ). RUDE!! customer service and poor service overall. We pay $118.00 + a month and lose local choices and favourites for junk. We feel that we should get more choice than what we get now and a lot more respect than we have gotten so far. If we had more choice we would stay, but no choice will soom mean no Comcast. U-verse, here we come!

A former customer described in December 2006 what led to a break with Comcast.

I live in Baltimore, MD and Comcast is the worst cable provider we've had in almost 15 years. Not only did we have expanded basic and were paying $51.95, but they began removing channels and putting them only on digital cable. Funny how they can flood my mailbox with promos on their triple play package but nothing is said when channels are being removed. Needless to say, we now have Direct TV and are very satisfied.

A customer from Gig Harbor, WA, wrote December 26, 2006 about long outages after the storms.

I have been without high speed broadband and cable since 12/14/06. Power was restored on 12/15/06. I waited and called Comcast on 12/22/06. They said they would send repair men on 12/23/06 (Saturday) between 12:00 - 17:00. At 5:45 pm, I called them and told Comcast no one arrived. They said they where still coming. It its 12/26/06 and no one has called or informed me of what is going on. In order to keep my business running, I insalled a dial-up connection to the Internet. I am very dissatified with Comcast service. My neighbor has called Comcast six times and has been told various lies also. They even cancelled one of the service calls. I am thinking very seriously about dropping Comcast from my residence due to the lies and poor service.

Angry Comcast digital cable subscribers wrote in December 2006 about their efforts to limit ads on the on-screen program guide:

Please see the following website for more details: http://www.killcomcastads.com .

On the web site, these folks describe themselves as follows: "Simply, we're angered Comcast digital cable subscribers just like you. Why should Comcast make more money and take away functionality in the process? We created this website to provide the latest information about this developing story, and to help organize Comcast cable subscribers around the United States to speak out against this new "feature"."

A customer from Fayetteville, Georgia, described in December 2006 his billing controversy with Comcast:

Comcast has been a terror to deal with. I live in a community that provides cable up to 70 channels. I upgraded and was told that I would only have to pay the difference of my package and what the community pays. LIES. I have yet to be credited the overage I have paid or have my monthly rate reduced. Today I got a call from them saying they are going to disconnect me completely even though they are being paid for the basic service and always have been through the apartment complex. I can't believe a company got this big and have this terrible of service now I can't even get them to call me back.

A North Bethesda customer wrote in December 2006 about her service frustrations:

I had an appointment for installation of Comcast internet and local phone service scheduled for Monday, December 4, 8-11 a.m. At 10:30 a.m. the technician called me and said he would be late; but, would be by at 11:30 a.m. At 12:15 p.m., I called Comcast to see where the installer was. After going through many menu selections, I finally got a real live person. I was on hold for about 10 minutes and then told it would be at least another 45 minutes before he arrived. What am I supposed to do? I waited. He showed about 12:40 p.m. Later that day, my digital cable went out. I called that evening. It could not be fixed over the telephone. I called the next day from work. We scheduled an appointment for Saturday because I cannot take time off work without being on leave without pay. Today, Saturday, December 9, I waited from 8-11 a.m. for the technician. I received no phone call, no nothing. I used my cell phone to call Comcast. It was a maze of selections which did not get me to a real live person. After about 30 minutes, I finally reached a real person and asked about the technician. She said he had checked in that it was completed. I told her that couldn't be correct. So, she said someone would call me in about 20 minutes. I asked what can I do if I don't get the call and have to call back. I wanted to be able to get a live person immediately. It has been 40 minutes and no telephone call.

A Florida subscriber wrote in December 2006 about being double-billed:

I agreed with Comcast's policy of up-front payment to install cable. I paid the tech the day it was installed. My first bill requested the same payment. Now the second bill added other connection fees. This is no way handle a new costumer.

A non-customer from Damascus, Maryland, wrote in December 2006, about how the Company dug up his lawn:

Comcast sent out a crew to mark gas and electric lines on my lawn to lay new cable. Diggers never came for months. After lines had faded, crew came and dug up lawn and laid new cable. Then two days later another crew comes and paints lawn again. They are laying cable from the box outside our house to one down the street. But we don't even have cable we have sattelite. I am so tired of having my lawn painted and dug up and I am not even a cable customer.

A customer in Naples, Florida, wrote in December 2006 about poor quality HDTV service:

I have been attempting to get HDTV hookup for over a month. I have had appointments cancelled by Comcast that I had to make time for and then I was told today after my weekly call (which no one calls me back) that there are no HDTV boxes in and won't be until after the new year!!! I can't beleive this is happening all over the nation. I have asked to have another unit shipped in from another market and they are telling me tough luck. I have my phone, TVs and Internet with Comcast. I do have a choice and have asked for them to come pick up their stuff. I'll go someplace else!!!

A customer in Atlanta, Georgia, wrote in December 2006 about his problems with high speed Internet service:

I am one of many people in the Capitol View Manor neighborhood of Atlanta whose "High Speed Internet" service has been pretty much useless since June 2006. The internet service fails here several times per day, usually for hours. We have had neighborhood meetings about it. Numerous incompetent technicians (most of them outsourced) have turned up (or failed to turn up completely) to various neighbors' houses, and have been unable to resolve the problem. In addition, they have been double-billing me since 6 months or more, and have yet to refund the money. I have spent upwards of 20 hours on the phone with them over the last 4 months, talking to various "supervisors" in outsourced call centers, who have basically admitted that they are powerless to resolve the problem.

A customer wrote in November 2006 about her faulty phone service:

Comcast provided me with telephone service. The line never worked as it was supposed to. There were always other people on the line. The worst part was when I tried to make an emergency call (911) . The line did not work. I then called the police. The line started working after. I was later told by Comcast the line had been disconnected. It seems like Comcast cannot keep track of the services that it is providing to customers. That was two months ago.Up till now, Comcast cannot make an effective arrangement to have this line connected. I go to school on line. I have been left without telephone service for more than a month. I live in an area where there are not too many choices. I have called and e-mailed Comcast about these issues.

Nine months is a long time to wait! A customer in Riverside, New Jersey, wrote in November 2006:

I have called several times to have this issue resolved but to no avail. The wire outside my home was supposed to be rerun/replaced in Feb 06, and still hasn't been replaced as yet. The tech came to my house on Friday Nov 17, 2006 and explained that a squirrel had chewed through the wire and caused it to be filled with water which was why I had interruption on my cable tv service. This was supposed to be replaced the next day, Nov 18. To date it still hasn't been done because I still have interruption on my TV. When I called to explain this to the rep she advised the only thing she could do was send out another tech 3 days later, the eve of Thanksgiving. I have had it!

A customer from Joliet, Illinois, wrote in November 2006 about his scheduling frustrations:

We have been having trouble with the reception on several of our cable channels. We think we are having trouble with our cable box. On Wednesday, Nov. 8, my wife called Comcast and was told they would call back to solve the problem within 2 hours. Comcast never called. On Friday, Nov. 10, we made an appointment to have a Comcast service technician come to our home between 1 and 3 p.m on Saturday, Nov. 11. The tech was to call 30 minutes before coming. At 2:30, I called Comcast. Was told that the tech was at least 2 hours behind. I said 5 pm would be fine. About 45 minutes later, got a call from Comcast with a message that I had an appointment between 1-3 pm on Saturday and was told the tech would be there around 5 pm. Shortly after 5 pm, the tech called and said he wouldn't be able to make it. About 20 minutes after that, Comcast called and I had to reschedule. Now have an appointment for 8-10 am on Wednesday Nov. 15. I wonder if Comcast would be so forgiving if I was late with my payments.

A Rockville, Maryland, resident wrote in October 2006 about Comcast continuing to charge for discontinued service:

My mother had an account with Comcast in Maryland yet we moved to Austin, TX months ago and kept getting charged after stopping our account. Once those finally stopped we received notifications requesting we return our equipment and we did. However, they refuse to acknowledge we did and turned us over to a Debt agency. We have all the proof of sending the equipment and it being received via UPS tracking system yet they still insist we have the equipment. Money is tight for a single parent.

A Washington, D.C. resident wrote in October 2006 about her frustrations in discontinuing Comcast service:

I shut off my COMCaST cable service effective 8/31/2006. I was billed in Sept. of 2006. After 3 weeks I am still trying to obtain a refund. EVERY TIME I call I am told that my service has not been disconnected. I am even given a confirmation/ticket# for this to occur. However, after 3 times the service is still in a disconnected status. I am due a refund of $61.19. I am on a fixed income and do not understand why COMCAST can not provide BETTER customer service. I spoke with a Manager in Philadelphia, whose number is now disconnected. I have just been issued another ticket#. I am seeking an immediate reimbursement as my PATIENCE is no longer.

Linda wrote in October 2006 about being double-billed by Comcast:

I would love to share my horror story with you. Today, as I sit writing this, I am on hold, well into my second hour and FOURTH telephone call to them to get them to return money to my bank account... They double billed it and it caused my account to accrue $130 in overdraft fees. After two weeks, and endless hours of trying to get this mess straightened out, I am back beyond square one with a supervisor who thinks I have no right to be angry or somewhat combative. I am planning to file suit, since in Georgia this kind of withholding is referred to as theft.

Rosa in Homestead, Florida, wrote in October 2006 about a customer service runaround:

I ordered cable service and high speed Internet on 10-06-2006 and Comcast gave me an appointment for 10-11-2006 between 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 PM, but they never came. When I called Comcast to see what happened at 5:20 PM, they told me the appointment was still on and I would receive a phone call soon. At 7:20 pm I called again and they told me they would call me in the next 15 minutes. Since they never called me back, I called back 30-60 minutes later and was told me I would have to reschedule my appointment. I told her that I wanted to speak to a Manager. The Customer Support Specialists said that a Manager would call me in the next 24 hrs. They never did.

On 10/12/06, I called Comcast again and they told that someone was to come to my house 10-13-06 to connect the cable and the following Monday someone would connect the internet. Also, due to the inconvenience, I was told the installation would be free. For all this to happen, I had to call within the hour to confirm the appointment. When I called to the extension 72222 (which was given to me), the person who answered said that there was no one at the extension, and I was not able to confirm the appointment because apparently there was no information that said anything about the appointments.

Today (10/13/06) I called Comcast again, and they said that if they have a cancellation they will come between today and tomorrow. I try to communicate with Comcast in every way possible, but it seems Comcast does not care.

Mike in South Boston, Massachusetts, writes about why he cancelled Comcast service:

In August of 06 and again on October 11, 2006, my wife and I have had the Boston Police at our house to keep Comcast tech ******** off our property and away from our house. He said he had service calls and could put a ladder up against our house and do whatever he wanted. He lied to us and he lied to the police and had to be rousted by the police who had been taken away from real police work. Needless to say, we have cancelled Comcast as have several of our neighbors.

Mark in Temple Hills, Maryland wrote in October 2006 about his frustrations getting Comcast to pay attention to serious repair issues:

Comcast has absolutely the poorest customer service on the east coast! I had a tree fall on my cable line and break it. I called Comcast. They told me it would be at least a week before they could get a technician out to see me. A week went by, and no visit from Comcast. I make another service call. The service rep tells me it will be at least a week before a technician can get out to see me. (Sound familiar) I tell them that I've already been out of service for a week.....and that's the same thing you all told me last time I called! So I immediately made plans to switch, to Direct TV. Called Comcast back to cancel my service. They wanted to know the reason for my cancelling. I told them, p*** poor service. Upon reviewing my account records, the service rep found that the rep I had talked with had incorrectly entered my service call as a "relocate". And they still wanted to know why I was switching.....as if this were my fault!!.......unbelievable!!!

A customer from Oak Lawn, Illinois, wrote in October 2006 about her frustrations with Comcast outages:

This is a copy of my email to the FCC. Please do not put my name on your web site. Feel free to name my community though.

We have been customers of Comcast for several years. While there have been periodic outages, it has never been a problem of this magnitude. Last Monday, October 2, 2006, the greater Chicago area sustained damage from a strong storm. Some areas near us sustained extensive damage; however our portion of Oak Lawn did not. The outage was reported on Monday and it has been followed by several phone calls to Comcast. The calls are preceded by long waits on hold (in excess of 30 minutes). When we followed the automated prompts, we are told Comcast has "declared" an outage and are told the estimated restore time. Several restore times have passed. When we persist in wanting to speak to an individual, more waiting time involved. When we are finally able to speak to a Comcast representative, we're told that they're working on the outage. Yet when asked about the absence of Comcast trucks in our neighborhood, they cannot provide an answer. When asked why the cable came up for about three hours during the night (early Wed morning) and went back down, they cannot provide an answer. We have not been able to get a plausible answer as to why our service has not been restored. We do not have damage in our neighbor, we never lost our electricity and the feed comes from the pole in our back yard.

In addition, we have been without internet service as well. We have two college students who are dependent on the internet for homework. In the interim they have had to find areas with service and do homework elsewhere. We have paid continuing high prices with taxes that can only be described and questionable. They have operated in our area without any competition. They are, in fact, a monopoly. As such, they should be held to a higher standard of service. I await an answer from your. Thank you for your time. [Editor's note: you should ask Comcast for a credit for those days without TV and Internet service. It is not a lot of money, but it makes the Company more accountable to its customers. Keep a log of phone conversations, and report your frustrations to the cable office in your locality.]

Darrel in Atlanta, Georgia, wrote in October 2006 about his frustrations waiting for Comcast:

Why have I been waiting for 3 days for a repairman to show up at my business when I have had a firm appointment? Today it was going to be 8am. It's now 10am and I'm told he is on his way since 8am! Comcash, your service is the worst I have ever been involved with! Maybe you should invest in a new calendar and watch......

Chris in Washington DC wrote in October 2006 about his Comcast service:

I'm a student at Georgetown and about a month ago we called Comcast to set up internet in our house. After the technician came and set it up, we noticed it wasn't working. We called to have a technician sent back to fix the problem. They admitted it was their fault. They told us they'd come between 1 and 4 on the next Sunday. They didn't show up by 4, they didn't show up within the next three hours like the customer service lady said they would. Actually, they never showed. At midnight we complained and customer service said a technician would be at our house the next afternoon between 1 and 4. I had to skip class to be home for the appointment. At 4:15 there was still no technician, so I called and the service rep. informed me that the appointment was never actually made. They offered to come the same time on Friday and I asked to talk to the manager. They informed me he would call within 24 hours. He never did. They also didn't show up on Friday. Furious, I tried and was able to fix the problem with the internet myself after several hours. Next, I had to call Comcast to set up our cable. I called them and told them how they screwed up with our internet, and asked that they make it up to us by doing our cable in a timely fashion. Instead, we were told it would take two weeks for a tech to come set up our cable. I asked to speak to the manager again, but like the last time he never called me. Yesterday, I called to make sure everything was going to go smoothly with setting up the cable today, but was shocked to find out the tech was not bringing the DVR we requested along with our cable. They don't know when they'll be able to get us the DVR, but it means another 3 hours (at least) of waiting. Oh, and as far as my appointment today, the tech was supposed to come between 1 and 4, it's 4:54 right now and no sign of him. If there were another cable company to choose from, I would have switched to them a month ago, but with the monopoly that Comcast has over cable and internet in DC, all I can do is post this complaint.

Sylvia in Arlington, Virginia, wrote in September 2006 that she is getting charged for equipment she returned:

In July 2006 I returned 2 HDTV cables boxes, 1 digital TV cable box w/3 remotes to Comcast Cable on Wilson Blvd in Arlington, VA. I keep getting notices from Comcast telling me I owe them $675, which I do not, for the above equipment. They have turned over my account to a credit collection agency who is threatnening to report my account to the credit bureaus.

Michael in Petaluma, California, wrote in September 2006 that he would like steady cable TV, especially during the World Cup:

I have Comcast cable and Internet service, and it goes on and off frequently. We have had Comcast technicians in and out for months; especially during the World Cup tournament. I'd like to know if city government has any leverage to get this fixed. [Editor's note: You should file a complaint with the local cable office in Petaluma. The phone number should be in the directory for city government.]

Krista in Hammond, Indiana, wrote in September 2006 about her attempts to get Comcast's triple play:

I have never had such awful service in my LIFE !!

I ordered the triple play that for one is advertised as digital but when you call they tell you it's "ENHANCED" and you have to pay $10.00 extra for digital. The phone had major static, they were suppose to hook up internet for 3 computers and only brought out internet for 1. Then the tech told me I had to purchase some wireless something to get internet on the other 2 computers. The cable box that was hooked up in my family room has gone out now we have to watch television in our bedrooms. We have called them 5 times and no one came out. The cable in our kids bedroom did not exist when the tech hooked it up. He stated that we would need boxes in order for them to get cable channels.

Again when I spoke with them on this issue they stated they would send someone out. However, we received 2 additional boxes via UPS. (Some Technician) My husband called to cancel the service. No one ever came out to cancel the service. I called today to cancel the service and was speaking with someone in the Tinley Park, IL office. I was informing her of all the issues we have had. I was told that a supervisor named Adriana would call back. Guess what ... still no call back! I did not sign the work order when they came, I have called over and over again to get someone out here to take care of this. I don't care how much money I can save by using this Pathetic thing they call "service."

I am willing to pay a little more to get quality service.

Mike in Flint, Michigan, wrote in September 2006 that he will leave Comcast for AT&T:

For years I had dish network and had a lot of options for local news. Then I got married and my wife wanted Cmcast. For the last two years she came to realize Comcast is rotten. We both work in Detroit and get our traffic news on WDIV, WJBK, and WXYZ before we leave. Well now Comcast is removing WDIV and programming we like. We pay Comcast a lot of money every month and get programming taken away we love for junk. Thanks to Comcast she has seen the light and next year when AT&T rolls out their programming, we're going to leave Comcast faster than a sprinter on steroids. Comcast took our money and took our favorite channels away.

Tina wrote in September 2006 about Comcast censorship:

Is anyone else out there aware of the fact that Comcast can tell you who you can and can't accept collect calls from? They block collect calls from all correctional facilites without your consent! This is discriminating to those who have friends or family members that are in these facilities.

Comcast should have no say about this! We pay the bill for this call, not Comcast. Comcast says you have to set up a pre-paid account with another company to be able to accept these calls! I do not think this is right because the collect call is billed to the customer. It should be the customer's choice whether or not they accept these calls.

Comcast claims "a few people" have had billing issues with collect calls from these places.. Ok fine.. Then block their phones, not every customer's! I am very irrate over this & am seriously considering cancelling my phone and internet service with Comcast! This is unethical & discriminating what they are doing!!

Misti in Baltimore, Maryland, wrote in September 2006 about service interruptions:

My cable has gone out over 10 times in the month of August. This weekend, it is out for 5 days, until finally on Wednesday a repair guy can come and figure out what is wrong...interestingly enough, the repair man was just here last Tuesday. Everytime I call, I get horrible customer service...no one will listen to me - much less care that I am paying a significant amount of money for terrible customer service and horrible quality. I have searched for different cable providers and nothing is offered in the area I live - except for DISH which doesn't work with my building. Is there any way to prevent this monopoly Comcast has created? I am between a rock and a hard place and ABSOLUTELY no one will listen!

Ryan in Lake County, Illinois, wrote in August 2006 about his problems with customer service:

Great site, glad to see. I have had nothing but problems with comcast. I work as a private military contractor and leave on short notice constantly. Recently I left for a few months and called comcast to have a temporary stop put on my service. I came back only to learn that the stop never went through and now I owe them $300 dollars for TV and internet I never used. They even say they have seen activity, I explained it was probably the DVR recording things. I asked for a supervisor and never recieved a call from them. I am currently looking into legal action. please feel free to post this in your comments section.

Gail in Atlanta, Georgia, wrote abut service interruptions:

Every time Comcast comes to my building to repair someone else's service, mine is interrupted. The last time it was out for an entire week, leaving me without telephone and television service. I have been a customer for less than five months and this is the fourth time this has happened. Why can't they fix it? This last time, I had to use more than 12 hours of cellular time at a rate of 12-cents/minute -- almost the total cost of my bill. This is a shame!

Brenda in Bingham Farms, Michigan, wrote in August 2006 about HD service:

I have had problems with pixeling and frozen pictures on my HD/DVR cable. I have had these problems since February. I have had so many technicians out, wasted so many days, and wasted so much time when supervisors were to come here and didn't. We were supposed to get a new cable box, they sent an older one than ours. Technicians have come up to four hours late. Sometimes the techs don't get here at all. I AM SO TIRED OF THIS RUN-AROUND!! WHERE IS CUSTOMER SERVICE? THERE IS NONE WITH COMCAST!

Phillip in Redwood City, California, wrote in August about HD service:

I've been having terrible, intermittent trouble with my HD cable box. The remote works sporadically. When I change channels, the delay can be as long as 30 or 40 seconds. Then it skates well past by the channel I selected. Then after it seemingly settles down, it won't let me change channels singly. It goes past the next channel and then if I try to come back it skates past the channel I'm seeking again.

I've contacted the BBB, Consumer Action, and the FCC to report this ongoing problem. To make matters worse, I called a Comcast supervisor for the third time seeking relief today and was told to pick up an upgraded HD video recorder cable box at your Foster City, CA office. After I hurried home to pick up my cable box and drove 20 miles out of my way during my Saturday errands from where I was at the time, Milpitas, CA, I was snippily told that they didn't have an upgraded HD recorder cable box! I was angry, frustrated, and I still am.

I want Comcast to directly deliver the cable box I was promised. I want Comcast to inform its supervisors of what stock each regional area has on hand. I explicitly asked the supervisor I spoke with to make sure that the box he told me would solve my problems was indeed available as I didn't want to waste time, gas money, or wear and tear on my car going on a wild goose chase. Well, despite my efforts to head it off, I was the victim of a Comcast wild goose chase today! Will Comcast do the right thing here and provide the cable box I need? Can a replacement cable box be brought to my house in a timely manner? Will Comcast take prompt responsibility for this mess? An apology is not enough...

Your customer service agent at the Foster City office was rude, and snippy toward me and her co-workers in front of other customers. This middle-aged white woman with dyed dark hair made me feel as though I was to blame for this mess and that the company had no responsibility that she was part of.

Another customer wrote in August 2006 about over-charges:

My wife recently discovered that we had been overcharged by Comcast for a year. After 5 separate calls and more than an hour on the phone with different reps, including one who was rude to my wife, we resolved the issue: Comcast credited our account for nearly $400. Then this morning they cut off my service. After a half-hour on the phone getting this resolved, they called me this evening to offer me digital phone service to add to my package. This is truly upsetting and surprises me that they would have the gall to do something like this.

Robin in Jonesboro, Georgia, wrote in August 2006 about a Comcast contractor

Today, a Comcast subcontractor smashed the raised bed we worked like SLAVES to install. Unfortunately another family member began repairs before we could photograph the damage. The subcontractor smashed a large plastic pot, destroying half the plant inside; several other recently-established plantings were destroyed; two bricks and a curbstone were damaged or destroyed. You should also know that previous contractors who knew less about computers than we do were sent to "set up" our new digital service. Instead, they knocked us offline for 48 hours and left us with no way to connect as before. This moron today was there to pick up the supposedly defective modem. Please contact us about making these concerns known directly to Comcast, so that we also might invoice Comcast and/or the subcontractor for the damages he caused.

One customer wrote in August 2006 about the problems with Comcast's triple play:

In February 2006, we called Comcast to request service for internet. We were promised a great promotion. When they came out to our house it appeared that the cable that ran to our house was not useable. Comcast stated that that would have to run a new line but would have to wait until spring when the ground thawed. The new line was buried at the end of March but Comcast never called to schedule a new appointment to come out and install the services that we had requested. We ended up calling Comcast in the end of April to inquire about the services and they were unable to offer us the same promotion that was originally promised. We spent several hours on the phone with our salesperson and their manager trying to get a comparable promotion. Finally in May, they offered us an upgraded service that included cable, internet and telephone, the current promotion that they were running at a cheaper price. We were tired of the run-around and decided to take the deal.

Over the last 2 months, we have had appointments for Comcast to come out and install our services but on more than 1 occasion they never showed up and never called. We missed 3 days of work trying to get the installation completed. We are still unsatisfied and extremely frustrated. Last week, we had no phone because Comcast cancelled our current service with our previous provider and still had not installed their services. We made several calls and sent many emails to Comcast and still do not have complete resolution. Last Thursday and Friday, Comcast sent one of their contract install supervisors out to install our services. It took 2 days and not everything that was promoted by the salesperson has been delivered. We currently do not have all of the cable channels that the salesperson had promised, our internet service is not working correctly and we just received a pamphlet on how to use the phone features. The installation person was not able to show us how to use anything with the phone. After 5+ months of headaches, phone calls, emails, run around and poor customer service, we still do not have everything that was sold to us. We have spent another night on the phone trying to get the promotion that the salesperson promised and they continue to give us the run around and keep blowing smoke. Because of where we live, Comcast is a monopoly (the only provider in our area). If we had other options, we would have went with another provider 4 months ago. We have been very patient but our patience is wearing very thin these days. We thought to inform the public about monopoly companies (Comcast), their poor customer service and how they don't have to deliver what was promised because we have limited options on our service providers.

A woman in Sacramento, California, wrote in July 2006, about over-charges and bank fees:

My husband recently made a payment on our Comcast account and the wrong amount was debited from our account. As a result, our account accrued over draft fees and our livelihood was affected as we depend on each week's pay for daily living such as food and gas. The Comcast rep who handled the payment was was unprofessional and laughed about making the mistake. The manager we spoke to did not seem to take the situation seriously either. The money was never credited back to our checking. We are very unhappy with the way the situation was handled and are considering closing our comcast account.

James in Ann Arbor, Michigan, wrote in July 2006 about over-charges:

Comcast has been over charging me for over one year and this month, I was over charged for more than $100.00. When I contacted Comcast, I was told some one would check my cable line on Tuesday and I would get a credit and some one would call me back Their records showed I had an upgrade of service, but I just have the basic service for only $11.00 per month. When the monthly amount changed last year I called Comast and I was told the basic service was not offered any more and my amount per month would be different. This past Monday, I found out the $11.00 per month basic service is still offered and the price did not change. So for over one year, I still only have the Basic service and was over charged and now the amount that was taken out of my debit checking account was over $100.00. No one called me back and when I wrote to the customer service dept, I told them I would like a refund and the money put back into my checking account. As of this date, I did not receive the money that was taken out of my debit checking account and now, I can not pay my other bills that are due. I can not even buy gas or food. It is sad that a corporation can taken money from my account while I am on vacation and now I can not get the money back.

Joseph in Little Rock, Arkansas, wrote in July 2006 about deceptive advertising:

I have recently had a terrible problem with in-house customer service representatives. I upgraded my service to "triple play" on 6/3/06 from "Preferred Basic" cable @$47.99 and "Unlimited Internet" service @$42.95 plus fees for converter @$4.25 and cableguard @$.95 plus $4.59 tax. When I inquired about upgrading to include the new telephone product, I was told the "bundled" price for 12 months was $99.00 plus the usual fees and taxes. Guess what??? My first bill was for $203.33 for the balance of June (for which I had already paid $103.69) and July, which I expected to be for $99.00 plus fees and tax plus a $29.99 installation/upgrade charge.

I have talked to a customer service rep on two occasions a week apart and was told each time that the charges were "valid." When I asked to speak to a supervisor, I was told they would have to call me back shortly. They never called. Last friday, July 14th, I went to the Comcast office downtown. I was again told the same story by both up-front reps. They called a "supervisor" who insisted the same and did not take time to listen to my explanation as to why the charges were incorrect. IT IS VERY SIMPLE! I am not receiving the Service Bundle Special discount which should reduce my package from $132.93 ($42.95 + $49.99 + $39.99+ fees and taxes) to $99.00 + fees and taxes. Using regular mathematics, addition and subtraction, the discount for each full month should be $33.93. My current bill shows no discount at all for July and a partial discount of $26.95 for June instead of 28/30ths or 29/31sts of $33.93, the discount for a full month of service. The supervisor stated that the reduction should show up in all future statements. My question is this? WHY CAN'T I receive a credit on my current bill as well as all bills for the next 12 months???? Hoping to hear from someone soon.

Tom in Union City, California, wrote in July 2006 about installing a cable modem:

I currently have been a digital cable customer for 3 years with no problems really. Last weekend Comcast had a special at Best Buy offering half price to buy cable modem, receive free self install kit, free installation and a $50 gift card which essentially made the modem free. I agreed and also bought a wireless router which I have contemplated for a while. I asked the rep if installation would include moving my cable outlet to another wall...told "no problem". We scheduled install for thursday PM. The tech shows up with a rental modem and self-install kit which we are being billed for! He knows nothing about any installation....after much wrangling with the office "supervisor" who can do nothing I say just do it and I'll fight later. This costs $99.95 of which the "supervisor" OK's $30 credit. Tech tells me that they are not allowed to move the outlet for liability reasons and are instructed so in training! Tech also adds that we were the 4th or 5th call this has happened in the last 2 days and happens "quite often". He also adds that he knows of many customers who have gone to small claims court and usually win both refunds and punitive damages due to "bait and switch" laws. When I called the sales rep who had sold me the bill of goods, he stated that this is normal and that he would credit my account. When I asked if that would have happened had I not called he would not comment. I intend to take this to court...

Eylem in Rockville, Maryland, wrote in July 2006 about his frustrations with service

I have never had such terrible service in my life. I am being charged for something that does not work 30% of the time but somehow billed for 100%. They never answer their calls, they keep forwarding your call until you get an answering machine. I cannot even get a live agent to cancel my service. I complained to BBB, we will see what the results will be.

Sanjeev in Fort Washington, Maryland, wrote in July 2006 about missed appointments

Worst customer support. Missed 5 (FIVE) appointments and still Comcast is telling me to schedule another services call. Things can't get worse. To those who say Comcast is good, I can vouch for the fact he is fooling you.

Carless from Dallas, Texas, wrote in June 2006 about poor customer service at Comcast

I have been a loyal customer for several years. In the last year, I have been called several times (sometimes a day) to inquire about nonpayment of a bill that had been paid earlier. Each time I tell them I have paid the bill, and they tell me it has gone to my old address. I have been in this apartment for almost a year, and I still get the embassing phone call. Today I got a lady who was very rude and she is not the first one. These calls -- telling me I am going to be shut off -- come sometimes when I am in a meeting or on a project. Again, and again I get these calls, so I decided to cancel my Comcast service, wait about a month, and set up a new account, Yesterday I got a late notice again and I only got Comcast on May 18, 2006. When I asked for the name of the person to whom I was speaking, she got a little ugly and said "Josie, can you remember that?" then she said "Josephine". I then asked Josephine for the complaint department and again she was catty. I try to pay my bill on time and I was paying it in advance, but that really got everyone confused. Now I am confused about Comcast service. I see all of the adds for potential customers, what about the loyal ones that endure the rudeness of some of the customer service resprentatives?

Yvette from Gainesville, Virginia, wrote in June 2006 about her frustrations with Comcast's hidden charges

I am getting ready to switch to another cable provider. Before I moved into my new home, I was promised new services with no installation charges, free HBO and 19.99 internet. Instead, I have 3 install charges and 2 Wall fish charges. I have been trying to fix this since March, and I never get a call back yet I continue to get billed every month. All I hear is "so and so is dealing with a supervisor" and, of course, I am yet to get a straight answer. I call weekly and speak with Julie who I have been speaking with since 4/10/06. I am fed up!!

Laura from Atlanta, Georgia, wrote in May 2006

My service is intermittent and unreliable for nearly a year. Five times I have had technicians scheduled and waited three hours once for a no- show. When they do show up, they can't find anything wrong. It is an area problem several other neighbors are experiencing. Comcast just won't or can't figure out the problem.

A customer in Virginia just wanted to stop service, as she related in May 2006

I moved from my apartment in Arlington, Virgnia,on November 18, 2005. I e-mailed Comcast early in November to advise of the move and to cancel the cable service. I followed up with a phone call about 1 week prior to the move. On Monday, November 14, 2005 I went to the local Comcast office at 2707 Wilson Blvd, Arlington VA 22201 and turned in the cable box and the remote control. They said they would send a final bill. They ended up never stopping the service, and I have now been sent to a collections agency!!! I have e-mailed and called Comcast repeatedly for someone to help me, it even shows on the call log that I called to disconnect the service on November 8, 2005.

Robert from Millwood, Michigan, wrote in May 2006 about rates

I recently spent a week trying to find out what Comcast's rates were for my area. Not only did they not return my emails, or have the competence to answer simple questions, but when I did talk to a person, not an automated voice, I was treated poorly. To my dissapointment, they are charging twice as much for Internet than my previous provider, and three to four times as much for Internet service than most of the local providers that are shut out by Comcast big business contract.

A frustrated customer in Illinois had to double pay to keep service, as he recounted in May 2006

COMCAST EXTORTION: On 3/28/2006 Comcast came to install my internet and cable. The technician was given a check for $107.90(#2167). On 5/1/2006, I received an auto-dialed call from Comcast threatening to block service for non-payment of the installation. On 5/1/2006 I sent an e-mail to Comcast via their website explaining that they have already received the payment and my bank has processed the check. On 5/2/2006 Comcast sent me a response by e-mail in which they refused to address the issue and insisted that I use their on-line chat service to speak with a comcast rep. On 5/3/2006 I spoke with a comcast rep thru the on-line chat service and was told that he cannot access my account info but that I owe money ! On 5/10/2006 My internet service was blocked by Comcast. On 5/11/2006 I spoke with a Vomcast rep by phone and was told that I must pay $107.90 by credit card or my service will continue to be blocked. (since I am a computer systems consultant I must have Internet to work with clients) Again I told the representative that Comcast has been paid and I gave them the Order# for the installation. I explain that the payment was given to the technician as required. Comcast says that checks are not accepted! Even though their technician took the check and I have my bank statement to prove that they received it!! I allowed them to defraud me by giving them the credit card# because I need my service, but now I have been forced to pay twice! I will discontinue any further payments to Comcast and prepare to find another provider. They are too arrogant and greedy.

An employee of a Comcast contractor recounted in April 2006 some of the disorganization within Comcast

I work for a third party sales call center for Comcast Atlanta. Comcast is SO disorganized -- at least where I work. The biggest problem that we have to deal with is irate customers because of technicians. I've gotten calls ranging about a tech trying to tell the customer to leave her husband to techs getting very rude and argumentative towards them. Most of the calls are for a tech not showing up or even calling to let them know that they wouldn't make it. The customer suffers by having to stay home waiting all day when I am sure they have better thing to do... I would. Sometimes they will walk up to a door and "tag it" without knocking or ringing a bell noting their account that they were there but no one was home. I could go on and on about how terrible some of these technicians are. Comcast is aware of the techs in Atlanta.

Don't get me wrong some techs do do their job as they are supposed to. I think all of the techs who aren't doing their job like they are supposed to should be replaced.

A California customer related his frustrations with connection speeds in April 2006

I transfered HSI 8mb tier to this location on 4/06/06 and everything worked fine until about 4/24/06 when Comcast decided to switch me back to the 6mb tier which I never authorized. After numerous calls to tech support with no results, I finally talked to a supervisor named Jonathan on 4/25/06, and he told me that I was switched back to the 6mb tier. He said he would switch it back to 8mb. The connection is still slower than the average 6mb customer gets. I never authorized a switch from the 8mb to 6mb, and I would like to know who did? I have had nothing but problems with Comcast since the transfer. I also had a tech come out on 4/27/06 and spent 1-1/2 hours trying to figure out the problem. Everyone he spoke with told him that they thought it was strange that if I was switched back to the 8M tier why am only getting downstream speeds of less than 4mb? I am really frustrated with this whole ordeal -- no one can give me a straight answer on why the connection is so slow. Tech checked everything at residence and said it was all optimal as far as the cable modem signals, wiring, drop and the tap! I had at the very minimum of 7mb downstream for 3 weeks before Comcast decided to screw things up and switch it to the 6mb tier. I need some answers PLEASE! P.S. I have made a total of 8 calls in less than a month just to get a simple transfer!

Tom Hopper from IBEW Local 21 wrote about the contract settlement in April 2006

TENTATIVE AGREEMENT REACHED at Comcast! DOWNERS GROVE, IL - In breaking news, after years of hard-fought contract negotiations and just before the midnight hour on 4/8/2006, IBEW Local Union 21 reached a tentative three (3) year collective bargaining agreement with Comcast for members working in what has become to be known as the former Jones bargaining unit. The agreement includes: Wage increases in each of the 3 years; $1,000 signing bonus plus a $200 gift card; and much more. The tentative agreement is subject to ratification by the union membership. IBEW Local Union 21 will announce details for a contract overview meeting and for the ratification process in the days ahead. Submitted by: Thomas Hopper Communications Director; P.S. Local Union 21, IBEW ------------------------------- Call if questions to Tom at: Office 630.960.4466 ext. 223 Cell: 630.222.9119

A frustrated Florida customer, in April 2006, recounted what happens when you over-pay your bill at Comcast

I pay my bill electronically through my bank. I made an error in February and clicked the wrong box, sending $1,000.00 payment to Comcast that should have gone elsewhere. I immediatley contacted the bank but they couldn't do anything. Then I called Comcast and explained what happened. They said they put notes on my account and would refund upon posting the payment. Two weeks later I called to find out when I would receive a check but no one knew anything. And we started over again. Meanwhile, I got my next bill showing a credit of over $800.00, from which they deducted another payment. I called again, but this time no one new anything. The man I talked to didn't exist, the claim # he gave me didn't exist, and I was back to square one again. They acknowlege my credit balance but refuse to refund me. The employees don't care, management (if you can get one) doesn't care. Everytime I get a name and try to talk to that person again, they don't exist. I finally gave up and told them to keep the money for furture payment. Now I'm a liar and never made the payment and they're demanding proof that it happened. It's now mid-April and we still haven't got this resolved.

A Boulder, Colorado, customer complained about the rates for cable TV in April 2006

Comcast just raised my rates again for Standard Cable. It's gone from $42.99 to $45.69 in one month, a 6.3 % increase!. This is just analog cable (basic + expanded). Not only that, but the picture quality is bad on the lower channels and they won't fix it.

In March 2006, a reader directed us to his blog entry where he complains about executive compensation at Comcast

http://www.daveralis.com/dailyrant/2006/03/comcast-execs-make-hay-fight-choice.shtml

A former employee detailed how Comcast fired him in March 2006

Today (3-24-06), after being asked to go home last Monday by my supervisor, the head of operations called me to say that I was being terminated. That's okay, I suppose, to one view. The fact is that I am happy to have been terminated. My supervisor has harassed me on multiple occasions. I've had less and less of a home life because of daily overtime and working weekends to keep up with customer demands.

However, on the other hand, they are using a sneaky tactic to fire me. They say that I falsified my paperwork on Sunday 3-19-05. My first A.M. job was logged onto the CSG tech net/ Workforce express at around 0840. My trainee ____ was instructed by _______ to do all of the paperwork and use tech net to establish that he knows how. He wrote down the time that we left the shop not the time as of pulling up to the customers home. _______ the operations manager says that he used other workorders and established that it was my signature and handwriting. I asked if based on my signature and the allegations that I indeed falsified the paperwork they were terminating me. He replied yes. I then asked if they used a professional to examine the paperwork to establish my handwriting. HE SAID YES...but would not give me that person's credentials. OH WELL COMCAST WINS AGAIN....OR DID THEY? Let me know if you can help unionize the shop in _______ WASHINGTON.

[Editor's note: names and place deleted to avoid employer retribution.]

A former customer recounted in March 2006 how Comcast still wanted to bill him

I had my comcast cable service discontinued last December in Massachusetts. However, they are still sending me bills that get forwarded to my new address in another state, Utah. I have called twice and they tell me to ignore the bills, that the tech has to go out there and shut it off and it wasn't done yet. You would think it would be done by now.

From Corona, California, a customer pleaded for a la carte in March 2006

Way back when it was Media One, then A T & T bought it out, then Comcast, the price kept going up-up-up. They can program it so we get just what we want. Why can't they listen and stop gouging the consumer.

A disgruntled customer wrote from Massachusetts in March 2006

I scheduled a cable installation for February 20th. When I ordered the installation I specified the house was "new construction". The tech showed up on the morning of the installation, was there for 2 minutes and decided he could not do the installation because a "tap" needed to be put in. He said he would submit the paperwork and I should expect a call from the construction department. That was 8 days ago. I called this morning and was told that I should expect a call within the next 7 business days. "If" the tap ever gets installed, I'll have to call and setup another installation appiontment. Which means another day off from work. I can't go with the Dish because of trees so basically I'm stuck waiting weeks or maybe months to finally get tv. Customer service basically tells me too bad, when I call to complain.

A customer from South Carolina wrote in February 2006

I recently had a problem with a ComCast sub-contractor - who I later found out was on parole for burglary, assault, battery, harrassment and stalking. I am sick that this man was in my home while I was alone with my one year old son. The man made sexually threatening phone calls to me and after finding a window in my home slightly propped open, I can only assume that he intended to follow through.

Michael from Miami, FL, wrote in January 2006

Comcast internet service had been awesome before Hurricane Wilma. Now it's horrible and everyone tells me it's a different story. The people on the phone don't know what they're talking about, the technicians tell me they're still working on it, others tell me it's okay now. My entire building is having problems, not just me. It's amazing how when you call and describe the problem you're having they try to do the same dumb troubleshooting over and over again. It's so frustrating dealing with them. Was once on hold for over an hour on the phone then finally hung up as I was being transferred from one person to the next. I'm not sure what's so fantastic or as they say 'comcastic' about them. And how can they keep advertising about their wonderful service when it doesn't exist?

Beverly from Colorado wrote in November 2005

My mother has Comcast for her high-speed internet and cable service. When my mother arranged to have service with Comcrook, she was quoted all sorts of rates which Comcrook did not want to honor. My mother also has VoIP for her phone service.

For several weeks, my mother was unable to receive incoming phone calls. She called Comcast and she was told that it was the VoIP. She called the VoIP service and told her that is was the cable modem. My mother called Comcast and was told to get a router. Ok, she purchases a router, all ports are open and still not receiving incoming calls. She calls the VoIP service and was sent a new phone adapter. Same problem. So she calls Comcast again and was told to go to one of their offices and swap the Scientific American modem for a Motorola modem. The nearest office is about 15 miles away. So she goes to the office and was told that she could not swap the modem, because this problem is taken care of via service call. My mother was told to go to Best Buy or Circuit City to purchase a cable modem. Before her trip across the city, the modem is not allowing outgoing calls. A power surge is sent thru the modem into her phone adapter and it catches on fire. So therefore, no phone service. She is screwed big time.

To the editors of ripoff report, the next word I am going to use is in both the Holy Bible and the dictionary. By now she is p*ss*d big time. So my mother goes to a pay phone and talks to David in tech support. David said that he will schedule a service call on 11/19/2005 to bring a new modem and fix her service. Four hours later, no one shows up. David said that he will take the