So last night I was telling my friends about how my blog was spammed. That's right, it was spammed. I don't know who would have done such a thing? But we all got to dicuss, once again, our feelings for Comcast and my friend said, "Well, you heard about that older woman who attacked the Comcast computers with a hammer?"
But no, I had not heard of her. But yes, I can relate to her.
The Washingtonpost wrote about this situation:
"Who among us has not longed for a hammer in this age of incompetent "customer service representatives," of nimrods reading from a script at some 800-number location, of crumbs-in-their-beards plumbing installation people who tell you they'll grace you with their presence between 12 and 3, only never to show? And you'll call and call and finally some outsourced representative slings a dart at a calendar and tells you another guy will come back between 10 and 2 next Thursday? And when this guy comes, pants halfway down his behind, he'll tell you he brought the wrong part?"
And the response by the Comcast vice president, .."Bacha noted that Comcast has more than 25 million customers, the overwhelming majority of which are very satistified with their service. "
How do you figure that, Ms. Bacha. If people like Mrs. Shaw feel the need to belt it out with a hammer, I am outraged enough to write a blog and the existence of the site www.comcast-must-die.com is not enough to prove to you that the hatred for your company is not a minority opinion? I challenge you to go into any social situation in the D.C. metro area and bring up Comcast and not find at least a plethora of truly lame stories. Disgraceful.
Taking a Whack Against Comcast
Mona Shaw Reached Her Breaking Point, Then for Her Hammer
By Neely TuckerWashington Post Staff Writer Thursday, October 18, 2007; Page C01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/17/AR2007101702359.html
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
BREAKDOWN OF MY WASTED TIME AND WHAT THEY OWE ME
Time wasted waiting for a technician: 18.5 hours
Time wasted on the phone: Approx: 13 hours and counting
Time missed from work: 14 hours
Days spent paying for cable and internet service I don't even have: 5 days
And those credits? HAHAHA, they don't exist apparently! Awesome.
Time wasted on the phone: Approx: 13 hours and counting
Time missed from work: 14 hours
Days spent paying for cable and internet service I don't even have: 5 days
And those credits? HAHAHA, they don't exist apparently! Awesome.
Comcast, the evil empire
The point of this blog is to discuss the evil of Comcast, the cable company and veritable monopoly of cable force in Northern Virginia.
The saga begins when I moved to Northern Virginia to work in downtown D.C. A native Ohioan, I had been lulled into the fabulous cable environment there; Wow! Cable had stood up to Comcast, Dish was a dream, and everyone I knew never had service problems. Well I take that back, there were a few service problems, but not really issues. They weren't problems because they were dealt with professionally and timely. As a graduate student, working on a thesis night and day, you don't have time for service outages or cable tricks. I thank God I didn't attempt to go to school out here, or I never would have made it. Judging from my current experiences, I would have been that grad student strangling myself with the long length of cable that I was delightfully delivered for no purpose at all.
I moved here in this naive cable bubble. I called to sign up for service. I was given a three hour appointment window. I waited five hours. I waited six. Finally an technician arrived. At 9:30 p.m. Just when it was perfectly dark and perfectly indecent to have a strange man in your studio apartment. But who thinks that when they are so excited to finally have internet service? But this guy ended up being a total loser. Just a note: even if I am incredibly white, I am still Puerto Rican. I thereby speak Spanish and got to hear a mouthful about this guy wanting to suck me here and there and telling his friend where I lived. As he concluded his phone call, I gave him a mouthful and told him to suck it up and leave. He had actually finished the install and so I was rewarded for the verbal harassment..in a way. Though I did feel like a cable whore. When I called to complain, they told me they had "noted my complaints." Though they didn't seem that concerned.
But that was nothing compared to the amazing treatment of the last few weeks. So I cancel that much earned service from my last apartment. Feeling apprehensive about getting Comcast service again and deciding to see the lay of the land at my new apartment on the other side of Arlington, I go to Comcast (physically!) and turn in my modem from my old place. Receive a receipt (I now laugh that I threw it in my bag without a second glance!) and proceeded to move my stuff, set up my new apartment, and begin my happy life at my new apartment.
Ahh! The new apartment. The apartment that I love but have been trapped in for over TWENTY HOURS over the last few weeks, hunching by the door, scared to close my eyes, for fear that I would miss the highly coveted COMCAST cable appointment..
So I love it here, but I live by so many of my friends that they are always stopping by. The first few times it was great; they were here to see me and not imbibe on cable. But then the "honeymoon" period of the new place waned and people started asking for some cable entertainment. I suffered a bad fall down the stairs and my dvd player broke, so I spent a day staring at the ceiling and calling people to donate old vhs tapes. VHS. It saw me through.
So I decided it was time to call Comcast. I called, I got the $66 for cable and internet. I thought, "SWEET!" Especially since I had been paying $60 a month for only internet service at my previous apartment. But that's when the true hell started.
First appointment: 3 hour time slot, from 6pm-9pm. Thursday.
Like a dummy, I waited, and I waited.
Then under the harassment of a few friends who wanted me to go to the bar, I called and asked for the status of my service call. That's when I was told that someone had come and found no one home and left. Inconceivable!!! I was waiting by the door the entire time. The person I spoke with from Comcast told me that they would waive the installation fee and that they would have someone out the following Monday. I chalked it up as a misunderstanding and went to the bar for a few margaritas. Oh how naive I was!
Second appointment: 3 hour time slot, from 12-3pm. Monday.
My bad ass boss tells me to take a long lunch and so I can go home for the appointment. This time I had the door open. Like a stalker, I ran to the window every time I heard a car in the lot. At 3pm I called Comcast, they told me someone was on the way and they would be here momentarily. I was told to call back in an hour if I still had not been visited by my technician. And I was given a $20 service credit. I realized that by the time they came and set things up I wouldn't technically be able to get back downtown in time to make it back to work, so I had to call my boss and take of the rest of the day. NOTE: 4 hours of work time lost.
So at 4pm, I call back because no one had shown up yet. I was told that they were on the way and not to worry because I was definitely going to have someone show up.
At 5:30 (these are approximate times, but I was trying to be patient, while still being heard) I called back again. Once again I was told that someone would be here in a few minutes. And the person threw a $20 credit on my account.
I called back around 7pm. This time I wasn't feeling as nice. I felt pretty trapped. After "missing" the last tech and taking the rest of the day off work, I was determined to not leave or miss the appointment. I left the door open this entire time. Awesome to let the new neighbors see my craziness as I continued to stalk the lot and left the door open. I couldn't leave to go get food and I was even too paranoid to turn on some music. I thought it was my big chance. So the person I spoke with insisted that the person should have already been there and if they weren't there yet, they probably weren't going to make it. That's when I lost it a little bit. I mean, was I seriously supposed to believe that after waiting 7 hours!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! there was no one showing up? Ok, cue the next twenty dollar credit, as if that would assuage my anger. I take the credit, but ask to speak with a supervisor. I explain the situation and the fact that I had to take off an entire day of work. The person was kind and, cue the next $20 credit, told me that she would have a technician to my house the following day at my convenience. I just had to pick a time and they would have someone at the house. 7:30 p.m. was the only time I had and I realize now that I was an idiot for choosing it. (techs stop working at 9pm)
Third appointment: 7:30pm
I get to my house (breathlessly) at 7:22 p.m. Glad to have made it, sad that during the moving process I still hadn't gone grocery shopping. I was starving, but determined to make it through the appointment. So I waited. And I waited. Around 8:30, I got wise. I called them and the person I spoke with actually laughed. No one had even set up the 7:30 call. A total joke. So I spoke with another manager. I mean, I was livid at this point. I mean there is a limit to this kind of abuse. I think they knew no one was coming all these times and still insisted that I wait like a total idiot. At least I can know sing along to every single Comcast MUZAK tune. But I spoke with a manager, explained the situation and asked why I was being treated this way. He apologized up and down and said he would have someone at my house at noon sharp the next day.
But at this point, come on! I called the landlord and begged him to let me install dish or satellite, but he said it wasn't a possibility.
So no cable or internet, or take the chance. Sacrifice myself to the beast that is COMCAST.
So I come home from work again. Make it home by 11:47. Eat, go to the bathroom and then assume the stalker position. 1pm rolls around. I call to verify the appointment. Am told that someone had just "talkied" in and was on their way. Cue another $20 credit. I wait until 2:30. I call again. The person says "You can't call again until after 3pm ma'am." Thankfully I had the supervisor, Jeff's cell phone, because he NEVER has it on and he PROMISED he would answer if I called. Call him. Call the 1-800 number again. Jam to some more MUZAK!!!! Finally at 3:45pm, I feel so frustrated I stand outside for some more fresh air. Cue the Comcast truck driving right by my street on the main cross street. If I could have made it, I would have chased the loser down. But this incensed me so much that I called back instead of going back to work and ditching the post. After 28 minutes on hold, I finally spoke with someone who says that it definitely was not my truck. That my truck was on its way and would be there in a few moments. Cue another $20 credit.
So as I am locking my apartment, putting on my heels and getting ready to go back to work, I walk outside to see a guy standing by a white, non-marked truck and ask him if he is the Comcast guy. When he confirms, I could have literally broke down, cried and hugged him.
Again, how naive!
It takes this guy 3 hours to set up the cable. One of my guy friends comes over as he is telling me that he can't get it to work and insists that he figure it out. (Thanks, N!) So he gets it running and tells me the modem is loading and he will call me back with the password for the wireless signal. and then he tells me the "signal" is a little weak so he will be putting in a service call for someone to come and check the outside box. So I turn on the tv and behold, CABLE!!!!!
Amazing! But not so fast kids!!!!
Right as the guy leaves, (no joke!) The sound goes off on one tv, the other tv has no channels above 60 and as it dawns on me that I have been jacked once again, I realize he is never calling back with the password.
I can't tell you how I felt at that moment. But I can say: DEFEATED!
Who are these people?
Well, they are the kind of people who send me a $127 bill for my last service at my old apartment. And I have to call them and ask them why and they can't tell me. They say I missed a payment. But I am too smart for these losers, and I spend an hour talking them through the payment numbers and the service months. I fight for my $127 dollars. And then have to be transferred to another line to figure out my current service problems.
Quite honestly, some people would say I am wasting more time writing this blog than its worth.
But guess what? I've written this entire blog while on hold trying to get my password for the wireless internet. Not to mention all the wonderful things I will share with you as I attempt to get service set up on my tvs.
So what's up NOVA? What's up D.C.?
We're all intelligent people and we are getting owned by this unprofessional and shady company.
We are paying too much for crappy service and being treated like dirt in the mean time.
They have what we want, so we put up with it. But when are we going to stand up to the force and evil that is Comcast?
Since my cable box is clicking and I have no service on one tv, I'm pretty sure I won't be watching cable any time soon. So instead of watching brain numbing tv, I'm going to devise a plan to let this company know that my time is valuable and that they have a strong following of HATERS.
The saga begins when I moved to Northern Virginia to work in downtown D.C. A native Ohioan, I had been lulled into the fabulous cable environment there; Wow! Cable had stood up to Comcast, Dish was a dream, and everyone I knew never had service problems. Well I take that back, there were a few service problems, but not really issues. They weren't problems because they were dealt with professionally and timely. As a graduate student, working on a thesis night and day, you don't have time for service outages or cable tricks. I thank God I didn't attempt to go to school out here, or I never would have made it. Judging from my current experiences, I would have been that grad student strangling myself with the long length of cable that I was delightfully delivered for no purpose at all.
I moved here in this naive cable bubble. I called to sign up for service. I was given a three hour appointment window. I waited five hours. I waited six. Finally an technician arrived. At 9:30 p.m. Just when it was perfectly dark and perfectly indecent to have a strange man in your studio apartment. But who thinks that when they are so excited to finally have internet service? But this guy ended up being a total loser. Just a note: even if I am incredibly white, I am still Puerto Rican. I thereby speak Spanish and got to hear a mouthful about this guy wanting to suck me here and there and telling his friend where I lived. As he concluded his phone call, I gave him a mouthful and told him to suck it up and leave. He had actually finished the install and so I was rewarded for the verbal harassment..in a way. Though I did feel like a cable whore. When I called to complain, they told me they had "noted my complaints." Though they didn't seem that concerned.
But that was nothing compared to the amazing treatment of the last few weeks. So I cancel that much earned service from my last apartment. Feeling apprehensive about getting Comcast service again and deciding to see the lay of the land at my new apartment on the other side of Arlington, I go to Comcast (physically!) and turn in my modem from my old place. Receive a receipt (I now laugh that I threw it in my bag without a second glance!) and proceeded to move my stuff, set up my new apartment, and begin my happy life at my new apartment.
Ahh! The new apartment. The apartment that I love but have been trapped in for over TWENTY HOURS over the last few weeks, hunching by the door, scared to close my eyes, for fear that I would miss the highly coveted COMCAST cable appointment..
So I love it here, but I live by so many of my friends that they are always stopping by. The first few times it was great; they were here to see me and not imbibe on cable. But then the "honeymoon" period of the new place waned and people started asking for some cable entertainment. I suffered a bad fall down the stairs and my dvd player broke, so I spent a day staring at the ceiling and calling people to donate old vhs tapes. VHS. It saw me through.
So I decided it was time to call Comcast. I called, I got the $66 for cable and internet. I thought, "SWEET!" Especially since I had been paying $60 a month for only internet service at my previous apartment. But that's when the true hell started.
First appointment: 3 hour time slot, from 6pm-9pm. Thursday.
Like a dummy, I waited, and I waited.
Then under the harassment of a few friends who wanted me to go to the bar, I called and asked for the status of my service call. That's when I was told that someone had come and found no one home and left. Inconceivable!!! I was waiting by the door the entire time. The person I spoke with from Comcast told me that they would waive the installation fee and that they would have someone out the following Monday. I chalked it up as a misunderstanding and went to the bar for a few margaritas. Oh how naive I was!
Second appointment: 3 hour time slot, from 12-3pm. Monday.
My bad ass boss tells me to take a long lunch and so I can go home for the appointment. This time I had the door open. Like a stalker, I ran to the window every time I heard a car in the lot. At 3pm I called Comcast, they told me someone was on the way and they would be here momentarily. I was told to call back in an hour if I still had not been visited by my technician. And I was given a $20 service credit. I realized that by the time they came and set things up I wouldn't technically be able to get back downtown in time to make it back to work, so I had to call my boss and take of the rest of the day. NOTE: 4 hours of work time lost.
So at 4pm, I call back because no one had shown up yet. I was told that they were on the way and not to worry because I was definitely going to have someone show up.
At 5:30 (these are approximate times, but I was trying to be patient, while still being heard) I called back again. Once again I was told that someone would be here in a few minutes. And the person threw a $20 credit on my account.
I called back around 7pm. This time I wasn't feeling as nice. I felt pretty trapped. After "missing" the last tech and taking the rest of the day off work, I was determined to not leave or miss the appointment. I left the door open this entire time. Awesome to let the new neighbors see my craziness as I continued to stalk the lot and left the door open. I couldn't leave to go get food and I was even too paranoid to turn on some music. I thought it was my big chance. So the person I spoke with insisted that the person should have already been there and if they weren't there yet, they probably weren't going to make it. That's when I lost it a little bit. I mean, was I seriously supposed to believe that after waiting 7 hours!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! there was no one showing up? Ok, cue the next twenty dollar credit, as if that would assuage my anger. I take the credit, but ask to speak with a supervisor. I explain the situation and the fact that I had to take off an entire day of work. The person was kind and, cue the next $20 credit, told me that she would have a technician to my house the following day at my convenience. I just had to pick a time and they would have someone at the house. 7:30 p.m. was the only time I had and I realize now that I was an idiot for choosing it. (techs stop working at 9pm)
Third appointment: 7:30pm
I get to my house (breathlessly) at 7:22 p.m. Glad to have made it, sad that during the moving process I still hadn't gone grocery shopping. I was starving, but determined to make it through the appointment. So I waited. And I waited. Around 8:30, I got wise. I called them and the person I spoke with actually laughed. No one had even set up the 7:30 call. A total joke. So I spoke with another manager. I mean, I was livid at this point. I mean there is a limit to this kind of abuse. I think they knew no one was coming all these times and still insisted that I wait like a total idiot. At least I can know sing along to every single Comcast MUZAK tune. But I spoke with a manager, explained the situation and asked why I was being treated this way. He apologized up and down and said he would have someone at my house at noon sharp the next day.
But at this point, come on! I called the landlord and begged him to let me install dish or satellite, but he said it wasn't a possibility.
So no cable or internet, or take the chance. Sacrifice myself to the beast that is COMCAST.
So I come home from work again. Make it home by 11:47. Eat, go to the bathroom and then assume the stalker position. 1pm rolls around. I call to verify the appointment. Am told that someone had just "talkied" in and was on their way. Cue another $20 credit. I wait until 2:30. I call again. The person says "You can't call again until after 3pm ma'am." Thankfully I had the supervisor, Jeff's cell phone, because he NEVER has it on and he PROMISED he would answer if I called. Call him. Call the 1-800 number again. Jam to some more MUZAK!!!! Finally at 3:45pm, I feel so frustrated I stand outside for some more fresh air. Cue the Comcast truck driving right by my street on the main cross street. If I could have made it, I would have chased the loser down. But this incensed me so much that I called back instead of going back to work and ditching the post. After 28 minutes on hold, I finally spoke with someone who says that it definitely was not my truck. That my truck was on its way and would be there in a few moments. Cue another $20 credit.
So as I am locking my apartment, putting on my heels and getting ready to go back to work, I walk outside to see a guy standing by a white, non-marked truck and ask him if he is the Comcast guy. When he confirms, I could have literally broke down, cried and hugged him.
Again, how naive!
It takes this guy 3 hours to set up the cable. One of my guy friends comes over as he is telling me that he can't get it to work and insists that he figure it out. (Thanks, N!) So he gets it running and tells me the modem is loading and he will call me back with the password for the wireless signal. and then he tells me the "signal" is a little weak so he will be putting in a service call for someone to come and check the outside box. So I turn on the tv and behold, CABLE!!!!!
Amazing! But not so fast kids!!!!
Right as the guy leaves, (no joke!) The sound goes off on one tv, the other tv has no channels above 60 and as it dawns on me that I have been jacked once again, I realize he is never calling back with the password.
I can't tell you how I felt at that moment. But I can say: DEFEATED!
Who are these people?
Well, they are the kind of people who send me a $127 bill for my last service at my old apartment. And I have to call them and ask them why and they can't tell me. They say I missed a payment. But I am too smart for these losers, and I spend an hour talking them through the payment numbers and the service months. I fight for my $127 dollars. And then have to be transferred to another line to figure out my current service problems.
Quite honestly, some people would say I am wasting more time writing this blog than its worth.
But guess what? I've written this entire blog while on hold trying to get my password for the wireless internet. Not to mention all the wonderful things I will share with you as I attempt to get service set up on my tvs.
So what's up NOVA? What's up D.C.?
We're all intelligent people and we are getting owned by this unprofessional and shady company.
We are paying too much for crappy service and being treated like dirt in the mean time.
They have what we want, so we put up with it. But when are we going to stand up to the force and evil that is Comcast?
Since my cable box is clicking and I have no service on one tv, I'm pretty sure I won't be watching cable any time soon. So instead of watching brain numbing tv, I'm going to devise a plan to let this company know that my time is valuable and that they have a strong following of HATERS.
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