Comcast Sux

Well I'm in CA. I'm actually going on my second week but haven't had time to post. So far I don't have any official internet access except from work. Comcast was supposed to be out May 31st to install our digtal cable and cable modem, but of course that didn't happen. The guy showed up over two hours late and didn't get anything done. He basically said sorry can't find a signal someone will call you who can do work and setup a time to come out later.

So I wait. And wait. And wait...

After two days I give up and call Comcast and get an appointment setup with someone on Thursday. By now I've started work so I can't be there for the installer. Luckily my Dad was in town until that Saturday so he stuck around. The guy managed to narrow the problem down to a disconnected cable in an apartment below me. He can't get a good signal for 'net though since its an old cable someone tacked. He said he would call back and setup a time to have people come out and rewire this.

And so I wait... And Wait... And Wait...

Eventually I call Comcast back, its now Monday 1 week after I was supposed to get cable. I manage to get a hold of someone who says the tech and manager is out and that I need to call back tomorrow.

So I call back tomorrow, the call center person finally gets a hold of the tech or supervisor and they schedule an all day appointment with my landlord for Wednesday. So Wed after a long day of work I head on home expecting my internet and cable to be setup. Boy was I wrong. I walk into a house with neither! So I immediately call Comcast (I'm sick of waiting and don't have time at work), I get a hold of someone who apolgizes for the problem (apparently he still sees the work order as incomplete), and promises me someone will be out the following morning to setup the cable.

I check in with my landlord around noon and find no one has shown up. So once again I give Comcast a call. The automated system mentions I had a service appointment scheduled for 8am the previous morning (the one no one showed up for). I finally get a hold of a person who denies I have any appointment setup at all. At this point I'm so fed up with playing games I ask for an appointment the same day or I will just cancel service. My exact words were along the lines of "Why won't you let me get your service? I'm trying to pay you guys money, do you want me to go somewhere else?" This manages to convice them to send someone out and they do.

Luckily I got out of work early to go to Kendo since the cable guy was still working at 6:00pm. Turns out he couldn't get it to work AND that they scheduled me for a premium internet install which costs $99 (I asked for self before, and the previous guy had that). Premium install means the guy runs a CD for you and royally screws up your computer. I refused to pay for the premium install if he does it since I didn't order it. The tech guy starts to unhook the stuff he did get installed since he doesn't have a self install kit and even if he did he can only do what the work order says. While he's unhooking the Digital Box I call the Comcast customer service center where it takes 10 minutes to explain the situation (the person thought I wanted them to extend their three month trial pricing offer). Finally, I get everything explained and the customer service rep waives the installation fee and has the tech finish the install. Well the tech finishes the install only to find the cable signal is weaker than ever the digital cable doesn't work, the modem STILL won't work, and now the basic cable is all fuzzy. The guy leaves me with the stuff and promises that his supervisor and him will take care of it tomorrow. (BTW this guy doesn't work for Comcast, more on that later).

The next day dawns. I'm so close to my final goal of cable TV and 'net. I have the receiver and modem but the signal is just bad. The previous evening I realized the tech took the install CD and the USB cable for the modem so I can't get online even if everything worked. Comcast requires you to go through some special server to actually get authenticated. I call the tech around 9:30am. Now the story has changed. Apparetly Comcast is not "responsible" for the wiring in the apartment and it will cost me or the apartment $170 to do the wiring. He can have his "crew" out to my apartment by the next day. I call my apartment manager and explain the information. Turns out this guy lied to me, and was just trying to make money by charging for a cable install on the side. The manager gets a hold of Comcast and schedules an apointment to have them come out and actually run the cable they were supposed to about a week ago (and didn't). Now I can only hope they show up, and don't leave because the apartment manager goes to the restroom. See the cable people don't know HOW TO CALL THE APARTMENT MANAGER WHEN I'M NOT HOME EVEN THOUGH THAT'S THE INSTRUCTION ON ALL THE WORK ORDERS!

Comcast needs to get their act together and maybe actually HIRE employees instead of "Independant Contractors". Then maybe they might have a consistend scheduling system. I don't really hold it against the installers since Comcast scheduling seems to give everyone some fucked up schedule with conflicting instructions. I'd go with another company but no one else is available since Cable companies are an monopoly.