KGB Report

On Friday morning, 24 hours after reporting the problem, callers to my Comcast home phone number still received the out of service recording.

I called the number the Comcast person gave me on Thursday to follow up on the problem. The person said it's the wrong geographic region. He needed to transfer me to the office that handles Pittsburgh.

Generic music on held, then I'm connected to another office which also tells me their region doesn't handle Pittsburgh port-in requests. I can barely hear the person on the line; then the call drops.

I'll spare you the details. Hint: sometimes psychotic behavior can be rewarding.

The phone was working Saturday morning, and Comcast gave me credit for the days without phone service, plua $20 off next month's bill.

Now everything's going through Google Voice. Let's see how this adventure pans out...

Categories: Comcast, Google, KGB, Technology, Vonage

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I had heard horror storied about porting phone numbers out of Vonage to other carriers, so a month before transferring my home phone to Comcast, I contacted both companies to make certain there'd be no problems. Both assured me the switch would be routine.

So yesterday morning, when you dialed my old Comcast phone number, you received a recording that the number was not in service.

And when you dialed my home telephone number- the one I've had for 28 years- you received: a recording that the number was not in service.

Comcast said they'd have it fixed in 24 hours. They have one hour, ten minutes left.

I have a bad feeling about this.

Categories: Comcast, KGB, Technology, Vonage

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Kudos to Comcast.

Following Wednesday night's call, the correct replacement modem arrived today- just one business day after calling, and two days ahead of their ETA.

Of course, it didn't work when I initially plugged it in, but that's not unusual when you replace a cable modem with a different model. Ten minutes going through a recording reciting the obvious- make certain everything's connected, disconnect and reconnect to modem to the power line, etc.- and I was connected with a tech who did a reset from his end. Two minutes and we were back on the air.

80 meg/sec download, 10 upload. Not too shabby.

I have to admit that while Comcast engages in lots of irritating customer behavior- lots of recordings, punching in numbers- trying to get me to buy a pay-for-view wrestling event(!?)- when you finally do get to a real human, they solve things quickly, are pleasant, reasonable, and quite accommodating. And this has been my consistent experience for the past two years or so.

Just lose the pay-per-view sports messages that pop up on the cable box, ok? If I was an ultimate fighting fan, believe me, I'd know when the next big event was occurring.

And here's hoping the whole ship the old units back via UPS business works as well...

Categories: Comcast

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Transcript of my Comcast customer support chat. Elapsed time, about 30 minutes.

Perhaps I'm being overly critical, but I thought the description of my problem was concise and accurate. I suspect the first person was actually a program with a badly designed heuristic pattern-matching algorithm. Or someone for whom English is a second language.

It will be interesting to see if: a) I actually get the correct modem, b) it functions properly; and c) if the process of returning the incorrect replacement modem and my current modem generates any more problems. I'll keep you posted.

analyst Dareen has entered room

Dareen: Hello Kevin, Thank you for contacting Comcast Live Chat Support. My name is Dareen. Please give me one moment to review your information.

Kevin: My Issue: I obtained a new digital internet and voice modem, via www.comcast.com/deviceupgrade since you said my current modem could not take advantage of recent upgrades. The modem I received from you is data only; it has no digital voice capability

Dareen: Glad to have you on chat. How are you today?

Kevin: Just ducky.

Dareen: I understand that you have concern with your modem device.

Dareen: Let me go ahead and do my best to assist you with this.

Kevin: ok

Dareen: You mean that your modem is only a cable modem?

Dareen: And you would like to have a telephony modem?

Kevin: Correct. It has no RJ11 jacks for connecting the telephone.

Kevin: Just an ethernet connection for the computer.

Dareen: May I please have the make and model of your device?

Kevin: My current device, or the incorrect device you sent as a replacement?

Dareen: Yes, the one that was sent to you.

Kevin: Arris Model CM820A/CT

Dareen: Thank you.

Dareen: Have you tried connecting the phone at the back of the modem?

Kevin: IT HAS NO PHONE JACKS. It has a power connector, a coax connector, and an internet jack.

Dareen: I understand. Let me connect you over to our Sales department for them to process your concern.

Dareen: Before I connect you over, is there anything else?

Kevin: No. Thank you.

Dareen: I will be connecting you to our partners in the Sales Department. You will see a message that says I have "left the room"; however, you will still be connected to the next available agent. Please stay online and connected to the chat for the next agent who will assist you as soon as possible.

Kevin: Thank you.

Dareen: Please wait, while the problem is escalated to another analyst

analyst Angelie has entered room

Kevin: My Issue: I obtained a new digital internet and voice modem, via www.comcast.com/deviceupgrade since you said my current modem could not take advantage of recent upgrades. The modem I received from you is data only; it has no digital voice capability

Angelie: Welcome to Comcast Chat Sales. My name is Angelie, and it's my pleasure to process your order and answer any questions you may have throughout this chat. How are you doing today?

analyst Dareen has left room

analyst Dareen has left room

Angelie: Please give me a few minutes to check on your previous chat with the previous analyst.

Angelie: Will this be fine?

Kevin: Take your time.

Angelie: Thank you!

Angelie: One moment please.

Angelie: Kevin, I see here that you were sent with an incorrect modem. Is this correct?

Kevin: Correct.

Angelie: Thank you for confirming that information.

Angelie: Let me process a shipment of the correct modem then.

Angelie: One moment please.

Kevin: Thank you.

Angelie: Before anything else.

Angelie: For account security verification, can you please provide me the last 4 digits of your SSN?

Kevin: nnnn.

Angelie: Thank you!

Angelie: Your request has been completed.

Angelie: Please take note of the order ID no.: 100099999999.

Angelie: You will receive the new modem within 3-5 business days from now.

Angelie: I am grateful that I was able to process and complete your order today. Is there any other COMCAST related concerns that I can assist you with before we end?

Kevin: No, that's it. Thank you.

Angelie: Wonderful!

Angelie: You are most welcome.

Angelie: It has been a great pleasure being able to assist you today.

Angelie: Thank you for your time and patience and for choosing Comcast as your entertainment needs! Our goal is to provide you with a consistently superior customer experience – that’s our guarantee. Learn more about the Comcast Customer Guarantee at http://www.comcast.com/corporate/Customers/CustomerGuarantee.html?fss=customer . Please do not hesitate to contact us anytime we are available 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.

Angelie: I would appreciate your feedback about the service you experienced with me today. It was really great working with you. It is our priority to provide you the best customer service. Kindly answer the 11 question survey following this chat so we can continue to improve our service. To close the chat and proceed to the survey, please click the "Exit Chat" A popup for exit confirmation "Take Our Survey".

Angelie: Bye and you take care! Have a good one!

Kevin: May all your Christmases be white.

Angelie: Thank you so much.

Angelie: Yours too.

(The Adventure Continues... here.)

Categories: Comcast, Internet

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