I like to think I'm a caring, rational woman who values kindness and civility. When I see the tantrums and childish name calling of the current political season, I am dismayed. In politics, as in most aspects of my life, I value civil discourse and respect for the opinions of others, even when I disagree. So why does Comcast drive me to the brink of a tantrum?
My latest adventure with Comcast's customer support left me wanting to throw a chair. We came home from a weekend away to discover that the X-1 service we received a few months ago, along with two new DVR boxes, was no longer working. Some of the program we recorded resided on one DVR and some on the other. They were no longer in sync. Also, On Demand no longer responded to our demands.
Yes, this is such a first world problem that I am ashamed to be blogging about it. In fact, the problem itself doesn't bother me that much. But Comcast's version of customer service drives me insane. It is the epitome of everything I hate about getting help from anyone other than my wonderful handyman, who responds quickly to texts.
The first obstacle is the automated system that asks me to repeat the same information several times, keeps me on hold listening to something that isn't even really music, and forces me to select an option that doesn't include my problem. But after a long wait, my customer service representative comes on the line. Unfortunately, I can't understand half of what he says. He doesn't have a difficult accent, but I can't comprehend anything he says to explain the problem. Also, unfortunately, he has no idea what I am talking about.
After ten fruitless minutes trying to understand one another, I ask to speak to a supervisor. He tells me there are no supervisors available. They are all in a meeting. Since I know I am talking to someone in a call center, I find this claim hard to believe. Next, he tries to sell me a better and more expensive plan. Finally, he suggests I hang up and call again because I will get a different customer service representative. This is the only thing he says that makes sense.
Trying again means going through the same annoying process of being on hold forever to reach an actual human being. Three times in a row, I am disconnected before that happens. Now I am really angry, but I am also determined to make something happen. Comcast will not defeat me.
Finally I reach someone who seems to be able to help. She understands my problem and I understand her. No small feat for my adventures with Comcast. She sends out new signals to my DVR boxes. They still refuse to sync. Now she is truly perplexed. Can they send someone out? No, I have to go to "Tier Two" first. She gives me a special case number and says I have to call once again and get in line. And be sure to have the case number.
More efforts to get a human being on the line. More disconnects. Finally, a human voice. He doesn't care about my case number and is hesitant to patch me through to Tier Two. Maybe he can try? After assuring him that I really, really want to talk to that higher up service representative, after more waiting and listening to what passes for music, I reach Tier Two.
She doesn't need my case number. The computer has it. I wonder why I was told to write it down, but decide to let that point go in the interest of solving my problem. After sending the same mysterious signal to my DVR boxes, with the same result, she checks for "outages" in my neighborhood. Yes, there is one. For five days? Yes. But she will escalate my problem. And in one hour, it is fixed.
All of this leaves me wondering. What exactly is an outage? How can it happen to only a few lucky customers if it is an area-wide outage? Was Comcast ever going to inform folks in my area? And were they going to mention this problem to service representatives? Do they just wait until people complain, have tantrums, and persist in getting help before attempting to fix anything? I guess they do.
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