Experiencing Comcast’s Customer Service
One of the frustrating things about Comcast’s billing practices is that it never seems to be very clear what the price of something truly is and how long it will remain that way. I received a bill that was double what I had been guaranteed, so I tried calling 1-800-COMCAST. No response since it was a Sunday morning, so I got on chat with them.
[NOTE: Because I had tweeted about this customer support chat, @ComcastBill @ replied me a help email address just as this chat was finishing up. I appreciated that. Still waiting on a response from that]
user Eric Pratum has entered room
analyst Edalyn has entered room
Edalyn: Hello Eric Pratum, Thank you for contacting Comcast Live Chat Support. My name is Edalyn. Please give me one moment to review your information.
Edalyn: Hi, I will be happy to assist you today.
Eric Pratum: Hi, Edalyn
Edalyn: How may I help you?
Eric Pratum: For some reason, my last two statements have been higher than they should be
Edalyn: okay
Edalyn: Let me go ahead and help you with that.
Edalyn: Are you the account holder?
Eric Pratum: Thank you, Edalyn. Yes, I am
Edalyn: May I ask for your account number or the last 4 digits of your SSN, please?
Eric Pratum: 8###3###9###9###
Edalyn: thank you
Edalyn: I will have to pull up your account.
Edalyn: Eric your current billis $$.$$
Edalyn: for internet service
Eric Pratum: Last Fall, I spoke with a comcast representative, who set my internet rate at $$ for a year [NOTE: half what the current statements says]
Edalyn: no, it was not change here in your account
Eric Pratum: Can you please rectify that then? I don’t appreciate being overcharged
Edalyn: and your last month bill is $$.$$, because you were given a discount [NOTE: ~30% higher than what I was promised]
Edalyn: and it was not a discount for a year
Edalyn: you were under a promo but it expires now
Eric Pratum: Edalyn, I noticed that the bill was too high, but comcast bills do not give any details, so I could not tell why it was the wrong amount [NOTE: it was just a few dollars, so I thought it might have been a tax or service fee of some sort]
Eric Pratum: I called several times during November and locked in a $$ rate for 1 year. I was guaranteed that it would not change. I would appreciate if you could please fix this [NOTE: Half of the current bill]
Edalyn: the amount thatyou sign up is internet for $$.$$ [NOTE: the current bill's amount & double what I was promised]
Edalyn: and that is a regular price
Edalyn: you were given a discount for $$. but now the promo expires [NOTE: a 50% discount]
Edalyn: But I can give you discount for that again
Eric Pratum: I appreciate your help, Edalyn. So, what would that make my normal monthly bill?
Edalyn: it will be $19.99 for 6 months [NOTE: Now, lower than the price I originally locked in, approx. 40% of what Edalyn says is the normal amount]
Edalyn: and the changes starts today
Edalyn:okay
Edalyn: so you still have to pay for your current bill.
Edalyn: and you will see the changes in your next bill
Eric Pratum: Yes, I could like that… but, when I spoke with a comcast representative on the phone last fall, I was guaranteed the discount for 1 year. She said that explicitly. I would appreciate it if you would follow through with her promise and discount the current bill
Edalyn: for a year promo could be done by calling 1-800-COMCAST
Eric Pratum: The 1-800-COMCAST offices are closed right now
Edalyn: and you can also do that in the local oulet to sign a contract
Edalyn: no,it is open 24/7 that is the hotline [Note: Try calling on a Sunday morning. They're closed]
Eric Pratum: Edalyn, can you please discount the current month’s bill? I was promised that it would be. That promise has not been fulfilled.
Eric Pratum: Edalyn, I just called, and the machine told me it is closed.
Eric Pratum: Can you have someone call me?
Edalyn: I can do that but for 6 months only, Eric
Edalyn: , we are only for chat
Edalyn: I can do the discount
Eric Pratum: But, you are a comcast representative, right?
Edalyn: but only for 6 months promio
Edalyn: yes, I am but we are only for chat support
Eric Pratum: Can you please contact someone at phone support and have them call me? I just called again and the computer response told me that the billing offices are closed
Edalyn: we do not have phone touse here. I hope you understand that, Eric. I can lower your bill,but only for 6 months
Eric Pratum: Ok, please lower my current bill as well
Edalyn: okay
Edalyn: I was able to change the price to $19.99
Eric Pratum: Thank you Edalyn. So, I will not have to pay the current $54.95, correct? It will only be $19.99?
Edalyn: here is the order#1###1###5###2###
Edalyn: you still have to pay the current bill . whatever the overpayment made it will be deducted to your next bill
Eric Pratum: So, if I pay the current $$.$$, $$.$$ [NOTE: the new lower price] will go to the current bill, and the rest will go to next month’s?
Edalyn: there is a proration
Edalyn: it will be prorated
Eric Pratum: Who should I speak to about the fact that I was promised a year and that promise was not fulfilled?
Edalyn: you can call 1-900-COMCAST for that
Edalyn: 1-800-COMCAST
Eric Pratum: Calling now. I was just told again that the offices are closed
Edalyn: you can call some other time
Eric Pratum: I cannot speak with anyone in billing apparently. Now, whom should I call?
Eric Pratum: You just told me the offices are open 24 hours
Edalyn: Eric,I would suggest that you have to go to the local outlet, so thatit will be resolved
Eric Pratum: The local outlet is a 45 minute drive. Can you give me their phone number so I can make sure they’re open before I drive that far? [NOTE: Without traffic, it's probably 20-25, but traffic here is a constant annoyance]
Edalyn: they can access that
Edalyn: I will see what I can do here.
Edalyn: give me your address
Eric Pratum: [NOTE: Address provided]
Eric Pratum: Thank you, Edalyn
[NOTE: At this point, I was disconnected from the internet for some reason, but once I got it up and running a minute later, I was pleasantly surprised to be reconnected to Edalyn immediately]
Edalyn: I am still checking on it
Eric Pratum: Thank you
Edalyn: Center Name: Ace America’s Cash Express Phone Number: 877-824-2288
Hours: Monday-Friday 9am-7pm, Saturday 10am-6pm, Sunday closed
Eric Pratum: Is there a location in this area that is open on Sundays?
Edalyn: no office on sundays ,its up to saturdays only
Edalyn: okay
Edalyn: I hope I was able to help you out with your concern.
Do you have other concerns for today?
Edalyn: We strive to exceed your expectations and hope that you will take a moment to complete the 3 question survey that will follow our interaction, your feedback will help us to continue improving how we serve you.
Thank you for choosing Comcast as your cable TV provider and have a great day. Comcast appreciates your business and values you as a customer. Our goal is to provide you with excellent service. If you need further assistance, you can chat with one of our Customer Support Specialists 24 hour a day, 7 days a week at http://www.comcastsupport.com/videochat To close this chat, please click the end session button at the top of your chat window.
Edalyn – Analyst has closed chat and left the room
Before I had a chance to respond, she was gone. While that was annoying, I was not completely surprised since she appeared to have done everything she said she could. Customer service representatives should be empowered to address any reasonable requests of the customers. I believe I was not being unreasonable in that I was promised something, and that was changed without my permission.
Luckily, perhaps for me, perhaps for Comcast, chat support was able to at least get me a discount that was as good or better than what I had first been promised even if Edalyn could not address why the billing amount had changed. Plus, I am very active on Twitter, and Comcast has great monitoring and response times there, so despite this annoyance, I am confident that I will come out of this being more satisfied with Comcast than I previously was.
Still though, why is it that all customer service representatives are not empowered to address reasonable requests?
: say something funny? or creative please :D 07/08/09 01:37pm
: www.tfportal.de or for english People http://www.tfportal.de/?lang=en 07/08/09 01:37pm
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Tags: bad bill, comcast, customer service, customer support, Twitter
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