First World Problem with Comcast

July 19, 2013


Tom Karinshak
Senior Vice President of Customer Experience
Comcast Corporation
Comcast Center
1701 JFK Boulevard
Philadelphia, PA 19103

Dear Mr. Karinshak:

I’m writing to let you know how incensed I am as a result of spending the past few days dealing with almost unbelievable professional ineptitude and nonexistent customer service on the part of Comcast.

I tried for two days to reach someone to make payment arrangements for a past due amount on our account in order to avoid interruption of our service. I called your 1-888-266-2278 number again and again and repeatedly navigated your automated phone system, trying to speak to an actual human being. I was told to call back – your system was supposedly down, whatever that means – or transferred or placed on hold over and over.

Each time I had to wait an excessively long time for a customer account executive to become available. I had to explain what I was trying to do over and over again. I was told more than once that your system is down and I need to call back later. I did not get callbacks from you as promised (which means I didn’t leave the house, take showers or do anything else that might cause me to miss calls that never came).

When I finally spoke to someone named Serena, she told me arrangements could not be made without a post-dated check. I obtained this and started calling again. In addition to Serena, I spoke at various times yesterday and this morning with Samantha, Aaron, Shirley, Joe, Jessica, Beatrice, Robert (supposedly a supervisor) and finally Emily, who took down our bank account and routing numbers, provided me with a confirmation number and promised that our service would not be interrupted.

Then at 10:18 this morning, you went ahead and suspended our internet and cable TV anyway. (I was automatically redirected to Comcast’s “Your service has been temporarily suspended; pay now” website and none of our TV channels were “authorized” anymore.) When I was finally able to reach a customer account executive – Tangela – I was told that the system is down again and you can’t access my account. I told Tangela that you already accessed the account when I gave you my banking information and you provided me with a confirmation number but she insisted there was nothing she could do and I should just wait for a callback from Comcast, although she had no idea when that would be.

After waiting for more than 90 minutes and hearing nothing, I called again and after several minutes on hold, was told by Cicero that my only option was to wait for a callback. I insisted on speaking with his supervisor, Keewana, who restored my cable TV but not my internet. I had to call back and speak with Nirvana, Muhammad (who hung up on me) and Shasta before my internet access was finally restored. I was able to start my day at lunchtime. (I learned my phone service had also been suspended – I could only make calls to Comcast – but that too was restored after a frustrating delay.)

That’s 15 – yes, 15 – different Comcast employees and several hours worth of stress and aggravation.

I utilize the internet connection for my job. I can’t send and receive messages and documents, reference relevant web sites or communicate with contacts when there is no internet connection. It’s not merely an inconvenience like losing cable TV; it affects my livelihood.

I realize this is a First World problem, there’s no such thing as customer service anymore, and now that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that corporations are people, Comcast is free to be a heartless, bullying, grossly incompetent jackass with no repercussions. Still, it would be nice if someone in the Comcast labyrinth gave a rat’s behind about how you detrimentally affect the lives of those who pay hard-earned money for substandard service and significant stress. If I could bill you for the time and aggravation you cost me, you’d owe me a big ol’ chunk of change.

Thanks for the worst “customer experience” I’ve had in 51 years on Planet Earth.

Sincerely,

Patrick Diehl