Comcast's Customer Service May Actually Be Improving

[Megalith]

I guess there is nowhere to go other than up if your ratings are already abysmal. Comcast has been spending a lot of time in Oregon to push some kind of customer service renaissance, demonstrating everything from new testing tools to physical locations where disgruntled customers can get help face to face. Data shows that complaints have fallen from 572 to 343 over a four-year period.

In the second year of Comcast's broad customer service overhaul, complaints to Oregon cable regulators are down 25 percent. They've also declined 40 percent since 2014. Complaints are falling nationally, too, according to the highly regarded American Customer Satisfaction Index. Its most recent report showed a surge in Comcast subscriber satisfaction, to its highest point since 2001. "We would say there's something there, it's real impact," said Forrest Morgeson, ACSI's Director of Research. Two years ago, Comcast made Oregon the test bed for its customer service push, responding both to disparaging headlines and the prospect of growing competition from other telecom companies and from streaming video services.

 

[Damar]

When you're rock bottom you've got nowhere to go but up.... or start digging to China I guess.

 

[Axehandler]

When you're rock bottom you've got nowhere to go but up.... or start digging to China I guess.

unless your United....
then you toss more passengers off to get higher

 

[Mohonri]

For a smart consumer, though, Comcast can be a decent option. We've been with them for about 2 years for internet only, and it's hard to complain. It's been reliable, up to advertised speeds, and we haven't run into the billing surprises that other people report. They *do* call a couple times a year to try and upsell us, but it's easy enough to say no. And once per year I call and tell them we want to cancel, so they'll offer to keep us on the "new customer" discount.

 

[bman212121]

Nope, they are as bad as ever. They probably just stopped picking up the phone entirely. That will make the number of complaints go down!

 

[Teenyman45]

For a smart consumer, though, Comcast can be a decent option. We've been with them for about 2 years for internet only, and it's hard to complain. It's been reliable, up to advertised speeds, and we haven't run into the billing surprises that other people report. They *do* call a couple times a year to try and upsell us, but it's easy enough to say no. And once per year I call and tell them we want to cancel, so they'll offer to keep us on the "new customer" discount.

Then you've had an unusually lucky run with Comcast. (1) The company kept trying to bill me for renting a modem from them, except I owned that modem and even when I would go to their local office and produce the physical receipt for the modem it would only be a temporary situation. Being threatened with collections after I cancelled service for failing to give them MY modem was an interesting fight at their local office;

(2) Rather than properly install cable ports, the "installer" just drilled a bunch of holes in the walls of the condo I was renting and ran ran extra splitter s from the one working outlet;

(3) I had abysmal ping times which continued even after buying a house with working outlets that did not require splitters; the internet signal kept dropping for hours to days at a time;

(4) Instead of loading a high-def channel comcast had their boxes set to stretch a 640x480 picture to wide screen and cut the lower portion of the pixels (having the screen cut to not show the Comedy Central logo was pretty obvious). On-site techs confirmed this was Comcast's version of "high definition" for many channels even when the box was displaying that 1080p was selected;

(5) Even once proper higher definition channels were slowly being rolled out, the signal was only 1080i, despite, again, the box listing it as 1080p;

(6) I missed more than half a dozen days of work over the years from when technicians flaked on showing up;

and (7) amongst other more minor problems, comcast repeatedly tore up my lawn... which considering my house was about 50 feet from a block-wide switch box meant I should have had a great signal.

Nope, they are as bad as ever. They probably just stopped picking up the phone entirely. That will make the number of complaints go down!

This is almost certainly the more accurate take on the situation.

(Edit) almost forgot to add that once my HOA began negotiating with a new service provider for a multi-year contract and started to make serious motions about switching, speeds tripled, more high def channels were suddenly 1080i (still not Comedy Central or Adult Swim though), and my internet connection once went nearly a full week without serious down time; which was all still rather pathetic.

 

[Xrave]

I almost always go to an actual Comcast store location for purchasing/plan modifications. Service has always been excellent. The other nice thing I've noticed over the years is that the in-store locations always have better deals than signing up online, on phone, or with the third party contract services you see at places like Frys, etc.

 

[Axehandler]

(2) Rather than properly install cable ports, the "installer" just drilled a bunch of holes in the walls of the condo I was renting and ran ran extra splitter s from the one working outlet;

Your condo probably wouldn't allow proper installation, if you looked at the "allowed" on the limits your condo placed, I bet this was one of the few options that your condo allowed...

(4) Instead of loading a high-def channel comcast had their boxes set to stretch a 640x480 picture to wide screen and cut the lower portion of the pixels (having the screen cut to not show the Comedy Central logo was pretty obvious). On-site techs confirmed this was Comcast's version of "high definition" for many channels even when the box was displaying that 1080p was selected;

What year was this? 2010? Comcast has had HD Comedy Central and Cartoon Network forever.... Unless you were actually on the SD channel...

(5) Even once proper higher definition channels were slowly being rolled out, the signal was only 1080i, despite, again, the box listing it as 1080p;

Boxes are capable outputting a 1080p picture. Problem is/was most content providers broadcast 1080i.

(6) I missed more than half a dozen days of work over the years from when technicians flaked on showing up;

NEVER ACCEPTABLE!

(7) amongst other more minor problems, comcast repeatedly tore up my lawn... which considering my house was about 50 feet from a block-wide switch box meant I should have had a great signal.

Repeatable? Did they replace the line to your house every 3 months or something?


---

I'm not defending, I *HONESTLY* hate when a installer "pretends" to have arrived at my house *WHILE* I am sitting on the front porch and he waved at me as he drove by. Then calls in and says I was not home. (yes this happened to me)

That is an unacceptable issue with the tech. but some of these "issues with comcast" don't sound like had anything to do with comcast.

Axe

 

[Krazy925]

With Comcast it either works or it doesn't.

I've had addresses with internet issues they never could get figured out. My place in Oakland has been literally perfect for 6 months. Comcast is still a piece of shit and the first sign of issues I'm finding someone else.

 

[dgingeri]

Their customer service has improved. Their support people can actually do things now.

Before, they didn't have the authority or power to do anything besides try to flatten ruffled feathers. They'd have to get supervisor's permission to make any changes in bills, and even that was very limited. In addition, canceling an account meant going through their cancellations department, where the agents were literally on the hook with their very jobs for getting people to stay. If they had more than half of their calls actually getting cancelled, they'd get fired. They'd get written up for having more than two full cancellations in a month. That's the big thing that cost Comcast so much bad press. Management would badly punish employees for things they had no control over, so the employees frequently would not cancel people, enrolling them in other programs and continuing to bill them because they didn't want to get fired. The CEO finally fired the idiot who came up with that plan, and the restrictions on the other support people, and got someone else in there who actually knows what customer service actually is, and has some small appreciation for the employees. Granted, he's still a typical executive, with very little regard for employees, but he's at least better than the previous idiot. (BTW, that previous idiot was the nephew of one of the members of the board, so it took a LOT to get him fired.)

Now, the support people can actually make changes to billing, but of course it is subject to review by management. So they can't just go an do anything they want. At least it doesn't require climbing through management to get anything changed now. Plus they no longer have people getting fired from the cancellation department for things beyond their control, like people moving away from Comcast's territory. So, that part of customer service has actually improved.

The part that hasn't improved is that they still have this stupid idea of sending telemarketers after customers constantly. I still get calls monthly trying to get me to subscribe to cable TV or phone service, which I do not use at all. It's annoying, but they won't stop.

 

[Teenyman45]

(2) Rather than properly install cable ports, the "installer" just drilled a bunch of holes in the walls of the condo I was renting and ran ran extra splitter s from the one working outlet;

Your condo probably wouldn't allow proper installation, if you looked at the "allowed" on the limits your condo placed, I bet this was one of the few options that your condo allowed...

(4) Instead of loading a high-def channel comcast had their boxes set to stretch a 640x480 picture to wide screen and cut the lower portion of the pixels (having the screen cut to not show the Comedy Central logo was pretty obvious). On-site techs confirmed this was Comcast's version of "high definition" for many channels even when the box was displaying that 1080p was selected;

What year was this? 2010? Comcast has had HD Comedy Central and Cartoon Network forever.... Unless you were actually on the SD channel...

(5) Even once proper higher definition channels were slowly being rolled out, the signal was only 1080i, despite, again, the box listing it as 1080p;

Boxes are capable outputting a 1080p picture. Problem is/was most content providers broadcast 1080i.

(6) I missed more than half a dozen days of work over the years from when technicians flaked on showing up;

NEVER ACCEPTABLE!

(7) amongst other more minor problems, comcast repeatedly tore up my lawn... which considering my house was about 50 feet from a block-wide switch box meant I should have had a great signal.

Repeatable? Did they replace the line to your house every 3 months or something?


---

I'm not defending, I *HONESTLY* hate when a installer "pretends" to have arrived at my house *WHILE* I am sitting on the front porch and he waved at me as he drove by. Then calls in and says I was not home. (yes this happened to me)

That is an unacceptable issue with the tech. but some of these "issues with comcast" don't sound like had anything to do with comcast.

Axe

2) The outlets were physically there with the cable jacks present on each faceplate, but upon removing the faceplate there was no wiring, just a cutout for a utility box except in the one working outlet, and no other condo in the building that I knew about had only a single working junction

4) March 2015 was when the HOA switched away and I still did not have a full set of proper high-def channels as of that time

5) Then the box should not have been falsely reporting 1080p and should have instead properly reported 1080i, which was an option on the box or 480 for the cut and stretched channels

7) replaced the line to my house twice in a one year period and in replacing the lines to other houses cris-crossed all over my yard without replacing the sod. After I complained, one of the times they sprinkled some non-matching grass seeds and the sprouts didn't take well.

I noticed you did not comment about the frequent internet issues I was having.

Compare and contrast with my post about my current provider in GenMay where when I called about a problem the reason behind it was immediately addressed. Similarly, back when Adelphia had the local near monopoly (which of course preceded essentially all high-def content) I had none of the generic cable nor internet issues that Comcast allowed to fester.

 

[Axehandler]

I noticed you did not comment about the frequent internet issues I was having.

Compare and contrast with my post about my current provider in GenMay where when I called about a problem the reason behind it was immediately addressed. Similarly, back when Adelphia had the local near monopoly (which of course preceded essentially all high-def content) I had none of the generic cable nor internet issues that Comcast allowed to fester.

well, I didn't want to comment on you internet issues.... being in the tech world for several years, I know that type of problem can be any number of issues. from feed issues to modem issues to PEBKC issues.
For me to assume anything would be silly

I agree the issues should have been resolved quickly and efficiently.

Your comment 5) is odd... I mean I can buy a DVD player with an HDMI output. have it output a 1080P signal while playing a DVD... generally it looks better then watching at 480 and most people prefer it.. to complain a box does the same thing ... to me is odd...

 

[GotNoRice]

Their residential support must suck because they focus all of their effort onto their business accounts. Comcast Business has nothing short of the best customer support of any company I've ever dealt with. Any time I ever had a service issue, it was never longer than one hour from the moment I picked up the phone to the time a Comcast van was in my driveway. Always friendly people who in many cases would give me their business card and tell me to call them directly next time for faster service.

But seriously, to anyone who actually thinks Comcast has bad service... Check out companies like Mediacom, they pretty much define bad customer service.

 

[nutzo]

The part that hasn't improved is that they still have this stupid idea of sending telemarketers after customers constantly. I still get calls monthly trying to get me to subscribe to cable TV or phone service, which I do not use at all. It's annoying, but they won't stop.

I get a crazy amount of advertisements from my internet provider (COX). Direct mail, mass mailings, in the newspaper, etc., at least dozen a week.
Of course I can't get the advertised price, since it's only for new customers
I'd be a happier customer if they would quit spending so much on adds and used the saving to reduce my bill.

Instead I have to call them up and try to cancel my services every year, just to get half the discount new customers get.
Not the way to treat a 20 year customer.

I'm so sick of their price increases every year, I'm ready to switch to Dish or Direct TV even if it doesn't save me much.
AT&T's pricing (for new customers, locked in for 2 years) is about half the current COX pricing. Internet is slower, but still good enough, and the package includes more channels we would actualkly watch.

 

[SnowBeast]

Comcast are shady AF. This is the 3rd time I had to call in 6 months where an "additional Equipment" charge was added to my account for phone equipment that I don't have through them that they are charging me for. In August last year, I signed up for a month to month program, not promotional, because we were moving in October. Soon as they got everything hooked up, a new charge for extra cable box was on my bill next month. Twice that happened. So I called last month since I was still on a month to month payment, no promotion, to get the double play for $79.99. Apparently when I moved in October I was put on a Promotional double play for $119.99+ equipment and taxes. I am still fighting with them on this as I didn't sign or agree to anything when the installer came in October, and its in writing that this was a move only not new installation. Now they are charging me for Voip equipment I don't have! So sick of these bastards but being that them and AT&T are the only ones in the area, they have us over a barrel.

 

[Orddie]

When you're rock bottom you've got nowhere to go but up.... or start digging to China I guess.

ugh.. that's not possible with the earth being flat an all.

 

[Teenyman45]

well, I didn't want to comment on you internet issues.... being in the tech world for several years, I know that type of problem can be any number of issues. from feed issues to modem issues to PEBKC issues.
For me to assume anything would be silly

I agree the issues should have been resolved quickly and efficiently.

Your comment 5) is odd... I mean I can buy a DVD player with an HDMI output. have it output a 1080P signal while playing a DVD... generally it looks better then watching at 480 and most people prefer it.. to complain a box does the same thing ... to me is odd...

If the signal is 480p, the box should display it is 480p. If the signal is 1080i, the box should display that the signal is 1080i. If the signal is 480p, then the box should not be falsely reporting that it is a 1080p, phone reps should not be saying the box is right and I am wrong, and when a "supervisor" admits that box is falsely reporting the quality of the signal that just because the image is stretched and cut that still does not qualify as HD video as, if anything the stretched and cut signal is lower than standard definition.

 

[dgingeri]

If the signal is 480p, the box should display it is 480p. If the signal is 1080i, the box should display that the signal is 1080i. If the signal is 480p, then the box should not be falsely reporting that it is a 1080p, phone reps should not be saying the box is right and I am wrong, and when a "supervisor" admits that box is falsely reporting the quality of the signal that just because the image is stretched and cut that still does not qualify as HD video as, if anything the stretched and cut signal is lower than standard definition.

It's called upconverting, and it does really help.

Advertising the capabilities of the converter box, and the fact that some of their content is really 1080p isn't false advertising. Just because some providers do 1080i and the box upconverts it to 1080p doesn't make it bad, though. Upconverted 1080i to 1080p still looks a heck of a lot better than 1080i alone. Also, it's still pushing a 1080p signal from the box to the TV.

In any case, that's not the issue here.

The issue is that people are being forced into paying exorbitant prices for inferior service because of locally enforced monopolies. Want to know how to stop that? Watch your local political races and vote against the bastards who are funded by Comcast. Comcast spent over $11 million on campaigns for local politicians in 2015 alone. They have these local politicians bought and paid for, and they've sold you out.

You want real 1080p signals from the station to your TV. Stop being a sheep voting for people you see on TV more often and stop ignoring local political elections. Vote for people who will actually make the changes and allow competition in the broadband ISP market.

 

[Teenyman45]

Upconverting is an entirely different process from cutting pixels out of a 480p broadcast (making it effectively a 640x360-ish resolution) and calling the blocky, artifact laden mess 1080p. Using a straight 1080i signal and not doing any post-processing to it while calling it 1080p is also not appropriate.

I did point out the Comcast made a half-assed attempt to improve service once my HOA seriously threatened to switch to a new provider once the neighborhood wide contract reached the end of its term.

 

[Maxx]

The problem for me isn't necessarily in the service but rather that they treat me as another asset in a rent-seeking venture.