The following was my further response to them. And again this might not apply to all of you out there but this has been my experience.

Dear Lucille Quinton:

Thank you for your acknowledgement and confirmation of receipt of my concerns. I don’t know if this actually means the Vice President himself knows about this or maybe this might be just another shield of not wanting this to actually get to him. Nonetheless, my efforts to broadcast the culture and attitude at COMCAST will continue until someone begins to understand that the ‘status quo’ of service is upside down in your organization.

Further to the already mentioned issues, it might be of interest to you to know that I also received treats from some members of your staff regarding my audacity to bring these issues to the public. Certainly, I have no intention of stopping and I have even put my attorneys on alert regarding some of these threats as I think that all consumers need to know the truth about the service culture in your company. Some of those who are already customers have also alluded to these and many issues of a defunct software that you currently use, the backward customer service exuded by your staff; the too many apologies you make without much action to rectify the root causes of your failures in service.

As I write this email; for example, I have just received yet another marketing flyer at my home address trying to invite me to add more services with you, despite my having called you and visited your offices personally and given instructions not to send me any mail or bills to my home address but rather to my mail box which you now have in your system but that has fallen on deaf ears; even in the light of the empty promises. How pathetic is this! It is frustrating and unacceptable by all standards whatsoever.

I was also recently forced to pay more than I was supposed to pay on 3/10/08 an amount of $88.01 when my bill was not even due and should have been only $65.21 after I cancelled the additional services that I had ordered and was told that everything had been reversed to what it was before ordering the additional services. This was even done by one of your supervisors by the name of Joe (LJJ) but I guess as expected of your kind of service he did not do as he promised.

I cannot also understand why my due date was ever changed in the first place from the 26th to the 15th unilaterally. And this whole idea of blaming it on software that was installed and can be manipulated by you; is just a ‘scapegoat’ of lack of responsiveness on your part.

This is totally ridiculous and I will not be taken for a ride by a company that does not care about doing business in a professional and accommodating way. Please be advised.

Sincerely,

That being said, one point that should be made about the way Comcast is billing. There is no explanation from businesses that do this because almost all businesses bill the same way. The fixed costs are billed in advance, variable costs are billed afterwards. There are very few businesses that do it any other way. It is not explained because almost all repeating bills in life are this way. Businesses are confused at complaints about this the way you would be confused by complaints that water is wet. Your phone bills are this way, line charge in advance, toll calls afterwards. Most repeating internet-based services are that way also. Natural gas and electric are based on variable-consumption models and are billed afterwards.

The upshot is that when you contract for any fixed-repeating monthly service, the first bill is always larger than the rest will be.

Hmmm. I find myself standing up for Comcast, s the world ending?

1. Rick Germano joined the Executive Team as Senior Vice President of Customer Service in October
2. We started our listening tour meeting with Customers and employees regarding their experiences (good, bad and ugly). You can view what we refer to as Rick’s Notes from the Road to read about some of these visits:

http://www.comcast.com/Corporate/Customers/RickGRoadTrip.html

This will soon be updated from our trip this week to Houston

3. Hiring additional staffing to better assist our Customers
4. Added new technology to allow better communication with out technicians. This will also provide them the tools necessary to ensure they are able to fully assist the Customer.

Beyond all of this we are working to improve the training to our staff and developing other tools to make sure we can better assist our valued Customers. We are active in the blogosphere because of the additional feedback we have been able to obtain.

Thank you again for the feedback!

Frank Eliason
Comcast Executive Offices

The monopoly lasts but so long until new technology arrives.

I’d like to know with the advent of FIOS becoming available in more areas, what are you doing to actually retain your customers? I appreciate your presence on this post but what is Comcast actually planning to do in order to improve their customer service? Firing them won’t work if your managers and supervisors are of the same cloth. What are the higher ups doing about changing their attitudes towards their customers? That is the question I’d like answered.

@ Flexo, VZ Wireless explained the issue to us upfront so Ive never had any issues with them about double billing.

Ginger – Thank you for the feedback. If people are not service oriented, they need to find different employment, at the same time I believe the majority of our team are the right people, but we need to make sure they have the right tools to assist the Customer right during the first interaction. We need to look at every aspect of the Customer Experience and make sure we provide our team the right tools to get it right, without creating policies or procedures that further hinder the experience.

Afriq – I know I will not be able to change your opinion via this blog, but hopefully the actions you see over the next year convince you otherwise. I walk in our Customer’s shoes everyday, and I strive to learn from it and work with our leaders to improve our organization based on our findings.

Mike – I agree and I apologize that we created that experience for you.

Thank you all for the feedback!

Frank Eliason
Comcast Executive Offices

I was billed for a cable modem rental that was incorrect. The customer service person stated that there records only went back 6 months and since I had service for 6+ months they COULD NOT make the adjustment over the phone. They could have easily handed the problem to a manager to research and then call me back. Instead they stated I would need to go into a service location in person with my documentation. So grudgingly I went in with my paper work showing my MAC adress for my OWNED modem. They did not even bother to look at my paper work and was ready to adjust my bill by returning the charges. This was NICE but then made me LIVID that I even had to drive into the bleeping service center. I admit I lost my cool and professionalism. The manager came from behind the two-way mirror and asked me if everything was OK. I said I had no problem with the counter attendant but with the horrible customer service that brought me into the center.

Instead of a 15 minute call to return my $36.00 for the rented modem charge. They ended up compensating me for 1 months billing for TV+Internet along with my rental charge.

I would have been satisfied with them just correcting the billing mistake in 15 minutes in the first place. MY TIME AND EFFORTS ARE IMPORTANT.

Caveat Emptor – Buyer Beware!!!

I am thinking about trying Qwests internet but am hesitant to switch from TV service.

So many customer service complains would be solved by fully explaining catch-up billing. This would stop people from “freaking out” when their first bill — or their first bill after changing service plans — comes with a hefty fee much higher than expected.

@ Comcast Cares-Please fire your entire customer service department including the managers and then start from scratch. Need a suggestion? Chat with the folks who implement and manage Verizon Wireless’ customer service department.

http://www.comcast.com/customerservice

While you are there, if you do need assistance or have additional feedback, please send a message through our ‘Ask Rick’ program. On the right hand side of the page is a link to send your feedback to Rick Germano, Senior VP for Customer Service Operations.

Thank you for the feedback!

Frank Eliason
Comcast Executive Offices

On January 26 I ordered my comcast service (Internet & TV) and my bill was supposed to be $ 65.21. But when my first bill came it was about $151.56 and they said this was because of equipment charges and all which had not been even mentioned in the first place. Their customer service said this was because of charging in advance.

But on my next bill it was again double and they also unilaterally changed my due date to the 15th instead of keeping at the 26th monthly. I again called them to find out what was going on but they told me there’s nothing they can do about changing the due date and they keep adding charges. To make matters worse, I spoke to a customer service agent who was very rude and when I asked to speak to a supervisor she refused telling me that there was no need for me to speak to one. I told her how unprofessional she was conducting herself and she went as far as making threats at me like she knew where I stayed which was really scary and uncalled for. I hung up with frustration.

I then called again and asked to speak to a supervisor who said his name was Joe at their Everette Center in Washington since I live in Lynnwood. Then Joe said he does not understand why the due date was changed and there was nothing he could do about changing it; but he would try to investigate and come back to me. He never did! I called again but each time you speak to a different person they just make promises that they don’t keep. Up until now, I am still getting double on my bill with hidden charges that are contrary to what they advertise and promise. I have never experienced such a lousy customer service and a rip off. As consumers we have to do something about companies like COMCAST who have a monopoly in most areas and will do whatever they can to milk us of our hard earned money. There is no accountability on the part of their staff and they just don’t care at all and most of them are just rude and lie all the time. We have to find a way to break their monopoly somehow. I want to WARN YOU ALL OUT THERE TO STAY AWAY from COMCAST!!!

Any suggestions anyone please? Thanks!

*straightens up self after outburst*

Excuse me, Comcast just strikes a nerve sometimes. Instead of trying to FIX the problem, they have people romaing the internet to address the complaints. Here’s a tip-FIX the problem!