After more than six months, we're finally getting the dual-tuner DVR Comcast promised us!
I decided to broach the subject while on the phone paying the cable bill. We'd been waiting since we moved here to get this particular item, which I'm told is in very short supply nationwide because of the high demand (at least, that's what I've been told). I've called every month to find out what the holdup was, and every time I called I got the same story: we didn't anticipate the demand, there weren't enough units to go around, blah blah blah...
At one point about a month ago we were promised one within a week. My wife stayed at home the whole week, waiting for installers to arrive when I'm sure she had other things she wanted to do. So this time I've had it.
I call to pay the bill, and after finally getting a live operator (who attempted to charge me $1.99 for the transaction, which I said I'd be more than happy to pay if I were in fact getting $1.99 worth of service from Comcast) I raised the issue. She said she'd transfer me to the complaint department, and I ended up in the automated payment system. I called Comcast back, and demanded the direct number to the complaint desk, which was supplied by a different operator.
I call this number, and explain my situation. After a rather lengthy hold, I'm told that I am indeed on the list to get a dual-tuner DVR. I asked how far up the list we are, and the operator here couldn't tell me. The operator also said that they were still trying to overcome the backlog from Christmas, which didn't fly with me because we'd been on the list since September and should have been ahead of the Christmas people. Do people who work in call centers not think about what they're saying? Is this a job requirement or something that happens as their brain cells are eroded?
I couldn't overcome my astonishment that Comcast hasn't mastered technology the DMV and the Post Office implemented decades ago—the 'take a number and wait for it to be called' system, better known as 'first in/first out'. There's no point in having a waiting list if the customer can't find out his relative position on the list!
I let the complaint operator know this, too, and I asked for someone in charge. That individual is apparently much higher up in the food chain than anyone else I've dealt with, and his name is Alan Austin. (Alan, if you're reading this somehow, you know I have your number. And I can get your GPS coordinates if necessary) Alan put me on hold for another geological epoch. I think I saw glaciers erode the Santa Ana Mountains to a flat plain in the distance as I waited. I'm pretty sure the North Celestial Pole precessed as well.
At the end of that wait, he informs me that I can have the DVR within the next four days if I take our single-tuner DVR to the local Comcast office for the exchange. He also said I can refer the local customer service staff to him if there are any problems. I thanked him for his assistance.
A few hours later I get a call from the local office, informing me that I can pick up the unit on Friday between 9 AM and 7 PM. Apparently the shortage only exists as long as the customer believes it exists...
(BTW, I managed to get that $1.99 charge reversed as well.)
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