I set up an account for my daughter back in 2007 for Cable and Internet Service only, for her first apartment at school. I was told the monthly bill would come to $79.00 plus one time installation of around $40.00 and taxes. Which would be added to her first bill. Since the account was set up in her name and bills sent to her I never saw them. Fast forward a year to late August and the addition of room mate to share costs. Her new roommate reports that based on her monthly bill of $120.00 ($60 each) she should have a landline included in that monthly fee. So my daughter calls Comcast and asked why am I paying for a (triple play) when I don't even have a landline? When she explained she never had the phone service and requested a refund for a years worth of over payments based on their billing, they offered to give her a phone number and credit her account $20.00 a month for 1 year. So she took the offer.
I mailed her a spare phone I had here back in Mid September.By early October her phone no number no longer worked, nor did her cable reception or internet. When she called Comcast and was told someone would come out to fix the problem no one showed up. Admittedly she did have to run downstairs to a laundry room during this time so they may have showed up then, but never left a note saying they were there or tried to reach her by her cell number which was on the contact info.in any event she called yet again and just wanted the bills and the refund for her years worth of overpayments. However once again she was offered a deal, two additional converter boxes free for one year in addition to the initial offer. The phone service was restored immediately and within days the FREE boxes arrived. FINE all was put right and life moved forward. WRONG!
Now comes the November bill due December 3rd and not only is the phone still not working but neither is the cable or the internet, all this for a whopping $160 bucks a month! Now I get involved explain the entire thing from day one when service was started by me, and explain what I had contracted for.initial all I asked for was Cable and Internet only, she was already in a family cell phone plan and I wanted to keep her costs down. I was told during this call by customer service that she was put on a promotional plan and since it was now over after 1 year of service her rates went up. I explained she never had the phone until a little over a month ago and the boxes were just recently installed weeks earlier; there was nothing to justify this huge price increase. I also went into what she was told in earlier calls. Apparently she was now being charged for the additional boxes and the phone services as if she had them all from day one! After spending some time with them they supposedly corrected the bill took off the additional boxes and added the phone credit back bring the bill down to $114.00 a month including taxes. I was told she could just send in that amount with her December bill and the adjustments would show up on the next billing cycle. However I failed to get a credit for the 3 weeks she had no service at all. But I was willing to settle this just so we could all move on with our lives.
Now comes December 08 and her bill is here again. Only this time it's a whopping $180.00!!! NOTHING HAS BEEN CHANGED, in fact it's up almost $30.00 more then the previous bill. It looks as if the unpaid balance from last months bill has rolled over to the new statement and nothing has been credited at all. She is still being charged for the phone and the boxes.
So yet again in a conference all with Comcast my daughter and I over the holidays we had to go through this dog and pony show yet again. While the first customer service agent was helpful, he had to transfer me to a higher authority who basically told me I could cancel my service if I was that unhappy with it. I told her I wanted the bill adjusted and they could take the two boxes out, and reduce the bill. They would be happy to do that but it would cost $11.00 for someone to come out and remove the boxes. WHAT THE *K? Instead we opted to return them to their center, which costs nothing. Lets hope they don't charge her for something else in the mean time. The bill currently is back down to $114.00 per month, however Comcast has managed to rip us off for 11 months worth of service for which we never agreed nor wanted; yet paid for. No phone credit gone, no extra boxes, gone. We shall see what the next bill looks like. I can hardly wait!
Comcast customer service at the level I needed for results was rude, ineffective, and condescending and even implied that I was lying to them, by saying Comcast would never provide free services to anyone. Then Comcast should refund the overpayments that were made for over a year. I know they like most places, document all calls in your client history this women swore to me there were no notes made about anything free or any phone calls indicating that all that was ever ordered was the basics! No doubt their sales reps make commission on these packages, which is why my request went from a simple basic request to an actual promotional plan. Is it any wonder there isn't a note somewhere in her client history! What Comcast doesn't know is I too take notes whenever I engage in new services so my notes from June clearly indicate otherwise. However only their notes and terms are considered valid and any notes their customers may take about conversations with them are irrelevant. After all we're just paying customers right?
It's unfortunate that the local cable company has such a monopoly on the market. Comcast's billing practices are horrendous and very unfair to the very people they serve. They don't even put due dates on their bills unless your payment reaches them by the print date of the next bill. So you run the risk of never knowing when the bill is due if your payment gets there after the bills are printed but before their due date.in additional since they do that if your next payment once again crosses in the mail, their system will automatically assess you a late fee since now, according to them, you are 30 days late with your bill. I am familiar with this practice because I travel a lot and don't always have a change to sit down and get bills mailed before the next print date. Comcast is the only company I know of that does not include a due date when this happens. They are also difficult to reach and could care less about their customers. Think first before you get sucked into one of their deals, or assume they are working with you on fixing any problems. Comcast owes my daughter about $40 for the 12-month period she over paid for services she never received ($480.00). I have no doubt neither she nor I will ever see it even if we have proof they owe her.
Buyer beware!
Genie
Lusby, Maryland
U.S.A.
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