Yearly Archives: 2015

A Letter to Comcast Corporate Customer Complaint Resolution Dept. of September 18, 2015:

My exposure to the Byzantine Corporate Comcast complaint resolution process, subjected me to a gauntlet of incompetence, incoherence and arrogance. All too familiar to many customers. Comcast’s  corporate resolution ‘team’ reeked with arrogance and disdain. I found their rote arguments against, for essentially fair customer treatment, shallow, condescending and without merit—legal or otherwise.

The reason I have tendered this most recent complaint is a very simple one. Comcast has been placed on notice that I and others, “Are mad as hell…and we’re not going to take this anymore.” A Howard Beale moment, sprouting a website

howardbeale.org

as a national repository and clearing center for complaints against Comcast to influence and otherwise help convince the various local Franchising authorities to take affirmative regulatory action against Comcast’s arbitrary and unfair rates and business practices.

Comcast has awakened a sleeping giant of public outrage, with its callous disregard for customer satisfaction, lack of fairness with customers, exorbitant rate structure, and its now highly documented dubious business practices.

It is now very obvious to me, and others, that Comcast clearly is not capable of voluntary internal reform. Comcast just doesn’t get it…

So it will have to be imposed upon Comcast. As a former executive with TCI cable, a regional manager, I am well acquainted with how to approach franchising authorities to exert pressure on the franchisee. It will start here in the Pacific NW and spread nationally.

In the meantime I will forcefully campaign locally for a revision in the Franchise agreement, along with spearheading an effort to BOYCOTT COMCAST CABLE TV SERVICE.

You will soon be receiving many many demands for out-of-service credit, by virtue of customers monitoring Comcast internet service with automated software, logging and documenting every outage and fluctuation of bandwidth, in as little as 5 second intervals.

I see no point whatsoever in having further dialogue with Comcast. I will not waste my valuable time any further in dealing with Comcast’s risible so-called customer service.

And be advised that if there is even the slightest hint of any retribution against me personally by Comcast, in the form of degradation of service, etc. it will be detected, documented  and referred to the proper enforcement agency, including the FCC—with a forceful legal response seeking general and punitive damages.

Keep up your arbitrary and excessive rate structure, and you’ll soon find yourself regulated as utility,  like telephone, which essentially internet service has evolved to and which I and others will forcefully pursue.

You can now close this complaint. As, unless and until Comcast is willing to revise its arrogant and high-handed corporate mentality, we have nothing further to discuss…until the next complaint filed through the local franchising authority.

Sincerely, Another Dissatisfied Customer

Note:

With regard to the up-time and quality of internet service (bandwidth) I have installed a program which monitors the actual cable modem, creating an outage log. Here’s the one that I currently use…with a free trial, thereafter a one charge of $9.95.  It’s a small program(MS Window only) easy to setup and use, running in the background. I have no business or other relationship with this product.

Net Uptime Monitor

Since installing it on September 3rd over about two weeks, I have logged over 34 outages, and various bandwidth deficiencies, (logged after the big windstorm)…ranging from several seconds to 15-20 minutes in duration. At some point when enough of these specific outages, and deteriorated services are documented and reported to the local Franchising authority, they should be forced to take action against Comcast. Hopefully prompting a review of the franchise agreements, adding enforceable performance provisions, conditions and covenants to hold Comcast accountable for their poor service etc. Ultimately assessing per occurrence penalties against Comcast for violation of contractual/Franchise obligation.

Also, with this logged info you can pursue an out-of-service credit for internet with Comcast.

If one’s service is bundled with broadband internet, and you are threatened with a rate increase or contract liquidation penalties, I would advise you contact your local Franchising, the City of Bellingham or Whatcom County authority to intervene on your behalf to complain that Comcast is violating it contractual obligation to provide consistent and quality service, including customer service, seeking relief from such punitive actions by Comcast.

Those demands will also be forwarded to the franchising authority documenting the inferior, shoddy service in violation of the Franchise agreement, and the inadequate response from Comcast to remedy it. Pressure will be brought to bear to the local government to assess monetary penalties against Comcast for each occurrence thereafter.

Comcast possess a virtual monopoly on broadband internet in most of its markets. It is demonstrative of the Corporate Hubris of monopolistic/oligopolistic large corporations, that continue to gobble up competitors: the corporate concentration and consolidation of media, both content and delivery…resulting in an ABSENCE OF AN EFFICIENT COMPETITIVE ALTERNATIVE IN THE MARKETPLACE.

In the absence of an efficient competitive alternative for broadband internet, there is one service that Comcast does offer, where more than one efficient competitive alternative does exist to Comcast’s Cable TV service. One way you can send a direct message to Comcast…to where it hurts. It would become very expensive for Comcast to lose customers in mass…for this corporation, where customer value and retention is paid only hollow lip service—taken for granted.

DBS (Direct Broadcast Service) offers that alternative. This should not be construed as a promo for DBS, but rather to enlighten others of available alternatives. I make no recommendation as to either Directv or Dishnet. However I currently have Directv. The rates are highly competitive with Comcast, and from my own experience, the service is much more reliable, the video quality superior, as it is delivered directly by satellite to your service location without the issue of land-line distribution electronic artifacts and disruption from windstorms etc.

Comcast Rate Increase in Oct. 2015 3.4% and 4.3% in Pacific NW.

Comcast’s indisputable record for bad business practices is clearly documented here with FCC customer complaints logs…over 2000 in a 3 month period.

FCC Log 2,200+ Complaints: April-June 2015

Join us in BOYCOTTING COMCAST CABLE!

Here’s the failure log for Comcast over an 18 days period over 30 outages.

Net Uptime Monitor Failure Log (NetUptimeMonitor.com)
Licensed to mak
Failure Start                          Length hh:mm:ss
9/3/2015 10:20:14 AM      0:00:17
9/3/2015 10:38:52 AM      0:18:26
9/5/2015 3:10:29 PM        0:10:19
9/5/2015 3:21:31 PM        0:11:46
9/5/2015 3:34:00 PM        0:00:07
9/5/2015 3:55:21 PM        0:02:39
9/5/2015 3:58:08 PM        0:01:07
9/7/2015 4:50:36 PM        0:00:07
9/7/2015 5:08:11 PM        0:00:08
9/10/2015 3:47:43 PM      0:00:07
9/10/2015 3:48:50 PM      0:00:04
9/10/2015 3:58:13 PM      0:00:15
9/11/2015 3:23:53 PM      0:00:09
9/11/2015 3:57:23 PM      0:00:08
9/11/2015 3:57:38 PM      0:06:42
9/12/2015 10:41:08 AM   0:00:04
9/12/2015 10:41:24 AM   0:00:02
9/12/2015 3:52:42 PM      0:00:22
9/12/2015 5:45:58 PM      0:02:45
9/13/2015 3:02:28 PM      0:00:36
9/13/2015 3:03:11 PM      0:01:05
9/16/2015 4:36:30 AM      0:00:03
9/16/2015 4:44:15 AM      0:00:13
9/16/2015 4:44:56 AM      0:00:13
9/16/2015 5:04:51 AM      0:00:04
9/16/2015 5:17:12 AM      0:00:03
9/16/2015 5:28:07 AM      0:00:02
9/16/2015 5:29:23 AM      0:00:02
9/16/2015 5:30:08 AM      0:00:05
9/17/2015 6:20:11 PM      0:00:13
9/19/2015 7:11:56 PM      0:00:08
9/19/2015 7:12:11 PM      0:00:29
9/20/2015 7:54:21 AM      0:00:02
9/21/2015 2:52:53 PM      1:04:05