in eric's head

"in eric's head" is a tribute to the countless number of great friends in my life who've showered me with an endless supply of laughter. this blog captures what would otherwise be a random "...you won't believe" type of conversation with those near and far from me here in beauty-full San Francisco. :: enjoy and cheers :: eric (erichemedes@gmail.com) BTW, please know that I'm way too lazy to spell check. I NEVER do it. And I'm okay with that. It's not that serious -- really.

January 22, 2009

This complaint letter is dedicated to claire fishburn…

…the one who would appreciate the overall scathing cattiness. Love and miss you!

**Disclaimer**

Please do not read on if:

1. You take life too seriously

2. You can’t acknowledge the value in embellishing certain points of an argument in order to get what you want – (note: again…it’s not that serious)

3. You are easily offended by the extremely melodramatic

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Hello there:

I am writing to express my frustration over the events that unfolded yesterday with my cable installation. Before I begin, please let me state that over the past several years I’ve been a very loyal COMCAST customer. Compared with other cable companies, I’ve found COMCAST to be the most reliable and fair in terms of pricing, customer relations and level of overall service provided. That being said, it was a complete shock to me that I had to experience what I experienced this past Monday.

After setting up the initial appointment for cable installation late in the business week last week, I confirmed on Saturday afternoon that I would be at my apartment between the hours of 12pm – 4pm on Monday, January 19^th. Please note that this past Monday, being a holiday, was the only

day that I was able to be at my apartment for cable to be installed, noting that I work a high-demand full time job that doesn’t allow me the luxury of being home during the week in the name of needing cable installed within our apartment unit. Additionally, I have work travel in the coming weeks that further prevent me from being readily available.

With this in mind, I traveled early in the morning from the North Bay to receive the cable guy within the specified hours of 12pm – 4pm. When 4pm came and went, I called the 1-800 COMCAST number and was told that the technician was a little behind and that he would be at the apartment by 5:30pm at the latest. To me, this wasn’t that big a deal, as I realize these sorts of things happen, and it’s hard to predict when the technician will actually arrive. However, when 5:30 came and went, I grew even more impatient. I subsequently called the 1-800 COMCAST number again and was told by the operator to hold on until she could reach the technician. She was adamant that she’d be right back to provide me with an update. But again, I would find that my concerns weren’t properly being addressed when after 50 minutes of being on hold, I was hung up on. I finally decided to try again via online chat room (note: all transcripts are on record and I can email them to you). The customer rep confirmed all the information, asked

for my contact info, and left it at that. By this time, it was already 6:30 pm, and it wasn’t clear to me what the next steps would be at the time of the online customer rep signing off. You’ll notice from the survey completed that I remarked the session did nothing to settle my concerns and frustration. At last, at about 6:45 I received a call saying that the technician would be there at 7pm, which worked out to be true.

Having gone through that, you’d think that I would finally be okay once the technician arrived. Instead, the technician barely spoke coherent English. He was extremely abrasive. He asked that I connect the cable boxes to the three TV’s that we were having the cable installed on myself. And, to test them! He barked questions like ‘what’s the time?’ He was frustrated that it was taking so long for him to complete the job. And on two separate occasions he made me

go to his truck to help him get stuff. The first occasion, he made me bring up all the boxes and remotes. The second occasion, he made me get the HDTV cords to connect the box to my HDTV.

To add final insult to injury, the HD-DVR I was provided with is really scratched and keeps freezing on me. I had to turn it off by taking the plug out and then turning it on again about 5 times last night. Remote also seems to have what looks like dried food on it. I also DON’T have the Tennis Channel as I had previously requested the Sports Package (note: my request is also document in transcripts I can provide to you). I also need to add another regular box

for my other roommate, since the technician refused to add another box to a new order.

All in all, this is the worst experience I’ve ever had to go through. And the fact that this happened on my day off is inexcusable. As a loyal paying customer, I am writing you to figure out how COMCAST is willing to rectify this situation.

To again bullet point my frustrations:

· Technician did not arrive between 12pm – 4pm

· Technician nor COMCAST provided me with any updates (via cell phone on file) that delays would be happening

· Entire day was lost waiting for technician to arrive

· COMCAST customer phone rep hung up on me after 50 minutes of being on hold

· Failure to fully communicate next steps from online customer rep before logging off

· Abrasive and rude technician

· Technician ordering us to get materials from his truck (note: that’s probably not safe from a liability perspective, having these open for anyone to grab)

· Technician ordering us to test the connected cable

· HD-DVR provided is damaged – it ALWAYS freezes. I had to turn it off by taking the plug out and then turning it on again about 5 times last night.

· Remote also seems to have what looks like dried food on it.

· Channel line-up is incorrect d/t no Tennis Channel

As for required next steps, I would like immediate help me with the following:

· Replacement HD-DVR and remote delivered to my apartment with an ETA provided in advance

· New basic cable box and remote delivered to my apartment with an ETA provided in advance

· Correction to the cable channel line-up so it includes Tennis Channel and only the digital intro channel line-up

As for how to settle the mishap from yesterday, in addition to the above outlined required next steps, I would like COMCAST (at minimum) to waive all the installation costs. As basis for my argument:

1. I had to help in the installation process that I am paying for

2. Bad customer service

3. Rude technician

At this point, I am furious with COMCAST with how this situation unfolded. I almost want to post this entire email on Yelp or other blogs. To that end, I expect a speedy reply to this email in addition to receiving a COMCAST point of view on how you intend to address required next steps and a make-good for yesterday.

Please feel free to contact me as follows.

Thanks for your time.

3 years ago

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