Comcast’s Version of Customer Service

I have Comcast’s business Internet service, and I love it. I can’t remember ever having an issue with it. I have 8-10 mbps down, and 1 mbps up for $160 per month. The problem is I’m not supposed to have that. You see, I called in two months ago and downgraded to their 6-8 mbps down/768K up package for $100 per month because the other package was overkill and I’ve been on a cost-cutting kick lately.

Here’s how the downgrade process worked:

1. Login to my account, look around to see if I can change my package online. Apparently I can’t. By the way, my account is a business account, not a personal account. This will be important later.

2. Call the number listed under support. I choose the “Internet service” option from the phone menu.

3. Talk to a customer service rep and explain that I want to downgrade.

4. After a few minutes, the customer service rep says “Ohhhh…you’re a corporate customer, this is the personal Internet service department, I’ll need to transfer you.” This is confusing since I called the support number listed on the webpage I accessed through my business account, and on the phone menu there was no “corporate” option. It just said “Internet users press 3.”

5. I am transferred to the corporate department. I explain my situation, again, and the woman says she has downgraded my service. I thank her and that’s the end of things.

Two months later, I’m still being charged $160/month. So I call up again. I choose the same option. I am told, again, that I called the personal department and I need to talk to the corporate department (why oh why don’t they display the phone number for the corporate department in my corporate account web portal?), and I’m transferred to the corporate department…except the corporate department is too busy. So the guy tells me he’ll take a message and have someone call me when they’re available.

I leave my number. The next day, I do not get a call. The day after that, I do not get a call. A week goes by and no phone call. Today, I got a phone call! Well, a voicemail, rather. “Hi Josh, this is Joel with Comcast. I got a referral from somebody saying you’re interested in our services, and I’m on my way to your office to talk with you about what we may have available in your area. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

Hmmm, this is puzzling. At first I figure that perhaps it’s a coincidence. Maybe it has nothing to do with the support call I placed to downgrade my service. But the more I think about it the less it makes sense that they would actually drive out to my office if this were just a random sales call. They must have actually got some sort of real referral, and I don’t know how they would have gotten a legitimate referral from anyone else but this support guy I talked to.

I end up receiving two more voicemails. One saying that they’re in my neighborhood but can’t find my office. Another saying they found me, but I’m not there, but that service is indeed available in my area.

To sum up, I called to downgrade my service so I could save some money. Comcast agrees to downgrade my account, but they don’t. When I call up to get it fixed, the people who can fix the issue are “too busy” to talk to me. The message I leave with them results, not in a phone call back, but in a salesman driving to my house, unsolicited, to offer me services I already have. Go figure. Good thing I love the service, otherwise I’d be rather put out, but instead I’m just bemused.