So, at the conclusion of my tech travails in mid-December, I said:
[I]n the first I am sure of many installments regarding customer service, Comcast scheduled installation for this morning between 8 and 10. At 11, I called, and the computer told me that my appointment was for 10:30 to 12:30. Okay. At 12:35 I called and got a person - to their credit - who spoke something very much like my language and she told me the install guy was running late. Once he did show up (only 10 minutes later), he was pretty quick and thorough, despite having what appeared to be prison tattoos.
So, a week ago I come home and the internet connection is not working. Here we go, I thought, and called Comcast. Here's the timeline:
4:18 p.m. Placed first call to internet tech support.
4:20 p.m. Call disconnected.
4:22 p.m. Placed second call to internet tech support. Reached James, who tells me my account is not active because my installation was canceled. I tell him installation took place on December 15th and I had been happily using the service until that very day. He is nonplussed, then offers to transfer me to billing.
4:30 p.m. Am placed on hold as I am transferred to billing. I emerge in billing's voicemail system, but eventually reach Tiffany. Tiffany also says my installation had been canceled, and I explain that is not true, the install guy came out, he installed it, and I paid him $33. That's when she stopped me.
"He asked for money?"
"Yes, he said I had to pay $33; I gave it to him in cash."
"Oh, no," Tiffany said.
You know, other than the prison tattoos, the install guy did set off my alarm bells. First of all, he looked like an opiates guy; maybe heroin, more likely oxy. Second, he said he had been doing this for 15 years, but he didn't look a day over 30. Third, he was very concerned I secure my password "because there were a lot of people out there who would rip you off." Fourth, I hadn't expected to have to pay, so I had only $32 in my wallet, and he started to say "Oh, that's alright" while reaching for it, when I produced the last dollar in change. Now, what bill collector accepts a payment that's a buck short? So should I have known? Yep. Did I care? Nope, because the internet was working, and that's all I wanted. What apparently happened is this guy got a job with Comcast, then did a sort of bust-out operation where he installed people's cable and collected cash, but didn't turn in the paperwork on the installation.
4:40 p.m. Tiffany corrects my account info and very apologetically explains she has to transfer me back to internet tech support to turn the connection back on. Places me on hold. Comes back a minute later to again apologize and say it would be just a little longer. Back on hold another minute, then returns to hand me off directly to a live internet tech support person, Tiu (or Tu, I didn't get a spelling).
4:48 p.m. Tiu walks me through setting up the modem and making sure my account has the right MAC address.
5:02 p.m. Internet connection working again.
I don't blame Comcast at all for the perfidy of the install guy; on the other hand, they corrected the problem in less than 45 minutes, and aren't charging me for the first month. Plus, the 6 Mb service has been awesome.
Grade for the incident: A.
Overall grade so far: A.
Three words for you: Change. Your. Locks.
Better hope this guy doesn't come after you for unraveling his scheme.
Posted by: Phillybits | January 03, 2008 at 01:01 PM
You're the second person to have that reaction. He wasn't a thug, he was a junkie. He pulled the scam because he doesn't do violence. Anyway, I didn't unravel the scheme; the scheme unraveled because it was time-limited by design. The whole idea is to scam as much money as you can before people catch on.
Posted by: Mithras | January 03, 2008 at 01:12 PM
I guess I would suggest that you change your passwords all over the place, but I imagine you've already done that.
Posted by: Michele | January 03, 2008 at 07:13 PM