Good day early on, but downhill later. Went to The Common Ground with Susan and Barb and, naturally, had a great time. I'm not crazy about the restaurant: I had a mediocre salad--iceberg lettuce, grape tomatoes, canned olives, teeney-tiny rectangles of American cheese, and not much else, in a bottled dressing--but of course, the company was great. Susan and I reminisced about our bar-hopping days, in and after high school (Barb went in the convent in her sophomore year), and marveled at how we escaped with our lives, considering we regularly got in cars with thoroughly buzzed companions as drivers.
The downside happened about 5:30 when Pat reported that the T.V. had suddenly displayed a black screen with the message "Your Explorer is not authorized to...(do something)" and was otherwise dead. Trying to get in touch with Comcast is such an ordeal and so absolutely frustrating that I can't even describe my mounting sense of helpless fury. I finally gave up trying and turned to the computer. Entered a "chat room," which was just as irritating--had to first type in my name, address, phone number, e-mail address, and a description of the problem. Got somebody to respond and "chatted"--rather, she chatted and I screamed in caps and exclamation points ("WHAT IN THE HELL DO WE PAY YOU PEOPLE $103 A MONTH FOR?!??") and so on.
The upshot was that my new pal, Anna from Comcast, "sent a signal" to the T.V. and it seemed to clear. Of course, I no sooner ended the "chat" than the picture started breaking up and I had to log on again, typing in anew all the info crap I had before.
The whole damn thing was finally resolved, but not before it took ten years off my life (damn! why did I bother losing all that weight?) and made us sit down for dinner a half hour late.
After eating, I cleaned up, set everything up for later popcorn and wine, and breakfast (yes, I always do), then relaxed and got ready for my shower. Noticed a funny piece of something on my upper arm, looked more closely, and--a tick!
You know, after dealing with Comcast, this was a mere nothing. I gave Pat tweezers and he pulled it off, I dropped it in the toilet (where the little nasty started swimming around), and took my shower. After, I talked to my outdoor medical advisor, Alison, who questioned me as to the size of the bug and configuration of the site, and told me what to look for in case of Lyme disease (ho-hum).
Aside from that, all quiet.
11 comments:
Ugh I hate having to deal with phone non people. Do you use, getahuman? It works pretty well.
I think Comcast is way ahead of you there. You can't talk to a person at their regular number--if you press "0," the recording says it doesn't understand, if you try for another number, it loops around. I even called the billing department; the person there helpfully connected me with somebody in San Jose, California--who referred me back to the same number. And so it goes, as one of my favorite writers, Kurt Vonnegut, used to sigh...
I had a similar thing with Hewlett Packard (printer)...kept getting lost in the loop etc. I'd read that someone started yelling profanities into the phone and immediately was connected to a live voice.
I didn't do the same, but when I was asked for the umpteenth time about which HP product I was calling, I automatically yelled....."oh no, not again"..and amazingly I was connected to a live voice. Not sure if it was coincidental or not.
When I finally spoke with a very helpful support tech she suggested whenever I call and the robot starts saying thier various products just say "operator" and I'll get thru.
Maybe that'll work, if I remember to do it.
On behalf of Comcast, I would like to express my sincere apologies for the experience.
We are actively working to improve the service provided to our valued customers. It is this type of experience we have to make sure does not happen in the future. To learn more about our Customer Care Improvements, please visit the following URL:
http://www.comcast.com/Corporate/Customers/customercare.html
Sincerely,
Mark C.
Comcast Executive Offices
We_Can_Help@cable.comcast.com
Who posted the above letter?
Looks like one of those faux websites....so glad they added seating capacity in their call centers. 12,000 new customer service people and techs....11,997 customer service people and 3 new techs who haven't yet learned to use their new laptops.
I am absolutely mistified at that comment! I'm going to look on the internet to find them. It's incredible that they'd comment on my web, obviously after reading my angry entry! Incidentally, I'm STILL waiting for the technician they said would be here between 8 and 12--it's now quarter of two.
This is most interesting.
How'd they even know you have a blog? Is nothing sacred anymore?
This requires investigating...Big Brother is too close for comfort.
Rosemary,
At first I assumed one of your kids was playing around and sent the letter. Now, on second reading it looks legit. Are you going to contact Rick Germano and ask how he learned about your blog? I am very curious now.
Pat, I did contact good ol' Rick--sent him a blistering (I hope) complaint. Will see if he responds. So you looked on the web site and saw the VP was Rick Germano. Imagine how democratic he must be! Not Mr. Germano, not Richard, not even Dick--but RICK! Just makes you think of a regular kid, doesn't it?
I am going to try to get Rick too.
Hello Everyone,
I am the person who is behind the ComcastCares1 post. I work at Comcast's Executive Offices. I just wanted to shed some light on how I learned about Mimi's blog.
Here at Comcast, we are always looking for ways to serve our customers better. We gather useful data through the internet and one of the tools we use is Google. I learned about Mimi's blog when Google alerted me that Comcast was mentioned on the blog. As a result, I posted on the blog to offer my assistance and to extend my sincere apologies for the inconvenience.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. I will be happy to assist!
Sincerely,
Mark Casem
Comcast Executive Offices
We_Can_Help@cable.comcast.com
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