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Tuesday, 07 February 2012 07:17

Written by Frances Sansig Monahan

It's easy to complain about utility bills. Nobody likes bills. But complaints are just that -- complaints -- unless they have teeth. Then complaints -- combined with facts, and people willing to join together and confront companies with their mistakes and tell others -- have the power to change things.

And that's what I'm here to try and do today. Complain about Comcast, and urge you to call them too, and demand that they go over the charges on your bill, one by one, and explain what they're for. I bet many of you will find out they're overcharging you. Just like I did. Their number is 1-800-XFINITY.

Even if they're only overcharging you a dollar. Multiply that by the millions of customers they serve (more than 17 million). There is nothing worse than a big corporation overcharging people they know don't usually have hours to stay "on hold" and who often have a hard time understanding just what all their company jargon means, e.g. "regulatory fee."

My story actually beings when they didn't show up for a service call, to install cable and Wi-Fi at the home I moved into in December. I remember scheduling the service very clearly, because it was scheduled for "sometime between 12:30 and 2:30" on Christmas Eve, December 24, 2011.

"Are you sure you're open that day, and someone will be here to do this?" I asked the customer service rep on the phone.

"Oh yes, we'll be there," he replied.

Guess what? They never came. We waited (and waited, because they always arrive at the end of that window, don't they?) for them to show up during this magical "two hour window" they brag about. And we waited after that magical window had expired. I thought that maybe since it was a holiday, they were running late.

Everybody knows that consumers love to wait. Surely, that is the conclusive consensus, based upon on the answers to those surveys businesses are shoving in our faces every day so that we can "rate our experience."

Comcast wasn't running late. In fact, when I called to see if they were coming, I was told that they had been scheduled to come out on a different day, at a completely different time. When I subsequently called them to go over a bill in which I believed I was being overcharged (and surprise! I was! by the tune of $9.25 a month!), I told them what had happened and asked them if they could give me a credit for my inconvenience.

Nope. You're screwed, is what they told me, except in Comcast language.

So much for this promise, that they started making back in June 2011:

Back in June Comcast stated that one of the things the company was doing in order to help improve their traditionally troubled customer service reputation would be to narrow install windows from four hours to less than two. According to Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, the company is using new dispatch technology and equipping all technicians with laptops and handheld devices to guarantee on- time arrival within the shorter appointment windows. Customers are starting to get new marketing notifications of these changes, which inform users that Comcast is giving users $20 credits (or a free premium channel for three months) if their installation window is missed.

(Read on, I'm updating this as I go.)

(Thanks for coming back. And register to comment, would you?)

Glad you're back. This customer service rep said that since it was "put in their system" incorrectly, there was nothing she could do. So, I wasted two hours of my time, my partner's time (another hour if you count the phone call), waiting. On Christmas Eve, for a service tech that was allegedly supposed to show up.

I wonder if the original customer service rep -- the one who scheduled the appointment -- made a mistake, and then just went in an corrected it, and failed to tell me? We'll never know.

So, OK. I'm over that. But I'm angry -- angry that I didn't get a credit. Yes, Comcast, I spent my entire lunch hour on the phone with you because I wanted to bilk you out of $20.00.

But let's get to the bill. This is where they get all of us -- because they know that many of us don't have the intiative, the patience, or the time -- to talk on the phone for an hour to get answers about our bills. They take advantage of that. Have you ever found out you were being undercharged for something? No, me neither. Always overcharged. Always.

Turns out that I received my first bill at the new residence, when I called them to have them explain what each charge was for, I was being billed for monthly rental fee for a piece of equipment I did not, in fact, have.

$9.25 a month. Had I never called -- I would still be being billed for this. Until all eternity, I imagine. (Or at least until Armageddon.)

They said they would take that charge off my bill, but it might take three cycles to show up. (That is the best a company that provides these kinds of services can do?) I'm sure the reason I received a second bill -- for the full amount of $155.42, which includes the equipment rental fee I don't owe -- before my first one was due, has something to do with those mysterious "billing cycles." I don't think companies should be allowed to do that, billing cycle or not. Also, it didn't reflect a payment I made, well in advance of receiving this shiny new, wonderful bill that was also, two cents more than last month's bill of $155.40. I haven't figured that out yet, but there are only so many hours in a day, people.

Meantime, to those of you out there who feel my pain -- we can model our life's mission after Comcast and dream big in the hopes that some day, utility companies will do the right thing without us getting on them about it.

If only we could get some sleep, and be able to dream.

Call Comcast today, and ask them to go over your bill.

P.S. And for my geek friends -- you do know Comcast supports SOPA, right?

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