r/Eugene Oct 30 '23

Worst customer service in the world. jiggly

Whenever I have to deal with Comcast/Xfinity I feel dirty afterward. Should I be getting vaccinated or something beforehand? I'll be glad when we have some viable options for internet.

78 Upvotes

40

u/oldoregonfox Oct 30 '23

Use web chat for support. Never call Xfinity. They at least respond via chat. I can hardly wait for Emerald Broadband to provide service to my neighborhood.

14

u/candaceelise Oct 30 '23

šŸ’Æ chat is the way to go for customer support as they will fix your issue much quicker than calling in

15

u/Eugenonymous Oct 31 '23

lol they will not. They promise the moon, but never deliver. "You'll see the discount reflected on your next bill..." no, I won't.

5

u/phoenoxx Oct 31 '23

You too? After two customer support chats about the discount on my next bill, I never got the discount on my next bill.

6

u/Eugenonymous Oct 31 '23

It's so dumb. They incentivize lying to customers to improve metrics...how am I supposed to answer the customer survey when I think "that agent totally promised me a good deal, and they probably won't do any of it."

3

u/[deleted] Oct 31 '23

Yeah they outright lie on chat. They donā€™t care. Their job is to get you off the chat in x minutes or less. They will even send you documents via email to ā€œconfirm what they told you in chatā€, but the numbers in the documents will be different. Of course, a worse deal for you. Oops!

2

u/Licipixie Oct 31 '23

I screen shot everything they say. I once had an employee deactivate a phone, assign the sim card to the wrong phone and they even did that incorrectly so that phone was also useless. It took 2 days for one agent to get it sorted out. He eventually did but it was the worst. He was great. But seriously, how do they screw up that badly.

1

u/TheRisingValkyrie Oct 31 '23

Everytime they say that they make me sign a new contract - do they not do that with you?

1

u/Eugenonymous Oct 31 '23

Nope...all talk, no action.

1

u/TheRisingValkyrie Nov 02 '23

Very weird, maybe im pushy enough.

5

u/ScrattaBoard Oct 31 '23

Emerald is so nice. Best customer support I've ever experienced

3

u/ProudDudeistPriest Oct 31 '23

I've had Emerald for the last year. Zero service interruption, awesome people, cheaper than Comcast for service that is 4-5x faster.

1

u/TheRisingValkyrie Oct 31 '23

DO the rates on their initial page not reflect current rates? I get 400mbps at $50 and theirs says $80

1

u/ProudDudeistPriest Oct 31 '23

You get steady 400 from Xfinity? I got 15-20 max for $65. They refused to up it and were constantly trying to raise my rates with no service improvement. Honestly, I would pay extra just to be able to avoid phone and message conversations with Xfinity.

1

u/washington_jefferson Oct 31 '23

Are you talking about Wi-Fi around your residence or next to your modem (or actually plugged in)? I just switched to Hunter Fiber because I switched to YouTube TV. But my Xfinity Wi-Fi was almost the same. About 700mbps in the desk area next to the kitchen window where the modem is. But on my second floor and in my basement entertainment room the Wi-Fi speeds are terrible with Xfinity or Hunter Fiber. Without a nest system or drilling for a direct line the speeds are 28-65 mbps.

1

u/ProudDudeistPriest Oct 31 '23

I was wired directly into a new router. My PS4 and PC both got shit speed. Changed nothing but the provider, and my service is unbelievably better.

2

u/washington_jefferson Oct 31 '23

Thatā€™s a bonus. I think in my case Hunter Fiber drilled their line into the wrong spot. I might have to have them redo it. It doesnā€™t affect me, but my Fiber upload speed is super duper fast now.

1

u/TheRisingValkyrie Dec 08 '23

WiFi in my whole home 1000sqft is very reliable. No black outs and only paying $30 without cap now that I called and smacks I canā€™t afford the $50

1

u/washington_jefferson Dec 08 '23

I bought a 3-pack Google Nest system, so I'm set now. My house has 5 bedrooms, is old, and has thick walls, so there was no way I was going to get a good signal just off the router on the main floor. If my router only spat out 400mb that would not work at all, I'd have to hardwire the whole house. I need 1G from the source and a nest for sure.

1

u/TheRisingValkyrie Dec 08 '23

Ah okay! My inner walls are very thin and I also donā€™t even have a tv or anythingā€¦just my phone. Very diff than people with real electronics hah

1

u/TheRisingValkyrie Nov 02 '23

I have never had issues with connectivity even at 100mbps (with tests I was getting more than what my 100mbps plan promised). They gave me $5 off to go from 100mbps to 400 oddly enough

1

u/ProudDudeistPriest Nov 02 '23

I did notice my service improved right around the time Emerald started setting up in my neighborhood. I think Xfinity knew that people would bail. Comcast/Xfinity has a horrible customer service record.

1

u/TheRisingValkyrie Dec 08 '23

Idk. Iā€™m in a special spot seeing the property I live on only has Xfinity as an option or no internet. If they price gouge me thatā€™s illegal so they always drop it when I ask for the last 3 years even if itā€™s mid contract cycle

2

u/Lunar730 Oct 31 '23

Chat is just as bad. I needed a refund for something that was supposed to be free. He would just stop replying, didnā€™t understand anything i was saying, said he got me my money back and never did

1

u/garfilio Oct 31 '23

I have had horrible experience with the chat. Same as with a phone call to customer service.

24

u/[deleted] Oct 30 '23

Their phone system is torture. But I've always found the people in their store at Valley River to be very helpful.

10

u/[deleted] Oct 31 '23

[deleted]

2

u/squatting-Dogg Oct 31 '23

I got Xfinity for $25/ mo for 2 years. After 2 years Iā€™ll switch to Hunter.

Service reliable so far.

2

u/Sklangdog Oct 31 '23

Also if you are a teacher (or there is one in the house) Hunter will give a Teacher Rate of $33 per month.

-1

u/MarcusElden Oct 31 '23

I get Xfinity for $40

Hunter is $60 for somewhat faster speeds (but still no faster than anyone reasonably needs)

I'll go with the cheaper option tbh.

2

u/Ecdamon86 Oct 31 '23

How do you get it for 40?

1

u/MarcusElden Oct 31 '23

I dunno. Call them? Usually threatening to cancel does the trick as well.

1

u/washington_jefferson Oct 31 '23

Hunter is $70 for 1G now. Itā€™s OK, but I donā€™t get close to 1G even 5 yards away- maybe like 700-750mbps. My house is old, so Wi-Fi does not travel well. I may have to have Hunter come back and drill, and put their modem where the Comcast one was 10 yards away. I had very fast Xfinity at the source and in certain other areas. My detached garage had 220 mbps with Xfinity, and now itā€™s only about 60 mbps with Hunter.

6

u/Slut_for_Bacon Oct 30 '23

This has been known for 20 years. They have consistently been absolutely garbage. Yet people kepe using them.

16

u/MarcusElden Oct 31 '23

There's no better option tbh.

Nationalize the internet already.

-2

u/mulderc Oct 31 '23

There are several better options in town.

5

u/serpentine1337 Oct 31 '23

...in quite limited areas...but yes, there are options for a portion of the population

0

u/mulderc Oct 31 '23

T-mobile at home should be available to most of the city and was way better than Comcast for me.

2

u/serpentine1337 Oct 31 '23

Eh, I personally wouldn't want to rely on a wireless signal (work from home). Plus, I doubt the speeds are as good (or reliably as good) as I've experienced with my wired internet. I'm talking about the fiber/similar options.

0

u/mulderc Oct 31 '23

I worked from home with T-mobile at home internet and both me and my partner could be on zoom calls with no issues. I regularly would remote into a work computer and there was no lag. Even Xbox cloud gaming worked at an acceptable level for the games I tried. We found it much faster and more reliable than our Comcast internet. Due to how wireless works it might not be an option for everyone due to tower location and saturated connections, but it worked great for us and I only switched to Hunter because we qualified for a discounted subscription.

0

u/serpentine1337 Oct 31 '23

I work from home RDP'd into a workstation with multiple monitors every work day. Also, perhaps your connection at your house is wonky, but my comcast is reliably as fast as advertised (minus the bit of speed loss from aging cable modem...one I purchased, not comcast provided). I'm definitely not going to rely on wireless internet unless I have to, because of the saturation issue primarily. But, I also have virtually no issues with comcast (in 4 different locations in 2 states).

1

u/garfilio Oct 31 '23

What are the better options? I spending $150/ mo for internet, that is often slow, and basic cable that I don't watch.

1

u/mulderc Oct 31 '23

T-mobile at home is about $50 a month and was significantly better than Comcast for me. If you are in areas served by hunter fiber or emerald broadband you should be able to get their service for ~$60

0

u/born_again_atheist Nov 01 '23

T-Mobile is not a better option. Their internet is hot garbage. Source: My friend had it and it was constantly dropping and had terrible speed.

0

u/mulderc Nov 01 '23

My source is me and my family who had it and we had much better speeds than Comcast and could easily do multiple simultaneous zoom calls for work, while remoting into a PC over a VPN, and had no issues.

0

u/born_again_atheist Nov 01 '23

Sorry to say your anecdotal evidence isn't really any better than mine is. Still, I won't pay for WIFI over a wired connection. WIFI will always inevitably be worse in every way. Source: I'm an IT professional and I understand how these things work.

1

u/mulderc Nov 01 '23

your source is your friend and therefore second hand which is generally considered worse evidence than firsthand experience.

I was personally skeptical of t-mobile at home before using it but had a wonderful experience and find it would be a good option for most people. Unless you have some specific use case or live in an area with poor t-mobile coverage, I would recommend it over Comcast.

1

u/born_again_atheist Nov 01 '23

I mean, we were dating and I was there to witness the issue first hand many times and had to listen to her bitch about how bad it was.

→ More replies

1

u/born_again_atheist Nov 01 '23

What better options do I have in Springfield?

1

u/mulderc Nov 01 '23

t-mobile home internet should be available. Quality will depend on how good the t-mobile coverage is for your home.

2

u/einwhack Oct 31 '23

Pretty much they have a monopoly on TV since the 90's. I guess the internet exclusive just grandfathered in when they bought AT&T out.

2

u/Loras- Oct 31 '23

Remember TCI? Those were the days...

1

u/einwhack Oct 31 '23

That tickles something way in the back of my brain, but I can't say I remember them. Moved here in 1994 and had US West for my dial up.

Maybe I shouldn't complain. I'm retired and trying to navigate the nonworking Xfinity support and apps gives me something to do -I guess. Maybe it's because I was a Unix/Linux SA and Oracle DBA. I'm just not techie enough.

1

u/Loras- Oct 31 '23

Are you sure? You sound like some sort of computer genius to me. /s

1

u/einwhack Nov 02 '23 edited Nov 02 '23

LOL - Thanks - I used to know my way around technology pretty well, but it is amazing how fast you become obsolete if you don't keep up with it every day. I am a dinosaur now, and happy for it!

8

u/mulderc Oct 30 '23

I had t-mobile home internet and it was significantly better than Comcast for me. Now have hunter fiber and it is fantastic. I hear good things about Emerald Broadband.

-1

u/[deleted] Oct 31 '23

Yeah t-mobile internet is great for me too.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 31 '23

[deleted]

0

u/[deleted] Oct 31 '23

Yeah in some places it is great. In other places terrible. I vaguely remember there is a way to check your house with an app to see how well t-mobile internet would work there. It really varies house by house.

5

u/cooperpoopers Oct 30 '23

They know theyā€™ve got you. So why bother trying?

5

u/MrEntropy44 Oct 30 '23

Store is ok too. The local employees seem to care. Even had a tech give me his personal cell after some whack job renter wouldn't let him on to the easement to fix th junction box.

( The landlord and the cops had to come out and get the idiot to put his shotgun away. Bet you can't guess which giant flag he had on the back of his pickup.....)

2

u/GingerMcBeardface Oct 30 '23

I've been gaslit by their tech help more times than I can count.

Tier 1: the problem is on your end, explain i can't ping an external computer.

Tier 2: OH yeah some guy ran his truck into a telephone pole, service will be out for a few hours.

5

u/DrKronin Oct 30 '23

It's not gaslighting if they don't know any better themselves.

Sorry, but I'm kinda sick of the overuse/misuse of that word. Gaslighting is when you alter the environment in subtle ways in an attempt to convince someone that they have seen mutually-exclusive phenomena, thus causing them to doubt their own perceptions.

-4

u/Revolutionary-Boss77 Oct 31 '23

he is just saying he doesn't feel heard. Dont be a smartass now

5

u/Diablo165 Oct 31 '23

No, he said he was being gaslit. Not being heard is a different thing.

3

u/brwnwzrd Oct 31 '23

Hereā€™s my impression of Xfinity:

ā€œYour bill is going up, but donā€™t fret, weā€™re giving you more speed than you asked or have a use forā€

1

u/garfilio Oct 31 '23

And then it's slower than ever.

1

u/serpentine1337 Oct 31 '23

My speed has always been what I expected, but obviously not everyone has the same experience (2 different states, like 4 different houses/apartments)

1

u/born_again_atheist Nov 01 '23

They upgraded my speed to 1200mbs so I upgraded all my equipment to match and my speed went down from 989mbs to around 400-600mps. When I went to the Eugene office complain they blamed it on the equipment because obviously I'm not renting it from them, therefore it must be shit. All equipment rated for 2K mbs/s. They tried to get me to ditch the $400 I just spent on new router and modem and rent theirs and guaranteed I'd get the 1200mbs I was paying for. Told them to fuck off.

2

u/xsplisick Oct 31 '23

Agreed, my monthly bill just went from $49 to $71 with no notification or explanation. I'll have to go to the store in person so I can talk to a human and have this explained to me.

2

u/[deleted] Oct 31 '23

That happened to me. I just told them I can't afford that and they found a cheaper plan for two years, same speeds.

2

u/recovery_robot Oct 31 '23

All of a sudden we are hitting "data caps" from Comcast and they charge us extra. I wonder if it's a last gasp money grab because other fiber companies are now around.
Comcast/Xfinity is absolutely terrible and I can't wait for any competition to arrive - Hunter, Emerald, Ziply, whoever.
Leaving Comcast/Xfinity so fast and with so much goddamn satisfaction.

1

u/serpentine1337 Oct 31 '23

They've had a data cap for years at least. Maybe you're just using more data. I'm not saying it's a good thing that they have one though.

2

u/Budkid Oct 31 '23

How can I get internet for less than 90 dollars?

2

u/OTTERSage Oct 31 '23

Hunter Communications is expanding fiber all over the city. Check ā€˜em out. I canā€™t fucking wait for them to get to my house (they literally skipped JUST MY HOUSE as they built fiber around my neighborhood..)

1

u/BubbleGut169 Oct 30 '23

Def only use the chat or go in person. I actually had a very pleasant experience via chat recently, which is shocking. I feel bad for the customer service folks bc they have people screaming at them all day

1

u/einwhack Oct 31 '23

Everyone screams in the Philippines.

1

u/brutal_chaos Oct 31 '23 edited Oct 31 '23

That's terrible!

Edit: sorry about your troubles. Comcast has never had great customer service. I have been lucky with them for my services, but I know my experience is out of the norm. When I called on behalf of my grandmother, they acted like I didn't know anything and tried to sneak in/upcharge for tv service when she just needed internet. She would have been confused and just said yes.

1

u/desecouffes Oct 31 '23

Ask for loyalty dept

1

u/BoldSpaghetti Oct 31 '23

Bypass all that, contact them through Twitter or their subreddit. Itā€™s the only way I go if I need any help at all.

1

u/Billdozer-92 Oct 31 '23

Iā€™m happy I havenā€™t had to call either charter spectrum or comcast xfinity more than once each in the last 12 years. Even setting it up is super straightforward which is fortunate, because I have heard bad things

1

u/ahongo Oct 31 '23

Cleanse your palette afterward with a visit to a local bookstore or credit union.

1

u/Kyrgan Oct 31 '23

Just what are you calling ā€˜viableā€™?

1

u/edselford Oct 31 '23

About ten years ago i'd just moved in to an apartment and an actual Comcast salesman showed up at my door, and i got to tell him in person, "between your company and nothing i'll take nothing".

1

u/BaddyMcFailSauce Oct 31 '23

They have a monopoly on certain areas and they know it. So their customer service is akin to taking it up the ass with a cancer filled strap on. I wish emerald broadband would expand more so we can ditch them entirely.

1

u/GildedGimo Oct 31 '23

Make sure you threaten to cancel on the phone, many of their customer service reps literally CAN'T do what you need them to. It's only when you get transferred to the cancellation department that you might get somewhere. I argued on the phone for HOURS until I said fine I'll just cancel. I got transferred to the cancellation department and they gave me what I had been requesting all along in literally 60 seconds.

1

u/Moarbrains Oct 31 '23

comcast has always been trash. I swore them off after they tried to charge me 70% of my 2 year contract when I had to move my business office.

I have gotten pretty good luck with centurylink and I am locked in at this price forever. Maybe I can leave it to my kids. lol

1

u/bzp79 Nov 01 '23

I used to hate Comcast until I was forced to use spectrum. Now I feel I was blessed with Comcast and that is sad.

1

u/Natick1957 Nov 13 '23

I need a drink!

1

u/Natick1957 Nov 14 '23

Their app doesnā€™t work. It canā€™t handle a change of address.

1

u/Natick1957 Nov 14 '23

I have told multiple and useless c.s. reps to update my address on their app. Itā€™s over their heads.

1

u/Natick1957 Nov 14 '23

Unless you abstain from alcohol and drugs, have a drink before calling. I take one of my generic Klonopins.

-1

u/MarcusElden Oct 31 '23

I've screamed at their phone system and left expletive-laced tirades to them about it before and even got a call back asking if they could use it for training in the future.