Back in mid-August, I called Comcast to see about reducing our bill. It had been slowly creeping up, and at just over $190 per month, finally seemed too high to keep paying without objecting.
So I called. The person I spoke to was helpful; he figured out a new option, credited back some serviced I’d never wanted, and got the monthly bill reduced by about $50. Success! I felt smug: $50/month is pretty great ROI for a forty-five minute phone call.
Then I got the next month’s bill.
And it was higher than before.
The new bill was now up over $200 for the month. (We also got a giant box of new equipment I hadn’t been expecting, and didn’t particularly want.)
Sigh. The next week was busy at work; I didn’t call. The next week I was due for jury duty, and after a false start where I had to call back the next day, discovered I didn’t need to go in. I decided to use this time to deal with the plethora of small annoying things that accrue in life – like calling Comcast.
So I called.
It turned out that for some reason, several monthly fees had been doubled on the new account, and for reasons unknown, the system had assigned me a new modem that I didn’t request, didn’t want, and didn’t need. The helpful person I spoke to figured things out quickly, credited all the pointless charges back, and told me how to return the unnecessary and unrequested equipment.
All along the way, everyone was friendly, helpful, and reasonably good at problem-solving. But the question remains: why do problems like this need solving in the first place? Why is Comcast’s system built so that it’s possible to charge someone a “regional sports fee” doubled-up? Why did the system not keep track of the fact that I own my own modem, and don’t need to rent one? And going back further than that, if there was a cheaper way for me to get the exact same thing while paying less, why the heck did that not happen automatically (I mean, I know why – because more money – but come on, that’s not a good answer!)?
And most of all: why can’t I feasibly bill Comcast for my time spent fixing their problems?!
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