Pathetic Customer Service and blacklisted IP

I thought that I had issues until I started reading this forum. It seems pretty obvious that the issues I am facing are standard practice.

The following are email exchanges between a Comcast Business Supervisor and I. I redacted the name of Comcast Business Representative and Supervisor. It tells the story.

SUPERVISOR:

I’m sorry you are having technical support issues.  I talked to ------- and she did the proper thing by getting you over to our technical support team.  I would be open to transferring you myself but I can’t fix voicemail issues.  Where would you like to go from here?

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CUSTOMER:

First, the only reason I felt pressured to switch to Comcast Business is because the block of IP addresses available to us through Residential are blacklisted through SORBS DUHL, Spamhaus ZEN and PBL. This caused all of our sent emails to go to our client’s spam. I tried many methods to resolve this blacklist issue without success. The final step was to see if Comcast could assign a new dynamic IP or work to get the IP address whitelisted. This isn’t just the issue of our dynamic IP but the entire block of IPs through Comcast. In short, Comcast should work to resolve the IP issues as this shouldn’t rest on the shoulders of the customer. Anyway, due to the blacklisted IP address and Comcast’s inability to resolve the issue, I was forced to move to Comcast Business for a Static IP address.

Ultimately, I do not choose to have Comcast Business due to price. Out of frustration, I spoke with the Comcast Business Representative regarding the Business Service. As a small business owner we don’t have the extra funds or need for all of the options included in the Business service. Anyway, reluctantly I signed up for Comcast Business on July 17th. The Comcast Business Representative explained that she would be my contact person and I should reach out to her with any concerns. On the initial call she told me she would have somebody from residential reach out to me regarding pricing for cable television.

On July 18th, 2017, the day after I signed up for Comcast Business, we discovered that serveral unheard voicemails and texts disappeared from the residential voice application. This includes received call log. That equates to several potential clients in my book. I emailed the Comcast Business Representative on July 19th, who did refer me to Residential Technical Support. But here is the problem… Residential Technical Support said there was nothing that they could do about it since the number was assigned to a Business Account. I emailed the Comcast Business Representative to let her know that Residential had referred me back to her. The Comcast Business Representative called me and said she would reach out to Residential to resolve the problem. She called me while I was with a client and I couldn’t talk, so she told me to reach out to her when I was finished with my client.

I emailed the Comcast Business Representative approximately two hours later once I was finished and inquired about the person from Residential who was going to assist with the lost voice mails.

I never received any communication back from the Comcast Business Representative on July 19th or July 20th. Assuming that the Comcast Business Representative was busy, I emailed her on July 21st inquiring again about the Residential Customer Support person who could assist with the lost voice mails. She emailed me back saying that she would call in a few, but never did.

On July 22nd, the new modem was installed. While the internet worked fine, the voice app didn’t work. We had no ability to receive or place phone calls. And even the “manage phone” section of the Business website had no functionality.

As of July 22nd, we were without phone and voicemail for our business for five days.

On July 22nd, I reached out to Business Support. They created a ticket regarding Business Voice not working. As of this day, nobody has contacted me regarding this ticket, but it was closed on July 31st.

I emailed the Comcast Business Representative to reiterate my concerns of the lost voice mails from Residential as I never received a call back from her, and to let her know that the Business Voice wasn’t working properly.

On July 24th, the Comcast Business Representative emailed me back asking for the best time to call. I requested that she call at 3:45pm. I never got a call at 3:45pm, so I emailed her back to let her know I was available until 7PM or the following morning. She responded, “No Problem”. I didn’t get a call on July 24th or July 25th.

On July 26th, the Comcast Business Representative emailed me saying that she would reach out to the Residential Dept regarding the lost voicemails. As a reminder, I requested information about on July 19th, which was seven days earlier. Regardless, I responded in kind also asking if she could check as to why our Business Voice service wasn’t working properly. Unfortunately, I didn’t hear back from the Comcast Business Representative on July 26th.

On July 27th, I emailed the Comcast Business Representative explaining that the Business Voice wasn’t working properly and that we could receive or dial calls from the Business number. I explained that this was becoming frustrating and asked “Who can answer this for me?” The Comcast Business Representative emailed me about four hours later telling me to touch base with Customer Care.

I emailed her back that I did not have the patience to reach out to Customer Care as I already had an open ticket. I explained that I wanted to speak with her directly. This is based on the fact that she said she would be my direct contact. I told the Comcast Business Representative that I would be more than happy to wait until the following day to speak with her or her supervisor, as the delays were affecting our business. The Comcast Business Representative responded, “No problem, I will reach out to you with an answer.”

I received no communication from the Comcast Business Representative or her supervisor, which I’m assuming is you, on Friday, July 28th or Monday, July 31st.

I emailed the Comcast Business Representative on August 1st, amplifying my disappointment that I never heard back from her. I explained that the Business Voice appeared to be working as of August 1st, but there was no option for voicemail. When I reluctantly signed up, there was no mention that voicemail was an extra feature. If I knew this, I probably would’ve signed up as the package is already too expensive. The Comcast Business Representative responded that she would call me before she left for the day, however she didn’t.

I wrote this to the Comcast Business Representative on August 3rd: “Yesterday makes four times that you said you would call me back and you never did. I'm now without voicemail, 18 days in my trial and still no answer about the voicemails that Comcast lost. I am tired of waiting for resolution from you and want to speak to your Supervisor today! This customer service is awful.”

I received no call from the Comcast Business Representative or her Supervisor, which I assume is you, on Friday, August 4th.

I wrote this to the Comcast Business Representative on August 7th: “Obviously I did not receive a call from you or your supervisor on Friday, which was a constant but expected disappointment. Can I expect a call today? I’m on the 22nd day of the 30 trial and I can only assume that I’m being shrugged off until I’m stuck in your 2 year contract. You said when I signed up that you would be my contact. If this continuous failure to contact customers back is any inclination of customer support once I’m stuck in your contract, that’s concerning. Once again, we’ve lost business because Comcast lost our voicemails, no voicemail on the current plan and without a doubt the continuous failure to call your customers back and to address issues is beyond belief! Are you or your management team going to take some steps to make this right?”

The Comcast Business Representative finally contacted me on August 8th. She was apologetic about the voicemail issues on both residential and business side. She explained that she was at fault for not explaining that Business Voice Mail was an add-on and didn’t ask if I wanted voice mail. From my prospective, I would only assume it was included. The Comcast Business Representative said that she doesn’t have the ability for add on voice mail at no cost and that a supervisor would need to address that.

As a customer, I have been bounced back and forth between Residential and Business in an attempt to make your product work for our business. Comcast has lost all of my voicemails, all of my text and call log from residential. Not once has Comcast offered to make this right or to compensate me for the error. It took 16 days for the Business Voice to begin working properly, which is unbelievable. As a ------ Business, we receive inquires seven days a week. And, due to the Comcast Business Representative failure to properly disclose that voicemail was an added feature, we have now been without voicemail for 22 days. Please note that this is a service that I used for my business. Beyond all of this, the Comcast Business Representative's failure to call me back on four occasions is terrible, especially when she said she would but never did. As the Business side, Comcast representatives should have some way to forward their customers to another service representative, rather than Customer Support. As an employee, you probably don’t understand that aggravation and time it takes every time you have to call and go through a Comcast Voice Tree. Plus there is the aggravation of explaining your concerns over and over to different people each time.

I have been a loyal customer of Comcast for many years and do not want to leave, but I am absolutely astonished at the lack of service on the business side. At the end of the day, I wouldn’t have had to deal with any of this if your business could resolve the blacklisted IP address issues!

Supervisor, you asked where I want to go from here. The problem is you shouldn’t have to ask if you want to keep my business. I want my trial extended 30 additional days in writing before I am bound to the two-year contract so I can see the service operate properly for 30 days and I want voice mail added at no additional charge. And, considering that Comcast lost my voicemails, I would hope that Comcast would want to offer something compensate my business.

The only thing I can say other than my extreme disappointment, is that if I operated my business in the same manner that Comcast has operated, I would be out of business.

I would hope that you as the supervisor would consider my aggravation and call me to discuss.

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SUPERVISOR:

I had a chance to read the entire email.  I understand the frustration.  I will call but it appears everything has been said here.  The biggest issue is that ---- can’t provide a fix for any of the things that have happened.  It’s all a technical support issue from here.  Again, I’m more than happy to do a warm transfer to technical support to get the issues resolved. 

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CUSTOMER:

That’s disappointing. I am not concerned with what department is at fault. Ultimately, it’s Comcast’s error and you are not taking steps to resolve except to pass me along to another department. Regardless of the lost voicemails on residential, you or your management should be able to address the lack of appropriate customer service, and note that ---- only referred me to residential customer support once and business support once. If it was a technical issue she should’ve informed me every time instead of not responding at all. Further, if she’s not the appropriate contact, she shouldn’t tell customers that she is the contact person. The simple request of the trial being extended for 30 days now that your service is working appropriately and Comcast providing voicemail free is an appropriate request in light of the issues I’ve faced. I highly doubt that technical support can make these adjustments.

If you cannot assist with this, I want to speak with your supervisor.

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SUPERVISOR:

I can have voicemail added.  As ---- stated it's an addition charge of $5 per month.  I do not have the ability to waive that fee.  

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CUSTOMER:

Who has the ability to waive the voice mail fee? Who has the ability to extend the trial 30 days? I have spent the last 22 days trying to get the voice working for our business. I want to try the system fully functional for 30 days.

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SUPERVISOR:

No one can change either one of those things.  The 30 days is on the contract that was already signed.  The voicemail is a fee.

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CUSTOMER:

It is absolutely unbelievable that with the amount of money we’ve paid Comcast over the years this is the way I’m being treated. In short, you are taking not ONE step to earn my business. I want to be in put in touch with your manager. Please forward the information.

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CUSTOMER: (An hour and a half later)

When should I expect the contact information of your supervisor/manager?

I never heard anything else from the Supervisor and here I am approaching a two-year contract. I'm not sure of any other way I could have approached this. It took over 20 days before I could get in touch with this representative's supervisor. After all of this, Comcast is taking no responsibility for anything. How do I go about canceling?