Comcast Will Not Refind Money Billed for Unreturned Equipment

When I called Comcast last December to notify them that I was moving to another home in the same town, they arranged to discontinue service at my old house, made an appointment to reconnect service at my new one, and told me to return the equipment they had installed in my old house to the technician who completed the installation at my new home. I gave all of the Comcast equipment from my old house to the Comcast technician at our appointment on January 24. He acknowledged that all of the items listed under my account were in the box I gave him and gave me a written receipt.

Soon thereafter I received a large bill from Comcast, including a $230 charge for unreturned equipment (which, in the chaos of moving, I assumed represented some sort of installation charge), and automatically paid it. Within days I also began receiving frequent calls on my cellphone from people who were employed by a company with which Comcast contracts to retrieve unreturned equipment. They claimed that I had failed to return some item, despite the technician's written statement to the contrary. I explained this to them, but the phone calls and voicemails kept coming. When I attempted to return their calls, I was forced to wait over fifteen minutes in a call queue on several occasions. I called Comcast customer service in early February, explained my story, and was told the matter would be investigated. After about a week, I still had not received a return call or a refund of the $230 charge. I called Comcast customer service again on February 6 and spoke to someone who identified herself as "Ciella." She assured me that she would make sure that the third-party contractor stopped harassing me on my cellphone and that a refund check would arrive by early March. The first week in April, I still had not received the refund, so I called Comcast again. The representative with whom I spoke said that she would have to investigate the matter and call me back. Several days have passed, and I have not received a call.

What should have Comcast done instead?

I wanted Comcast to acknowlege its error and refund the $230 it unjustly collected from me. I'd also like an apology for wasting hours of my time.

You can contact Jill at jillsgro at comcast.net