I Called Comcast to Ask Why My Bill Was so High

Sol Writes:

I called Comcast to ask why my bill was so high and possibly see if I could get some sort of discount. I asked the customer service rep how I could lower my bill. He told me I could get rid of a 16.95$ a month add on cable package for my HD DVR and a 10$ a month add  on package for my internet service which basically boosts my internet speed. I Told the CSR that I was told when I first wanted the HD DVR that the sales person I spoke with told me it was required to get the 16.95$ a month add on cable package in order to use the HD DVR. The CSR then said that it has not been a requirement for over 2 years. I asked why I was not told that it was no longer a requirement 2 years ago. The CSR rep said that it would be hard to call all the customers that had that package and inform them that it was no longer required. He also said “Comcast assumes that its customer still wanted the cable package” even after the requirement had expired and the customers were not notified of this change. I also informed him that I have no idea what the 10$ a month power boost charge for my internet service is. I never signed up for it; I don’t know what service it provides and never knew I was being charged for it. The CSR told me he would have a supervisor call me back in 24 hours. About 4 hours later the supervisor called me back. We argued for about 15 minutes until the supervisor asked what she could do to make me happy. I told her a complete refund of the money I was overcharged. She told me that they can only refund up to 2 months of the services I was overcharged. She credited my account 100$ and said she would take 30$ a month off my bill for 6 months then 25$ off for another 6 months. I told her this was acceptable and ended the phone call. After hanging up I wanted to know how much they were actually saving me. I added it up and came up with 430$. Then I added up the amount of money I was overcharged and came up with the amount of 526$. That is a discrepancy of 96$. I also do not like that they just credited my account so that the refund would go directly back to pay my bill. I would like a complete and full refund credited back to my checking account all at once.  I also think that they should give me a full refund PLUS give me the year long discount for the trouble I have gone through. Giving me the refund is the bare minimum Comcast can do. Giving me the full refund and the yearlong discount would make me not want to discontinue my Comcast service and go with DirectTV.

What Should Have Comcast Done Instead


Comcast should have notified all its customers when the service was no longer required. They should have sent out a clear email that stated what the situation was.

I would like a full refund of the money I was overcharged. I wanted the refund in check form or a credit to my checking account. I dont want a refund that is only good on my cable bill or a discount of 30$ a month for a year as a substitute for a refund. I would like the refund and discount.

You can contact Sol at solhickey at comcast.net

My Comcast Story :(

Last month I received a bill from Comcast that I owe $77 dollars($44 higher than what I usually pay) for a regular Internet service. I called customer care, and the person that I talked to apologized for extra charge, entered a promotional code, and charged me the new/reduced fee for that month. I was so please with the customer service that I decided to add a cable services to my Comcast plan.

This month I got a bill for $143 ... I immediately contacted the customer service over 24/7 chat(which is a great option), and they perceived to give me somewhat confusing answers. After about an hour and a half in the conversation, the person that I talked to came up with some charges that magically added up to the amount of my bill. The problem however lays int he fact that these numbers had nothing to do with the information that he originally provided me with in the beginning of our discussion. I honestly got a feeling that he just pulled out a calculator and came up with some numbers to shut me up.

I usually try to be very nice to people in the customer service, since I worked similar jobs before and know that their hands are usually tied. In this case, however, I had a set of mixed fillings of both outrage and amazement by the "quality" of the customer service. I don't know if I am just being cranky because tomorrow is my birthday and I am getting old, or maybe because this guy really did provide horrible customer service. I will let the readers help me sort it out.

I am currently in the process of contacting Rick (see below) from Comcast to leave him the feedback about my experience with customer service. I'll keep you updated on the kind of response that I will get.


Please review the copy of my chat bellow, and let me know if you think I was being unfair to the guy, or the customer service was in fact a bit lacking.



LiveAssist Transcript

chat id :

Problem : High charges on my bill

Alex > High charges on my bill

Rowell > Hello Alex_, Thank you for contacting Comcast Live Chat Support.
My name is Rowell. Please give me one moment to review your information.

Rowell > I would be happy to assist you today.

Rowell > I see here that you have a billing issue.

Rowell > Let me go ahead and help you with that.

Rowell > Please allow me a moment to check on your account.

Alex_ > oj

Alex_ > ok i mean

Alex_ > here is my Account Number:  

Rowell > Thank you.

Rowell > It shows here that you have internet and cable service

Alex_ > yes

Alex_ > So basically I had a problem with my internet bill earlier, it went
up to $77 but the customer service applied some sort of code and braught it
down to 25 which I paid. Then I ordered TV services on the same line which
was supposed to be $29 a month. Now I get the bill for $143 while 29+25 makes
out a lot less.

Rowell > It shows here that you before the service was upgraded the $34.99
promotional offer for the internet service was not in effect in your June bill
making your previous balance to $72.24. After the payment of $25.62 the
remaining balance was added to your current bill.

Alex_ > That is not what I was told on the phone, when they took the payment

Rowell > When you change your service level, the amount due on your first
statement after the change will be slightly off from your new rate because of
pro-rated charges or credits from your most recent billing cycle. These
charges or credits will be for the difference between the old and new service
packages from the date you made the change to the end of the billing cycle in
which the change was made.

Alex_ > ok, so what is the remaining balance? 

Rowell > Your current balance is $143.14

Alex_ > in other words how did we get to 143

Alex_ > ok, what is my normal montly payment supposed to be ?

Rowell > Yoour monthly charge is $67.93. On this cycle your bill includes a
month in advance payment for the new service and remaining balance of the
previous bill cycle.

Alex_ > ok, so does the month in advance imply that I will not have to pay
for next month?

Rowell > You will still need to pay for the next bill. Be aware of the
way that Comcast bills for services. The way that our billing works is
that when you change services or have services installed, you are billed
from the date that the work order closed to the end of that billing cycle
and you are also billed for one cycle in advance. Due to the nature of
this billing, you will see an increased amount due on your first statement
following the upgrade. On the next cycle, the billing will be at the normal rate.

Alex_ > Billed from 06/24/2009 to 07/23/2009 

Alex_ > Billed from 07/24/2009 to 08/23/2009 

Alex_ >  Billed from 06/24/2009 to 07/23/2009 - 72

Alex_ >  Billed from 07/24/2009 to 08/23/2009 - 143

Alex_ > am I going to get billed for 08/24-09/23? and if yes, why since I
am paying double for 07/24-08/23 ?

Rowell > Your August to September bill is not yet generated. The current
bill is for your July to August bill.

Alex_ > But you are chagrin me for August to September, right? Thats the month
in advance?

Rowell > Yes this is the month in advance charge.

Alex_ > So than I shouldn't pay anything for August to Septermber, because
I allready paid double this month. Is that how it works?

Rowell > For your actual service date on June 14 to July 14 the charge will be
a month in advance making the billing cycle for this actual date to
July 24 - August 23.

Alex_ > I have no idea what that supposed to mean.

Alex_ > lets break it down

Alex_ > in june-july I owed you some money,t that you added to my bill for
july august.

Alex_ > I owed the difference, what ever it is lets say 40 dollors

Alex_ > than I get bill for 143 dollors.

Alex_ > 40 is that I owe from the previous month

Alex_ > 63 for this month

Alex_ > and 40 more for the next cicle.

Alex_ > so next cicle I should only pay 63-40(I allready paid) = 23 dollars

Alex_ > is that correct?

Rowell > Since the upgrade is processed in the middle of your billing cycle
prorations applies. A total of $37.51 for the prorated charge was applied to
your account. 

Alex_ > ok, i get that

Alex_ > so I pay 34 for july-august + 37 from last month = 71

Alex_ > and the other 72$ is for 2 cycles of cable, right?

Rowell > You are now being billed a monthly rate of $67.73 for both service.
This rate along with the installation charge and prorated charges and taxes
and other fees constitute your current bill.

Alex_ > You are not answering my question.

Rowell > The other $72 is not for cable service alone it also includes the
charge for internet service for the current cycle and a month in advance.

Alex_ > What is my payment for august-September going to be ? 67.73?

Rowell > That would be that regular rate + taxes and fees less than $8. 

Alex_ > Why is it going to be regular rate, if I am already paying extra
this month ?

Rowell > I mean your regular is $67.73 + taxes and fees

Rowell > The $67.73 + taxes and fees rate will be your regular rate for 12 months.

Alex_ > Do you see what my problem is ? I end up paying extra money, almost
double , this month for the "month in advance". But when that month in
advance, which is in my understanding the next month comes, I need to pay
once again the regular ammount. So if I have to pay regular for the next month,
what am I paying extra for this month?

Rowell > This month's rate is composed of $29.99 for the internet
service + $29.99 for the cable service + $4.95 HD service + $3 for modem
rent Extra charges includes installation charge, prorated charges, taxes and
other fees.

Alex_ > ok thats 67.9 I get it. And I also owe 37.51 pro rated from last month,
its messed up, but I also get it. What I don't get is why do I need to pay $143.
The charges that you explained add up to $105. Where do other $40 come from?

Rowell > It shows here that your total taxes and fees is $6.92 + installation
charge of $25.99 for cable service. It shows here also an assistance payment
fee of $3.99. This fee is charge when payment is processed by a customer account
executive.

Alex_ > OK, that adds up. Here is what you said earlier thought.

Alex_ > Rowell(Fri Jul 17 2009 01:12:58 GMT-0700 (Pacific Daylight Time))>

Yoour monthly charge is $67.93. On this cycle your bill includes a month in
advance payment for the new service and remaining balance of the previous
bill cycle.

Alex_ > You bill included month in advance?

Alex_ > but you just broke it down without month in advance. So were you
BSing me before, or are you BSing me now?

Rowell > The month in advance is the $67.73 on the break down. The current
charge is already included in the prorations.

Alex_ > Whatever you say. Can you please give me your employee ID number and

reference number for this conversation.

Rowell > is my ID number.

Rowell > You can save or print this transcript when you click on the end
session button. Those option will appear on the pop up after clicking the button.

Alex_ > OK, didn't meant to be an a-hole but, it took you over hour and a
half to explain me what the charges on my bill were for. Have a good night.

Update: Since this post I attempted to contact Comcast once again, and have not received any reply whatsoever. It has now been 5 days.

Uncomcast

This whole thing started for me on July 16, 2009.

My mother has complained to me that her Comcast bill was high again. This was surprising to hear because just a month before, I've spent a significant amount of time on the phone with Comcast Customer Service, and assumed that I took care of all the issues. I decided to try to use Comcast chat function to get the matter straight again, since it was already late and night and I did not want to have a loud conversation.

My question was rather simple, why do I have such a large bill, and where did the extra charges come from. The irony of this situation is that all I wanted is just enough information to know what is going on. The customer representative took literally 5-10 minutes between every time he would get back to me. Every time he did get back to me, his answer had nothing to do with my question. Eventually I just had enough. I asked him for a reference number, and decided to contact somebody normal next morning.

Since almost two hours of my life was wasted on pointless discussion, I felt it was a little unfair to me since my family is already paying a lot of money to Comcast. That is why I decided to give Comcast a feedback, expecting something like usual "we are sorry" and maybe a little credit back for my time waisted and some questionable charges. There was no response.

I waited for a couple of days and re-submitted my complaint. Just like the last time, I've received an email saying that my suggestion was received and a customer representative will get back to me "probably within a couple of hours". I've never heard from them again.

Meanwhile I've shared my experience with some friends of mine via email, and began to get an overwhelming response of people who could identify with similar problems that they had n dealing with Comcast customer service. One of my friends even had already blogged about it, at his business site. This made me realize that if so many of my personal friends had problems with their service, there must be millions of people out there who must share the similar issue.

A quick Online search for "Comcast Sucks" and "F&%k Comcast" has showed me that there are thousands of pages and blog entries related to this issue. I did not, however, find a single website that would strive towards a constructive solution that would actually make the diference. That is why I decided to create this blog.

If you had a similar experience with Comcast customer service and don't mind sharing it please follow a submit your story link to the right of this page. If you have a blog I will post a link to your original post in the body of the story. If you don't have a blog, I will just post it with whatever information you'll provide me with, so that Comcast can get back to you in case they will come across your complaint.

Comcast services are very expensive. I really hope that eventually Comcast will realize that this approach is actually causing them to lose money and would pull their acts together, or get ruined by a new competitor, their choice.