Verizon FiOS

Last week we had dinner with good friends. Somehow during the conversation Comcast came up. Who has not had a problem with Comcast at some point in their television or internet days? They have a monopoly in most local areas. I know we have had no luck in our area. We either have Frontier (an offshoot of Verizon Fios) and Comcast. Frontier was not any better than Comcast in terms of customer service. If you do not use Frontier or Comcast, you have to go with a television service (like DirectTV) and a different company for high-speed internet.

In any case, my friend shared this hilarious story, about a Comcast customer who received their bill and the name on the bill read: “Asshole Brown.” Crazy! Take a peek at the link for an image of the bill. It makes me laugh because it is what I have wanted to say back to Comcast. While we do online bill pay, I wish I could make the payment to Comcast say: “Asshole Comcast.” We have called every month over the past year because every month our bill is not correct.

If you do an online search for “Comcast customer service issues” you will find over 3 million results. Such as this one where a customer recorded the phone calls he had with Comcast. I wish we would have done the same thing!

At the moment Comcast is trying to purchase Time Warner Cable, which would make the worst cable provider (customer service wise) have that much more control. Hopefully, if the deal goes through, Time Warner has some sort of interest in the customer. In an era where the customer comes first, Comcast has a lot to learn.

Hopefully Comcast figures out how to stop calling their customers assholes. It will not help their already pissed off customers. A few items to note, Comcast, you: 1) need better customer service 2) should not call customer’s assholes 3) should fix their bills, and follow through with what you say you will do. Not too tall of an ask, right?

#comcastsucks

I have a rant. So our contract is almost up with our Internet/TV/Phone provider. We called today to find out if our rates would increase. They are. By $50. Gulp. Seriously. It does not make sense. We have been a customer for over 3 years and they (ahem – Frontier FIOS) are doing nothing to keep us as a customer. It makes no sense to me. We are researching other companies, and we could move to Comcast, Century Link, or some sort of arrangement with satellite (Dish or Direct TV). So with so many competitors, why would Frontier do nothing to keep us as loyal customers? Their response was that their system no longer allows discounts and the only way to get a deal is to sign a new contract for new service. Again, this makes no sense to me. Why should I have to sign a new contract to continue paying what I am currently paying?

I have had an iPhone for years. My rates have never changed. I was grandfathered in with the unlimited data plan, and yes AT&T I will not leave you, because my unlimited data plan I believe is golden. I never think about how much I am on my phone, using my apps, the Internet, doing email. AT&T never changes my rates from year to year, and I appreciate it. Thank you, AT&T.

So, Frontier, we are looking to change companies. Wouldn’t you? Why should we stick with a company that has always given us bad customer service, messed up our billing for over 9 months, and has done nothing to keep us as a customer? Does anyone have any experience with Century Link or satellite? We have had Comcast before and might switch to them. We will most likely cancel our phone plan and just stick to Internet/TV. I would like to find a TV/Internet provider that actually cares about their customers. Is that even possible? (Frontier could really learn something from Zappos). To find a TV/Internet provider that cares about their customers? I would love to be happily surprised.

Perplexed in Portland.