Oct19

crossed wires.

Posted on by
Standard

cool-latest-new-best-gadgets-monkeybrains-30mbps-internet-connection-speed-493x370

my morning spent chatting live with rahul at comcast online:

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

• Beth_ > My Issue: i cannot sign in to pay my bill using my usual user id and password. please advise.

• Rahul > Hi Beth , how are you doing today?

• Rahul > As I understand you need help with log in information to the Comcast account to pay the bill, am I correct?

• Beth_ > yes

• Rahul > Alright.

• Rahul > I can definitely help you with log in information request.

• Rahul > I understand online account management is most convenient and safe mode to pay bills.

• Beth_ > thank you

• Rahul > You are welcome.

• Rahul > For account security, can I ask you few questions?

• Beth_ > yes

• Rahul > Thank You!

• Rahul > Can I know username with which you are trying to log in ?

• Beth_ > my usual email

• Rahul > Thank you for this detail.

• Rahul > Can I have last 4 digits of your social security number?

• Beth_ > ****

• Rahul > Thank you for that information.

• Rahul > While I search your account details, Let me tell you about our Xfinity GO app, You can watch thousands of XFINITY On Demand TV shows and movies anytime, anywhere, with XFINITY TV Go.

• Rahul > Thank you for being on hold.

• Rahul > Beth, as I have checked username associated with the Comcast account is : ====

• Rahul > I see you have Digital Voice service. In order to protect your account information online, We need to call you at (**********) and this would be way for verification. Once this is completed I will be able to reset your password. May I know are you available on your Comcast number?

• Beth_ > i’m just trying to pay my bill and i’ve always used my email with ‘*****’ as a password up until today

• Rahul > Thank you for specifying that.

• Rahul > I understand that you were able to log in with the third party email address, but now, the policy has been changed in order to secure all customers account.

• Rahul > In order to access your Comcast account, you need to log in with the Comcast user name.

• Rahul > May I know are you available on your Comcast number?

• Beth_ > okay. so do i use ‘****’ then and use ‘*****’ as my password?

• Beth_ > i’m available on my cell **********

• Rahul > Thank you for specifying that.

• Rahul > Beth, I apologize but we are only authorized to call on Comcast assigned home phone number.

• Rahul > Is there anyone else available at Comcast home phone number to take the verification call on your behalf?

• Beth_ > i do not have a home phone though i have been assigned a number by comcast. all i want to do is pay my bill. i really don’t want all this hassle. i may have to change providers so that it can be an easier process for me to give them my money.

• Rahul > I understand your concern.

• Rahul > Beth, I can assist you with the process of payment on the chat.

• Beth_ > and i won’t be able to pay online unless i add a home phone to go with that number you assigned me years ago for a phone i’ve never had?

• Rahul > Beth , as an alternate verification, we also require a 4 digit pin to complete the verification process.

• Beth_ > to verify that i am a customer and have been for years?

• Rahul > I can send you the pin via US postal services, you will receive the pin with in 2-4 working days, once you have the pin you can initiate a chat and with the help of pin we will be able to assist you with the Comcast account.

• Beth_ > all this just to pay my bill? to give you my money?

• Rahul > Beth, as you have Comcast phone services associated with the account, we need either to call on Comcast assigned home phone number or verify the security pin, without completing verification process the system will not allow to reset the password.

• Rahul > Beth, I have send you the pin via US postal services.

• Beth_ > so…if i don’t pay my bill, i’m assuming someone from comcast will be able to contact me on my cell phone number that i have provided you, instead of the nonexistent home phone for which i have a phantom comcast phone number or online through my comcast account? and it will be taken care of at that time, as they would want me to pay my bill?

• Rahul > Beth, I understand your concern.

• Rahul > I apologize for the inconvenience caused, but as per the FCC policy we will not be able to reset the password without the call on Comcast assigned home phone number or verifying the security pin.

• Rahul > However, I can assist you with the process of payment on the chat.

• Beth_ > i will await the call from comcast on my phantom phone and pay my bill at that time. does the fact that we are chatting on my comcast internet service to solve the comcast identity riddle, support the fact that i am indeed, a customer, and who i say i am? i’m really not trying to buy secret hbo streaming service on someone else’s account, i’m trying to give you money, as you have asked me to do as part of my cable contract.

• Rahul > Would you like to make the payment on the chat ?

• Beth_ > i will await my call on the phantom phone and if it rings i will be surprised as it does not exist, but would happily pay my bill. thank you for your time and service.

—

gâchis (French) – a good opportunity wasted by staggering levels of incompetence (from multiple sources) evidenced in its implementation.

93 responses »

  3. i’m glad you can be funny. i have to take a tranquilizer before this kind of thing , that always happens. on 10/8 i kept saying, i can’t believe you won’t let me pay my credit card. i live in a place where there is NO mail delivery. i didn’t know that when i came here. but the aggravating girl kept telling me i have to give her an address.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  16. Oh, goodie! Comcast bought Time Warner, my provider, and the merger happens soon! I can’t wait.
    I’d laugh AND cry along with you, Beth, but first you will have to give me the four-digit friend code automatically not sent by email when we first struck up our phantom blogging buddy compact.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  21. Heehee !

    Are you sure that you don’t live in India or Bangladesh Beth ? I reckon its done like that to up your phone bill.

    Have you noticed that when you type in a password anywhere it always shows up as **** . Everyone’s password is the same **** It’s a big con 😉 lol xox ❤

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  23. Wow. Thats awesome customer service Beth, Whew. We have a number of choices for TV/internet/phone service here where I live and they are somewhat better for the competition but not much. You have to be really angry tp waste all the time and money it takes to switch providers. At our office, i was elected to deal with the provider as i was the most calm and no one else wanted to do it. One day I needed to contact them, for a service call and I looked up the phone company’ number on their website, dialed it and found that it was disconnected and no alternate was given. This is the phone company’s own customer service phone line – disconected. On a personal front, I once went to the phone company’s outlet that was near my home and tried to pay my cell phone bill – at the very office where i bought my cell phone and that had the phone company’s name on the front and where all accounts were registered and changed or modified. They could not take my payment because they were not allowed. .Their explanation was that they were a contractor that worked for the phone company and were not permitted to collect bill payments. I pointed out that they took payment to set up the account and for the phone and for contrat modification. They just shrugged.

    Anyway, very funny post Beth but I bet it was frustrating when you spoke to them..

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  25. I ain’t a bible nut…but the tower of babel always resonates to me during one of these calls…nice little fable that! and babble must have derived from babel? I liked the simpler times…and I am old enough to remember life then! 😉

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply ↓

  32. Oh, my. I feel as cranky now as if that happened to me. I’m calling your phantom phone right now. I’ve always wanted to call a phantom phone. All I have to do is repeatedly press the star button. Now I’ve even cheered myself right back up, imagining a phantom answering my star call. 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply ↓

  33. I don’t know how you kept so cool. I would have been in tears of total frustration… But I have now found an infallible way of dealing with this kind of thing. You go straight to Facebook, and write your complaint on their page. I’ve done this twice now with two different, global companies, after being given the run around on the phone, and it is amazing how quickly they solve the problem. And it’s generally real human beings that get in touch with you.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  35. It was a long haul and hope it was without too much frustration. I liked how you listed every step of the way through this painful ordeal, Beth! You needed a big goblet (not that dainty glass) of wine after this or something to help relieve the ‘pain!’

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  37. This is just so typical and hilarious. I hope you find a way to pay your bill or switch service. I remember trying to cancel a magazine subscription and they extended the subscription to the magazine I didn’t want, and gave me two gifts. o.O

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

      • It comes from ‘those folks’ reading a very tight script and just not being able to actual listen.

        Had a friend who had an computer pay type program that also decided to tighten security and they started asking for things they didn’t want to give. So he got through to someone and said you still want me as a customer, I’m not doing that. They complied. I think though you are on a slippery slope. Funny though that you just can’t get them to understand about the non-existent land-line of their own making. You’d have thought they would have accounted for that, being a ‘big’ company and all. But you are probably talking to someone out of the country. And they just have no clue and no authority to do anything.

        Like

        Reply ↓

          • They have to choose from one of who knows how many choices, of which none might be the correct answer.

            I haven’t been answering my phone – too many ‘telemarketers’ that are bogus – so I got a post card offering me a scam. No thanks. Had nothing to do with the corporate logo they stole. Whir, whir goes the shredder. Can’t do that with ‘agents’ you have to deal with. Good luck.

            Like

            Reply ↓

  38. It seems that no matter where in the world you live this is an all-too-familiar experience. And then they wonder why people go straight into road rage…I’m sure it’s not unrelated to having zero control over this madness. Thanks for a great new word…I can see all sorts of uses for it…but what does it imply that the French have such a word?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

  39. Beth, do you remember the movie “Sleepless In Seattle”? Tom Hanks gets a call from his son, while Tom Hanks is on a date … The son basically communicated “Dad! Dad! I found her! I found the right woman for you!” Tom Hanks says to his son “Did you fall?!! Are you bleeding?!! Are you dizzy?! What is wrong with you!!!! What are you talking about?!!” So many times I have wanted to say the same thing to some customer service people. Sometimes I think these are just angry folks, who have been highly trained in “Passive Agressive” skills. Hey, GREAT POST.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply ↓

Leave a comment