Comcast is fine when it is working. Comcast does not handle change well and do not get me started on how they put it to you pricing wise when there is minimal competition. This tale of woe is on the seamless (oh year!) conversion to digital format in Naples Florida.
As I am a snow bird (one who only comes to Florida when there is snow at home), I was aware of the conversion through my gated community’s newsletter. However I was unable to address it until I arrived in late December. Upon arrival I went to the local Comcast store to pick up the digital converters, as advised by numerous Comcast missives. Imagine my surprise when I arrived at the store to discover an unruly and unhappy crowd disgruntled over the fact the store was closed on a normal business day and a sign on the door telling people to go to the Comcast website and order their converters.
I came home, called Comcast and ordered two DTAs (digital converters). About a week later I received one converter. I called and was told I had only ordered one. Since it is pointless to disagree, I ordered a 2nd and asked about a HD converter. After getting the info, I ordered an HD converter too. I also upgraded my Internet access. The Internet access upgrade started immediately and I was impressed with the difference.
A week later I got another DTA. I tried to activate both DTA’s and was told that one had an incorrect serial number. After 2 hours of computer chat time and phone conversations I was told to return the faulty serial number unit to the Comcast store.
A week later I received the DTA with the correct serial number with a shipping date of the day I had last spoken to someone who insisted that I couldn’t have a unit with a wrong serial number and who had insisted the one with the correct serial number had been shipped days and days ago. (hmm, I wonder if they realized that the real shipping date would be printed on the shipping label)
Upon receiving the correct serial number unit, I went online and it activated easily. After an additional week, I called to find out where the HD converter might be and was told I had never ordered one. Again, insisting that Comcast made a mistake was futile, I reordered the HD box.
I finally got the HD box, it installed and activated easily. I then discovered that ON Demand was faulty. I could watch an On Demand show, then try and watch another and get error messages. I called Comcast and they have a selection on the phone to reset the cable box. I had the box reset and then was able to watch another show. Of course when it was finished I discovered that I had to call and reset the box to watch another show. After several useless calls I scheduled a service call.
The service guy was supposed to be there between 10-12 and arrived at 12:10. Not to
o bad considering it is Comcast we are writing about. He basically told me that On Demand is interactive and that communication errors can occur. I should go out of On Demand, change the channel a few times and (cross my fingers) hope that On Demand worked when I got it back. All of this seemed odd as I have On Demand at home and have never had to play games with it to get it to work. After testing my signal and assuring me that the signal was of appropriate strength, the very pleasant young man left. The sum total of my service call was he repeated what I had already heard on the multiple phone calls I had made to Comcast. Thus I have to assume they have no clue why I am getting their error messages and I have to live with it. One can only hope that once the digital conversion process is complete that Comcast in Naples Florida can become as proficient as Comcast in Pennsylvania. Until then, I will continue to stand on my head, pluck chicken feathers, spin three times and hope On Demand works.
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