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Comcast should be sued. I would do it myself but I don't know if I have a case against them or not. They are incompetent and uncaring people, and they're slowly driving me nuts. At the very least they are invading my privacy; they have my phone number aligned with some stranger's account. Is there a lawyer in my readership who needs a lawsuit to file?
You see I bought cell phone service from Surewest Wireless almost exactly one year ago. Some guy who had my phone number before me owes Comcast several hundred dollars. Comcast is attempting to collect their money by calling me. Now this guy may be dead, he may be in a coma; he may be a deadbeat who doesn't want to pay his bill. I don't know, I don't care, and I am not he.
So for the past twelve months I've answered their calls, I've answered calls from their collection agencies, I've even called them myself. I always explain that I am not this guy. I am current on my Comcast bill. They can call me until the end of time and I will never become this other guy. Comcast is unmoved.
The front line people lie through their teeth. I am convinced it is a part of their training to do so. I only have circumstantial evidence to back up my claim. Each time I call there - most recently, I spoke to an adolescent named Zoe - I am given such an apologetic response. I am told that of course I am removing your number as we speak and you will never, ever hear from Comcast regarding this matter again. They all lie and they have black hearts.
My proof that they are liars is that I do hear from them again, and again, and it isn't funny. I asked to speak to a supervisor months ago. That person told me a different lie which was a diversion from the usualy lies but it didn't result in different results. The Supervisor told me that it is impossible to remove my phone number from their computer system since it is the only phone number they have for the person who owes them money…I asked the person what I should do to resolve the problem. I was told that in order to remove my number from their system, they needed to have a new number for the guy. I told them I didn't have one and couldn't get one since I was no friend or relative or acquaintance of this man. I received an apology for their intransigence on this issue but was told that my number would remain associated with this delinquent account.
I asked for the Supervisor's supervisor, and connected to a woman named Miriam. Miriam was not any help at all, she lied and the calls continued. In May, I filed a Better Business Bureau complaint against the collection agency who responded saying they had removed my number at my first request and that all of the other calls from their agency were really from someone else. They lied, but at least they stopped calling.
Comcast on the other hand did not respond to my first BBB complaint against them. They continued to lie and to keep calling. In fact, here in August 2008, on nearly the one year anniversary of my establishment of cell phone service, Comcast has called me three times already this month. Every three days this month on the dot. I have received calls on the 3 rd , the 6 th and the 9 th . So, I thought I'd call them again.
I got Zoe, she said that she'd remove my number, she lied to me. When pressed, when I demanded to know how on Earth she could do what nobody at Comcast in the past 12 months could do - including the CEO, Brian Roberts – she admitted that she could not really remove my number. She lied, but at least she admitted it was a lie. I asked for a Supervisor, she argued with me for a while and then she relented and I got to Charlie. He lied. He told me that he could not remove my number from their system. I told him I didn't believe it. I told him that someone had the ability and authority to remove my number from this other guy's account. He said I was wrong. So I asked him who his boss was. He said nobody was there. I said do you have a boss? He said yes, her name is Miriam. Oh great I said, circled right back around to that old incompetent liar Miriam after several months. I said to him, how do I leave a message for Miriam? He said you give it to me. I said Miriam has no voicemail? He said nope, Miriam has no voicemail. He took my message and promised to get it to Miriam.
I was starting to see that it wasn't that nobody at Comcast could solve the issue, they simply didn't care to, they didn't want to admit they were wrong yet impotent to resolve it, they didn't want to. It is so much simpler to state a policy than to attack an instance where the policy is causing a customer pain for no good reason.
As a last resort, I did a search for the Comcast CEO and I found Brian Robert's email. I sent an email to him imploring that he stop his corporation's harassment. But did it did not stop. I even cc'd this email to my two US senators, my federal representative, my state senator and state assembly member, plus the Chairs of all committees, state and federal, which oversee laws related to commerce and telecommunications. I didn't receive a single response to my email from any lawmaker - I do not donate money to their political campaigns so why should they care about me? They're busy keeping their large money contributors like Comcast happy so they aren't about the tick one off a deep pocket on my behalf now are they?
So what are my options? 1) Cancel my phone number and leave it to the next poor slob who gets the number; 2) Continue to answer the phone for Comcast calls; 3) Pay the other guy's bill; 4) Hope that Comcast goes out of business.
The lack of human understanding on the part of Comcast is truly impressive. It is so representative of the machine, the bureaucracy, the ivory tower, the untouchable elite who have the power and the information they need to make your life difficult or miserable without answering to anyone.
Comcast is a miserable monument to corporate ineptitude and insensitivity and I am going to end my personal account with them over this even if it means I have no television reception.
You're not going to change Comcast unless you commit a full time effort for many years to do so. Do you really want to spend that much time being mad at them? If so, enjoy yourself. If not, cancel that phone, and get a prepaid phone that does not require a credit check - and get on with your life..
My post has actually produced a possible solution. Comcast has a man who is hired to look online for just these type of articles and then work to resolve the issue. We have exchanged emails and now I am waiting for a resolution.
Missing - I'd check with the FCC and file a complaint and also any state agency you may have and your attorney general. I had the same problem, it is quite common and until one has it they just do not know. You probably already understand there is no real "consumer protection" and suit, well it is all about civil and small claims. Not many lawyers want to even bother. Also a cease and desist letter, RRR should stop the calls. That is until they sell the debt to another. Look I'm no lawyer and you should check, but if not your debt then be careful what you say to them. Good luck.
First, it is illegal for collection agencies to call cell phones. I am assuming that you have told them that it is a cell phone. Of course, it is illegal to harass you period... even if it is your bill, and it is definitely illegal to harass you if it isn't even your bill.
You must notify them in writing in most states, however.
Have you filed a complaint at the FTC website?
ftc.gov/ftc/cmplanding.shtm
Hopefully you can get it worked out quickly, and Comcast will fix this very dishonest practice that seems like an awful waste of time and money for its employees, as well. I mean, really... can't they just put in a number like 555-555-1092 like in the movies?
Good for you. We have had a terrible time with Comcast, as well. I have spoken to at least 10 people and they all say they will take care of my problem and call me back. NEVER! I can hardly wait to get rid of our Comcast account! Maybe I should try emailing the CEO>> Good luck with your issue.
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