Comcast Cable (formerly AT&T Broadband), Waltham, MA - trouble with broadband cable installation - several hours on the phone to get cable Internet service working following visit by technician

Complaints.com received the following consumer message on February 22, 2003:

From: GAIL MARTOCCHIO [Email User]

RE: Comcast Cable (formerly AT&T Broadband), Waltham, MA - trouble with broadband cable installation - several hours on the phone to get cable Internet service working following visit by technician

I had called att broadband in middle of January to arrange to have att broadband hooked up on my telephone and internet services, which was scheduled for January 28, 2003. The Technician showed up on time and

was very professional about the installation of these services.

He provided me with the Instructional Book & Disk and told me that the Booklet was very easy to follow, I inquired as to why he was leaving before I was online with att broadband internet, he replied that he is not supposed to touch the computer system and I told him that I was told by att broadband that the technician would not leave until he had me online, to which he said that he is a private contractor and his contract does not have him do this. After he left I began to follow the instructions until it came time to put in Account Number and Registration Code, it would not let me go past that screen.

I spoke with a representative from att broadband who had me follow various procedures that did not work, he then realized that I had the Booklet and Disk for the Att Broadband Internet and that the internet provider

was now known as Comcast.net. At that time he had me following other procedures, but, unfortunately he had to put me on hold and I was cut off.

When I called back I tried to explain where they had to direct me to, but, I had to go thru all the explanations again, they finally transfered me to where I was before, again I had to explain everything and they said they had to transfer me to a higher level and gave me a code number to give to the higher level person, again I was cut off. When I finally got thru again to the higher level, after explaining again to two(2) other representatives, he had asked if he could put me on hold, I told him that I had been cut off twice while on hold and I would rather not be put on hold, so, he put me on mute.

Eventually I was online with Comcast.net, but, this whole process took over the phone about 2 1/2 to 3 hours, I explained this to the final customer service representative also stating that I was employed to work at home and by spending this time straightening all this out, plus the time the technician spent hooking up the telephone and internet cable wiring(I knew that ahead of time that it would be time away from phone

and internet) and because of spending all this time on the phone I had lost approximately $80.00 to $100.00 of my salary that I would have earned making phone calls and processing info on the internet. He brought my account up on his computer to see if he could make any amendments to my account to compensate for this, but, he said that cause I had signed up for a Special Offer which I got Internet Services Free for 3 months and Free Installation he could not adjust the account.

He was very helpful and informed me that I could contact your company, explain the problems I had with getting the new Internet Provider Online with my computer and to request some type of compensation. Also, for your information when I requested to switch my phone and internet provider I was informed that it would be attbi.com, not for comcast.net, which me and my family had informed our friends and family that our email address would change to attbi.com, which also caused problems. Therefore, in view of all the previously

mentioned information, I am hereby requesting that your company make some type of compensation to my internet account. I thank you in advance for your assistance on this matter. If you need to contact me

you can either call me at Home # of [deleted] or email me at Email User Gail Martocchio

Waltham Ma 02451