Bad Service is Intolerable

I have the Comcast triple play at home.  Cable, TV, Internet.  The service can be spotty from time to time.  The  service went out sporadically for several days at a time recently, without any prior notice or acknowledgement of the problem, except for dealing with my irate phone calls.   No- I am sorry we had a problem email afterwards, nothing.  I just had another run in with “customer dis-service” about an email problem I was having, (when I hit the inbox, I don’t get taken to the front page of my inbox, but a page back- page 2 of 19, for whatever reason…)  and they just said- well, hit page one and lump it.  This is a software problem on their end which is recently an issue, never before.  And I get the impression they could care less.

As a result of the poor follow up to problems, or getting any sense of caring, despite being a customer for many years now, I am going to switch to verizon FiOS the very first day it becomes available in my area.  And I will canvas everyone I know to do the same.  Why?  not so much that comcast has bad service- but they just don’t care.  As a result, I have no patience with their technical problems any more- they aren’t interested in maintaining our relationship, and therefore, I don’t either.

Thanks, Comcast, for treating me like just another dollar in your account and for forgetting that even a little nice attention goes a long way towards customer loyalty.  Bad way to do business.  bad way to maintain business.  Your loss in the end.

Tags: comcast, fios, poor customer service

Verizon FiOS is coming!

I was on my way to my local farmstand (support your local farmers!) and saw a bunch of verizon trucks by the side of the road.  I asked the guys and the said they were working on the first stage of FiOS installation not all that far away from my home!

The guys on the crew were really nice and helpful, and we chatted for a few minutes about what they were doing and the stages the infrastructure installation goes through.  Looks like it’s still a few months away, but FiOS at least seems closer than it was a month ago!  Yes!

Tags: fios, verizon

Home 2.0/2.0

Verizon had another Home 2.0 reveal this weekend. The new FIOS service is amazing, and the fact it is as close as 6 miles from my home, but still not yet available makes me horribly jealous of my neighbors that have the service available.

The event seemed better organized than last time. The “on stage”/”off stage” was handled much better, and every single person I saw from Verizon was pleasant, engaging, and fun. I brought my 12 year old with me, and he had a great time playing the carnival games and hanging out. We were even there when a lucky neighbor one the 42″ plasma TV, which was great!

These Home 2.o events at 4 hours long, from 12 to 4 pm. While the entertainment is great, after about an hour, it was time to go.  As much as I wanted to hang around for the reveal, we had exhausted everything to do in about 60 – 90 minutes.  A few kids were monopolizing the Guitar Hero and Madden Football, making that activity harder to enjoy. As much as the events coincide with real estate open house hours, I am starting to think that three hours is a better time span if you want people to hang around for the excitement and the reveal.

I did get to see the Kaczors, the first Home 2.0 family and spoke with them. I asked Mrs. Kaczor what the biggest difference was for her, and she said the laptops made a huge difference- she could do work online from anywhere in the house with ease, no longer tethered to their desktop computer in the office. They also had been really enjoying the kid’s playroom, which allowed them to relax and play together as a family.

The economics of having the telephone, computer and TV services integrated into one bill is one of the things I have loved about the Comcast package I currently have. My largest complaint about my current carrier is the erratic service problems we have from time to time, where all of a sudden, signal drops out, or I get weird artifacts on phone calls. I am hoping the increased speed with FiOS will eliminate some of this service variability, improve performance for uploading pictures and video on the net, and provide reliable service into the house.

I did learn that when FiOS comes into the house, you get a wireless router as part of the system, meaning the house becomes wireless “automatically” without having to purchase any additional equipment. I wonder if I can get a neighbor to buy my router, cheap? Can you say Ebay?

I’m also hoping to convince my friend, Melody Ruth, to try out to be one of the families for the Home 2.0 makeover in Delaware.   FiOS is just coming into their neighborhood, and if anyone is deserving of a tech makeover, it is the Ruths.

Melody and her husband, Rich, work for Bank of America.  Melody works part-time, so she can be available for kids, Alex,  15, who is autistic, and Cassie, a normal teenage girl in the throws of middle school and its social as well as educational demands.  Mel also does a ton of volunteer work with the Delaware Autism program, trying to do whatever she can to help other parents while she gets support and help for Alex.  Rich is also involved with the autism program, and for many years served on the Parent’s Association at Centreville School.

The Ruths use the internet, but their older desktop computer is painfully slow and outdated.  They recently bought an old,  used laptop to try to allow Cassie or Melody to get on the computer while Alex uses it for the many history-adventure games like Civilization he enjoys playing.  I have been their stand in geek squad to trouble shoot problems, but what they really need is updated equipment.

Between the volunteer work to help others Melody and Rich do, Alex’s interests, and Cassie’s need to complete school projects and socialize with her friends without displacing anyone else on the computer, the Ruths could badly use a Home 2.0 makeover. And for all the good they do to help others, I hope the Home 2.0 project expands to Hockessin, DE.

More pictures from the weekend’s home 2.0 will be posted later today!

Tags: fios, home 2.0, verizon