MScottC
12-06-2008, 01:54 PM
I'm a Jersey City, NJ Comcast customer.
I've had a Series 3 TiVo, HD with cablecards since they first came out. In the first couple of years, billing for two cablecards has been a major trouble spot, with most reps wanting to bill me for two outlets, but I've always managed to finally get to someone who knows of Comcast's stated policy of 2 cablecards per a single outlet with a $1.50 charge for the second card, not a second outlet fee, per their own webpage FAQ.
In November, a promotion I was on for Comcast Cable (with HBO, Showtime and Starz) ran out. When my bill went up by $50, I contacted Comcast, cancelled the premium channels and cut my bill down by $40. After discussing the outlet vs second cablecard issue, I was assured I would only be charged for the second card, not a second outlet.
A couple of days later, I had reason to check my cards only to find out that one was deactivated. That afternoon I came home early from work to call Comcast Tech support to get the second card re-activated. The first tech asked me to reboot the TiVo after he made some change at his end. That did NOT work, and he wanted to schedule a truck roll. From past experiences, I know a truck roll is NOT needed as all one has to do is feed the right info from the TiVo cablecard screens to the right person on the Comcast end. I asked to speak to a supervisor, I was put through to musical hold which after 15 minutes disconnected... I redialed tech support and went through a similar drill, but this time I did get to a supervisor who told me I was wrong about cablecards being authorized without truckrolls. He told me I was lying when I stated I've done it several times in the past. I then asked to speak to his supervisor and he said that was impossible as it was now past 5PM. I hung up furiously.
After I collected my thoughts, I decided to call the Billing department. Within minutes a woman in that department had me reading her numbers off the tivo and minutes later, both cards were up and running.
Moral of the story, I believe that techs will use any excuse to roll a truck, while the folks in the billing department want you happy, so they can sell more services. They seem to have a better idea of what they are doing as well.
I've had a Series 3 TiVo, HD with cablecards since they first came out. In the first couple of years, billing for two cablecards has been a major trouble spot, with most reps wanting to bill me for two outlets, but I've always managed to finally get to someone who knows of Comcast's stated policy of 2 cablecards per a single outlet with a $1.50 charge for the second card, not a second outlet fee, per their own webpage FAQ.
In November, a promotion I was on for Comcast Cable (with HBO, Showtime and Starz) ran out. When my bill went up by $50, I contacted Comcast, cancelled the premium channels and cut my bill down by $40. After discussing the outlet vs second cablecard issue, I was assured I would only be charged for the second card, not a second outlet.
A couple of days later, I had reason to check my cards only to find out that one was deactivated. That afternoon I came home early from work to call Comcast Tech support to get the second card re-activated. The first tech asked me to reboot the TiVo after he made some change at his end. That did NOT work, and he wanted to schedule a truck roll. From past experiences, I know a truck roll is NOT needed as all one has to do is feed the right info from the TiVo cablecard screens to the right person on the Comcast end. I asked to speak to a supervisor, I was put through to musical hold which after 15 minutes disconnected... I redialed tech support and went through a similar drill, but this time I did get to a supervisor who told me I was wrong about cablecards being authorized without truckrolls. He told me I was lying when I stated I've done it several times in the past. I then asked to speak to his supervisor and he said that was impossible as it was now past 5PM. I hung up furiously.
After I collected my thoughts, I decided to call the Billing department. Within minutes a woman in that department had me reading her numbers off the tivo and minutes later, both cards were up and running.
Moral of the story, I believe that techs will use any excuse to roll a truck, while the folks in the billing department want you happy, so they can sell more services. They seem to have a better idea of what they are doing as well.