Back on-line, Clearwire still can't read a map, and I'm still a Comcast customer. ARRRGHHH!

Posted by Martin:

My wife and I have moved.  Therefore my internet connection must be made as difficult as possible to obtain.  In an effort to circumvent the monoploy of Comcast I again tried to get Clearwire.  According to the guy at Best Buy, where my new house is, isn't in the Clearwire range.  But according to their flier, I am definitely within the Green Zone.
But as I have written before, Clearwire is not really clear on where they are really available.

Unfortunately Verizon's fiber optic service has not reached my new neighborhood yet, but I've gotten word that it is on the way.

But even Verizon with their DSL is not exactly service friendly.

Here is how my conversation with them went,

"Your new phone service will be ready on October 3," said the nice operator.

"Thank you,"I replied.

"Your DSL service will be available on the 26th."

"The 26th!" I shouted.

So out of desperation I called Comcast, again.

And I say again, because I had tried get my account ready through Comcast.  But they said I couldn't order service because the previous owners will still have an account there through the 16th.

So even though I was willing to give Comcast money, they were trying to make it as hard as possible to for me to give them money in exchange for internet services.  Comcast's customer service is a prime example of why monopolies are BAD.

I tried to get TV through Direct TV, but there are too many trees in my neighborhood.  Arrghhh!

DSL is too slow, not the internet, but just in guaranteeing an arrival date.

And Clearwire is doing nothing short of lying, when it posts the above map, but then tells me, twice now, that it can't offer service.

All of this happened after Comcast once just lost my installation service order, and then on the second day changed it without my consent.

I actually spoke to a customer service rep who said that she had just recently spoken to me saying that I had changed my service date.  She was insistent that we had spoken.  I was SO angry that I thought maybe she was correct.  But then I checked my cell phone and of course I had not made a phone call to Comcast. 

So I called Comcast the next day to cancel my order. 

When Verizon told me it would take a possible three weeks for the internet to show up, and Direct TV couldn't guarantee my local channels to a line of sight problem, I came back to Comcast, beaten and resigned.

Why is customer service SO hard for these people?  Is customer service really truly a rocket science?

Please Verizon, hurry up with the FiOS!

Comments

[Kory]

Actually, it's fairly simple but, unfortunately, Clearwire fails to educate prospective customers on an very important point: if one doesn't have line of sight (LOS) to a Clearwire WiPOP (wireless point of presence), one simply will not be able to receive service.

Clearwire, like many 2.4GHz technology, relies on line of sight. Providers using 900Mhz can get away with less line of sight requirements but speeds suffer. Not to mention, 900Mhz providers are a bit rare due to high equipment costs.

Clearwire is unable to take into consideration, on its marketing brochures, the various topographical elements involved, i.e. trees in the way, rolling terrain, etc. which affect its line of sight.

They really should be more upfront about why they may not be able to offer prospective customers service. There's just no way they can offer it to 100% of the metropolitan area until they build out their WiPOPs (a very expensive, time-consuming venture).

Hope this helps. :-)

Regards,
Kory

[MGJ]

My wife and I canceled our comcast service after a lot of complaining and getting a huge run around. We went with Cavtel. They were really friendly and and got us an appointment before the time they had originally quoted us. and we paid less money with cavtel too.

[Martin]

Kory, Thanks for the info. Unfortunately your comment provides more customer service and information than Clearwire does. Which is my main point.

MGJ,
Is CavTel DSL or Cable? Fios is working it's way down my street so at the moment I am going to hold out for that.

[Kory]

I know, Martin, it sucks. :-( But, from what I heard, Clearwire sales reps are on commission so they're going to do what they can even if it might eventually piss the customer off.

CavTel is DSL, FYI. I would hold out for FIOs, if you can. :-)

Regards,
Kory

[David Schwartz]

"Map displays an approximation of coverage."