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Gear Grinding Part 5: The Story of the Broken Tooth

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unofan said:
I've got no problem with credit card billing (in fact, I pay my bill by cc). But fark you if you want direct access to my bank account. Put it this way, would centurylink let me have access to their accounts to collect overbills?
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So you still write out all of those checks every month?

You are honest to God the only person I know who doesn't use automatic withdrawals. Even my dad who would rather go into the bank than use an ATM, has never owned a cell phone, and still happily uses an old windows 2000 system has everything on automatic withdrawal.
 
Re: Gear Grinding Part 5: The Story of the Broken Tooth

Comcast can suck a big rubbery one. Got my modem, and apparently, it won't activate because Comcast fried EVERYTHING except my computer. They have to come out and rewire the cable outlet on the wall. And the next available appt is next Thursday to do rewiring. And they say (heh heh) they cannot guarantee a no-cost appt. We'll see about that. They could charge me all they want, and I ain't f*ing paying a thing. Gave in and got a "trial" hotspot for a week, for $20. I shouldn't HAVE to pay for it, but given that it's bills week etc, it's worth it to me.

I just might end up getting Dish or Direct at my woman's place if this sh* keeps up.
 
Re: Gear Grinding Part 5: The Story of the Broken Tooth

Brenthoven said:
Comcast can suck a big rubbery one. Got my modem, and apparently, it won't activate because Comcast fried EVERYTHING except my computer. They have to come out and rewire the cable outlet on the wall. And the next available appt is next Thursday to do rewiring. And they say (heh heh) they cannot guarantee a no-cost appt. We'll see about that. They could charge me all they want, and I ain't f*ing paying a thing. Gave in and got a "trial" hotspot for a week, for $20. I shouldn't HAVE to pay for it, but given that it's bills week etc, it's worth it to me.

I just might end up getting Dish or Direct at my woman's place if this sh* keeps up.
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What? Sounds like you got an over zealous phone drone.

Considering they were just trying to change up your internet settings, usually I find on trouble calls that they just screwed up the account settings. I don't know how Comcast specifically setup their account system but for Charter, each service has it's own individual package built into the system behind the scenes. And if someone screws up while creating it then you can't activate or swap equipment. Not that a power surge couldn't have physically damaged lines, it can happen but it's REALLY UNLIKELY, the tech will probably laugh if they know anything when reading the comments on that job.

Is the new modem actually starting up? If it'll actually get through, then I would suggest calling back to customer support, and asking them to double check to make sure the account is built correctly. However, since you did downgrade to just internet, they likely went out and put a physical filter on your line to block any tv signals, they could have put up a bad one and just didn't double check. It's also possible that the modem is already provisioned for somewhere else and will need to get swapped out or deprovisioned before you can actually do anything with it.

Another way you could check to see if there is something physically wrong (if it doesn't boot up) is to take the modem and connect it up to the infeed into your house. If you can get it going there then there may in fact be something wrong between there and where it was.
 
Re: Gear Grinding Part 5: The Story of the Broken Tooth

MinnesotaNorthStar said:
So use his internet that didn't work? :p
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Yeah, I had to deal with a customer service rep from Comcast like that once...:rolleyes: my modem wasn't working right and she kept telling me to go to their website to download new drivers! I finally had to ask for a supervisor to get them to send me the drivers on a disk.

That's something to keep in mind when dealing with any unhelpful client service rep from any company. Generally when you ask to speak with a supervisor they eventually will put one on the line.
 
Re: Gear Grinding Part 5: The Story of the Broken Tooth

I've had three painters not show up for appointments, one hasn't gotten back to me with an estimate when he said he would, and one that I DID actually get an estimate from hasn't answered my questions. Why is finding someone to pay to paint my house like pulling teeth? This is why this estimate crap grinds my gears.
 
Re: Gear Grinding Part 5: The Story of the Broken Tooth

Foxton said:
What? Sounds like you got an over zealous phone drone.

Considering they were just trying to change up your internet settings, usually I find on trouble calls that they just screwed up the account settings. I don't know how Comcast specifically setup their account system but for Charter, each service has it's own individual package built into the system behind the scenes. And if someone screws up while creating it then you can't activate or swap equipment. Not that a power surge couldn't have physically damaged lines, it can happen but it's REALLY UNLIKELY, the tech will probably laugh if they know anything when reading the comments on that job.

Is the new modem actually starting up? If it'll actually get through, then I would suggest calling back to customer support, and asking them to double check to make sure the account is built correctly. However, since you did downgrade to just internet, they likely went out and put a physical filter on your line to block any tv signals, they could have put up a bad one and just didn't double check. It's also possible that the modem is already provisioned for somewhere else and will need to get swapped out or deprovisioned before you can actually do anything with it.

Another way you could check to see if there is something physically wrong (if it doesn't boot up) is to take the modem and connect it up to the infeed into your house. If you can get it going there then there may in fact be something wrong between there and where it was.
Click to expand...

The Comcast person last night was really helpful. I mean, she was not the brightest bulb, but she was trying everything. Right now it's plugged directly into the wall, and nothing. I think what gets me is the good service I HAVE had previous and this event is just a pure sh*show so it seems that much worse.
 
Re: Gear Grinding Part 5: The Story of the Broken Tooth

Brenthoven said:
The Comcast person last night was really helpful. I mean, she was not the brightest bulb, but she was trying everything. Right now it's plugged directly into the wall, and nothing. I think what gets me is the good service I HAVE had previous and this event is just a pure sh*show so it seems that much worse.
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Or the phone people are always trying to be helpful. They just usually have no experience with cable so anything outside of their script = send a tech. Even if it's something as simple as the tv being on the wrong input or closed captioning being on.
 
Re: Gear Grinding Part 5: The Story of the Broken Tooth

As The Comcast Turns:

They sent a confirmation email about the appt to fix this.......with an $80 "installation" charge. OH F NO. On the phone with them again, raising all sorts of hell. Charge is waived, but seriously? They thought they could do that? Fing bastiges.
 
Re: Gear Grinding Part 5: The Story of the Broken Tooth

Had to edit, she did the character on Laugh-In, but the link is to when she did it on SNL for that one skit.
 
Re: Gear Grinding Part 5: The Story of the Broken Tooth

dxmnkd316 said:
So you still write out all of those checks every month?

You are honest to God the only person I know who doesn't use automatic withdrawals. Even my dad who would rather go into the bank than use an ATM, has never owned a cell phone, and still happily uses an old windows 2000 system has everything on automatic withdrawal.
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I pay the water bill to the City by check. Everything else I pay online, but I have to hit the "ok" button to authorize it. **** automatic withdrawals, my wife's student loan "servicer" screwed her over by double debiting her bank account one month.

If I gave you $10, would you give me the routing and account numbers for your checking account? No? Then why should I agree to do that with my ISP?
 
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Re: Gear Grinding Part 5: The Story of the Broken Tooth

dxmnkd316 said:
So you still write out all of those checks every month?

You are honest to God the only person I know who doesn't use automatic withdrawals. Even my dad who would rather go into the bank than use an ATM, has never owned a cell phone, and still happily uses an old windows 2000 system has everything on automatic withdrawal.
Click to expand...
There is a difference between auto withdrawals and billpay. I won't use auto withdrawal because it gives access to another company, but I use billpay because it is controlled by me and my bank. Still don't have to write checks.
 
bigblue_dl said:
This was before his internet **** the bed.
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My FIOS ONT box has a big red FAIL light blinking. TV works. Phone works. Internet deader than a doornail.

Wonder of wonders FIOS is sending out a tech tomorrow between 8 & 12. Seeing will be believing.

Edit. I wrote too soon. Voice is down too. Yippee. The in-laws in the basement apartment can't call us.
 
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Re: Gear Grinding Part 5: The Story of the Broken Tooth

dxmnkd316 said:
So you still write out all of those checks every month?

You are honest to God the only person I know who doesn't use automatic withdrawals. Even my dad who would rather go into the bank than use an ATM, has never owned a cell phone, and still happily uses an old windows 2000 system has everything on automatic withdrawal.
Click to expand...

My wife, who has handled the accounting/bill paying for a number of smaller companies over the years (three currently), hates auto withdrawls. So many creditor companies have screwed it up and it has been such a hassle to fix, that she would rather do anything else and deal with the additional effort. Electronic bill paying, as others have said, is a different matter.
 
Re: Gear Grinding Part 5: The Story of the Broken Tooth

My dad and I have been doing it for years. Never had an issue. I'd rather deal with a one-off screwup rather than miss a payment. I don't see any reason not to do it. These companies aren't going to drain your account. All of this has to go through the ACH anyways and I'm guessing that these transactions can be reversed fairly easily.
 
Re: Gear Grinding Part 5: The Story of the Broken Tooth

goldy_331 said:
My wife, who has handled the accounting/bill paying for a number of smaller companies over the years (three currently), hates auto withdrawls. So many creditor companies have screwed it up and it has been such a hassle to fix, that she would rather do anything else and deal with the additional effort. Electronic bill paying, as others have said, is a different matter.
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10 years ago, I would've said the exact opposite. Bill pay has come a long way. I use auto withdrawal with each entity (because I've had it set up forever anyway) and have never had a problem.
 
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