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 Posted: Mon, 4th Jul 2016 22:24 Post subject: The Joys of A Nationwide Market Monopolizing ISP in the US |
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Warning. Wall of text incoming.
Backstory - I've been dealing with this shit for two weeks. I'm at my wits end with these people and their fucking incompetence. My connection randomly drops out several times a day anywhere from 10 minutes - 1 hour. Downstream power and SNR levels fluctuate till they're out of spec, then the modem loses synch, re-synchs, and all is well for several more hours.
Here's what I just wrote to their corporate "direct" support (the guy I've been coordinating this through)...
Wall of Text Critique :
Tech #3 just left.
After re-installing the coax outlet on the wall, changing the coax cable running from the wall to the modem, inspect the spot where the cable runs into the house, and climbing up on a ladder to check the drop, he has "determined" (and I use that term very loosely mind you) that the problem cannot possibly be at the plant or the local node, but instead is my main line that needs to be re-run.
A bury crew has been scheduled to come out **DATE** to bury the new line first, with a tech coming later in the day to connect it up.
I'd like to take this opportunity to pass on a few (unfortunately harsh) criticisms regarding the way **ISP** runs their "customer support teams" (be they field techs or otherwise).
First and foremost, it has become readily apparent that this company is downright INCAPABLE of passing down any information other than "appointment time" when it comes to troubleshooting service issues.
Tech #1's conclusions and work done were not passed on to Tech #2 (neither by the prior tech, or, unfortunately, by you, after having assured me otherwise). Tech #2's conclusions were not passed on to Tech #3. Each new tech has shown up not knowing what the prior techs have already checked or done to try to remedy the problem. I can't help but wonder how much money **ISP** must lose annually on repeated service calls of techs repeating the same steps at the same residence. The number must be truly staggering. I don't feel it should be up to the customer to have to relay this information over, and over, and over. Is it so hard to fill out a work order (digital or otherwise) so that the next guy knows where to start?
Secondly, "pass the blame" syndrome seems to be rampant among your support staff. Look, I know running a nationwide network is a massive technical undertaking (and no, I'm not pretending to be a network technician, I'm a hardware guy, I build PC's), but the way your techs approach the situation makes very little sense from an efficiency perspective.
The first guy was a newbie (three weeks in apparently) , sent out to replace the modem as a Hail Mary fix. That didn't work. I can't fault him. However, why did Tech #2 not go ahead and try all the fixes Tech #3 had to try today? Instead, he pulled up his app, blamed the plant, assured a swift fix, and called it a day. Obviously it was not, as here we sit. Why did the plant not call Tech #2 back and say "Hey, it's all good on our end, must be something else?"
In short, everyone passes the problem to the next guy, and nobody seems to care (or be able to make heads or tails of it due to no communication between them). It's blatantly obvious that **ISP**'s left hand doesn't know what the right hand seems to be doing. It's costing your company money, and your customers their time and good will.
Third, **ISP** would not go amiss teaching their techs some basic computer skills. I know they've got their own diagnostic equipment (some of which runs wirelessly and links back to your systems), but Tech #2 and #3 seemed to stare with glazed over eyes as I showed them multiple screenshots of the modem diagnostic power levels, SNR, and dropped downstream channels that I've been taking over the past days.
Tech #3 couldn't understand how I was getting the signal results updated so quickly by merely pressing F5 with a browser open to 192.168.100.1. Nor could he understand a simple ping www.abc.com -t prompt or what the results meant.
There also needs to be further clarification towards your techs on what constitute acceptable signal/diagnostic results. Tech #3 removed the amp in the attic (the amp has been there for probably 5 to 6 years without issue, Tech #1 just replaced it), claiming that they're "not allowed to have those in that configuration and that they interfere with frequencies". After doing so, not only did the ongoing problem still persist (removing the amp solved nothing), but my downstream power levels plummeted from +4-6 to in the range of -10 - -25. I made him replace it (he didn't seem keen on the idea) before he left, otherwise he would have left today with my connection being in far worse shape than it was before he showed up.
Finally, and this is not aimed at you so much as it is the big wig who runs your foreign call centers - it's downright INSULTING to have the poor rep reading off the script during your first support call be forced to try to sell you an upgraded service package before they've even begun to fix your current problem. I'm not even going to mention the fact that they quote you a one year contract price on the new package and don't reveal the actual future price unless pressed. Shady.
Do with my critique as you will (and please understand it's not aimed at you so much as the way the company is run as a whole).
On a lighter note, I've got the past 3 days (26 screenshots) of modem diagnostics with time-stamps if you feel at having one last go at checking to see whether this whole thing isn't related to some issue further down the network than just my line. I can always zip them up and send them your way if you want them.
Out of curiosity, what happens come Thursday if they replace my line and the issue still persists? What's the next step?
Morale of the story? Be thankful for your shit provider, because at least you don't have to deal with these guys. 
I can never be free, because the shackles I wear can't be touched or be seen.
i9-9900k, MSI MPG-Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon, 32GB DDR4 @ 3000, eVGA GTX 1080 DT, Samsung 970 EVO Plus nVME 1TB
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| Posted: Mon, 4th Jul 2016 22:59 Post subject: |
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Sounds like Comcast. Condolences.
Sense Amid Madness, Wit Amidst Folly
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ixigia
[Moderator] Consigliere
Posts: 65038
Location: Italy
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| Posted: Tue, 5th Jul 2016 04:49 Post subject: |
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What an odyssey... I don't know if it's any consolation, but I've had to face something scarily similar with my line some time ago, and it went on for months (it actually still isn't 100% fixed, it never will  ).
The connection would randomly go off every day, multiple times, and calling the support in Italy was obviously out of the question, a foolish thought.
In the end I managed to get ahold of a technician thanks to a friend of mine, he eventually checked the prehistoric infrastructure here and declared it moribund. Some ghetto fixing occurred, and as of now, the disconnections are a rare event thankfully, although well the speed and "quality" of service are clearly still the same. But it's better than nothing, a tiny epenis ain't that bad when the other option is no penis at all xD
Hope you manage to sort this out, may the patience be with you!
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| Posted: Wed, 13th Jul 2016 07:18 Post subject: |
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So, small update.
New line was put in last Thursday (July 7th). Problems still persist with downstream signal-to-noise ratio dropping to anywhere from 25 to 12 (should sit at a steady 38, but HAS to be higher than 28 ) resulting in my connection dropping for minutes at a time several times a day.
At this point the line is brand new RG-11 (thicker cable), and everything in my house is certified in-spec. It's now very obvious that the problem is on their end (pole/amplifier/tap/node what the fuck ever I don't have control over).
The support staff, both at the official Comcast forums, as well as DSLReport's Comcast Direct Forums (the ComcastNick guy who was coordinating with me before) are now totally ignoring my thread.
While I may have gotten a bit flustered and frustrated, at no point did I curse or do anything to warrant being blacklisted.
I fired off a well written and articulate letter to Tom Karinshank , Senior Vice President of Customer Experience, just to be responded to by yet another India bot, asking to do the whole song and dance loop again. His position was created for the sole purpose of addressing customers' needs - but ain't nobody got time for that shit, apparently.
Tomorrow I begin my quest of trying to get in touch with the VP's/directors of Public Relations - as soon as I figure out which one of the 46 different regions I fall into.
If prior experience is anything to go by however, it's not looking good. 
I can never be free, because the shackles I wear can't be touched or be seen.
i9-9900k, MSI MPG-Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon, 32GB DDR4 @ 3000, eVGA GTX 1080 DT, Samsung 970 EVO Plus nVME 1TB
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Invasor
Moderator
Posts: 7638
Location: On the road
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| Posted: Wed, 13th Jul 2016 12:05 Post subject: |
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Can't you complain to the FCC or whatever regulatory agency?
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| Posted: Wed, 13th Jul 2016 13:07 Post subject: |
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What a shit journey man 
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| Posted: Wed, 13th Jul 2016 13:09 Post subject: |
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dont they have a twitter, people go apeshit on social media these days
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tonizito
VIP Member
Posts: 51322
Location: Portugal, the shithole of Europe.
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| Posted: Wed, 13th Jul 2016 15:00 Post subject: |
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No wonder the US has so many serial killers with this kind of costumer service 
Unfortunately they're not alone in that
| boundle (thoughts on cracking AITD) wrote: | | i guess thouth if without a legit key the installation was rolling back we are all fucking then |
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| Posted: Wed, 13th Jul 2016 19:05 Post subject: |
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| PickupArtist wrote: | | dont they have a twitter, people go apeshit on social media these days |
Their social media (twitter/FB etc.) is FILLED with complaints and disgruntled customer comments. Each is responded to with the standard copy/paste India bot reply (with all the bots named just ever so differently).
As far as complaining to the FCC and whatnot - I suppose that's an option, but I'm not sure what that would achieve in that -
1. If these guys drop me, I literally will no longer have access to high-speed internet as there are no other alternatives that service this area.
2. They spent over 15 million dollars in 2015 lobbying the US government and regulatory agencies designed to police them. The politicians are bought and paid for.
These guys service close to 23 million customers - yet there is not a single person Stateside that one can talk to if there's a problem that requires escalation beyond the "cable guy".
I can never be free, because the shackles I wear can't be touched or be seen.
i9-9900k, MSI MPG-Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon, 32GB DDR4 @ 3000, eVGA GTX 1080 DT, Samsung 970 EVO Plus nVME 1TB
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ragnarus
Posts: 686
Location: Somewhere in Warsaw Pact
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| Posted: Wed, 13th Jul 2016 20:36 Post subject: ... |
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To be honest I didnt read everything carefully but Im curious, what technology is that ? Fiber directly connected to your house ?
i5 6600 + Silentiumpc Spartan Pro, Asus H170-plus mobo, HyperX 16 GB DDR4 2133MHz, Asus GTX 970 Strix OC, 1TB Seagate Barracuda, BeQuiet L8 500W, Zalman Z9 case, crap monitor 
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| Posted: Thu, 14th Jul 2016 04:35 Post subject: Re: ... |
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| ragnarus wrote: | | To be honest I didnt read everything carefully but Im curious, what technology is that ? Fiber directly connected to your house ? |
Nope. Just Cable. I doubt we'll ever be lucky enough to get FIOS in this area - it's not densely populated enough to warrant the cost.
I can never be free, because the shackles I wear can't be touched or be seen.
i9-9900k, MSI MPG-Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon, 32GB DDR4 @ 3000, eVGA GTX 1080 DT, Samsung 970 EVO Plus nVME 1TB
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ragnarus
Posts: 686
Location: Somewhere in Warsaw Pact
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| Posted: Thu, 14th Jul 2016 08:44 Post subject: ,,,,, |
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Damn then the fault must be somewhere in that "local node" your cable gets connected to, I wonder if they at least tried to switch the port that cable is in I heard that when it comes to internet there are quite big problems in those not so densely populated areas, here in Poland when you life in flats even in small cities you can often have 3-4 alternatives when it comes to choosing internet operator. I work in one of those small operators so I am not so happy about that but for people its good Also corridors in some of those flats look like "internet" spiders were living in there cause theres so many different installations, and basements there ? a fucking maze of different operators installations
i5 6600 + Silentiumpc Spartan Pro, Asus H170-plus mobo, HyperX 16 GB DDR4 2133MHz, Asus GTX 970 Strix OC, 1TB Seagate Barracuda, BeQuiet L8 500W, Zalman Z9 case, crap monitor
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| Posted: Thu, 28th Jul 2016 21:08 Post subject: |
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It's finally over - after over a month, 20+ hours of my time, and 6+ strangers traipsing around in my home.
The corporate guy at the direct support forum finally gave in and put me in touch with the local area supervisor. They sent a 15+ year veteran tech out (the guy must have been in his 60s) that undid all the fucking damage the first "cable guys" did (loose connections, line being half-assedly secured to the pole/ground block etc.). This didn't totally fix the issue, but at least it eliminated the complete connection drop outs.
This Tuesday I was able to catch the issue as it was going on, called the supervisor, they were able to narrow the issue down to a plant, and then further down to bad equipment between the plant and my home. They spent the next 4 hours replacing shit, supervisor called said it should all be fixed. Its been solid ever since.
Comcast, in their infinite wisdom, decided that a month of shit service and 20+ hours of my time was worthy of a $20 bill credit. Go figure.
I'm keeping this supervisor's number on speed-dial and back up in triplicate - never going through this hell again.
I can never be free, because the shackles I wear can't be touched or be seen.
i9-9900k, MSI MPG-Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon, 32GB DDR4 @ 3000, eVGA GTX 1080 DT, Samsung 970 EVO Plus nVME 1TB
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| Posted: Fri, 29th Jul 2016 00:05 Post subject: |
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epic man! happy for you!
| Lutzifer wrote: | | and yes, mine is only average |
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tonizito
VIP Member
Posts: 51322
Location: Portugal, the shithole of Europe.
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| Posted: Fri, 29th Jul 2016 04:59 Post subject: |
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| boundle (thoughts on cracking AITD) wrote: | | i guess thouth if without a legit key the installation was rolling back we are all fucking then |
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