Why are the Techs at COMCAST so damn stupid??

[moechi125]

I don't understand these jokers.

I just got off a call with Comcast (Comcrap) Tech support. My internet wasn't working. So before i deicded to get on the phone and talk with them i did my own little investigation.. I was able to ping a random internet ip address but couldn't reslove hostnames. I knew at once it was a DNS error. So i try to ping the Comcrap dns servers. DNS1 no reply.. down ... DNS2 no reply...Down .. So i call them and get on a phone with a rep...the b!tch puts me on hold and hangs up...

So i call back and a man answers. I tell him i cannot surf the web.. . i didn't explain what i've done done i was hoping mabe he would figure it out. . so he makes me do the "Re-power your modem. check your connections bla bla bla".. So after 5mins of wasting time i told him. Listen. it seems i cannot ping your DNS servers but i can ping radmon internet IP addresses. He quickly replies. NO NO NO comcast dns servers NEVER go down. "uuh." i'm like. . ok give me an ip addr to ping. he gives me the ip of comcast.com and i pull up the page.. than i could hear him scratching his head. I told him i cannot ping the DNS servers "then he gets a loud tone and says "THE DNS SERVERS ARE FINE SIR" at this point i just want to get a DNS server and plug it in and get of the phone with this jackass. So i ask him to ping a domain that i know runs DNS translations. he gives it to me. I explained to him that i'm going to put these numbers into my TCP properties as the DNS and i bet it will work. SO i do and walaa. it works. THe F*cker than tells me. SIR PLEASE CHANGE IT BACK TO AUTO ASSIGN AS YOU MIGHT CAUSE PROBLEMS WITH OUR NETWORKS. i told him f-YOU and thanks for nothing and hung up in his face.

 

[ribbon13]

And what else did you expect from comcast? It's called Speakeasy.

 

[moechi125]

on top of it the guys like "if the dns servers were down. WE WOULD KNOW aBOUT it"..

Its quite sadd. . .how can both Comcast DNS servers be down. . .what a garabage network.

I can see that right after we get off the phone the manager makes an announcement saying"OK everyone. .the dns servers are down." he than says "ooh sh!t"

 

[RichieZ]

4.2.2.1 GTE west coast DNS

comcast is so worthless

 

[cryogenic666]

I have comcast as well and I'm fully aware that their dns servers are a constant problem. However, I never bother to call their tech support as they're basically worthless. I don't really have any other choice in my area for 6mbps internet service. Speakeasy won't come anywhere near here and Bellsuck (Bellsouth) only offers 3mbps for an outrageous price (plus you have to have home phone service, which we do not).

 

[Politik]

DNS servers often firewall pings. I agree that DNS was almost definitely down though. It could have been just your route to the server.

 

[Nocturnal]

By pass the DNS servers, use 4.2.2.1 and 4.2.2.5 which is Level3's DNS servers for now.

 

[Tbirdkid]

I have had nothing but problems lately with comcast.... so many problems, that i made them credit me back a month of charges. They suck, and its sad that they are the number 1 cable isp in the US. Which is pretty sad.... i wish i could get dsl cause i would in a heartbeat.

 

[YabbyU]

heh, the grass isn't always greener......I've had nothing but trouble with my earthlink DSL. I paid for 1.5mb connection that is currently running at 612(or something close to that) because of constant dissconnects.

Even the covad guy couldn't figure out what was wrong. At least with Cable you don't get suckered into a year contract with a $150.00 dissconnect fee and a connection that can't run at 1/2 what you pair for >:0

 

[Cheesetogo]

You ought to send an email or call up their customer comments thing. Maybe you should switch to a different service.

 

[MrChad]

Originally posted by: moechi125
I don't understand these jokers.

I just got off a call with Comcast (Comcrap) Tech support. My internet wasn't working. So before i deicded to get on the phone and talk with them i did my own little investigation.. I was able to ping a random internet ip address but couldn't reslove hostnames. I knew at once it was a DNS error. So i try to ping the Comcrap dns servers. DNS1 no reply.. down ... DNS2 no reply...Down .. So i call them and get on a phone with a rep...the b!tch puts me on hold and hangs up...

So i call back and a man answers. I tell him i cannot surf the web.. . i didn't explain what i've done done i was hoping mabe he would figure it out. . so he makes me do the "Re-power your modem. check your connections bla bla bla".. So after 5mins of wasting time i told him. Listen. it seems i cannot ping your DNS servers but i can ping radmon internet IP addresses. He quickly replies. NO NO NO comcast dns servers NEVER go down. "uuh." i'm like. . ok give me an ip addr to ping. he gives me the ip of comcast.com and i pull up the page.. than i could hear him scratching his head. I told him i cannot ping the DNS servers "then he gets a loud tone and says "THE DNS SERVERS ARE FINE SIR" at this point i just want to get a DNS server and plug it in and get of the phone with this jackass. So i ask him to ping a domain that i know runs DNS translations. he gives it to me. I explained to him that i'm going to put these numbers into my TCP properties as the DNS and i bet it will work. SO i do and walaa. it works. THe F*cker than tells me. SIR PLEASE CHANGE IT BACK TO AUTO ASSIGN AS YOU MIGHT CAUSE PROBLEMS WITH OUR NETWORKS. i told him f-YOU and thanks for nothing and hung up in his face.

Way to go. :roll: Did that make you feel better about yourself? The guy is tier 1 tech support. Were you expecting a CCNA?

 

[moechi125]

the thing that sucks is i pay these people like $150 a month for TV and Internet. . The digital cables often goes out when its windy outside. . I can't even choose another Cable or dish provider becuase this is a condo in downtown chicago and they only have Comcast to use and you can't install a dish on your balcony. I better call them and demand for credits..

 

[ChicagoPCGuy]

Having, in a previous career at US Robotics/3Com and another place, done tech support over the phone for years, I can tell you that most of the reps you will get anywhere are scripted idiots. Very few tech support people really know what they are doing, and that was true at 3Com as well. The only time you get someone that is good at what they are doing is when you get to 2nd or 3rd level support. BTW, your experience is definitely a customer service issue considering the tone and replies you got. I would complain very loudly, with written letters demanding monetary renumeration. You will at least get the little prick in trouble, which should be satisfying. You pay $150 a month, so do not let the bastards tell *you* what is what--YOU are the customer. Always approach it from that angle.

 

[akugami]

The average tech support or help guy is a scripted idiot as ChicagoPCGuy so eloquently put it. Doesn't matter what company but it's basically a miminum wage paid guy who is following a list of troubleshooting points. You can tell them what you've done to try to rectify the situation and they will still tell you to go through those steps cause they must follow those points to a "t" since that's what they're paid to do. The average tech support guy also knows less about computers than the average reader of a forum similar to the AT forums.

Hell, they could probably put in an automated computer system with the basic troubleshooting points in with prompts to go to the next point and you would get the same "quality" of service. It's only when you get upgraded to a supervisor or true tech that they know wtf they're talking about. Those guys are fewer because they are more knowledgeable and thus cost more money to employ.

Nothing against support centers (can't understand those heavy Indian accents though) but their low level employees probably know jack about what they're supporting before they were hired to do tech support.

 

[pm]

The tier one techs pretty much barely know anything about networks at all. The tier two guys are pretty good. And then somewhere in the maze there are the guys who really know what is going on.

One day a couple of years ago in late Sept., our Comcast connection started getting flaky. Big pauses and things not loading. I do a few pings and see that my packet loss is 60%. I call, get tier 1, and we go through the usual powering things off. Finally, they decide to go lay a new line through my backyard to the house. Ok, fair enough, that could be the cause.

Then at work, I talk to some co-workers and find that it's affecting the entire southern end of the city. So I call back and say, "never mind re-laying the cable. that's not the problem. everyone here is having problems." They said "well, we can't really debug this further unless you let us put in a new cable." I argue for a while and then just shrug. Ok, lay a new cable.

New cable routed from box to house. Packet loss about 85%. Call back. Back to the tier one techs. Then they schedule a guy to come and look at my home wiring. Again I point out that my neighbor 3 doors down is having problems too (he switched to another broadband service right about then), and neighbors all around are down and that my home wiring is not the problem. Not much impact. So, they send out the tech (two, actually) who comes in and checks SNR and everything is fine (I have a direct line using high-quality coax from the box to the cable modem). So, I talk to these guys, tell them the whole thing, and they say that they know that the better half of half of a city of 100k is having problems, but that this is the way the company does things.

So finally (about 8 days later), I call back and I get to tier 2. And suddenly, I can finally talk to people who actually can tell the difference between an RJ45 jack and an RJ11 jack. They say that they are aware of the problem and it's caused by a huge number of new high-bandwidth-using subscribers... the return of the students at Colorado State University. We chatted for a while about what they are going to do, talked about the way the network is partitioned up, etc. And he gave me his number and told me his ETA for when the new equipment would be installed. Turned out he was right, and on the day he told me, the packet loss disappeared.

I came away from the thing with two things: a great appreciation for how much waste there is in the way Comcast resolves problems, and the direct number of a tier two tech.

That said, I've never noticed that being rude on the phone helps very much, and there has been at least one memorable experience where I called, acted like hotshot computer genius incarnate to one of the techs at some company (HP, I think) and it ended up being something really stupid like the power cord was loose.

 

[Adul]

i use ASU dns servers

 

[MrControversial]

Originally posted by: moechi125
I don't understand these jokers.

I just got off a call with Comcast (Comcrap) Tech support. My internet wasn't working. So before i deicded to get on the phone and talk with them i did my own little investigation.. I was able to ping a random internet ip address but couldn't reslove hostnames. I knew at once it was a DNS error. So i try to ping the Comcrap dns servers. DNS1 no reply.. down ... DNS2 no reply...Down .. So i call them and get on a phone with a rep...the b!tch puts me on hold and hangs up...

So i call back and a man answers. I tell him i cannot surf the web.. . i didn't explain what i've done done i was hoping mabe he would figure it out. . so he makes me do the "Re-power your modem. check your connections bla bla bla".. So after 5mins of wasting time i told him. Listen. it seems i cannot ping your DNS servers but i can ping radmon internet IP addresses. He quickly replies. NO NO NO comcast dns servers NEVER go down. "uuh." i'm like. . ok give me an ip addr to ping. he gives me the ip of comcast.com and i pull up the page.. than i could hear him scratching his head. I told him i cannot ping the DNS servers "then he gets a loud tone and says "THE DNS SERVERS ARE FINE SIR" at this point i just want to get a DNS server and plug it in and get of the phone with this jackass. So i ask him to ping a domain that i know runs DNS translations. he gives it to me. I explained to him that i'm going to put these numbers into my TCP properties as the DNS and i bet it will work. SO i do and walaa. it works. THe F*cker than tells me. SIR PLEASE CHANGE IT BACK TO AUTO ASSIGN AS YOU MIGHT CAUSE PROBLEMS WITH OUR NETWORKS. i told him f-YOU and thanks for nothing and hung up in his face.

Thank you, I love you. The sad sh*t is that these overcharging f*ckers have a monopoly in my area and there's no where else to go but with DSL. I tried going with Knology but they don't serve our area. It's frustrating. They are idiots. Our digital cable has been down for 3 days.

 

[NesuD]

Server could very well not be the issue. A tracert would have been appropriate to locate exactly where the problem resides. Regardless I can certainly sympathize with you on the quality of most tier one tech support. They are required to read from a script so giving them a bad time is pretty pointless. Best thing you can do is aggressively insist on being moved up to tier 2 where the real techs reside.

LOL!! PM:

there has been at least one memorable experience where I called, acted like hotshot computer genius incarnate to one of the techs at some company (HP, I think) and it ended up being something really stupid like the power cord was loose.

That had to be a bit embarassing. Forgot the first rule of troubleshooting didn't you.

 

[Concillian]

Originally posted by: MrChad
Way to go. :roll: Did that make you feel better about yourself? The guy is tier 1 tech support. Were you expecting a CCNA?

If you use an ISP that has decent support, then tier 1 support people would know what he was talking about. I've never been transferred to a 'tier 2' support person at Speakeasy, and I've had more technical issues than this guy has. In fact, I somewhat doubt Speakeasy even has anything but tier 1.

 

[MrChad]

Originally posted by: Concillian

Originally posted by: MrChad
Way to go. :roll: Did that make you feel better about yourself? The guy is tier 1 tech support. Were you expecting a CCNA?

If you use an ISP that has decent support, then tier 1 support people would know what he was talking about. I've never been transferred to a 'tier 2' support person at Speakeasy, and I've had more technical issues than this guy has. In fact, I somewhat doubt Speakeasy even has anything but tier 1.

Comcast is a much larger ISP than Speakeasy, so their tier 1 support is probably not going to be as knowledgeable. Speakeasy may not even have tiered support.

Regardless, I don't think the OP was justified in cursing at the technical support rep and slamming down the phone. From what I could tell, the rep was being polite and was trying to be helpful (even if he was not). The OP is just an asshole.

 

[Baked]

Some tech support reps are just more stupid than others.

Couldn't register my new acct. w/ SBC, called rep #1 up, couldn't resolve the problem. Called back later that night, rep #2 totally knew what he's talking about and resolved the problem in 5 minutes.

 

[DarkKnight]

If any of you live in the DC area and listen to Eliot in the morning u would have heard the 2 phone calls that he got from comcast reps. Both admitted that pretty much all the reps are lazy and don't really feel like doing their jobs. They get paid commission, so if they arent getting a sale, they really dont give a damn.

 

[Gigantopithecus]

I had a Comcast cable connection for about 4 months before I cancelled it and switched to SBC DSL. I went from about 2 hours of outtage a day to not a single problem in 7 months. Of course, I also went from about 300k/s max sustained down to about 150k/s max sustained down.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

The reason why reps make you reset the modem, check the batteries in the remote, etc. is because sending a tech to the house negates 1 month's income from that subscriber. Annoying for sure, but would you rather pay $300 a month? Me neither. The Telecom Act of '96 allows anyone to offer any communication service, there are no more monopolies. If someone doesn't want to service an area, that's not the incumbant company's fault. BTW, the vast majority of cable problems (in metro Boston) are between the pole and the TV/Comp. I keep my system running like a Swiss watch. Not an advertisment, just stating the facts. 6M/768k, 0% packet loss, pings to the CMTS in the low teens 24 hrs. a day. I cannot speak for any cable company, nor how other techs do their jobs.

 

[Concillian]

Originally posted by: MrChad
Comcast is a much larger ISP than Speakeasy, so their tier 1 support is probably not going to be as knowledgeable. Speakeasy may not even have tiered support.

Regardless, I don't think the OP was justified in cursing at the technical support rep and slamming down the phone. From what I could tell, the rep was being polite and was trying to be helpful (even if he was not). The OP is just an asshole.

I was pointing out that you were making a sweeping generalization that is not necessarily true, nor should people EXPECT it to be true. Then you counter with another generalization that small ISPs should have better support than larger ones?

Speakeasy is not huge, no. However I wouldn't really call them small either. They're probably large enough that their support structure is in the realm of scalability.

If you feed people on 'Tier 1 support is never useful', then you are contributing to a self fulfilling prophecy. Just because in most cases Tier 1 sucks doesn't mean that it should be expected to suck.

I would tend to agree that the OP may have been a little impatient, but my comments were not directed at the OP, they were directed at your generalizations of what to expect.

As far as this comment:

From what I could tell, the rep was being polite and was trying to be helpful (even if he was not).

A phrase that is commonly used in my workplace is:
Never confuse effort with results.
The attitude that someone should be given a break because they spent a great deal of time and effort making no progress is not really one I prescribe to.