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Author Topic: How can they do that?
pfresh85
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So this may be a bit of a rant, but it's something I need to get off my chest. So over 2 weeks ago, I called Comcast to arrange an installation in my apartment here at school. They set up an appoinment for yesterday between 5 and 8, and I was okay with it (although somewhat frustrated that it takes 2 weeks for them to do just about anything). So I went about a week without cable (since I waited to come back up here), living off of my DSL (which got installed in only 2 days), my books, and my radio.

So yesterday comes. By 5PM, I'm already in a fairly bad mood. My level of depression has been up for days, and I just learned that I needed to spend $100 more on books because the professor didn't submit the required list to the bookstores right. So the cable guy comes at 5:30, and I think "Okay, well at least I'll have cable tonight."

The cable guy goes and uses his little plug-in + wand to test the cable jack in our living room. It makes a high pitched sound and he says he needs to go outside to check the connection there. So he goes outside and is out there for over 30 minutes. He comes back in and says "Okay, let's hook this up and see." We hook up my small TV in the living room using my spare A/B switch + cables, and it works. I go and check my TV in my room though (my large TV that I already had wired up and ready to go), and it doesn't work. So I told the guy I wouldn't sign off on the installation until he looked at it. So he goes in my room and looks at it. First he tells me my cables are bad. So we bring in the cables from the living room and test it, and it still doesn't work. So then he says "Oh, your TV must be bad. Probably hasn't had enough use." I go back to the living room, unplug the little TV and haul it into my room. We plug it in and it doesn't work either. So finally the cable guy admits that it's nothing on my end that is at fault; it's the wiring. I ask him what he's going to do about it, and he says "Yeah, I can't do anything. We have 2 separate crews. One does installations only, and the other does all the wiring jobs. You'll have to call and have them come out and look at it." I ask him how long that will take, and he tells me it'll be another 2 weeks if not more. So yeah, I'm definitely pissed off, not at the installation guy, but at Comcast in general.

After the installation guy leaves, I call Comcast to set up this wiring thing and just to yell at them in general. Before I even get to talk to anyone, they put me on hold for 30 minutes. When I finally do get to talk to someone, she tells me that I'm wrong (as far as the order I placed for my installation) and that I will need to a) call again in 72 hours to have another installation guy come out and look at it and if it doesn't work still (which of course it won't) b) call to have the wiring team come out. I told her that that was just nonsense, that I had the order form in my hand and so I did know for a fact what I ordered and what was and wasn't done. She again tells me I'm wrong and then proceeds to hang up on me.

So I call my parents and tell them that I just can't deal with these people anymore. Last year, I had tons of problems with Comcast, and it tried my patience very much dealing with them. This year hasn't been better, and my patience is about gone (if not gone already). So my father calls them, and he gets about the same treatment I did (put on hold, told he was wrong, etc.). In the end, he gets to talk to a sub-manager, who at first insists that I must pay $100 to get the rewiring done but eventually drops it when my father keeps arguing with her. In the end, an appointment is made for the 31st to have the rewiring done, and my father is supposed to get a call from the manager at some point (to discuss this and other problems we've had with Comcast).

Here's the point of my post: Why do larger corporations like Comcast feel they can get away with this stuff? Do they care nothing about customer satisfaction? I know someone will say "Well if you don't like them, don't use them," but Comcast basically has us in a stranglehold here. I'm a college student with very limited money. That basically puts satellite out of my price range (slightly out for the super low-end package, way out for anything else). So basically, if I want TV of any kind, I have to use Comcast. It's about like a monopoly at least for college students. I guess I'm just frustrated. These big business seem to just not care at all about the people who are paying them for services. I'm just thankful SBC|Yahoo was a lot better to deal with when I did my phone and DSL installation.

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pfresh85
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I'd laugh at that, but I'm still in too bad of a mood about all this.
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The Pixiest
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Comcast did much the same thing to my husband before we were married. His movie channels were broken and they refused to fix it.

They also sent me to a collection agency for $100 for a very old cable box they said they didn't even want and told me every time I called them I didn't have to pay for. yay.

That's why we have Direct TV

http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/index.dsp

Please get direct TV and join us proudly flying the middle finger at the cable company.

Pix

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Jhai
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Sorry about your frustrations - when companies have a monopoly on something, it's true that they have a lot of leeway in little things like customer service.

However, you do have a choice. You can choose to not watch cable TV. As another poor college student, that would be my choice before I paid for cable - of course, that's easy for me to say, since my university has free cable and internet connections in all of it's housing.

Hope things work out. [Smile]

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Beren One Hand
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Have I got a story for you. [Smile]

quote:
Until recently, LaChania Govan's complaints about Comcast's service seemed relatively tame. The 25-year-old Elgin mother of two said she was put on hold, disconnected, even transferred to the Spanish language line.

But after persistent problems with her digital recording system forced her to make dozens of calls to the cable company in July, her August bill came with a change really worth complaining about:

In place of her name were the words "Bitch Dog."

"I could not believe it," said Govan, who works in customer service for a credit card company.

She said she immediately called Comcast to cancel her service and was sent to an operator.

"She asked me for my name. I said, `You really don't want me to go there,'" Govan said.

Chicago Tribune
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pfresh85
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The Pixiest, as I said in my post, satellite is out of my price range. I checked into it this summer, because I wanted to avoid Comcast at all costs with the problems I had last year. The lowest package I could get (with the number of receivers I'd need) was about $10 a month more, plus I think I had to have an annual contract (which doesn't really work when you only live in your apartment 9 months out of the year).

Jhai, you are right in that I could choose to not have cable, but then I'd be hurting myself even worse than I'd be hurting Comcast. See, I spend probably a good 90% of my time in my apartment. That time is divided between studying, eating, sleeping, being on the internet, and watching TV. In fact, there are certain shows I am basically hooked on. Even going this first week without cable was pretty bad on me. I had too much free time to ponder things, which just depressed myself further. I basically need my TV, which is sort of a bad thing to say, but true nonetheless.

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Jhai
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What about going out with friends? Exercising? Joining clubs to learn something new (that isn't class related) and make new friends? Volunteering?

All those things can be a substitute for TV, and they surely help depression more than hanging out at home.

Just a thought. [Smile]

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Brinestone
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My college town had a local cable company. Maybe you should look into that to see if something like that is available where you go to school too.
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pfresh85
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Well that goes into my other problem. I'm not a people person to start with, most people (even some of my friends) irritate me or annoy me after a brief period of time. On top of that, I suffer from social anxiety, so it's really draining and taxing on me to go out with people. Technically, I could exercise, but my psychologist told me he didn't think it'd be good for my depression (mainly because he said that exercise only helps for depression if the person believes that they need the exercise or that it's good for them; I don't really believe either or those). Even though I'm shooting down your ideas, Jhai, thanks for putting up here. It's always nice to have another's input.

EDIT: As for a local cable company, it doesn't exist. The options in my area (which I checked out) are: Comcast, DirecTV, Dish Network, and SBC (but SBC only offers a few of the local channels). As I said, if you are a college student and don't have much money, Comcast basically has you in a stranglehold.

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Hamson
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Comcast is terrible with everything. A couple friends of mine live in a neighboring town in Metro Detroit, and for internet, Comcast is the only thing offered in their city. Their connections regularly dip down, for hours, and whenever they call for someone to fix it, (which is regularly) they don't come for at least 2 weeks, like you said, but they also give them all this hassle about where the problem is (its usually at their cable box down the road), and then they claim to fix it. Only thing is, it works for about a couple hours, and then goes back into its old state of things again. Where they have to wait AGAIN for someone to fix it, and actually have it last a little longer next time.

So basically, I'm agreeing with you that Comcast is a terribly run company. And they can't do anything right the first try. Or even do it wrong, fast.

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Jhai
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No problem - I hope you feel better soon! I've only dealt with the typical teenage angst and some "I'm feeling blue" moods, so I don't really know what it's like for people suffering from depression or social anxiety. So yeah... good luck in getting over this!
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pfresh85
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Well eventually they are going to put me on medication for the depression and social anxiety, so that may help. We'll see. The Comcast thing is just crappiness added to all my other stuff.

As for what Hamson said, yeah I know how that is. It's always a hassle with them, and then even when they come out, they usually don't fix the problem (or if they do, they take forever to do it). I just don't understand how a company this big gets away with it.

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closeyourmind
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I Just checked comcasts website and the full service is $52. This is the service just above the limited service. I have directv with 3 times the channels and pay $54. That's with the sports package. If you go without the sports package it's $42. The other thing to keep in mind is that cable has several surcharges that get added on. Directv only adds on state sales tax. Let's say you have two rooms. Now directv costs $48. The receiver and dish cost $100 if you don't get a 1 year contract. Over 9 months that's $11/month making your total $59. That's $5 more than comcast not including the surcharges that comcast always charges.

The only way that cable is cheaper than directv is if you get the limited package (only like 15 channels) or you have some kind of discount through your appartment complex.

I don't work for directv, but I have had no head aches with it.

Patrick Brown

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pfresh85
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My cable (prior to surcharges and taxes) is $44.50, which is the going rate for standard cable around here. With surcharge and and taxes, it's like $54.07 or something. When I checked DirectTV, it was like $42 for 1 receiver, then an additional $5 per receiver (and at the time I was assuming 2 additional receivers, though now it looks like it'd just be one). I don't want to do the math in my head in regards to the cost of the receiver and dish divided over 9 months. I just know that (at least with the 3 receivers and 1 year contract) it came out to be about $10 or so more a month.
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Goody Scrivener
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Rats, Beren beat me to it...

The good (?) news is that Comcast tracked down the employees responsible and both lost their jobs. But it should have never happened in the first place. And it sure makes me wonder what kinds of notes are in MY account.

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pfresh85
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I forwarded the story on to my father and he has a similar response. He wondered if there was profanity and such attached to my account after I called them and then he called them.
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Tante Shvester
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We ditched our Basic Cable Service and went with Basic Satelite Service, because it was less expensive. The satelite folk (DirecTV) are much better to deal with than the cable folk (Comcast).

Comcast = [Evil]

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jeniwren
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Wow. I'd *kill* to have Comcast again. I just moved two weeks ago and had Comcast in my old home. I used them for TV, Internet and phone service. While the phone service started off a bit rocky, and the internet service had issues at first (their servers to the internet were through another company, and that company had issues -- a couple of years ago, they installed their own servers and since then, performance has been top rate), I got to where I was really, really pleased with having them.

Fast forward to two weeks ago, when I discovered that my new carrier, Verizon, appeared entirely capable of lying to me, to the point of saying I could have DSL at my new location and taking my order. Turns out DSL *isn't* in my area and isn't planned. It took a while to confirm that. Which wasn't a small issue, since a fast internet connection is vital for me to be able to do my job.

Anyway, short version of a long story: I tried out Verizon Wireless's broadband and am really liking it. It's not as good as Comcast cable internet, but then it never promises that either.

My suggestion on Comcast: get the local number for the Comcast office that serviced you, then call and ask for the guy's supervisor. My brother is a crew supervisor for Comcast, and I know if he got such a call, it would certainly be acted upon.

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mackillian
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Um...Nathan works for Comcast. I'll direct him to this thread when he gets home. [Smile]
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pfresh85
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Maybe it's a state-dependent thing then, or at least a city-dependent thing. I've had nothing but terrible service with the local place (I never call the general 800 number). I've been hung up on by at least 3 of the people working there. And as I think I said, it wasn't the guy who came out to do the installation that was bad. I mean he had a bit of a "it's your fault" attitude, but the whole "it's going to take an additional 2 weeks if not more" thing is not his fault. It's just our Comcast. I mean does Comcast in your area still run on two separate lines (A for local channels and B for cable channels)? Because mine does. It's no surprise the wiring is bad when it's all old stuff from the late 80's anyways.
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Will B
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quote:
Why do larger corporations like Comcast feel they can get away with this stuff? ...Comcast basically has us in a stranglehold here.
Question...answer. Bummer.
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LordRahl
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Its funny cause in the Outer Banks in North Carolina, they've got a company named Charter communications. Their deluxe package has more channels than Comcast, and it costs less than Comcast's limited.

I have always been dissatisfied with Comcast. I laugh at their commercials where they make themselves sound caring.

Stupid monopoly.

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pfresh85
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On a different note (and a different rant), I hate the apartment I'm in at the moment, much like I did the last one. See here at UTD, they own Waterview Park, which is the apartments and such around the campus. If you are here on scholarship (like me), part of your scholarship covers rent (roughly $1000 if I remember correctly). Also you'd technically have on campus (or near on campus) parking if you bought parking for the apartment, which is just $35 a year. So people like me on scholarship have a dual incentive living here: they cover part of our rent and they provide us with parking near campus. The thing is Waterview (and by association UTD) knows that they have a monopoly on housing here. I mean, yes, a few students live off campus, but a majority live on. Since they have a monopoly, they basically treat us poorly. If any of you live in Dallas, maybe you saw an article in the Dallas Observer about it. It said (and all of this is true) that Waterview lacked security (there were 10 reported rapes that happened here, and we were never told that they happened or where they happened or anything), that they weren't properly maintaining the apartments (holes in ceilings, mold everywhere, etc.), and they were generally milking us for money.

Last year, my experience with Waterview was neutral, mainly because we were in the brand new buildings they had built since we were freshmen. This meant there wasn't a chance for mold to build up yet, that we were super close to campus (thus close to lighting and the police station), and rent was cheaper (since all freshmen are in a 4 bed/2 bath set up, which is a rarity in the older apartments). We did have problems getting them to fix stuff (like the 2nd bathroom's toilet and and bathtub both didn't work when we moved in). Also there was some shoddy work done, I guess to get the places done on time (things like slanted outlets/light switches, unfinished boards, etc.).

Moving onto the new place. I (and one of my roommates who went with me) was forced to move in June to a new apartment. It was a 2 bed/2 bath set up in one of the older parts of the complex (I want to say this was probably built in the early 90's). The first thing I noticed coming in here was just the shoddy job they did touching it up for us after the other people moved out of here. They just did some kind of spray paint on all the walls, not caring if it got on the carpet or the roof or whatever. Heck, there were even pieces of tape on some of the doors that they just sprayed over (I'm afraid to remove the tape since it'll take the paint with it). After moving in, my roommate and I did the rounds and filled out the report of what problems we saw with the place from the start (so that way they couldn't blame us for them later). Things seemed okay, and since I didn't live here during the summer, I really didn't worry much about it.

Now let's jump to the present. My roommate and I have had the maintenance people out here quite a bit. First, the washer didn't work. If you set it on large load, it would over flow and flood the laundry room. We figured that it was this that caused the mold we discovered all around the sides and back of the laundry room. We reported this to Waterview. They came and looked at it, removed the washer, and gave us a "new" one (I use quotes since it was a very old washer they gave us, it was new only in the sense that we just got it). They did nothing about the mold, even when we pointed it out. Second, the ice maker didn't work right and was causing a leak into the refrigerator. They came out and replaced it, but they made no real apology to us about it not working in the first place (shouldn't this have been checked way before we moved in?). Finally, there was mold and a large hole in the cabinet under our kitchen sink. They came and said they'd replace the boards in there, so I figured they would take out the old moldy stuff and put new stuff in. Did they? No. They just took some thin, almost cardboard-looking stuff and nailed it over the hole.

So that's just maintenance stuff. There are still larger concerns, at least in my mind. My allergies have always been overly sensitive; my asthma, too. Well the last 3 days, I've had terrible headaches, my nose has been running/I've been sneezing, and my asthma has been acting up really bad (even now, my breathing is harder than it should be for just sitting here typing). At first I thought maybe it was just pollen/mold in the air, since that happens from time to time. I've been checking the Weather Channel though, and the pollen/mold has been low to none since I've been here, meaning it shouldn't affect me this bad. So my concern is that maybe there is mold in the walls that I am having reactions to. I would never have thought this, but in that Observer article there was mention of Waterview's policy of just painting over mold rather than going in and fixing it. I'm somewhat worried that that may have been what they did here. I'm going to give it a week though. If I'm not better by this time tomorrow, I'm going to have to go talk to somebody about it. It's just ridiculous to have to worry about your health and safety when you live on campus.

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Theaca
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I think I love comcast. Even though my cable box has glitches, I still love having comcast cable and internet.
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Fitz
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I used to work for Comcast, in the internet "technical support" call center. Personally, I just didn't care enough about the job to provide decent customer service. The pay was horrible, the training was extremely lacking (and I'm not referring to technical training, rather business rules training), the management was pathetic, and the atmosphere within the call center was depressing and stifling. If a call ever lasted more than 10 minutes (it really does take some people 10 minutes to powercycle a modem) then someone would be hovering around your desk, breathing down your neck, inquiring as to why you hadn't yet solved the customer's problem. So while you have legitimate reasons to complain about being a Comcast customer, it's no picnic being a Comcast employee either.

Also, it doesn't really help when 80% of callers are complete pricks ("I had to wait on hold for 5 minutes, and I want this done now! now! now! wah! wah! wah! I can't live without my precious cable and/or internet!"). In a call center, you have to have the patience of a saint to go more than 20 minutes without ripping out your hair. The turnover rate is extremely high, and to get fired you have to be a very poor employee. So basically the only people who stick around for a long time are the slackers who just don't care, and the folks who desperately need the job in order to pay the bills. Really, you're dealing with people who are either completely apathetic about your issues, or so stressed that they can't do their jobs effectively.

Despite my customer imitation, this is not meant as criticism of your complaint. I myself am having major issues in dealing with my ISP, and it can be a real headache. Just thought some perspective from a former Comcast employee would shed some light on why you received such poor customer service (ie. Comcast sucks from all perspectives).

Oh, and when you ask to talk to a manager, and they actually comply, you're not really talking to a manager. Most likely you've been transferred to someone who makes $1/hour more than the original call taker.

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human_2.0
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Initially I had trouble with my Comcast. The "computer" installer knew nothing about Mac, so I had to do it.

However, when I had trouble and called, I always seemed to be connected to someone who knew the basics and perhaps had some specialty. Now I am having very little problems.

But that doesn't mean I like Comcast. A year ago several Salt Lake County cities banded together and were going to put fiber to every home. I was estatic. Comcast came out against it big time and Salt Lake backed out, which may kill the entire thing (some cities may still try, but SLC was going to be the biggest fish).

I at least have the option of switching to DSL if I get sick of Comcast. In fact, that is probably why my Comcast service is decent. I'm already on the verge of switching just because I hate what they did about the fiber project...

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Treason
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Right now I'm paying $60 for cable (no HBO or anything) and $45 for the internet, both through Comcast. I swear it was not that long ago that what I had was called "basic" cable and cost $30...
And they really do have awful customer service. I did have one nice girl helping me once. Once.
Out of the many many times I have had to call them. They are like Sprint to me. They only woo you enough to get you in the door and then it's "nothing works, we can't do anything right the first time but who the heck cares anyway."

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CaySedai
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pfresh85 - on the subject of maintenance, I suggest you call the city and ask for an inspector to come over to see the conditions you live in. They are probably supposed to inspect all apartments every 5 years or so anyway ... (that's how it is where I live).

Mold is not something to take lightly. The little town where I live is missing its post office because there was mold in the building. We still don't know if we will ever have a post office here again. In the meantime, I (and others from my town) have to drive to the nearest (and larger) town to get our mail if we choose to have post office boxes. (I do because they are more secure.)

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Tatiana
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Your experience echoes mine when I went to college. Utilities are infuriating to deal with because of their monopolies. They are almost as bad as the government. The landlords, all that I dealt with, are rather like slumlords, they are trying to milk you for all the money they possibly can, and spend the least possible on maintenance. So everything that goes wrong they first try to claim is your fault. They will not clean or prep at all before you move in, but they will charge you your full deposit if the place isn't spotless when you move out. This is supposed to be a cleaning fee but they do not clean between tenants.

If the air conditioning or fridge breaks, they say, "oh that wasn't part of the lease, that's just one a previous tenant left there". Then they take out the decoy fridge and move it to another apartment they are trying to rent, leaving you without.

I once moved into a house that the landlord was very proud of because the floors had just been refinished. They had varnished a huge roach down to the floor in one corner. It was not that it got stuck before the floor dried. It was smashed down with several coats of finish on top. <laughs> I put my sofa there so it wouldn't show.

Thirty minute hold times are common for utilities. When companies are monopolies and have no incentive to care about customers, they don't. We should eliminate every monopoly in this country, including somehow government services. You should have competing alternatives when you go to get your license or car tag renewed.

Have you had the experience yet of trying to get things fixed at your school? Dealing with financial aid or the bursar's office or the registrar's office? That, too, was always a bureaucratic nightmare for us. I'm just hoping it's now possible to handle things like that online, because for us it involved multiple trips across campus as one office claimed one thing and another said you had to do something different. Whole days could be wasted getting the various sides to agree what it was you needed and providing it for them.

Part of the growing up experience of moving off to college is learning that almost nobody out in the hard cruel world cares about you or what problems you have to deal with. They are pursuing their own agendas, and will do for you only what's in their best interest, or what you can legally require them to do. I remember being really appalled that things were like that. We should fix it. Always the money people make should be tied to each transaction they have with the customer, with the customer having several competing alternatives at every step, and the company losing the money if the customer gets fed up and walks away. Then the 30 minute hold times would not exist.

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Tatiana
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For complaints against utilities, there is the Public Service Commission here. The utilities paid slightly more attention when I lodged a complaint with the PSC. Is there one that serves your area? It's not much help but it's about all you can do.

I highly recommend looking again at the alternatives, too. When you factor in the bad service, isn't satellite a better deal?

Lastly, I want to bear my testimony that I don't watch tv and don't have cable, and I am much happier for it. You've said that you need it. But if you decide to break free of it, I promise you will be glad you did. [Smile]

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pfresh85
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quote:
Originally posted by Tatiana:

Have you had the experience yet of trying to get things fixed at your school? Dealing with financial aid or the bursar's office or the registrar's office? That, too, was always a bureaucratic nightmare for us. I'm just hoping it's now possible to handle things like that online, because for us it involved multiple trips across campus as one office claimed one thing and another said you had to do something different. Whole days could be wasted getting the various sides to agree what it was you needed and providing it for them.

Yeah, I've had problems with them. As I said in a previous post, I'm on scholarship here, so every semester (or at least last year, before I switched to direct deposit) they would write me a check that I'd go pick up. Last semester (so January-ish) they gave me a check and it looked a little high to me. So I asked them "Does this look right to you?" and they said it was (and not to doubt them). So I left, and on my way home I called my father and asked him if it sounded right for the scholarship money + the little bit of financial aid I have for covering the rest of my rent + utlilities. He said it sounded a little high but not to worry about it if they said it was right. Fast forward to late April. It's finals week and about 2 weeks since I had registered for classes for the fall. I check my e-mail and see that UTD sent me one saying that I had an academic hold placed on my account, meaning I couldn't add/remove classes for the fall or do anything in relation to them. Now usually if you have a hold, you can look it up online and find out what it is and how to correct it. Mine was not this case. All it said was "Financial Aid Hold." So I looked up their phone number and called them to ask them what it meant and what I needed to do. They told me they weren't sure what it meant (which is really confusing) and that I'd need to walk over to their office to see. So I left my apartment and walked the 10 minutes or so to where there office is (and mind you, this was one of those hot weather days). I get there, wait in line, and finally get to speak to someone. She looks it up on their computer: apparently when they wrote the check to me, they did give me $500 too much (it was the $500 that was supposed to go to Waterview that semester to cover part of my rent). Since they hadn't told me what it was about beforehand (and because they don't accept credit cards), I had to go all the way back to my apartment to get my checkbook and then all the way back to the office. Then I had to wait in line again just to pay them $500 because they messed up. The thing of it is they didn't apologize to me at all. They seemed to think I should be apologizing to them. *sigh* I understand your other point that in the real world no one cares about your problems but you, but at the same time I still expect that a company you are paying to do something should be doing it. Of course then again I have an actual work ethic and I'm not just money hungry. So maybe that's the difference.

EDIT: About the mold thing, I'm not positive about whether it's here or not, with the exception of that one side and back corner of the laundry room. For all I know, my current allergy and asthma problems could be just me readjust to the climate and air in Richardson. I know last year for my first week or so that my asthma did act up over at my other apartment, so it could just be a repeat of that. As I said, if it doesn't get better in a week (which is when my parents come up here), we're going to Waterview to complain about it again. If they don't do anything, chances are high that we will get a lawyer, because this is just ridiculous.

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El JT de Spang
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quote:
A year ago several Salt Lake County cities banded together and were going to put fiber to every home. I was estatic. Comcast came out against it big time and Salt Lake backed out, which may kill the entire thing (some cities may still try, but SLC was going to be the biggest fish).
Lafayette just passed their fiber bill. Cox didn't have any problem with it but Bellsouth threw a huge fit (and filed several lawsuits).

It was a huge thing politically.
Read about it here.

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Goody Scrivener
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pfresh, I would VERY STRONGLY recommend that you call the city inspector and Board of Health with regard to the mold, and the city inspector with regard to the otehr maintenance issues. School housing or not, I would think that they still have to comply with local building codes, and it really does not sound like it would pass inspection. And I would make those phone calls before your parents arrive because the longer you wait, the longer till something gets done.

Besides, you can't lean on your parents forever, and I always thought that part of the point in going away to college was learning to be able to function independent of parental guidance (not that I ever went away to school...)

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