Comcast: Really Bad Company Or Worst Company Ever?

I used to work for Comcast, so I've long known just how completely dysfunctional and incompetent they are from an internal point-of-view.  I ended up retiring early rather than continue dealing with their idiotic decisions back in 2008, so I guess it shouldn't surprise me to discover just how badly they treat their customers.  There's recognition like this, where they were voted (for the second time) as the worst company in America, and then there's anecdotal evidence like the experience Vicki and I have had with them over the past month.

We had an American relative pass away in early June, and among the tasks we took on as a result was cancelling the relative's Comcast cable account.  I should've known it was going to be a nightmare, but even I was shocked by how crappy their customer service was.  First, we tried to cancel the account over the phone.  One of the options available to us was for removing services from your account, so I selected that one.  I was put into a queue (so far, so good) and then, after several minutes of annoying muzak, I was hung up on!  Undeterred, I tried again: same result!  Finally, I called in and selected "Add a service" and voila!  I was quickly passed on to a live agent!  Unfortunately, that agent couldn't actually cancel an account but he was nice enough to transfer me to someone who, theoretically at least, could.

Next, I found out that the relative's account could only be cancelled if we faxed or emailed Comcast the death certificate, which we didn't have yet at that point.  I even said, "Look, forget that the person died, just cancel it as you would whenever someone doesn't want the service anymore" but no, they couldn't do that.  So we had to wait until we got the death certificate.

A few days later, certificate in hand, Vicki tried her luck.  She was also hung up on if she selected "Remove a service" so she, too, had to get in another way, which she did.  Eventually, she got to an agent who directed Vicki to email a scan of the death certificate to a particular email address within Comcast, and told her that should do it.  Vicki included in the email directions as to where Comcast could pick up the cable box and remote control, and we assumed that was that.

Except, of course, it wasn't.  Upon checking back in a week or so later, we found out that Comcast won't pick up hardware, only deliver it.  So it was up to us to get the equipment to them.  However, the nearest Comcrap retail outlet was approximately 50 miles away from the relative's home, which made it about 150 miles away from here.  We fought to get them to pick it up, but all we got for our troubles was a $130 fee being levied against the relative's bank account for not returning the hardware.

That led to us spending the day today driving to Macomb, Michigan, to drop off the equipment Comcrap had been all too happy to deliver previously.  That location, it turns out, is one of the levels of Hell.  There were 30 customers ahead of us, and we waited nearly an hour for the pleasure of handing back to them the cable box and remote along with a few choice words.  Eight agent stations were set aside in the office for servicing customers but only 3 of them actually had agents behind them the entire time we were there.  Kids ran around unattended while their parents languished in perpetual agony alongside us and while a TV screen blared children's programming at top volume.

If you think Bell or Rogers are bad to deal with here in Canada, trust me: you ain't seen nothing until you've had to deal with Comcrap 'customer service.'  It is, quite simply, the worst I've ever seen, by far.