The Comcast Saga

I am not alone. And that feels good.

5 1/2 months ago I moved into a new place. Switching the utilities over to the new address was not an altogether pleasant experience, but not too much of a hassle. Well, everything but cable. Comcast took customer disservice to a whole new level.

When I called to transfer service to the new address, I had already moved into the new place. "John" answered my call, and proceeded to sell me on the benefits of the $99/month "Triple Play". Cable. Phone. Internet. All for $99/month. Considering I was already paying $130/month for cable & Internet, it sounded like a good idea at the time.

Then "John" proceeded to sell me the HBO/Starz for an additional $10/month. OK. So for $109/month I get cable & movies. Still a deal.

The day for installation came. I took a Thursday afternoon off work to be home between the hours of 12 & 4 pm so I could have my cable hooked up. 12:30 came. 1:30 came. 2:30 came. 4 pm came. Comcast did not.

I called Comcast the next day to see what happened. It seems "John" never scheduled my installation. And the address was wrong. Comcast apologized and scheduled installation for the next day (Saturday).

Saturday arrived and so did Comcast. Amazingly "John" had failed to mention that I already had HD cable, so I was able to keep my cable box, but the impact of this omission would become evident later.

Weeks later I received my first bill. The address was still wrong, but the note online claimed this was normal, and that within a few weeks this would be corrected. I paid my bill and didn't think anything of it.

The next week I received another bill, this time for my new address. I ignored this bill, since I had already paid. Later another bill arrived, still claiming I had not paid. At this point I called Comcast to check on the situation. I was assured everything was fine.

I received another bill, again for the old address. I paid it, assuming Comcast had a handle on the situation. At this point I started getting bills from Comcast for the installation and stating I was 2 months overdue and I now owed more than $300.

I called Comcast again to find out what was going on. It seems their computer system couldn't accept payments for the SAME account from DIFFERENT addresses. Or at least, not apply them to the same bill. Eventually Comcast figured it out, my account was credited the proper amount and all was forgotten.

At least I'm not the only one.
http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/01/comcast-please.html

Save! Save! Save! DANCE!

Best. Commercial. Ever.



Ever.

Word of the Week

The Glitter End: (thə glĭt'ər ěnd)
n.
1. The spectacular train wreck of celebrity that feeds the tabloids.
2. Brilliant and tragic flame out into psychosis or untimely overdose caused by a combination of celebrity, drugs, and showy, often superficial attractiveness.

See also: Britney Spears, Heath Ledger, Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Anna Nicole Smith, etc.

This is only a test...

The post that previously occupied this space was complete gibberish. The source: http://www.apple.com/itunes/store/podcaststechspecs.html#example

I was trying to find a way to integrate some defunct Season 1 LOST podcasts back into iTunes, after spending a year M.I.A. (funny story about me and hard drives; Nov. 2006 was not kind to me or my data)

I was trying to see if I could fake an .xml feed from a post that would mimic the real feeds used by iTunes to update podcasts in your iTunes library.

I was prepared to go the distance and hand code the .xml if this thing worked. Probably the best part is, after deleting and rebuilding my iTunes library, I didn't have to write a line of code, somehow fake a feed, or do really anything. It just worked.

Requiem In Pace Mr. Wizard

(from the way-back machine)

http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=mrwizardobit13&date=20070613&query=mr.+wizard

Yea... about that....

I want to clarify something. At no time, have I ever been the Burger King.

Wednesday was one of those days where you imagine everything falling apart around you, in slow motion, only to discover nothing was quite as bad as it seemed.

First the flight from Phoenix was late getting into San Francisco. Then the plane was routed to the International Terminal, which meant another trip through Security.

As my flight back to Seattle starts to board, they announce that the flight is oversold, and they need 5 volunteers to give up their seats, in exchange for free round-trip airfare to any destination in the Lower 48. SOLD!

United doesn't have another flight until 7:30 pm. (It's about 10:20 am.) They offer to book me on an Alaska Airlines flight back to Seattle, but the 12:30 flight is a full. Next available is 3:20. OK, fine. Free airfare for sitting around, doing nothing for another 5 hours. I'm OK w/ that.

Then I discover Alaska flies out of the other terminal past Security, which means another trip past the screeners. Except this time, I'm asked to step aside and wait for the next available screener. I get to step into the phone booth, have them blow air on me, and wait for the light to turn green before I can go. Then I get to sit there and watch them search my bags.

Lunchtime. Except there's nothing past Security in this terminal, save for a couple coffee shops. Great. Another trip past the guards. I get searched again.

At this point, I've been through Security 4 times in one day, and only made it onto one airplane. And half the time, I got to watch the TSA unpack my luggage to check for explosive residue. At this point I began to question my choice of flights.

About 3 pm, we board the plane. As we're boarding, the meal truck is already unloading its precious cargo of peanuts & bottled water. A short while later, the truck pulls away. Several minutes later, the captain announces over the intercom that we're waiting for the truck to come back, and it should only be a couple minutes. 15 minutes. No Truck. Half hour, no truck. 40 minutes, still no truck.

A full hour later, the truck reappears, bringing w/ it bottled water. The flight is delayed for more than an hour. For bottled water. And its a 2 hour flight. I should be halfway back home at this point. I should already be home at this point.

About 6:15, my phone rings. I had an appointment at 6 pm. And I'm on my way to my car, in the parking garage. I apologize, explain that my flight was delayed and that I've just arrived in Seattle.

Is free airfare worth all this? Really?

After I get home an unpack, I head into work. I have a couple things I have to take care of since I was gone for a few days. I plug in my laptop and power it on. Right after the Windows XP boot screen, DEATH.

I get a blue screen error message that I've never seen before and my computer locks up. I power down; restart. I attempt to boot in Safe Mode. Same error. I attempt to boot from the last known good configuration. Nope. I restart a total of 8 times. Nothing. Same error message every time.

Great. As if the day couldn't get any worse, it just did. My laptop, which I had been using that afternoon in the airport w/ no problems won't even boot up. No warning, just dead. Awesome. I can't wait to deal w/ this tomorrow...

Just when you though it was safe...

The King has returned!