Kara & Michael’s Blog

In a previous post, I complained about Comcast Cable charging my credit card for a month of “triple play” service ($127) a week after I canceled my Comcast service, and then refusing to issue an immediate refund when I called them on it. Instead, they wanted to send me a paper check in 30 days. Apparently they expected that to be just hunky-dory with me. They couldn’t tell me why I’d been charged, or even tell me for certain that I wouldn’t be charged again! I am not the only person to have been bitten by this shady business practice, as a quick web search will reveal. A quick Google search turned up these two comments from people with surprisingly similar experiences to mine:

Every time I have tried to transfer my account (a seemingly simple task that never goes smooth) I have been charged an extra $130 bill after cancelling my account. Since I don’t receive mailed announcements, I’m required to make sure I check my direct deposit account, otherwise these extra bills would have gone by unnoticed. Then, they won’t just credit your account with the extra $130 you’ve paid, the only way they can get my money back to me is by sending a check in the mail, that I have to wait 2-3 weeks to receive.
(from http://augustcouncil.blogspot.com/2007/12/comcast-is-evil-corporation-that-sucks.html)

I remember that the last time I move Comcast charged me for two months at my old place after I had supposedly canceled the service. So I went to the internet and checked my Comcast account. And yes I was still being charged for the next billing period when I specifically canceled before the billing period started.
(from http://consumerist.com/consumer/complaints/why-i-canceled-comcast-313512.php)

…and it goes on like this.

After my initial rant on the subject, I received an outpouring of attention from Comcast via email and comments posted on this blog. In an email exchange with one representative who contacted me from Comcast’s corporate offices, I received a promise that I would be contacted by phone within one business day. Indeed, I was called, to be told that the issue was being investigated and I would hear back in a day or two.

That was a week ago and there has been no further contact from Comcast. They have not reversed their charge, and my attempts to telephone the person I originally conversed with have led nowhere. Comcast obviously works hard to preserve their online reputation, or they wouldn’t have contacted me in the first place. If only they would have backed that up by actually making things right with me.

Perhaps I am making a big deal out of nothing here, but I think canceling the cable service for which I pay in advance pretty much means that I don’t authorize Comcast to charge my credit card anymore. Where I come from (Earth), there’s a word for charging people’s credit cards without their authorization, and that word is fraud.

So I finally dealt with this situation like any defrauded consumer would: by filing a dispute with my credit card issuer. I have gotten my money back, but from American Express, not from Comcast.

My other experiences with Comcast have been positive. I would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone needing cable service for the rest of eternity.