Steel Kaleidoscopes

Comcast: Crooks and Thugs

So the greenish-blue form letter arrived in our mailbox yesterday from Comcast.

After months of trying to straighten out a $220 error on our bill for services we never received, Comcast is basically holding a gun to our head demanding we pay or be shut down.

For full disclosure, this is not the first, second or even third issue we've had with Comcast. And because of this, shame on us. But when you have your cable and Internet connections invested in one service, you tend to avoid switching costs.

Who has the time?

So after three phone calls that totaled nearly two hours of dialogue with various customer service reps, each of whom agreed that Comcast has made an error and we are being unjustly charged, we're giving up.

In sum, we converted to the triple-play package (cable, phone, Internet) after sales rep Katy Linahan in Comcast's Chelmsford, Mass., office convinced us to switch from our long-distance AT&T service for a monthly savings of more than $40.

While talking with the presale-affable Katy Linahan, we also asked that a Comcast technician take a look at two dead phone lines in the house. Katy Linahan assured us that the technician could do this, and if he couldn't resolve the problem, we would not be charged for his time.

Wrong.

The Comcast technician told us we needed an electrician, and that he couldn't solve the problem.

When our first bill arrived, we were not only charged for the Comcast technician's time, but we were wrongly billed for the triple-play package.

All three customer service reps acknowledged the error, and said the correct bill would be sent.

Wrong.

Each time, the bill was larger and larger, that $220 fee tacked onto the regular service.

Because I couldn't dedicate any more phone time to Comcast's clueless customer service reps (Maria, Doris and someone whose name I forgot), we simply mailed the correct amount with a letter stating while we're not paying the full amount posted on the bill.

After two "partial" payments, the greenish-blue form letter arrived.

We pay Comcast more than $200 a month, and we always pay on time. You would think we would get better treatment than this.

But Comcast just doesn't get it.

And we don't have any more fight left in us. Not for this.

Comcast, you're no different than a thug on the street stealing $220 out of my wallet.

But my daughter needs to be able to watch Dora and I need a broadband connection.

Comcast somehow has a monopoly on legalized robbery.

The MBTA

We apologize for the inconvenience.

The MBTA, or the Misguided Bureau of Transit Anarchy, is the laughingstock of public transportation systems.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

While it's true that the sports teams are at the top of their game in Boston, the transportation system is one of the worst in the country.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

The 6:21 inbound train arrives for departure at 6:45 due to a switching problem.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

The 6:20 outbound train is ready for departure at 6:47 due to NA. Once it departs, there's a half-hour stop for a disabled vehicle on the tracks. And because the schedule is off, there's a 20-minute delay to let the inbound train get by. Your dinner is at 9.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

6:20 is really 6:53.  And 7:35 is really 8:03. And, by the way, 5:20 is really 5:46.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

And as our noses and ears take on the texture of stale bread while waiting for the 6:20 that has become the 6:31, we find that one of the four cars does not have heat. Be courteous and let a fellow passenger sit on your lap.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

If I ran my business this way, I'd be out of business.

But this is the MBTA, the Misguided Bureau of Transit Anarchy. Your choices are limited.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

The Green Line

If you work or play in Boston, you've undoubtedly taken the Green Line, the subway line that cuts through the center of the city.

You can hit many of the main attractions on the Green Line, including Fenway Park, Boston Garden and the Museum of Fine Arts.

During rush hour, the trains can get crowded.

Here's my rant: Instead of strategically figure out how to handle the overflow, the MBTA (Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority) just throws more cars at the problem. They're pounding their chests this morning, touting the 10 new cars they'll be adding over the next few months.

This is not the answer.

As it is, there are too many Green Line cars in service. More often than not, the Green Line cars practically stack up upon one another, creating rush-hour gridlock beneath the ground. It would be one thing if the cars were full, but they're not.

A better answer is to strategically space out the cars based on destination (there are B, C, D and E cars with specific routes) and ensure that outbound cars have a good mix of final destinations (Government Center, North Station and Lechmere).

The Green Line is going to be crowded. Volume is a reality, like vehicle traffic going in and out of the city. But the MBTA should focus on refining the mix rather than adding cars.

Maybe if someone calling the shots at the MBTA sat in Green Line gridlock on a half-empty car or waited 20 minutes for an outbound Lechmere car at Park Street while five half-empty Government Center cars in a row pass through they would understand.

Bugaboo Creek's Boo-Boo

When you're a parent, you need restaurants that get your kids excited.

Bugaboo Creek does that for my toddler.

It's too bad poor customer service will put a large window of time between us before we return.

There's a Bugaboo Creek in Framingham, Mass., that has been a treat for us. The food is pretty good but most important, there's a talking moose, wooden ducks that turn their heads and a fish that flips its fins on the wall.

When you're with a 2-year-old, it doesn't get much better than this.

Unless you have no wait service.

After beating the Sunday lunch crowd and getting seated, we look over the menu and make our decisions. Macaroni and cheese for Chloe and the chicken platter for me. I break out the coloring book (if you want to eat in a restaurant with a toddler, an activity bag is essential).

We wait. Chloe talks about the talking moose. We watch the lunch throng come in. A few couples are seated. A large group of a dozen is seated near us, the wait staff scurrying to pull tables together.

We continue to wait.

A waitress approaches the table of 12 and starts taking their orders.

For us, we've now been seated for 15 minutes and haven't even had a waitress glance at our table. When you're with a 2-year-old, it's important to order quickly as every minute could be the difference between lunch as usual or an emotional meltdown.

Finally, I get up and ask a waitress if we can get a waitress. She says she'll check, then disappears.

After a few more minutes, we put the coloring book and crayons away and get up to leave. The waitress comes over and says "Manuel will be right over to take your order."

It's too late.

When I go to a restaurant, I expect good service. I don't appreciate being forgotten. Especially with a 2-year-old.

We leave and head across the street to Papa Gino's, where we're eating our lunch within a few minutes.

There's no talking moose, but at least we're wiping tomato sauce off our chins.

One More Comcast Rant

So over the holidays I assure my mother-in-law that I can figure out why she can't tap into the Comcast wireless feed into her house.

Turns out that Comcast, which provides her with broadband access, initially set up her wireless but neglected to give her a network key (or the correct one).

No biggie.

I call Comcast and after explaining the situation, the snooty woman on the other end tells me it's a Dell problem, and that I need to contact Dell.

Um, OK.

So I call Dell and as the polite rep walks me through all of our settings, doing his best to trouble-shoot with me. Turns out the issue is that we need to reset the modem/router (Comcast supplies a hybrid). Because we're unable to do this without Comcast's assistance, I'll need to call Comcast.

Ugh, I'm thinking.

After going through all of the correct phone prompts to access a wireless representative, I get a woman who after listening to my situation says:

"Are you referring to all of that Internet stuff?"

"Um, yeah," I say.

"Well you've reached billing in Louisiana."

"But I followed all the prompts to discuss my wireless issue."

"Well they get very busy and when they do, the calls usually come here."

Great. So instead of putting the customer in the queue to speak with someone who may be able to help, Comcast sends the customer to billing in Louisiana.

Unbelievable.

The next day we switched to Verizon and we're fully wireless.

Comcast should stick to cable TV and leave Internet and telephone to people who have a clue.

Comcast Addendum

So, after being without a phone for eight days with the Comcast promise that someone will be at our house on Saturday between noon and 4 p.m., Bob from Comcast shows up around 10:15 a.m.

Here's how the conversation went:

Bob from Comcast: "Geez, I looked at this ticket. How long have you been without a phone?"

Me: "Eight days."

Bob from Comcast: "You've got to be kidding me.  They're just getting someone out here now? That's just wrong."

Me: "Tell me about it. We've got a little baby and no phone. I called and talked to several people, even a manager, but they kept telling me Saturday was the earliest they could get here."

Bob from Comcast: "That's ridiculous."

Me: "Yeah, we're not real happy. We have cell phones, but the reception is spotty."

Bob from Comcast: "Yeah, especially out here."

So Bob from Comcast checks things out in the basement and emerges about 20 minutes later. He tries to make a call from his cell phone. He can't get a signal.

Me: "So, what's the status?"

Bob from Comcast: "I can't get you a dial tone until I call this in. But I can't call in because the reception is so bad."

Ya think? Do you think we could have used a phone the last eight days?

So Bob had to leave, promising to either call back with the news that our phone is back online or he'd personally be back to get the phone back up and working.

Bottom line: Bob from Comcast called a few hours later, and we're back in the 21st century.

For now.

Comcast: A Terrible Phone Service

One of the things you expect to work is your telephone.

It's kind of like turning on a lamp or faucet. You expect light and water.

If you subscribe to Comcast, keep your fingers crossed for a dial tone.

And if you don't get the dial tone, cross your fingers for a Comcast service person to show up.

After being away for a few days, we arrived home to find our phone not working.

So I call Comcast.

I speak with Jennifer, Larry, Merlyn (someone from India, I think), Lynn and Lee.

Jennifer tells me someone from Comcast will check the phone line the next day and that someone would call me within the hour to schedule the appointment. When I don't get a call back from Comcast, I talk with Larry, who tells me the same thing.

No call from Comcast.

I finally talk with Merlyn, who gives me the best news -- that there was an identified outage in our area and that our phone should be working within a few hours. It isn't until later in the evening when I realize that Merlyn was just giving me the good news to get me off the phone.

So the next day I speak with Lynn, who tells me a Comcast service person (note I've been avoiding using 'technician' -- it's too complimentary) will arrive on Saturday (nearly a week after the service went down) between 12-4 p.m.

I tell her that's not acceptable and ask to speak with her manager (ie: someone making $15K a year instead of $6.75/hour). I speak with Lee, who sounds as if he's just gotten off a cigarette break. Lee holds firm on the company line -- Saturday between 12-4 p.m. is the best Comcast can do.

I'm steaming.

Lee then gives me some advice: If I call back every day before Saturday, something may open up.

Ah, I get it. Getting a service person from Comcast is like trying to get Springsteen tickets. Keep calling and maybe you'll get lucky.

After poking around at some other options (AT&T, Verizon), I find I need a working phone to switch services.

In other words, Comcast has a firm grip on my you-know-what.

Looks like I'll have to wait around until Saturday.

And I'm not hopeful.

More on Whole Foods

Don't mean to belabor this, but Whole Food's stance that selling lobsters is inhumane is plain silly.

Eating lobsters is a New England tradition. And a special treat.

What's next? Banning the sale of yogurt because it has live cultures? Here's a funny spoof that hits the mark.

Delta is a Mess

If you're looking for a hassle-free flight, do not book with Delta.

Our recent round-trip flight from Boston to Fort Myers, Fla., was fraught with missteps, incompetence and poor customer service.

We had enjoyed flying Delta's Song in the past because it offered a direct flight and personal TVs. With a 7-month-old baby, both of these features were especially appealing. But after our recent experience, we will never fly Delta again.

To quote Pete Townshend, "The Song is over."

Here's the deal:

Delta had no record of our New Year's Day return reservation in the e-ticket kiosk, so we had to wait in a lengthy line to get our boarding passes.

Then Delta kept postponing our flight, forcing us to wait several hours (remember, we're traveling with an infant). As it turned out, our flight never existed. We were merged with a later flight and told that we may not be able to have seats together.

After a few hours of waiting, the Delta rep made an announcement that it might not be a bad idea to rebook our flight because they couldn't guarantee a departure time. Problem was, all flights for the next day were booked.

This was difficult for us traveling with an infant, who is very ornery about timing with her meals and naps. Heading into evening hours on a packed plane was not a good idea. We decided to follow the reps' advice and rebook for the first flight out on Jan. 3, two days later.

We were instructed to pick up the two bags we had checked at baggage claim. Problem was, they couldn't find our bags.  We rented a car and headed back to our family in Naples (thankfully we didn't have to stay in a hotel) without our luggage.  Delta was supposed to deliver our luggage that evening, but never did. We only received our luggage the next day when family members picked it up for us (they just happened to be going to the airport anyway).

Turns out our luggage was put on a plane to Boston and had to be rerouted to Fort Myers. So our bags made it home, but we didn't.

All of the above happens from time to time. We understand this. But it was the customer service we received on Tuesday morning, when we finally flew home, that convinced us Delta has no clue and should not be in business.

Delta would not let us board early with an infant. The reps' comment was "There's no early boarding. Everyone has children."

Huh?

So we schlep onto the plane with everyone else, struggling with the stroller while people are trying to get by us. About two hours into the flight, as can be expected, our baby had a little meltdown for about a half-hour, crying her lungs out. The steward, checking on passengers about eight rows in front of us, asks the passengers, "How are your ears?"

Gee. That makes us feel good. We're new parents with a crying baby on a crowded flight and the steward comments on it. Real professional.

We landed safely. We arrived. Finally. Two days later than expected. But very frustrated with Delta. There's a reason Delta declared bankruptcy. This is an airline that doesn't have a clue about business.

Delta clearly doesn't love to fly, and it shows.

Aquafina's Rebate

Rebates are supposed to be a little bit complicated.

Rebates are sometimes a selling point, as the consumer does the math in his or her head and calculates how much the product will actually cost when securing the rebate.

I'm not sure of the percentage of rebates that are actually redeemed, but I know it's low because consumers toss out receipts or, even more common, discard the packaging with the UPC number necessary to cash in.

Aquafina bottled water, however, has made cashing in its rebate nearly impossible. At least for those of us who have better things to do.

Aquafina is offering a $5 rebate when you purchase two 24-packs of 16.9 ounce bottled water. Here's the catch: You have to peel the UPC label off of each bottle to receive the rebate.

Who is going to do that?

I stopped hauling bottles into a store's recycling area once I had a job that paid me more than minimum wage. Why would I take the time to peel the label off of every bottle of water I drink?

It's just silly.