Tuesday, October 27, 2009

My 1 hour Comcast Customer Service Live Chat Transcript

Last night I unexpectedly spent an HOUR with Comcast customer service chat. Unbelievable. Full transcript of the experience below. Not great times.


user art_ has entered room
art>
site not recognizing my username, so i cannot sign into my account online
analyst Franz has entered room
Franz>
Hello art_, Thank you for contacting Comcast Live Chat Support. My name is Franz. Please give me one moment to review your information.
Franz>
Thank you for contacting Comcast. I am very happy to assist you!
Franz>
I would be happy to assist you with that. Please be assured that I will do everything I can to help you with your concern.
Franz>
In order for me to help you with your concern, allow me to pull up your account. May I have your account number?
art_>
well, that's what i'm trying to get to, franz
art_>
but i cannot sign into my account
art_>
and i do not see an option to recover username or password
art_>
my username has always been my email address
art_>
i'm not sure why it's not working now
Franz>
I will provide you the login again
art_>
great
Franz>
May I have the last four digits of the socials registered in the account?
art_>
XXXX
Franz>
Thank you.
Franz>
Please allow me a moment
Franz>
I'm still working on it. Please allow me another moment.
art_>
ok
Franz>
Thank you.
Franz>
May i know what error message you encounter art?
art_>
sure - let me try to log in again and i'll let you know
Franz>
Thank you.
Franz>
Take your time.
art_>
missing or invalid information - username not found
Franz>
I apologize for the inconvenience.
Franz>
I will need to transfer you to our Internet department to reset this for you since I got an error here on my end okay?
art_>
ok - so what do i do? stay here and someone else will jump in?
Franz>
That is correct
art_>
ok
Franz>
Please wait, while the problem is escalated to another analyst
analyst Maria has entered room
Maria >
How are you doing today?
analyst Franz has left room
Maria >
Hi there, Art.
Maria >
How can I brighten up your day?
art_>
hi
art_>
do you not have the history of this chat?
art_>
i cannot log in to my account online
art_>
site is telling me my username is not recognized
Maria >
I am checking on it now. Thank you for that, Art.
art_>
thank you
Maria >
You are much welcome! I understand that you are having issues with your email login. I am more than willing to assist you with your concern.
Maria >
Before we proceed, can you please provide the following information to secure the privacy of your account.
-full account number
-last four digits of your social
art_>
i cannot get you my account number b/c i cannot login to my account
art_>
but the ss# is XXXX
Maria >
That is fine, Art. Thank you for that information.
Maria >
Is it okay if I reset a password for you?
art_>
sure
Maria >
Cool! Thank you.
Maria >
Art, may I know the name of the account please.
art_>
i'm not sure what you mean by 'name' of the account
Maria >
May I know who is the holder for this account? Or to whom was it named?
art_>
should be me, art sindlinger
Maria >
I see. Please give me one moment while I pull up the account for you.
Maria >
Will that be okay?
art_>
ok
Maria >
Cool! Thank you.
Maria >
Thank you for patiently waiting, Art.
Maria >
May I know what username are you having troubles with?
art_>
sindlinger@gmail.com
Maria >
I see. Thank you for that, Art.
Maria >
May I know what services do you have from Cocmast please?
Maria >
Comcast I mean.
art_>
i have digital cable
art_>
have had it for a few years now
art_>
am trying to upgrade to triple play
art_>
so i'm a hot lead here
art_>
but i can't log into my account
Maria >
Thank you, Art. May I know what site are you having troubles with logging on to your email account?
art_>
https://www.comcast.com/Customers/CustomerCentral.cspx
Maria >
Wow! That is great, Art. We really appreciate your loyalty for our sevices.
Maria >
About your email login, there is no available username and password since you are subscribed for our cable service. In order for you to have an email account, we need first to subscribe to our internet service.
art_>
argh. really? i've been trying to login to the wrong site?
art_>
where do i login to my cable account?
Maria >
Yes, Art. If you are subscribed with our internet service, you need to login to comcast.net for you to access your email.
art_>
i am not trying to access my email
art_>
i don't have email with you, at least not that i care about
art_>
i am trying to login and manage my cable account
Maria >
With your existing email address, you need to log on to gmail.com for you to be able to access it.
art_>
?
art_>
i'm not sure i understand you
art_>
this is what i'm trying to do
art_>
i receive my 'comcast statement ready for viewing' emails from you
art_>
it includes this link
art_>
http://www.comcast.com/payonline
art_>
that prompts me for my username, which is my email address
art_>
i enter my email address and get the 'missing or invalid information' message
Maria >
I see. Thank you for that information, Art. Let me check the details for that. Please give me one moment to do it. Thank you.
Maria >
Thank you for patiently waiting, Art.
Maria >
About your issue, can you please type comcast.com on your address bar.
art_>
ok
Maria >
Good! Then, look for CREATE ACCOUNT located at the upper portion of that page beside SIGN IN.
art_>
ok. but i have an account, don't i?
Maria >
Yes, Art. You already have a cable account with us but with email, you need to subscribe first with our internet service.
art_>
i don't understand.
art_>
i registered my account with comcast.com 11/14/2004
Maria >
Yes, Art.
Maria >
I can also see that here on my end.
Maria >
Do not worry, your cable account is existing and we have a record of your service.
Maria >
Have you created an account in comcast.com, Art?
Maria >
We need to do that for you to be able to pay your bills online.
art_>
what?
art_>
you're really losing me now
Maria >
I am sorry about that, Art. Can you please look for CREATE ACCOUNT on that page beside SIGN IN.
art_>
what do you think i have been asking about for the past 45 minutes
art_>
i have an account
art_>
i have been paying my bill online for 5 years
art_>
that is the account i am trying to log into
art_>
but your system is not recognizing me today
Maria >
Okay. I do apologize about that, Art.
art_>
and i can't believe after 45 minutes in this chat you guys still do not apparently know what i am even asking about
art_>
this is nuts
Maria >
I sincerely apologize for that, Art.
art_>
at this point i'm honestly not very interested in apologies
art_>
i am interested in accessing my account
Maria >
Yes, Art. Can we please try logging on to your account this time with my assistance.
Maria >
Just click SIGN IN.
art_>
ok
Maria >
Thank you. Can you please use your username and password.
art_>
do you know what the sign in experience looks like
Maria >
Just sindlinger,do not include @gmail.com. Thank you.
Maria >
Yes, Art.
art_>
same error message
Maria >
May I know what error message are you receiving please?
art_>
it is the same error message
art_>
art_(Mon Oct 26 2009 22:02:51 GMT-0500 (Central Daylight Time))>
i enter my email address and get the 'missing or invalid information' message
Maria >
I see. Is it okay if I try it here on my end, Art?
art_>
sure
Maria >
Thank you. Can you please provide me your username and password, Art.
art_>
are you serious
Maria >
For me to check the problem Art, I need to try it here on my end so that we will be able to solve your issue with your login. Rest assured that you login is secured. But, if you have doubts about it, it is fine with me.
art_>
maria, i think you have entirely missed the point of why i initiated this chat session
art_>
i have given you what i know to be my username
art_>
and i have told you that the system doesn't recognize me
art_>
and i have asked if there is some way to reset my password, like EVERY OTHER online service out there
art_>
the ol' 'forgot your username or password' link
art_>
which apparently does not exist on comcast.com
art_>
and apparently live support is not able to help either
art_>
this is absolutely crazy
Maria >
Okay, Art. I do apologize again. I will give you the link for you to change your password. Please give me one moment.
Maria >
I am really sorry if I messed up with your issue. I do apologize about that. Please calm down so that I can provide you the necessary remedies for you to login to your account.
art_>
maria - i have been asking about a simple issue for an hour. please do not tell me to calm down. if you can provide the link you reference, we can both go on with our lives. thanks.
Maria >
I will, Art. About your current account that you've been using for 4 years already, I can see here that it you need to register again for you to be able to login to your account. The error you received was caused by the merging of comcast.com and comcast.net sites.
Maria >
What we can do now is to create an account with the same email address that you have for you to access your account.
Maria >
Will that be okay, Art?
art_>
sure
Maria >
Thank you.
Maria >
Can you please click CREATE ACCOUNT in comcast.com, Art.
art_>
ok
Maria >
Please inform me if you are able to register successfully.
art_>
maria, i do not have my account number.
art_>
it's in my account info online
Maria >
I can provide you with that, Art.
art_>
great
Maria >
Here is your account number: XXXXX
Maria >
Thank you.
Maria >
Please inform me if you are able to create an account successfully, Art. Thank you.
art_>
looks like i'm in
art_>
Maria >
That is great, Art! Good job.
art_>
really wish we could have gotten to this point 40 minutes ago
Maria >
I am really sorry of what happened earlier.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Lookalikes: Nouriel Roubini and Linus Van Pelt

Lookalikes: Nouriel Roubini and Linus Van Pelt

Not sure why this hasn't occurred to me before. I've certainly seen Roubini (aka, Dr. Doom) enough on CNBC. But the light bulb went off this morning.

It's not just the resemblance (the gourd-like head shape, the unkempt hair) -- Roubini and Linus also share a reputation for doing their fair share of pontificating. Which is one reason I found it surprising to learn that Roubini is apparently such a player.


Image credits:
Invertia, Green Retirement, RGE Monitor, 9timezones, NY Daily News, The Press Posted in the Tribune Times, Clarification,