It is maddening. I live in a fairly rural area, and we recently switched phone carriers, as the one that has been here longest (used to be the only one that worked here) has jacked it's prices up so high we couldn't keep on. The one we switched to is way cheaper & was supposed to cover our arra but service is ridiculously unreliable. We found the same problem. You simply CANNOT connect with a human. I spent at least an hour jumping through digital hoops & couldn't get any help.
I like where you say you’re not stupid. We who know how to work these things and game their system (and I’m older than you!) are definitely not stupid. Determined, yes. I’m with you!
Yes, this is why we dropped Comcast and AT&T years ago. I wish there was some combo of numbers that would crash the robot system. Directive was great til ATa&T bought them. Now Customer Service is inept and read from scripts. My friend the next town over paid same rate as I did but had additional programming unavailable to my area. When I asked why we pay the same even though she got more channels than I did, it was basically, "because we can." That is when I drove to Comcast to drop off receiver. THEN it was escalated- oh, we can give you deals. Too little too late....
Agreed! We lost the internet the other day in our area. They wanted to text me a link to troubleshoot. I can't do anything without internet because US Cellular sucks, too. It's infuriating!
A friend of mine in another state, not very computer savvy, had this problem two months ago, and it took him SIX WEEKS to get it fixed with the help of a mutual friend only slightly more computer literate. During that time he had no e-mail access.
We all need to react like you. To all these companies all the time !!!! I like to ask them if they will reimburse me at my hourly rate. So far nothing but crickets
Yes, Fuck the robots!!! I know I'm worthless. I know I don't count. I know I'm helpless and powerless. Or at least, I know this is what strangers think of me. It is what businesses and administrations assume. But I don't need them to robotically rub that in my face by preventing me from speaking to another human. This is a matter of courtesy and basic human dignity.
Josh, I’m waiting for the day a BANK gets in your crosshairs! Extra points if it involves the bank website, app, credit card and human employees in multiple locations. All were unable to crack the code of how to nullify a former email and redirect all banking and credit card info to a new email. Happened to my friend. He spent hours on the phone and in person before a human found a solution.
It's all true, and I sympathize because I've experienced the same BS. But the sad fact is that they just don't care. Trying to deal with them is like trying to dive through a concrete wall.
On a tangent, but a related one, it is LONG PAST TIME for a handful of Internet behemoths to be broken up in the same way AT&T was taken apart to foster greater competition.
Comcast, Verizon and their ilk mistreat their customers because the U.S. federal government at every level of complicity has been bribed to permit these monopolies. The government ALLOWS this abuse through their inaction on combatting monopolies.
This must end. It might be a futile gesture and, I admit, I regard my own advice with enormous skepticism, but… contact the Trump campaign and let them know of your frustration, disgust and how it’s harming your business. Leave a comment on Don Jr.’s & Eric’s Twatter accounts as well.
Better yet, make a video directly addressing the Trump men on these issues of business and demand that they break up the Internet monopoly in their upcoming Administration.
Business is the Trumps’ thing. A promise to break up Big Internet leading to greater competition & lower prices would be EXTREMELY POPULAR among average Americans across the country. A sure vote winner. EVERYONE hates the poor service from their current Internet provider and bitterly resents the lack of choice.
The squeaky wheel gets the grease, so squeak away. You have nothing to lose. No demonrat administration - least of all the decaying husk of the Johammad Talibiden regime - will lift a finger to break up monopolies, that’s for certain.
You probably already know this, but in case you haven’t seen this: GetHuman.com is a website that advises on what phone number to call to get through to a human being.
It doesn’t always work, but it’s worth a try. I generally ignore the number I am instructed to call and instead check out what GetHuman suggests I should dial.
Bottom line is that companies do not want to employ human beings. And the woke ones are the worst. Yesterday I try to pay by Citicorp bill. The app keeps telling me my password isn't valid. So then I try to change the password and it asks for the last four digits of my social. I put it in and then I get locked out. After jumping through the hoops on their automated crappy system I get connected to an overseas representative that essentially yells at me their system is down, try back in 5 hours and hung up.
I had to call USCIS for an issue related to my citizenship application. So kind of a big deal (to me. Not to them; they had already collected and processed my application fee).
I had called them in the past and always been able to talk to someone after a very long hold (usually an unhelpful person with hatred in their voice, but a human). Not this time. Robots only. Finally, after insisting many times to the robot that I needed to speak with a human since it COULD NOT address my question, it said to me “I cannot connect you to an agent. If you ask again, I will end the call.” I asked again. It ended the call. The robot HUNG UP on me for asking to speak to a human!
I feel your pain. I have so many similar stories. On for 3 hours trying to get somewhere (somewhere only because they said there was a destination) only in the end to be rejected. It's infuriating. It can't be sustainable and I can't believe these systems haven't collapsed yet.
Up in Canada it's even more of a monopoly, but the robots are more polite lol
A relative of mine swore off having in-home internet nine years ago due to the extremely shitty, subpar service experiences he endured with Comcast despite being a reliable customer for years who paid all his bills on time. Since Comcast is the only service provider in many areas, he still goes to the library if he absolutely has to do something online. He's an unreasonably stubborn old goat when it comes to many things, but when it comes to this topic I don't think his decision was unwarranted.
I realize a simlar approach (though probably emotionally appealing at this point) isn't practical for you, so I hope you are able to find a reasonable, asshat-robot-free longterm solution asap.
It is maddening. I live in a fairly rural area, and we recently switched phone carriers, as the one that has been here longest (used to be the only one that worked here) has jacked it's prices up so high we couldn't keep on. The one we switched to is way cheaper & was supposed to cover our arra but service is ridiculously unreliable. We found the same problem. You simply CANNOT connect with a human. I spent at least an hour jumping through digital hoops & couldn't get any help.
I like where you say you’re not stupid. We who know how to work these things and game their system (and I’m older than you!) are definitely not stupid. Determined, yes. I’m with you!
Yes, this is why we dropped Comcast and AT&T years ago. I wish there was some combo of numbers that would crash the robot system. Directive was great til ATa&T bought them. Now Customer Service is inept and read from scripts. My friend the next town over paid same rate as I did but had additional programming unavailable to my area. When I asked why we pay the same even though she got more channels than I did, it was basically, "because we can." That is when I drove to Comcast to drop off receiver. THEN it was escalated- oh, we can give you deals. Too little too late....
Agreed! We lost the internet the other day in our area. They wanted to text me a link to troubleshoot. I can't do anything without internet because US Cellular sucks, too. It's infuriating!
A friend of mine in another state, not very computer savvy, had this problem two months ago, and it took him SIX WEEKS to get it fixed with the help of a mutual friend only slightly more computer literate. During that time he had no e-mail access.
We all need to react like you. To all these companies all the time !!!! I like to ask them if they will reimburse me at my hourly rate. So far nothing but crickets
Yes, Fuck the robots!!! I know I'm worthless. I know I don't count. I know I'm helpless and powerless. Or at least, I know this is what strangers think of me. It is what businesses and administrations assume. But I don't need them to robotically rub that in my face by preventing me from speaking to another human. This is a matter of courtesy and basic human dignity.
Dealing with Comcast/Xfinity is cruel and unusual punishment. Same story with different facts. Caught their live techs making mistakes.
Josh, I’m waiting for the day a BANK gets in your crosshairs! Extra points if it involves the bank website, app, credit card and human employees in multiple locations. All were unable to crack the code of how to nullify a former email and redirect all banking and credit card info to a new email. Happened to my friend. He spent hours on the phone and in person before a human found a solution.
It's all true, and I sympathize because I've experienced the same BS. But the sad fact is that they just don't care. Trying to deal with them is like trying to dive through a concrete wall.
On a tangent, but a related one, it is LONG PAST TIME for a handful of Internet behemoths to be broken up in the same way AT&T was taken apart to foster greater competition.
Comcast, Verizon and their ilk mistreat their customers because the U.S. federal government at every level of complicity has been bribed to permit these monopolies. The government ALLOWS this abuse through their inaction on combatting monopolies.
This must end. It might be a futile gesture and, I admit, I regard my own advice with enormous skepticism, but… contact the Trump campaign and let them know of your frustration, disgust and how it’s harming your business. Leave a comment on Don Jr.’s & Eric’s Twatter accounts as well.
Better yet, make a video directly addressing the Trump men on these issues of business and demand that they break up the Internet monopoly in their upcoming Administration.
Business is the Trumps’ thing. A promise to break up Big Internet leading to greater competition & lower prices would be EXTREMELY POPULAR among average Americans across the country. A sure vote winner. EVERYONE hates the poor service from their current Internet provider and bitterly resents the lack of choice.
The squeaky wheel gets the grease, so squeak away. You have nothing to lose. No demonrat administration - least of all the decaying husk of the Johammad Talibiden regime - will lift a finger to break up monopolies, that’s for certain.
You probably already know this, but in case you haven’t seen this: GetHuman.com is a website that advises on what phone number to call to get through to a human being.
It doesn’t always work, but it’s worth a try. I generally ignore the number I am instructed to call and instead check out what GetHuman suggests I should dial.
https://gethuman.com/phone-number/Comcast
Good to know, thank you.
BREAKING NEWS: Google ruled an illegal monopoly.
See Glenn Greenwald’s excellent reporting on this issue.
https://rumble.com/v59u8dd-system-update-311.html
Bottom line is that companies do not want to employ human beings. And the woke ones are the worst. Yesterday I try to pay by Citicorp bill. The app keeps telling me my password isn't valid. So then I try to change the password and it asks for the last four digits of my social. I put it in and then I get locked out. After jumping through the hoops on their automated crappy system I get connected to an overseas representative that essentially yells at me their system is down, try back in 5 hours and hung up.
I had to call USCIS for an issue related to my citizenship application. So kind of a big deal (to me. Not to them; they had already collected and processed my application fee).
I had called them in the past and always been able to talk to someone after a very long hold (usually an unhelpful person with hatred in their voice, but a human). Not this time. Robots only. Finally, after insisting many times to the robot that I needed to speak with a human since it COULD NOT address my question, it said to me “I cannot connect you to an agent. If you ask again, I will end the call.” I asked again. It ended the call. The robot HUNG UP on me for asking to speak to a human!
Look at it this way. At least we know that there is no danger of AI taking over the world.
I feel your pain. I have so many similar stories. On for 3 hours trying to get somewhere (somewhere only because they said there was a destination) only in the end to be rejected. It's infuriating. It can't be sustainable and I can't believe these systems haven't collapsed yet.
Up in Canada it's even more of a monopoly, but the robots are more polite lol
A relative of mine swore off having in-home internet nine years ago due to the extremely shitty, subpar service experiences he endured with Comcast despite being a reliable customer for years who paid all his bills on time. Since Comcast is the only service provider in many areas, he still goes to the library if he absolutely has to do something online. He's an unreasonably stubborn old goat when it comes to many things, but when it comes to this topic I don't think his decision was unwarranted.
I realize a simlar approach (though probably emotionally appealing at this point) isn't practical for you, so I hope you are able to find a reasonable, asshat-robot-free longterm solution asap.