The Rev. Neil writes:

I enjoyed reading your Sunday column because the same thing happened to me: my Comcast e-mail just quit working, and since it was the administrative e-mail address, I was frozen out of the system altogether. I called technical assistance, and the person on the phone said that he couldn’t fix it, and would have to buck it to Comcast’s tech specialists. It could take up to 72 hours to address the problem. I waited the requisite three days and called back. Luckily, in the meantime I could use my Verizon e-mail account from work, but it was a hassle.

When I called Comcast back to complain when the e-mail still wasn’t working, I fortunately got someone who understood their systems better, and helped me on the spot. He looked at my service record on their computer and discovered that the first tech support representative noted that I had called but then didn’t follow up as he had promised.

Comcast is telling you a big one when they say that this is a rare occurrence—the shutting down of an e-mail account inexplicably—and they are also being disingenuous when they say that this one customer who fell through the cracks was an aberration of their policies and systems. Comcast has a history of not handling these cases well, they tell their customers anything to get them off the tech support phones, their tech support people aren’t properly trained, and Comcast has developed no protocols for addressing the problem of disappearing e-mail accounts and the havoc it creates for consumers.

Comcast is just a badly managed company. I took three visits from three different technicians to get my new TiVo machine up and running because they kept sending out bad media cards that the TiVo box required. Their pricing plans would need a mathematician to understand. After my one-year introduction ran out for their three-in-one service, I called about unbundling my service and to cancel unneeded features to try and save money, but everything I suggested cost more, so that having fewer features was more pricy. They want to sell the bundles they want to sell at the price they quote, and that’s that. However, just for calling, I saved $40 a month, so I possibly shouldn’t complain. However, how many customers know to call to ask for a cheaper rate?

Verizon is just as bad. They also sold me their three-in-one package, but didn’t tell me that my home was too far from their switching station to get reliable DSL service. Their computers should have flagged that immediately. By the time the fourth technician showed up (and I can’t tell you how many hours I spent on the phone with technical assistance) and told me that I just couldn’t receive DSL at my location, I was locked into a year-long contract with DirectTV. Thus, instead of saving money, I spent more money because I had to resubscribe to Comcast’s internet only.

Consumers are between a rock and hard place. Comcast and Verizon are both badly managed companies, and there are no alternatives. And if they represent “market competition,” they are competing for who can provide the worse service and the fewest answers and the longest waits on the phone for technical assistance.

I enjoyed, as I said, your Sunday column, but don’t believe what Comcast is telling you. The problem is worse than they said, and their response is more typically bad than good.

KTJ wrote:

Thanks for your article in today's Baltimore Sun referencing Comcast and the exceptionally slow response (3 1/2 mos.) Mr. Brawerman received regarding his e-mail issue. I thought it was very ironic that a "Michael" and "Byron" at Comcast also said the exact same thing to me when I called Comcast about a different problem.

Making a long story short, I wonder if Comcast is training their customer support staff in a less than professional manner.After making ten calls over a month... I just gave up. They tired me out! Comcast Won.

Again, thanks for your article and exposing companies with less than credible customer service behavior. I would bet your right arm that if Mr. Brawerman owed Comcast money they would have busted his doors.

Hopefully, our society will become more civil and respectful to each other. Similar to a CEO who sets the tone and desired culture throughout the organization, I hope a new administration in Washington come January will not only improve our country's respect around the world, but also domestically. Keep up the great work.

Megan from Catonsville reported similiar problems:

I read your Sunday Sun article about Mr. Brawerman's email highjacking with interest. I, too, had my Comcast email highjacked. I realized it when I started to get more and more "email not found" notices and realized that the email address was my comcast account, but the name associated with it was different. I too called Comcast and I too never received a call back. Luckily I had no personal data in my email box. I did email my address list and ask if they had received an email from me lately that seemed strange and no one had. The Comcast Customer Service person (who promised to call me and never did) did suggest that I change my password. Yes, my password was very easy because my whole family used it. Once I changed my password, I didn't have anymore issues.

Unfortunately, the "I don't care and I won't call you back after promising" experience with Comcast applies to all aspects of their business - TV, Internet Service and Phone. Yes, I have all three with Comcast. For the first year everything was wonderful - no issues. Then in November 2007 I started losing channels. losing phone messages, having calls go straight into Voicemail and then not being able to access Voicemail and having degraded Internet service. I still have all those issues in May 2008. Comcast supposively has replaced my outside cable twice, they have replaced my modem, my box outside and connectors. I have waited for atleast 6 techs to come to my house, once no one showed up at all. All have referred my problem to the outside techs. In each case, the outside tech never shows up unless I call several times. I have spent hours waiting on the phone to talk to someone (I currently believe that Comcast has it's musaic playing just loud enough to drive you crazy).

I have learned several things: 1. Comcast will rarely call you back.(18 calls and only twice did I get a call back.) 2. The inside techs know that the outside techs won't come, but have no control over the situation 3. Catonsville has some equipment issues which Comcast swears they fixed, but I am still experiencing issues. 4. Always get a ticket number from your Comcast service person. When you call always use the ticket number. After a month Comcast drops any comments from your customer record. If you don't have a ticket number, the Customer Service Rep doesn't know anything about your issues. 5. If you push hard enough you can get a refund, but it will take hours of your time and your service will not be fixed. 6. If you are referred to a supervisor, your customer record will not be updated so the next time you call, the customer service rep will not know about your problems. So after you call the Supervisor, call back to a customer rep to update your ticket. In my experience, it took 6 calls and a demand to talk to the Supervisor's manager to get a call back from the Supervisor, Chavis Robinson.

After all this time and effort, my service continues to have issues, Obviously, I am looking at alternatives. Thanks for helping people!

(AP Photo)