Comcast Customer Service Still Sucks

How Comcast wasted my last few hours...

So, I moved into a new apartment today. And I tried to setup my high speed internet through Comcast, because we already have Comcast cable (it's required by the building - and automatically included in rent).

I called Comcast to get high speed internet but they informed me that I can only get the $19.99 deal online (it's $24.99 on the phone). Yea, that makes sense. Or maybe it would if the process wasn't so bad and required me to call/chat with a human anyway. So I ordered it online and at the end of the process I went through a required chat process to validate something - who knows what? It seems like this should be automated. But...since it's Comcast, and they strive to make lives miserable, it's not. Next they notified me that I couldn't get this deal, because I had to have service already. But I do have service, it's just not in my name - it's under a bulk account with my building. They told me to call the sales department because for some reason they couldn't activate it. I squawked about having already spoken to them. And when I finally agreed to call, they said the same thing.

So here I sit at Starbucks - since I don't have internet. Annoyed that I can't get this special deal. Wondering what happened to their "We care" customer service campaign or whatever the hell it is.

And... I'm thinking if this is what the morons at Comcast were thinking...so we're going to announce this $19.99 deal...but it's only for existing customers. How does that even begin to make sense? You know, since these people are already customers. Then I read the terms of the deal - which said you had to be a new customer. So which is it? If it's a new customer - then why can't this be done for me?

While I'm trying to be a better person these days, I just can't help exposing poor ex[periences

Apple iOS 4 and the iPhone 3G Headache (iOS4 sucks / killed my phone)

I'm always upgrading things before I should. When a new OS comes out or a new version of Firefox is released, I'm always on it. It usually works out - in fact, I can't remember the last time there was a failure as colossal as the iOS4? It is such a flaming piece of crap on my iPhone (3G I should note) that I am itching to start a new job so I can rid myself of this damn phone.

It's been written about plenty by now, but I can't use the map, use apps, read email, or surf the internet without freezing the phone. And it freezes for about a minute, or so it feels, until control is ceded back. It happens when I try to make calls, when I add contacts, and even when I receive calls. I can't believe they a) haven't fixed this, and more importantly b) release this utter piece of junk.

If Apple had to release this sh*t, then why didn't they ensure that it didn't get loaded on the iPhone 3G? Now we know it's not available for the 3. And we know they disabled features for the 3G (multi-tasking), so what's the reason?

Many people have speculated that it's so users switch to the 4, because of frustration. Man that's a real sh*tty reason. So did they not test it well enough? Just like they didn't test that antennae issue? There are people like me all over, looking for reasons to dislike Apple. Besides the hordes of mindless, lemming-like fanboys, I now have a real reason.

Jobs in his usual smug way, says there's an iOS4 3G fix on the way (here). It can't come soon enough.

Doctor's Killed in Afghanistan - Where's the Outrage?

I'm sure everyone heard the report by now, that aid workers who were providing eye care to the poor in Afghanistan were ambushed and killed by the Taliban last week (here). It's already been buried amidst the latest Justin Bieber Kim Kardashian photo shoot (here). And I struggle to understand how our world processes information? People always say the media controls how we think and what's important to us. But that's not really true. It's our reaction to the media that dictates what they continue to show. If there was justified outrage at this unprovoked disgusting show of humanity - then the story would continue to live on. Instead, it's buried. Yet American or British troops who unintentionally hit civilians are essentially tried and hung in the court of public opinion. Or attacking suspected insurgents who, for the most part, probably are insurgents, is condemned and Allied rules of engagement are questioned.

It brings me back to the American Revolution. Because it struck a chord or possibly because it was played so many times in our history classes, I'll never forget the American revolutionaries hiding in the bushes and ambushing British troops. They continued to march in line as they had been trained to do. The Americans were victorious, in large part because they didn't follow the traditional rules of engagement. And it seems that the Americans now find themselves in that same unfortunate position.

Why does one side have to follow rules while the other doesn't? My intuition tells me that it's the underdog story. The David vs. Goliath. Humanity has the propensity to root for the underdog - or at the very least, to cut them some more slack. Beheadings? Ambushes? Hiding in schools, religious houses, or hospitals? Where's the decency? Come on - this isn't about rooting for the underdog. This shouldn't be allowed to happen. We should be calling these aid workers heroes and erecting statues in their honor. We should let the Taliban know that the world won't stand for this. But we don't. We just ignore it and wait for it to happen again.