Mortified

Comcast apologizes for Super Bowl porn

22 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Cable television provider Comcast apologized to customers in Tucson, Arizona, on Tuesday after the airing of a 30-second clip from a porn movie during the Super Bowl broadcast.

"We are mortified by the Super Bowl interruption, and we apologize to our customers," Comcast said in a statement.

"We can't undo what happened, but we remain deeply sorry for the impact this situation has had on our customers," the Philadelphia-based company said.

Comcast said it planned to issue a 10-dollar credit to subscribers whose broadcast of the final minutes of the game was interrupted by a scene from a pornographic movie in which a woman unzips a man's pants and performs a sexual act.

"While this credit won't change what happened, we hope that it will demonstrate to our customers, and to the Tucson community, how seriously we are taking this situation," Comcast said.

"We are continuing with our investigation into what we believe may have been an isolated, malicious act, and will aggressively pursue all leads until we come to resolution," the company added.

Comcast said it did not know how many customers were affected, but a local newspaper, the Arizona Daily Star, said it appeared to have been thousands.

The newspaper said it was flooded with calls from irate viewers following the incident, which came with less than three minutes left in the game between the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The clip was apparently from a porn movie being shown on another Comcast pay-per-view channel at the time.

The Federal Communications Commission fined the CBS television network a record 550,000 dollars after singer Janet Jackson briefly bared her breast during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show.

Does the fun ever start?!

Question about usage policy.


analyst Lee has entered room


Lee(Fri Sep 12 2008 10:38:12>

Hello Larry_, Thank you for contacting Comcast Live Chat Support. My name is Lee. Please give me one moment to review your information.


Larry<10:38:18>

Hello, thanks.


Lee(Fri Sep 12 2008 10:38:20>

I am running a Health Check on your account and services currently, just to make sure everything is functioning normally.

Hi, Larry. How are you this morning?


Larry<10:38:25>

I am well.


Lee(Fri Sep 12 2008 10:38:36>

What was your question?


Larry<10:38:49>

I have heard conflicting reports about a new Comcast policy regarding bandwidth utilization restrictions.


Larry<10:39:28>

I called to set up service at my new house and the sales associate assured me that the service included unlimited Internet access and I would like to get that in writing before I sign up.


Lee(Fri Sep 12 2008 10:41:08>

We are starting to enforce a limit. I have an information page you can read. It would affect very few people, less than 1 % of our customers. It is a 250GB per month limit


Lee(Fri Sep 12 2008 10:41:15>

http://help.comcast.net/content/faq/Frequently-Asked-Questions-about-Excessive-Use


Lee(Fri Sep 12 2008 10:41:24>

That link has several FAQs about it


Larry<10:41:57>

What happens when the 250GB limit is reached?


Lee(Fri Sep 12 2008 10:42:55>

That is answered in that FAQ


Lee(Fri Sep 12 2008 10:43:39>

Basically if it happens 2 months in a 6 month span, your service could be cancelled for up to a year


Larry<10:44:16>

Ok, but if I sign up now at my new house I won't be subject to this new rule?


Lee(Fri Sep 12 2008 10:47:11>

You will yes, it is going to be a universal thing. Essentially it has always been in effect, we are just enforcing it more now. It would be VERY hard to hit that 250GB limit


Larry<10:47:36>

I asked the sales associate specifically about this new limit and she said that the service was unlimited.


Larry<10:48:08>

The bandwidth I would say would be limited to the speed offered, and not a monthly cap.


Lee(Fri Sep 12 2008 10:49:08>

That monthly cap comes in in october, perhaps they had not heard about the new limit


Larry<10:50:19>

I use Vonage for phone at my house and depend on my connection for the 911 service, will I still be able to use the phone after I hit 250GB?


Larry<10:50:57>

So, I guess you're saying it's 2 months in a row...? So I'll know if I hit it one month to go ahead and get a land line?


Lee(Fri Sep 12 2008 10:52:34>

You would still be able to use the phone unless the internet service was disconnected. Say you went over it, you would get a warning that month


Lee(Fri Sep 12 2008 10:52:51>

Then you couldnt go over again in the next 6 months or it would be cancelled


Larry<10:53:02>

ok, good, so I will get a notice at least 30 days before it is disconnected?


Lee(Fri Sep 12 2008 10:53:59>

well you would get a message that you had gone over in say january. if you then go over in april as well, you could be cancelled


Larry<10:54:56>

But when they decide to disconnect me how much notice will get before this happens? I have someone that is sick in the house and need the 911 service to be fairly reliable.


Lee(Fri Sep 12 2008 10:57:07>

I am not sure unfortunately. My guess would be, no warning, no notice just no internet one minute


Larry<10:57:34>

Hmm... is business service subject to this same restriction?


Lee(Fri Sep 12 2008 10:58:22>

I am not sure unfortunately. I would think if anything the business would be higher. YOu could call our business department to find out. 1-800-316-1619


Larry<10:58:56>

Ok, I will call, do you know if it is possible to have two cable modem accounts at the same physical address?


Lee(Fri Sep 12 2008 11:00:33>

It is not generally done, unless there is a second tenant, residence there. However it is not impossible, that would be something to check with our sales team


Larry<11:01:14>

Ok, thanks for your help.

Comcast Business Services

user Larry_ has entered room

larry(Fri Sep 05 2008 22:56:53 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

How can I transition to business service?

analyst Leticia has entered room

Leticia(Fri Sep 05 2008 22:56:57 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

Hello Larry_, Thank you for contacting Comcast Live Chat Support. My name is Leticia. Please give me one moment to review your information.

Larry_(Fri Sep 05 2008 22:57:05 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

Hello.

Leticia(Fri Sep 05 2008 22:57:19 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

I can transfer you to a sales chat 

Larry_(Fri Sep 05 2008 22:57:28 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

ok

Leticia(Fri Sep 05 2008 22:57:27 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

they can let you know how to do that 

Leticia(Fri Sep 05 2008 22:58:08 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

Please wait, while the problem is escalated to another analyst

analyst Filton has entered room

Filton(Fri Sep 05 2008 22:58:17 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

Hello Larry.How are you doing today?

Larry_(Fri Sep 05 2008 22:58:21 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

Hello, I'm fine.

analyst Leticia has left room

Filton(Fri Sep 05 2008 22:58:28 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

Great! Good to hear that.

Larry_(Fri Sep 05 2008 22:58:40 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

I need to transfer my account from residential to business.

Filton(Fri Sep 05 2008 22:59:04 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

Okay, let me check on that in here.

Larry_(Fri Sep 05 2008 22:59:12 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

Ok.

Filton(Fri Sep 05 2008 23:00:29 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

Okay, I understand that you want to order business services(cable, internet and phone), I have a link here Larry for business type services

Filton(Fri Sep 05 2008 23:00:34 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

http://www.comcast.com/corporate/business/Small/default.html

Filton(Fri Sep 05 2008 23:00:47 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

You may click on existing Customers.

Larry_(Fri Sep 05 2008 23:01:57 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

ok, I clicked on the Order Now feature and get an error. The connection was refused when attempting to contact www.commercialworkbench.com.

Filton(Fri Sep 05 2008 23:02:30 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

Okay, let me check my resources here, sorry for the wait.

Larry_(Fri Sep 05 2008 23:02:56 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

ok

Filton(Fri Sep 05 2008 23:05:15 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

For business class services Larry, customers will have to be directed to call our hotline number 1-800-316-1619, currently only through phone that we process request for business class service, I do apologize for the inconvenience though.

Larry_(Fri Sep 05 2008 23:05:36 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

Do ou have any pricing information?

Filton(Fri Sep 05 2008 23:06:52 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

Let me check my resources here.

Filton(Fri Sep 05 2008 23:07:55 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

I did check my resources for the Digital Voice, we have a promo for $19.95 for 12 months.

Larry_(Fri Sep 05 2008 23:08:11 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

I am only interested in Internet services.

Filton(Fri Sep 05 2008 23:09:12 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

As for the High Speed Internet its $39 when also a cable service is ordered for internet only its regular price is at $59 a month.

Larry_(Fri Sep 05 2008 23:09:41 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

ok, at what speed is that services?

Filton(Fri Sep 05 2008 23:10:15 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

I could be wrong about my information here Larry, I would recommend that you call our phone service representative for the correct pricing of prices as well as its promo.

Filton(Fri Sep 05 2008 23:10:26 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

For that, its speed is at 6Mbps.

Filton(Fri Sep 05 2008 23:10:36 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

For the 8Mbps, internet only is at $89 a month

Larry_(Fri Sep 05 2008 23:11:05 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

ok, I guess I'll call, are they open at this time or will I need to wait until the morning?

Filton(Fri Sep 05 2008 23:11:45 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

Yes, they are open 24/7.

Larry_(Fri Sep 05 2008 23:12:31 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

Ok, great.

Filton(Fri Sep 05 2008 23:12:33 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

Is there anything else that I can assist you with today?

Filton(Fri Sep 05 2008 23:12:38 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

Okay.

Filton(Fri Sep 05 2008 23:12:42 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

Sorry for the hassle.

Larry_(Fri Sep 05 2008 23:12:45 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

No. That is all.

Filton(Fri Sep 05 2008 23:12:44 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time))>

Thank you for contacting Comcast! We appreciate your business and look forward to serving you further. Please do not hesitate to chat with Comcast again at www.comcast.com. We are always available, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Have a wonderful evening! 

The FCC and thousands of customers can't be wrong

Comcasteriffic: adj. Of inferior or generally low quality.

Live Chat with Comcast November 4th 2008


Question: Will Comcast limit my "unlimited" bandwidth starting in October?
(Thu Sep 04 2008 21:42:53 GMT-0400 (Eastern Day

analyst Thomas has entered room

user Larry_ has entered room


Larry(21:42:53>

Will Comcast limit my "unlimited" bandwidth starting in October?


Thomas(21:48:53>

Hello Larry_, Thank you for contacting Comcast Live Chat Support. My name is Thomas. Please give me one moment to review your information.


Larry_(21:48:59>

Ok, thanks.


Thomas(21:49:18>

Yes, we are limiting the use to 250 GB starting October 1st


Larry_(21:49:33>

When I signed up for the service I was told that the service included unlimited bandwidth.


Thomas(21:50:21>

It did at the time, this bandwidth cap is something that just popped up


Larry_(21:50:39>

I use many online services including an online backup system that transfers my data for backup purposes.


Larry_(21:50:51>

Can I request an exception to this quota?


Thomas(21:51:34>

There will be no exceptions in the bandwidth cap from what I've been told


Larry_(21:51:49>

How will I be able to tell how much I have used?


Thomas(21:52:52>

there should be websites where you can download software to track your usage but we have no programs that can do that


Larry_(21:53:26>

What will happen when I reach the 250GB quota? Will I still be able to use my Vonage telephone service?


Thomas(21:54:34>

They haven't set up any official additional fee yet but I believe that for every 10 GB that you go over there will be a fee assessed.


Larry_(21:55:20>

When will this fee be announced?


Thomas(21:56:04>

It will definitely be announced before the Oct. 1st startup date but they haven't told us when they plan on announcing that


Larry_(21:56:34>

Well I need to know if I need to change services, because DSL will probably take at least a couple of weeks to get set up.


Larry_(21:56:51>

It sounds like that is what I need to do at this point.


Thomas(21:57:41>

We hate to lose your business but if that is what you feel you need to do then we can get you pointed in the right direction to get that taken care of?


Larry_(21:57:49>

Yes, please.


Thomas(21:58:07>

I apologize for the inconvenience however; canceling an account is not something that can be done via chat. In order to cancel your account, you will need to call our Customer Care Center at 1-800-266-2278.

To ensure the time you need to spend on the phone is as short as possible, I suggest you have the following information available when calling:

- Name on the account
- Address where service is provided and mailing address if different
- Telephone number associated with the account
- One of the following:
Last 4 digits of the Account holders Social Security Number/Security Code/Account Number/Amount of most recent payment on the account.


Larry_(21:58:14>

How do you feel personally about this change in policy?


Thomas(21:59:11>

Really, 250 GB is a lot of bandwidth to use up in a month. This really won't effect most people that use the internet just a small percentage.


Larry_(22:00:38>

Sure its a small percentage now, but with online services expanding like online backup services, telephone services, and streaming video from places like Netflix it will affect more people as high speed applications proliferate.


Thomas(22:01:19>

How much do you use per month now would you say?


Larry_(22:01:35>

I don't know...that's the problem.


Larry_(22:01:48>

I use VPN to connect to my office and various other services.


Larry_(22:01:55>

Maybe 100GB...


Thomas(22:02:11>

Here's an example to kind of put it into perspective...


Thomas(22:02:13>

* Send 50 million emails (at 0.05 KB/email)
* Download 62,500 songs (at 4 MB/song)
* Download 125 standard-definition movies (at 2 GB/movie)
* Upload 25,000 hi-resolution digital photos (at 10 MB/photo)


Larry_(22:02:17>

butI don't want to be hit with extra charges one month because I have to work on a project at the office and upload a bunch of data.


Thomas(22:02:41>

you will definitely be notified, it won't be out of the blue


Larry_(22:03:27>

You said you have no programs that can tell me how much bandwidth I've used.


Larry_(22:03:31>

Is that right?


Thomas(22:03:49>

We don't offer any but there are some out there.


Larry_(22:04:05>

Right, but I need historical data, so I can make an educated guess as to how much I will be using in the future.


Larry_(22:04:18>

That way I can determine if I need to switch services.


Larry_(22:05:58>

It just doesn't seem very customer friendly to institute a policy like this without figuring out all the details first.


Thomas(22:07:50>

I really can't comment on the whole situation, they told us when they told you and I have only the info that I can find on the internet myself, they keep us in the dark about the whole thing.


Larry_(22:08:28>

Ok, well I appreciate you talking to me. Is there someone with whom I could register a complaint?


Thomas(22:09:04>

I have an address that you can mail your complaint into the corporate office.


Larry_(22:09:09>

Ok, that would be good.


Thomas(22:09:23>

Comcast Complaints
1500 Market St
Philadelphia, PA 19102


Thomas(22:09:32>

is there anything else I can assist you with today?


Larry_(22:09:46>

Thank you for your time. I think that is all.


Thomas(22:09:59>

Thanks for contacting Comcast, have a great day!


__________
Chat with your very own Comcast representative to protest this new policy:
http://www.comcastsupport.com/chatwithus/userchatstartcom.asp