Loyalty does get rewarded at Xfinity !

 Often in today's fast paced world one does not find the time to know what benefits one can enjoy for being a loyal member of a company. Sometimes one's customer loyalty goes unnoticed or unrewarded. However, today David from the loyalty team of Xfinity went out of his way to acknowledge my loyalty as a customer of Xfinity for 5 years. He goes above and beyond to give professional customer service and ensures that he devotes time in rewarding customers for their loyalty to Xfinity. 

In all these 5 years nobody ever gave that much time to update my account correctly in terms of the number of years I have been with Xfinity. I have been their customer since 2017 and my status with them should have been that of a platinum member. David updated that information on my account by taking time to retrieve my previous addresses and Xfinity account numbers to give me the rightful status of a platinum member so that I could enjoy more Xfinity special rewards. I so appreciated his doing that for me. People like him makes a customer keep returning to Xfinity as a customer even if one is away from States for some time.

I may have had a bittersweet journey with Xfinity but I have always chosen them. There are bound to be challenges and problems but what matters is that their loyalty team is willing to devote time to customers and willing to work with the customers to resolve problems and give pleasant customer interaction experience.   

      

The Decline of X-Finity Customer Services

 Here it goes again! There was yet another unexpected Xfinity internet outage in my area and support was not available as they usually have these outages late in the night. So, it is highly inconvenient for those who work in the night. Luckily this time it was restored after around 40-45 minutes, and I was glad to resume my work. But frequent outages and scattered internet connectivity is becoming difficult to accept. I am thinking of trying another company for a change after all this while of being a loyal Xfinity customer for five years.

Since last week, I have been calling Xfinity as a loyal but dissatisfied customer and in the capacity of a consumer rights blogger with certain questions regarding their services, packages etc. I have been researching on it based on others' experiences too in different States.

My question was that how they are rewarding their longtime customers for their loyalty and continued association. They may have a loyalty program now, but that is of no value as such to me. As a customer of theirs since 2017, I expect them to do something more in terms of valuing their relationship with me. My question was also regarding the lack of uniformity in their treatment of customers.

My concern was that there is no uniformity in their treatment of new customers and existing customers in the sense that they offer much more attractive and reasonable packages/rates to new customers but not existing ones! Some packages are only limited to the new customers so as to target them. The same goes for a lot of companies or even apartment communities for that matter out here but I will address that at another time. Also, for some they are waiving off the new high charges they have adopted to recover their costs while for others they are being so rigid as to even giving some waivers particularly if there are problems with cable connectivity.

As a customer, one has a right to information or clarification when one is denied what another customer may be availing. One is then forced to consider as to what are the benefits offered to a loyal customer and is loyalty to a particular company actually rewarding or not in the presence of better options available elsewhere. I like to keep old associations alive and so like to try my best to salvage that business association or continue with their services as far as I can despite hurdles before considering moving on to another company. But now Xfinity services are declining, and one is tempted to choose another company for uninterrupted internet service. Their charges have increased but the quality of their services has declined. As of late even the approach of their managers and most of their representatives is quite rigid and unpleasant.

Before I used to prefer them particularly because of their good customer service since I felt that they were always pleasant in their dealings with customers and would really take the time to provide fine resolutions or suitable alternatives. But as of late that has changed, and their telephonic customer service has become as bad as that of AT&T. Now they are abrupt and will have a negative response before even a customer has a chance to prove why the customer is entitled to a credit. They just don't want to hear it!

This time they were not able to successfully address my concerns at all or resolve my queries. They are not interested in even feedback of customers anymore. Instead, they are evasive and reluctant to even approach what the customer tries to address with them, and I say that on behalf of many of their customers who are having the same experiences as me. They have adopted quite a rigid attitude these days and are not ready to even honour what they promise a customer. Many in my neighbourhood share my concerns.

In my case from the beginning there was constant and frequent loss of cable connectivity in my apartment and no number of technicians' visits in a month resolved the issue! After that followed major issues with two seasonal holds or vacation holds. Vacation hold or seasonal hold places your TV/Internet services on hold while you are away at a reasonable rate so that you can retain your TV/Internet package. And there they overcharged the first time because of extension of the seasonal hold and the second time they just deleted my account without my knowledge while it was still on seasonal hold because of which I lost a good TV/Internet package that was of a good price & they refused to reinstate it! It seemed as if they deliberately did that and that too in the middle of the pandemic so that I was forced to upgrade my package at a time when according to them no promotional offers were available at the time.

These various issues caused endless inconvenience and I had to spend days wasting my time and energy to resolve the issues specially to have them credit back the extra charges. The only thing good that came out of it at the time was that after much persistence from my end, one of their managers from the loyalty team then waived off modem charges for 2 years and gave a new package with a price lock for 2 years to make up for all the inconvenience caused but now that is available to everyone with the Internet Pro package of $64. In addition, the TV box charges per month continued to be waived off which had actually started from much before when the technical issues with loss of cable connectivity could not be resolved. But now this year, they have not only started charging again for the TV box but more than before while I am still facing loss of cable connectivity so many times a day. In the past their technicians used to visit my apt so frequently to try to resolve this problem and when at last they could not be done was when my TV box was upgraded at no monthly cost, and it has continued since 2019 till Dec. 2021. But now they are not willing to honour that.

My message to all is that continue being persistent with Xfinity as after numerous calls does someone hear you and may address your issue effectively! But it does involve a lot of time and energy but hopefully in the end you get what you are entitled to as a customer but that's a rarity now with their new policies it appears. A friend recently managed to have the loyalty team reverse the extra charges proposed for his account this entire year while I was not even granted the continuance of waiver of TV box charges despite the continuance of loss of cable connectivity so many times during the day till date! All that I was given was just a $20 credit for the continuing inconvenience.

Now I am forced to say that Xfinity is not what it used to be 5 years back and it is better to simply go to another company. AT&T has some good no contract internet plans at good rates. Even Verizon has better offers these days with no contract, no equipment charges and other discounts for 5G. As it is Xfinity is having frequent outages and internet is slow too despite their assuring seamless and smooth connectivity with their Internet Pro package and so don't go for that package as it does not deliver what it promises!

Professional Complaint Management by Xfinity/Comcast Representative

 

 It is so important to keep checking your utility bills to ensure that you are not being overcharged. The other day I realized that I was charged around $86 or so extra on my upcoming bill with Xfinity. 

All this confusion may have been created due to the lack of co ordination between departments. Already there were extra charges during the time my plan was on seasonal hold when I was outside the country and later the end of the previous contract as well as the transition into a new TV/Internet plan added to the confusion and there were charges ( which included equipment charges, shipping & handling charges etc.)  that were not supposed to be there as per the assurances of the previous representatives and escalation manager that I had spoken with since I was not supposed to be charged for rental of modem in my package. So all the more I was shocked and irritated when I saw the bill and called Xfinity right away. After much time and working around the IVR to get connected to an agent, I managed to get in touch with the Loyalty Dept.

 It was time consuming but I went over each and every charge on the bill with this wonderful lady Erendira (Employee Id 3578806) who was so patient, empathetic and supportive. She ensured that the charges were removed and even gave me her employee Id # for reference to our conversation should there be any bill related problems later. After long I enjoyed a pleasant customer service and was so impressed by her professionalism. Now that is the kind of customer service I would have given to my guests had I still been working as a Manager at the Hotel. I always feel that it is so important for customers to receive smooth and refined customer service and they are entitled to it. And lately Xfinity/Comcast is doing a great job and all their employees are being supportive and understanding particularly during COVID times. They are trying to be flexible and have been waiving off certain fees or giving credits. The same cannot be said about AT&T or PG&E for that matter since their representatives are displaying lack of interest and arrogance in dealing with customers recently.

Xfinity representatives seem to be well trained and are adding an extra touch to the customer service experience. Of course their packages could be slightly lower price wise during pandemic times. But they are ready and willing to correct a problem to retain you as a customer. Like their escalation manager Jacob said that customers are always welcome to contact with them should they have a problem as there is nothing that can't be fixed ! His words were very deep and meaningful. Now that is the sort of customer service interaction one looks for ! 

All their representatives have been great and my compliments to them ! I may not remember all their names. But still I try to write down their names and employee id so that I could write about the experience in my blog after taking their permission . The least we can do is to give them the much deserved recognition and applaud them for working hard to give us good customer service even in these stressful times ! I was able to enjoy a pleasant customer interaction with Xfinity because of Erendira who is an asset to her company! People like her make the brand name popular !     

             

Xfinity services- Makeover required !

Xfinity/Comcast services are not that satisfactory as of late in the sense that they are  communication gaps between them and their customers and they are lost in translations when it comes to asking them technical questions about their products.

While their technicians and customer care representatives are usually courteous and pleasant, some of them are not able to answer questions or resolve issues accurately concerning devices. For long I had been calling them regarding connectivity and signals issues which was ultimately addressed by a technician but only to lose signal again at several intervals during the following days.

Moreover it took several calls to confirm that there is troubleshooting with my TV Box (X1) since it is not connecting with Netflix. Initially I was told that my X1 box does not support Netflix but today on logging into my account and talking to a knowledgeable customer care representative could we finally be on the same page and it was at last confirmed that the TV Box in question was in fact Netflix compatible. He tried to rest from his end by sending a fresh signal and momentarily it worked ! Hopefully they are able to resolve the issue effectively soon.  

But it is essential to keep on at it and ask questions regarding your services and devices. Other than that I have been one of their loyal customers. But AT&T is also offering more flexible, reasonable and flexible options with no binding contracts on cable connections with a host of channels to choose from. Some of their plans are not even charging the monthly rentals for devices.