Early Termination Fee sent to third-party collection agency

I was a Comcast/Xfinity customer in Chicago for more than 5 years. My Comcast internet bill increased $10/mo each year due to automatic price escalations and $10-30 per month following the introduction of data caps. Comcast’s internet service failed to provide the promised speeds of our plan which made it difficult or impossible to work from home during quarantine. Despite paying for a high speed data plan and resorting to turning off the Wi-Fi on all non-work devices, I could barely make it it through a video call without interruption.

In December 2020, my roommate called Comcast about our internet speeds and, after an unsuccessful troubleshooting attempt, ultimately decided to cancel the service (which was month to month) and move to AT&T.  Comcast retention rep joined the call and offered a higher speed internet plan at our original (pre-price escalation) monthly rate. This change did not require new equipment (both modem and router are owned), installation, or other changes. I paid this new rate January-May 2020.  The account is my name only and I did not agree to extend our contract.

By May 2021, we were both unemployed, unable to renew our lease, and moved out of state to a non-Comcast market. I called Comcast to cancel our service (no option to do this online and forced to listen to several retention pitches) and explained a move to non-Comcast region. I paid for the final month of service and thought we were done. I have not heard from Comcast since June but received a credit report alert in October 2021 indicating that Comcast transferred an unpaid early termination fee of $195 to a third party collection agency (AFNI) resulting in a significant drop in my credit score.

The termination fee period was apparently “reset” when Comcast attempted to fix the internet speed with a different data plan (still nowhere near promised) and reset the rate to the original amount.

I called Comcast to get an explanation and a copy of the contract. I spent 2+ hours on the phone and was transferred 4 times. Customer support was unable to provide the contract or evidence of my approval. Each person has directed me to a link on the  myxfinity page and each time, there is no contract. The agents finally gave up and suggested trying an Xfinity branch the next time I’m in a Comcast region. The most troubling issue is that Comcast billing will not discuss the outstanding early termination balance because the claim was transferred to the collection agency. I have not received a single call or email from Comcast’s own billing/collection department and can only assume that Comcast sent this directly to third-party collections.

I have paid Comcast more than $4,500 over the last 4 years, including several years of paying above Comcast-marketed rates. Comcast failed to deliver promised internet speeds in our contract but I am required to pay a termination fee for a contract extension that (i) I did not approve and (ii) required no incremental investment from Comcast and therefore did not result in economic damages? How is an early termination fee justified in this case?

Most concerning is Comcast’s decision to immediately transfer my account to a third-party collection agency and notify credit reporting agencies WITHOUT a single attempt to collect this through internal billing. Is this Comcast’s way of bullying customers into paying? Comcast ruined my credit score without providing any avenue of recourse to understand/dispute/resolve the issue. This is unacceptable and should not be allowed for a regulated utility.

I want to resolve this issue immediately and request a copy of my contract, evidence of my approval, elimination of the collection account at AFNI, and full restoration of my credit score. I plan to file similar complaints with the FCC, CFPB, BBB, Illinois Attorney General, and Chicago BACP in order to resolve this issue as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

Disappointed Comcast Customer [EDIT: Personal Information}