Starter kit activated earlier than requested

Hi, 

I am moving to a new place on 6th August, 2025 for which I needed a new internet connection. The agent on the phone who sold me the plan assured me that my connection would be activated on 6th August and the billing period would start then. They also assured that my friend who had referred me would get their referral bonus. They told me to pick up the starter kit from the Xfinity store within a week otherwise it would "get cancelled". 

However, an agent today said that my billing was already active and I am being charged for the period when I haven't even moved into my new place yet simply because I picked up the starter kit. Right now the starter kit is sitting next to me wrapped in neat plastic without even having been used once simply because I am yet to move to my new place. Technically I was being charged for the time while some other tenant was occupying the place I was occupying. This seems like fraud to me for being charged at a time my lease hasn't even begun and I am happy to seek my university's legal counsel and switch connections altogether to other fiber networks in my city. 

I have two asks, bluntly:
1. Make sure my billing period and connection starts on 6th August and not before that. 

2. Make sure my friend gets their referral bonus.

Other customers have faced it too, so it is not an unknown problem for Xfinity:
https://forums.xfinity.com/conversations/customer-service/starting-kit-sent-too-early/6876ad7a15c380246f78c296 - Literally a few weeks back

https://forums.xfinity.com/conversations/customer-service/why-does-xfinity-send-the-equipment-weeks-before-the-start-date-with-a-move/65090a5dbaecdd4ece06562d
https://forums.xfinity.com/conversations/customer-service/delayed-start-order-shipped-early/6850a7a85939361416ca03c6
https://forums.xfinity.com/conversations/customer-service/equipment-prematurely-delivered-the-worst-customer-service-i-have-ever-experienced-in-my-life/66806025139ef6084dc25902