Good Will Wifi Pod Extender

I have had an insufferable experience with my first month here at Comcast Xfinity.

Install of the internet was fine, but then I was harassed by (can only guess "Offshore") gentleman once or twice a day for 3 days asking me to activate my new phone, that I hadn't even received yet. After telling him multiple times not to do anything with my account, he preceded to activate my new phone - I had to scream at him to stop on two separate occasions. After that I had to hang up on him a few times so he wouldn't kill off my existing phone.

Once the phone arrived and I activated it (A another nightmare as Verizon refused to unlock my number) I was promised that my trip to the Caribbean would have service. It did not. I finally got to a restaurant with secure wifi and got into a chat with a gentleman that could only repeatedly tell me that my phone was fine and I was all set for roaming. I repeatedly reminded him that Xfinity's own website said I needed to be reprovisioned with a new esim before it would work, but he said no, I just needed to reboot. Well - rebooting didn't work and it ended the chat, and I wasn't going thru that song and dance again.

I get home to the states and discover that the Wifi in my upstairs isn't working well, even though I have the internet speeds on the main floor. We never had this problem with our Fios router. I open a chat with another "Offshore" person and ask for a Good Will Gesture of a Wifi Extender Pod. He tells me it's $15 a month and won't budge, I remind him that they are $119 thru the app but he keeps pushing the $15 a month.

I finally send him a link and he admits he was pushing a different product (Xfinity Pro) which is a monthly fee but I can get the Extender for $119 - I finally snap because I could have done that without wasting an hour chatting with him and once again reiterated that I was looking for a good will gesture.

Apparently this guys country has no idea what that is. He just repeats the $119 line until I ask him to give me his boss/supervisor/tier 2 rep. He finally says I may be eligible for an extender by running a test in my home thru the app. I really shouldn't have to do all this song and dance. I very close to bagging this experiment and going back to Verizon - sure, it was a little more money but way less of a hassle.

So - can someone send me a Wifi extender?

Responses

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XfinityGabriel

Official Employee

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3.3K Messages

1 hour ago

user_4hxvgf, Hi there! Thanks for reaching out. I can understand why you’d be frustrated after dealing with repeated calls about the phone activation, roaming issues while traveling, and then spending more time trying to get help with your WiFi coverage upstairs. I am sorry to learn about this expereince. You shouldn’t have had to repeat yourself that many times or feel like your concerns weren’t being understood. We’d like to take ownership from here and review the account as a whole, including the mobile activation/roaming concerns and the home WiFi coverage issue, so we can see what options are available and make sure you’re getting accurate information. To get started, would you mind sending us a direct message with your first/last name and full address by clicking the "direct message" icon on the upper right page of the forum page? Once you click on that, click the "Start new conversation" (pencil and paper) icon. In the 'To:" line, input our shared handle "Xfinity Support" to send us a direct message.

user_4hxvgf

Visitor

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3 Messages

Gabriel,

My name is Michael and I am 58 years old, I have worked in networking and office management for over 30 years. Trust me when I say I do my research and try every alternative prior to calling the so-called "Customer service." Chat has made it a little more bearable, but you have instructed the chimps to read from a script instead of listening. I spent a lot of time on Monday getting my phone a new esim. I hope it works next time I leave the country.
I have most of my house covered by Cat 5 (I still call all network cabling that regardless of actual cable speed) The rest of my house doesn't need much speed to operate the smarthome features. But I do need a strong signal on my upstairs floor. I live in an older townhome with aluminum siding that cages my wifi. My fios router had no problem penetrating the floors. Maybe it just has an better internal antenna design or it naturally reflected in a way that performed better. I switched to Xfinity for the lower price as the speeds are the same (1 Gig) I just don't think I should have to pay for an extender. I also don't think I am asking for much, considering the rocky start to our business relationship.
I also appreciate that someone is listening, and that goes a long way. BUT - before we go thru another song and dance, will you be able to provide me with an extender if I jump thru your hoops?

(edited)

1 hour ago

XfinityCliff

Official Employee

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359 Messages

Hello @user_4hxvgf , thank you for sharing more detail about your setup. It’s clear you’ve put a lot of thought into how your home environment affects your Wi-Fi, especially with aluminum siding impacting signal strength.

At this time, free xFi Pods are available in some cases through the Xfinity Wi-Fi Boost Guarantee when enrolled in one of these programs:

xFi Complete (legacy offering, no longer available to new customers)
Xfinity Pro ($15/month, includes Wi-Fi boost support and cellular backup)

Outside of these options, there isn’t a current path to receive a free pod.

If you prefer to avoid a monthly add-on, you can purchase a pod outright. In some cases, adjusting your gateway placement to a more central location within your home can also help improve coverage, since Wi-Fi signals radiate outward from the modem.

Let us know if you’d like help reviewing your setup or exploring the next best option.

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24 minutes ago

user_4hxvgf

Visitor

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3 Messages

WOW - just wow, apparently you didn't read your very own Boost Guarantee

To be eligible for WiFi Boost Guarantee, you’ll need to:

Subscribe to Xfinity Internet in an eligible area with Gig, Gigabit Extra or Gigabit x2 speed plans.*
Lease a compatible gateway.
Download and activate the Xfinity app.
Have an account that’s in good standing.

Of course - you may be right and the website may be wrong, but either way - you're just confusing your customer more

But even more amazing, is the extremes Xfinity will go thru to NOT satisfy a customer. Is it just your or is it the whole corporate philosophy? Lets spend hours talking to this guy but not send him the cheap electronic thing that we have 100's of sitting in the back room.

10 minutes ago

Customer Service

user_4hxvgf

Good Will Wifi Pod Extender

XfinityGabriel

user_4hxvgf

XfinityCliff

user_4hxvgf

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