How to report Xfinity/Comcast aerial cable down, blocking traffic

I am extremely frustrated that I have been unable to report a downed cable.

There are countless threads in these xfinity forums from other people who tried to do the same.  The response in the threads from Xfinity employees is always the same: Send a Direct Message to "Xfinity Support".

First, something none of those replies mention is that the icon to send a Direct Message will not appear to a user until they have made a normal forum post. People who find these threads via a search engine who then create a forum account but who have not yet made any posts will be frustrated, as I was, to not see that icon.  At the very top right of the screen is a row of icons (mail, several others, and a smartphone icon for "Xfinity Mobile").  Below that row is another row with a 🔔 (bell symbol) for "notifications" and your user icon symbol. Once you have made a forum post, a "Direct Message" icon that looks like a "speech balloon" 💬 appears to the left of the bell icon.  Employees replying to these forums need to mention all of this, rather than just saying 'the icon at the top right corner'.

Second, the replies also don't mention that Direct Messages are like a chat. You need to wait for someone to respond.

I did that [edited to add: I sent the DM to "Xfinity Support"], and this was the response that an Xfinity employee wrote a few minutes later:

While we can certainly understand your desire to receive assistance with your account, we ask that you only ever post your questions or concerns in our public forum and remain patient for a response. If an employee responds, we ask that you please wait to be invited to direct message them. This will ensure that you get the quickest/best response possible. Due to the nature of forums, the Xfinity Forum has never been designed as a place to receive assistance in "real-time". If you are in need of immediate assistance we ask that you reach out to us via one of the methods shared here: https://forums.xfinity.com/t5/My-Account/ANSWERED-How-to-contact-Comcast/ta-p/3053370. Please note, sending unsolicited private messages to our team, another Official Employee, or any other forum user does violate our Xfinity Forum Guidelines (found here: https://forums.xfinity.com/t5/Guidelines/Xfinity-Forum-Guidelines/td-p/3115028) and our Xfinity Forum Acceptable Use Policy (found here: https://forums.xfinity.com/t5/Guidelines/Xfinity-Forum-Acceptable-Use-Policy/td-p/2618379). Please remember, by having an account and utilizing these forums, you have already agreed to the rules, policies, and guidelines contained within those documents as well as any other posted documents throughout the community. We ask that you review those documents thoroughly as continued violations could result in a revocation of a user's Xfinity Forum posting privileges. Thank you in advance for your understanding. 

I am outraged.  As I replied to him (with no response yet), multiple forum threads about reporting downed wires give the same instructions to send a Direct Message to "Xfinity Support". So are you saying that people need to create a new forum thread and wait for a response there before they will be allowed have a direct message responded to?

I have an old Xfinity account from service at a previous address. I finally logged into that account. I had resisted doing that, as I wanted to see how a person who does not have an Xfinity service account could report a downed cable.

I then tried reporting via https://support.xfinity.com/chat . It appeared to recognize the nature of the issue:

• I wrote "downed cable"
• It popped up a new "Xfinity Assistant" window, saying "I can help you with exterior wiring and cable line questions and concerns. What are you looking for help with today?" along with 2 options to click: "I want to report a safety issue" and "My services aren't working"
• I clicked on "... safety issue"
• It responded "We'll work with you to move any exposed cable or wiring near your home that might pose a risk. Which of these best describes the wiring issue in your area?" with these options (each with a link symbol 🔗 in front): "Tripping or injury risk", "Low-hanging cable is blocking traffic", "Cable wires are laying across streets"
• I chose "Low-hanging cable..."
• It opened a new window at https://www.xfinity.com/support/account-management/issue-reporting/?issueType=HAZARDOUS-WIRES&referrer=xa but immediately also had a pop-up saying "Looks like something went wrong / Your information was not submitted."
• After closing the pop-up, the page had a form which says: "Hi (name). To continue, choose the option that best fits your needs." with these options: "My payment has not posted or was applied to the wrong account", "I think cable wires outside my home pose a safety risk", and "I made a mistake with my payment or have a refund check issue"
• I checked "cable wires ... safety risk" and clicked on the "Continue" button.
• That went to a new page saying "Got it. We'll need a little more information to complete your request." with fields filled in with my e-mail address and mobile phone number. Below that was a field with a drop-down menu to choose one of these options: "Outside cable wires present a tripping or injury risk", "Outside cable wires are laying across streets, walkways or vehicles", and "Outside cable wires are obstructing traffic"
• I chose "... obstructing traffic" and clicked on the "Continue" button
• That went to a new page saying "Please confirm the information below" with the information in the 3 fields as I had filled them (with options to edit them). I clicked the "Submit" button.
• Again got the pop-up "Looks like something went wrong / Your information was not submitted."

I tried that with 3 different web browsers, all with the same result.

If I cannot get Xfinity to resolve this issue very soon, I will file formal complaints with my county and state authorities.