Need resolution created due to misleading sales tactics in March. Nobody on the phone can do anything to help.

Hello,

I am requesting a full refund of the Samsung Galaxy A15 5G I received for signing up for a mobile plan under false pretenses. To fully explain the issue, I need to go back a few months to a different issue that led to me signing up for the mobile plan.

I have been with Comcast for 10 years and had an existing internet/tv plan set to expire around the end of March 2024 for ~$155 a month. While researching new plans on the Xfinity app and the website, I somehow signed up for a more expensive plan ($170 a month) on March 19th even though I never confirmed any plan changes. I spent at least 10 hours on the phone and in the stores trying to resolve the issue but was basically told if I received a plan change email, I must have accepted the terms and any changes to the plan would result in a cancellation fee. Over the next several days, I had multiple supervisor call backs scheduled but nobody ever called to further discuss the issue. The only calls I received were multiple calls from a Comcast number [Edited: "Personal Information"] but as soon as I answered the phone, the person/bot on the other side ended the call.

On March 30th, I called customer loyalty and discussed any options for reducing the bill or cancelling the account completely without any charges. The agent I spoke to informed me there would be no cancellation charges if I signed up for a different plan, and he informed me of a special promotion involving getting a mobile line which would provide $40 dollars in credits to the internet plan, resulting in a monthly combined bill for mobile and internet of ~$75 after all discounts were applied. I told the agent numerous times that I did not need a mobile plan since I already had an existing mobile plan that I could not get rid of. Each time I said this, I was told not to worry, the promotion would get me a new phone for free along with the $40 promotional discount, and the combined bill would be ~$75 a month. This sounded too good to be true, but after receiving confirmation several times this was a valid promotion and that I could cancel the mobile plan at any time with no penalty if the information he provided was wrong, I decided to go ahead with the plan. The contract was sent over and there was no mention of the $40 discount that was mentioned, but the agent said this would only be applied after I received and activated the phone. Based on this information, I signed the contract.

I received the phone and activated it on April 3rd and waited for the first bills to come. Once the bills were in, I noticed I was being charged the full amount for the internet with no promotional discount, so my total combined bill was going to be closer to $120, definitely not what I signed up for. After realizing something was wrong, I spent at least another 10 hours between the phone and going to a local store to get the promotion applied. Throughout the phone calls, I kept getting transferred from internet to mobile since according to the internet group, “this is a mobile issue that they need to resolve” only for mobile to say that yes, the credit should be there but it is up to the internet group to apply it and transfer me back to internet. Each time I was transferred, I had to reexplain everything I have typed so far to the new agent, only to be transferred back to the other group since the issue was supposedly on their end. The agents said they would explain the issue prior to transferring me, but the new agent never knew anything of what was happening.

On May 13th, one of the agents I spoke with on the phone told me to go to a local store since they could access phone calls/transcripts and be better handled to fix this issue with the missing credit. Throughout the several phone calls I made prior to being told to go into a store, I called the following number (800-934-6489) and struggled to get through to a live person. Once I did, I asked for the loyalty department and every single person I spoke to said they were in the loyalty department. Once I got to the local store, I told them this and they said it is not possible to directly connect with someone in the loyalty department, you must ask for them and be transferred to them.

After talking to the agents at the store, they told me they cannot access phone calls/transcripts and although they knew of a promotion at the time I enrolled for mobile, the discount only applied to the date the phone was activated, not when I ordered the plan and that the discount must have disappeared during this time (this was never explained to me when signing up for the mobile plan and if it is true, it is completely unprofessional to tell someone about a promotion that would expire before receiving the phone to activate). They suggested I call customer loyalty while I was at the store and they could help if needed. Once again, I was transferred back and forth between the mobile and internet groups several times, but finally got someone that was able to pull the phone calls/transcripts from March 30th. After reviewing, they located the portion of the phone call from March 30th where I was informed of the $40 discount (it was around 4:27 pm CST) and this information would allow them to apply the discount since it was clearly stated in the phone call, but I needed to be transferred to a supervisor and they would explain everything to the supervisor prior to transferring me. Once I was transferred, the supervisor knew the whole situation and said he would fix the issue by giving me $50 worth of discounts ($40 for the promotion and $10 for the hassle of everything) to make up for the discount not being on the previous bill, and he would resolve the issue of the missing discount by applying it monthly going forward for the next year. Before hanging up, I reiterated this information about the discount for the next year so he could confirm and it would be easy to find when reviewing the call logs again if needed, this was about 3:30 pm on May 13th.

Before leaving the store, the manager applied a one-time courtesy credit of $40 for everything I have explained so far and mentioned he was concerned that nothing was actually done regarding the promotion because he did not see any changes to my account and it had already been at least 10 minutes. I was also informed at this point that although I could cancel the mobile plan with no penalty, I would have to pay for the phone since I was past the 14 days to cancel without penalty (the agent who sold me the plan did not mention anything about only having 14 days to return the phone if needed or that I would have to pay for the phone if I cancelled after 14 days). I told the manager I appreciated the offer but I did not want to make any changes since I was concerned changing anything would impact the missing credit that was just fixed. He understood my concern, gave me his card, and told me to call back in a few days if I didn’t see the changes on my account.

After waiting a few days, I did not see the changes and planned on calling the store manager back or going to the store to speak with him on Friday May 17th when I had the time, however, I live in an area of TX that was impacted by the storm that came through the night of Thursday May 16th. I lost power at the house for several days and more important for this issue, I lost Comcast service until Monday May 27th. Due to these issues, I was unable to make it back to the store and I could not reach any agent on the phone because I was in an area impacted by the outages and the app chat assistant and phone assistant would not connect me to any live agents due to this. My next chance at looking into the missing credit was Tuesday May 28th after my Comcast service was restored.

On Tuesday May 28th, I spent almost 2 hours on the phone talking with retention agents through 888-966-7516 (I was provided this number after going to a local store on Sunday May 26th for an update on when our services would be restored and to have them look at the status of the missing bill credit) and eventually a supervisor. Once again, I had to explain all the information above and was transferred between the mobile and internet groups with nothing ultimately being achieved. While discussing with the retention agents, they once again confirmed that the $40 discount should be there but there was nothing they could do other than create an escalation ticket to speak with a supervisor about the issue to get it resolved. They also mentioned a discrepancy with the information I was provided while signing up for the mobile service on March 30th (they mentioned the discount needed to be applied to the account prior to activating the phone and were unsure why the agent that signed me up for the plan told me the discount could only be applied after activating the phone.) However, I was also told by one of these agents that since there were several recorded phone calls, transcripts, and notes indicating the discount should be applied, someone would be able to resolve the issue since there was proof of what I was told.

The supervisor called a few hours later on the 28th [Edited: "Personal Information"]. He refused to do anything to help with the situation and said the matter was resolved as far as he was concerned, anything further would need to be discussed with the mobile department. I asked the supervisor if he was able to pull the phone call/transcript records from March 30th and I was informed that they were no longer available due to retention policies, but he reviewed the notes. However, this is where more issues come in. Since I talked with a supervisor on May 13th (who supposedly resolved the $40 discount issue), this agent I was currently speaking to said the phone call/transcript could not be reviewed by him since supervisor discussions cannot be reviewed by another supervisor. However, this agent said he would put in a request to have the phone call/transcript reviewed by someone else but even then, nobody would contact me about what was discovered due to company policy. I then asked about the misinformation to get me to sign up for the mobile plan to get the discount and was informed that the original agent from March 30th was talked to and dealt with (I was not told what was done to him and I am not trying to get the original agent in trouble, I am giving the benefit of the doubt that the information he provided was correct and it was a simple mistake of not properly completing the order). I also asked this supervisor what he was going to do to resolve this issue since there were now numerous recorded/transcribed instances where people confirmed the $40 discount being available and should be applied, but either being unwilling to help or unable to help. The supervisor then told me there are laws to protect what their agents say and that it was my problem since I signed a contract without the discount being stated (which I signed due to the original agent from the March 30th saying the discount would only be applied after activating the phone). I again asked about the supervisor from May 13th stating several times that the $40 discount would be applied going forward for the next 12 months and the agent I was currently speaking to said that notes indicate it was explained to me that the $40 discount was a one-time only courtesy and he considered the issue resolved. I explained to the supervisor that the one-time $40 credit was from the store manager for the hassle he saw while I was in the store on May 13th and the other credits were to offset the first bill where the discounts were not applied.

Once again, the supervisor did not care about this and said it was a one-time credit and the issue was resolved in his opinion and nothing else would be done. He then stated that Comcast does not offer revolving credits/discounts, they never have, and they never will. I was extremely frustrated at this point after having been lied to numerous times and basically being told it was my problem since I signed the contract (only having done so after confirming the information was correct several times) so I asked if I had to contact the BBB or try to bring up a lawsuit since there were recorded conversations indicating something happened to prevent the promotional discount from being applied, or I was lied to in order to sign up for the plan. The agent responded again with there being a law to protect what the agents say and I signed the contract, discuss anything further with the mobile department. I told him this implies that the company is perfectly fine with their agents telling misleading information to make a sale since although the information is on a recorded line, there is a law protecting what the agents say, basically making the recorded conversation not mean anything and there not being any repercussions to the agents or the company. The supervisor responded that is not the case and that I am the one implying this, and no further actions would be taken to help resolve the issue. I also asked why the original conversation from March 30th was deleted in the middle of trying to get this issue resolved and he said it was due to the state policy for how long records can be kept since "people do not want their records kept for any length of time”. This seems very unprofessional since I had been trying to resolve this issue for so long and it all hinges on the original phone call which is no longer available and now the evidence to help my case is gone. Throughout the process up to this point I had asked for copies of the transcripts numerous times but was told I was not able to receive a copy. This supervisor I was currently speaking to said to ask a lawyer and they would be the only ones to be able to get a copy, but even they could not get a copy of the original conversation from March 30th since it had been deleted.

After this discussion ended, I used the Xfinity app to look at plans for a brand new customer and lo and behold, I found the exact plan that I was promised on March 30th. When reviewing the internet options, there is a plan for Gigabit 1000 mbps with a promotion of saving up to $40 per month with mobile. Reviewing the mobile options shows a promotion of saving on internet when adding mobile. I added the Gigabit 1000 mbps internet and by the gig mobile plan, and the plan preview page showed this is the exact plan I was supposed to be signed up for on March 30th (Gigabit internet for $106/month, Promotional discount for Xfinity Mobile Discount Eligibility of -$31.00/month, Peacock Premium included, Xfinity Mobile Discount of -$10.00/month, autopay & paperless discount of -$10.00/month, by the gig 1GB 1 line of $20/month, and estimated taxes of $0.39/month for a grand total of $75.39/ month). I understand this plan is for new customers and it does not show up as an option for me as an existing customer, but the agent on March 30th did not mention this and said I was able to get it as an existing customer. This also is the opposite of what the supervisor I just spoke to said about the company not offering a revolving monthly credit/discount. This shows that the company does offer these plans, unless this is fraudulent information on the website. Once again, I was lied to and this time by a supervisor that I was told would help resolve my problem.

 

On Wednesday May 29th, I spent a little over 4 hours on the phone with various agents and in several departments (mobile, internet, and one or two other I am not sure what they are called) after calling 888-966-7516. Like every other time I called, I had to explain everything written above to the agents I talked to. I was once again told that the discount had to be applied prior to activating the phone but nobody could answer why I was told I had to activate the phone first nor why the original agent did not set up the plan properly. Several agents I talked with agreed and stated that there was misinformation given to me on March 30th to get me to sign up for the promotion and apologized, but there was nothing they could do. One agent in the internet group said they would explain the issue to someone in the mobile group that could help and although they did finally explain the issue before transferring, the mobile agent was unable to help. The mobile agent was in the “back-end group” (not sure what that means) and said he would transfer me to a “front-end group” agent that could help and gave the phone number 844-963-0011 in case I got disconnected. One of the first questions from this “back-end” agent is why I took so long to attempt to do anything with the mobile line. I explained to him that the original agent from March 30th said I could cancel at any time with no penalty due to the mobile plan not having a contract and he never mentioned only having 14 days to cancel without having to pay for the phone. I also explained that it is crazy to only have 14 days to cancel when the bill takes a month to show up and I had trusted that the agent from March 30th had done everything correctly. Once I realized the bill was incorrect, I went into the local Comcast store on May 13th and eventually was told the issue was finally resolved going forward. After waiting a few days and realizing nothing had changed on my account, I had to wait until I had some time to go to a store or call back, only for Houston to get hit by the storm on May 16th. This prevented me from doing anything since I lost power for a few days and Comcast service until Monday May 27th. I am not sure if the agent accepted this as a reason for taking so long, but I would have taken action within the 14 days if I was told I only had 14 days (this shouldn’t have even mattered because the agent from March 30th should have done things properly).

Once the “back-end” agent transferred me and the “front-end” agent answered, he said he was in a business group and I was transferred to the wrong number. After listening to the issue to try to transfer me to the proper group, he finally transferred me back to somebody in internet who helped apply a promotion for gig speed internet for two years for ~$75/month and said she was going to discuss with someone in mobile about applying a monthly credit for the phone payment since I do not need the phone and understood I only signed up for the phone for the promotional discount. Once I was transferred back to mobile, this agent did not have the authority to do anything like issuing monthly credit, but suggested I cancel the mobile plan to prevent further charges. The agent understood that the misinformation provided to me was the reason I signed up for a mobile plan I did not need and only did so in order to get the discount and apologized, While talking with this agent, he looked into my usage and saw that I have not used the phone other than activating it and making a test call/text to make sure things worked. They also explained that although the agent on March 30th indicated the phone would be free, that is not the case because I would need to port over a new number. However, this was not explained to me and the agent on March 30th said I could simply choose any available number and the phone would be free if I stayed with the plan for 2 years. This mobile agent I was currently talking to provided me this email address to file a formal complaint and explain the entire issue to attempt to not have to pay for the phone since they agreed I should not have to pay for anything due to the misinformation getting me to sign up and they can clearly tell I have not used the phone. I asked to be escalated to someone in mobile that may have the ability to apply the credit for the phone, but the agent was only able to schedule a supervisor call back and was told I would hear back by the end of Thursday May 30th. It is now Wednesday June 5th and I have not received any calls from a supervisor.

I had enough of attempting to resolve this issue at this point, so I sent an email to the address I was provided for a formal complaint (we_can_help@cable.comcast.com) and waited for a response. A few hours later, I received an automated response that the email I sent earlier today (Wednesday June 5th) was undeliverable. After a quick search, it seems the email we_can_help@cable.comcast.com is no longer valid so I do not know why the agent I spoke with on May 29th gave it to me and told me to submit a formal complaint. I also came across numerous examples of other people having very similar issues to what I have encountered, and their “help” seems to be very similar. I ended up chatting with an agent who provided the number 888-565-4329. I called and very briefly explained the issue and stated that I was looking for the correct email to send this complaint. The agent said they needed to transfer me to the mobile fraud department, and they would explain the issue prior to transferring me. Once transferred, the agent informed me they are with mobile, but not mobile fraud. I briefly explained everything above and they created an escalation ticket for the mobile escalation group and said they would look into the supervisor call back that was scheduled on May 29th but never happened. They also setup a meeting with various managers/supervisors on Thursday June 6th to discuss the issue in full and come to a resolution. Before ending the call, they asked what outcome I was looking for, and I gave a few options (see farther below in this message). I received a text on the 6th indicating the ticket has been closed, but it is now Friday June 14th and I have not received a call back concerning the resolution of the ticket.

I contacted support on June 14th via chat to look into the result of the ticket and was informed the ticket is still open and I will receive an email with the details within 48 hours. If the ticket is still open, why would I receive a text saying that it is closed? More importantly, this is well beyond 48 hours and I have not received any information about the ticket. Before ending the chat, the agent tried explaining a mobile promotion to me. I found this unprofessional since a mobile promotion is the entire reason I am having this issue and it indicates that the only thing the company cares about is making more money instead of resolving issues they caused. This makes it seem that the agents I have talked to have either lied about the notes they are putting on my account or the agents do not take the time to look over any existing notes because if this agent had looked, they would have seen this information about the mobile plans. If they did look and they still offered me a mobile plan, that is extremely frustrating and unprofessional. At this point in time, I have nothing to do but wait for another response that I do not think will happen.

I called customer retention on Tuesday June 16th to ask about the ticket and was informed the ticket had been closed but the resolution was the discount was not applied due to an issue with the internet. The mobile retention agent thought of possibly creating a new mobile plan and using the phone I received from initially signing up for mobile as an existing phone so I could qualify for a $10 discount. They also said they would work with the internet group to provide additional discounts to get back to the original offer of mobile/internet for a combined $75 a month. They spoke with the internet department and then transferred me over. After speaking with the internet department, it was determined that although it was proven there was misinformation to get me to sign up for the plan, I would still be responsible for paying for the phone since I did not take any action within 30 days. The agent apologized that nothing could be done from their end, but their hands are tied based on the results of the tickets that had been created and that there was no discount mentioned in the original documents from March 30th due to the agent providing misinformation about needing to activate the phone before getting the discount. I brought up the phone call from May 13th where the supervisor indicated he resolved the issue, and the discount would be applied going forward and asked the agent if they could pull the records. After discussing with a supervisor, the transcript from this phone call is not available. I asked why it was not available and was informed that transcripts can be impacted and lost when you are transferred between groups (I was transferred at least 5 times that day) and since I spoke with a supervisor, they don’t always use the system to create a transcript. This makes it seem like the supervisor can say whatever they want with no repercussions. I asked if there was another email to submit a formal complaint and was provided with [Edited: "Personal Information"]. I emailed them Friday June 21st and have not received any response.

This brings me to today (Tuesday July 2nd) where I am explaining the entire issue with as much detail as possible for you to understand how much time (it is over 35 hours attempting to deal with this issue) and effort I have put into resolving something that should not have been an issue because the agent on March 30th should have properly setup the account and provided me with the correct information. Since the mobile plan has been cancelled, I do not know what can be done because there is no longer a mobile line to even qualify for the credit, but the mobile agent said this would be the best option to prevent being billed for something I do not need.

To resolve this issue, I would like one of the following:

1. Keep the phone at no cost by getting the monthly credits to pay the phone off due to the agent on March 30th doing something incorrectly and the headache and hassle it has caused with nobody between the mobile and internet departments being able to figure out how to resolve the issue between themselves. Even if I was able to get back to the original promotion including mobile, I have no interest in having a mobile line with this company due to this issue and other mobile issues I have seen online while researching. I would not request any further credits.
2. Return the phone at no cost to myself, be reimbursed for the money I have spent on the mobile plan and phone and be reimbursed for the case and screen protector I purchased for the phone. I would also request $200 in credits towards the internet bill to offset my time and effort to resolve this issue.

I think either option 1 or 2 are valid options since I have had to struggle so much to resolve something caused by being lied to or agents not being able to properly perform their jobs. Maybe their hands are tied because I am well beyond the 14 days to return the phone at no cost, but I should not be punished due to the misleading sales. There should be exceptions in cases like this where someone puts their faith in a company to properly do their job only to find out the company [Edited: "Language"] but it is somehow their problem. I I am hoping you are finally able to resolve this issue.

              

Thank you for your time