not a customer, but lines down in my yard, can't report it without an account #

@XfinityBenjaminM​ 

they put the cables back up on the poles, all resolved, thanks, 

@user_ggmznz I'm glad to hear the cables were put back on the poles. Is there anything else I can help you with today? 

yes, please. Please lobby Xfinity to make it possible to use the customer service number to report a problem or talk to a human without an account number. I manage 2 residential xfinity accounts, but don't have xfinity at my home where the problem was. The auto-attendant would provided no prompt to report an issue unless you have an account number.  The chat finally sent me to a form for me to enter my credit card number and pay $5 (refundable) to submit a form to report the problem.  Whoever thought that up is delivering a sad comentary on how stupid they think we are. I guess there *are* some people that give up their credit card number at the drop of a hat. SMS text was offered by the web site as a solution, but it was a dead end. Only this forum was effective and it is not mentioned anywhere on the web site that I can see and I'm not even sure how I found it. Ultimately it left me extreamly frustrated that Xfinity would let a downed line, that they dropped to allow a neighbor have some tree work done, stay in my yard for weeks and making the reporting process nearly impossible. Xfiniity got a black eye with Henrico County and the Better Business Bureau. It's all so avoidable. Thanks for listening.

@user_ggmznz Thank you for sharing your feedback. I will definitely be forwarding this to my leadership team. We'll be looking into this $5 charge you mentioned. That's not something we do when assisting customer and non-customers in any platform. Do you recall the phone number you dialed when you were asked for a form of payment?

Just in case you weren't aware, here's a link that provides the different options we have available for customers to reach us https://www.xfinity.com/support/contact-us.

it looks like I owe you an apology...but I think you'll be interested in what i found.

I went into my browser history to see if I could find the $5 form.

You may find this hard to believe...

At some point in my chat with xfinity, I was linked to this page:

[Edited: "Possible malicious support site"]

by the time this redirect happened I was so mad at the time I had spent on the phone and sms, i didnt' recognize that I was now on an AskenExpert page.

the "new" chat box opened  

Pearl Chatbot, assistant 

Welcome! What’s going on with your Xfinity, AT&T or other Internet service? Xfinity chat

     I replied: downed line

Pearl Chatbot, assistant 

Is the downed line currently causing a service outage at your location?

     I replied: no

Pearl Chatbot, assistant 

Is the down line on your property or in a public area?

     I replied: my property

Pearl Chatbot, assistant 

Is the downed line posting any intermediate, safety, hazard, such as sparking or blocking access?

     I replied: Trip hazard

Pearl Chatbot, assistant 

Which service does the line belong to, cable, Internet, or phone?

     I replied: Xfinity

Pearl Chatbot, assistant 

Is the land fully detached from the pole, or is it still connected but hanging?

     I replied: still connected and hanging

Pearl Chatbot, assistant 

Is this line accessible to children or pets on your property?

     I replied: yes

Pearl Chatbot, assistant 

Thank you for sharing the details. The network technician will help you with your low hanging Xfinity land concern. Here’s what I will tell them;

• you have a low hanging Xfinity line on your
• you are worried about children or pets tripping

Is there anything else the network technician should know before I connect you?

     I replied: no

Pearl Chatbot, assistant 

Thank you for providing the details. And, how would you like to connect with the technician… Phone call or online chat? Under the circumstances, I recommend a phone call.

     I replied: phone

Pearl Chatbot, assistant 

OK, got it. Here’s a secure form to fill in your details and pay a onetime join fee of five dollars (fully refundable) while you’re filling this out, I’ll tell the network technician about your situation and then connect you two.

The form to pay the $5 was to the left of their chat box and I still thought I was on with xfinity.

I have screen shots of the pages that I can fax to you, or I'll give your tech access to my computer so they can see the conversation as it's still up on the screen. Unfortunely I'm unable to say exactly when in the Xfinity chat I was redirected.

If I were one of your tech people, I'll say "hey, that old man musta clicked on a hot link somewhere else on the page" but I revisited the pages and don't see mention of the ask An expert anywhere....

sorry if i"m wasting your time, it's over, the lines are back on the poles and wife is calling me for dinner, have a good weekend.