Why is it not possible to talk with a human when calling 1-800-xfinity?

I would like to have live customer service also. Just tried calling and could not connect to live agent - after trying the chat bot which assured me it could help me but when I questioned why my rate increased by $54 less than 3 months of signing up for a new plan was told to click on the link "below" but there was no link. When I told the bot there was no link it repeated its assurances it could help and when I repeated not getting the link it restarted its initial script and logged me out. Now I appear to be locked out of my account, forcing me to call again and acquiescing to chat with "live" agent - although the agent cannot receive more than 1 -2 lines at a time, then warned me that it would need to disconnect if I don't respond which I had but more than 1-2 lines. Had to chunk it out, now waiting with huge gaps in response time and realistic concern that it will disconnect me as the phone bot disconnected me when I refused to say yes to accepting the chat bot. This should not be allowed by law, as consumers should still have rights and monopolistic communications companies should be regulated to not have such transparently deceptive and coercive practices. Now the "live" chat agent disconnnected and sent link for the chat bot. This should be illegal!

I apologize for the experience you've had trying to reach someone @mkcloonan. If you wanted to speak so someone by phone you can schedule a call back here: https://www.xfinity.com/support/schedule-callback/

Our team is available to help here as well if you would like to work with us

I am glad to hear you were able to get help and decided to stay with us! From what it sounds like, you may have been in an area with network upgrades in progress or a known issue of some kind. Typically, you can find information on area issues with the methods described here : https://www.xfinity.com/support/articles/check-service-outage

I personally recommend the XFINITY App for ease of use, but there are a few methods listed.

As far as contacting us, we have a myriad of ways to reach out to us listed here : https://www.xfinity.com/support/contact-us 

Then of course you have us here on the Forums, Reddit, Facebook and Twitter as well. I can understand the desire to speak to a human being when you are having a problem or just plain frustrated, and you should be able to do that by calling in. I am sorry that you were having trouble doing that, and I will pass along your comments about the experience. It definitely does not sound like a good time.

If you would like to give recognition to the agent you spoke with, that can still be done! Please send a direct message to us by clicking the chat icon in the upper right corner of the page, click on the pen and paper icon, then enter “Xfinity Support” in the “To” section. Please include your full name and complete street address and the time you called in, and we can find their information and pass along your compliment.

My Xfinity internet just went out again for a few seconds, in the middle of a critical work Zoom call.  This dropped my call, with my boss.

I tried to call Xfinity, the automated system hung up on me.  I tried the app, it goes around in circles with no help and no option of actually talking with anyone.

Please explain HOW I can talk with a human at Xfinity if the phone system is broken, the app is broken, and the website is broken?

These forums are nice...but, I don't have time to wait hours for help when the issue is affecting my livelihood.

@pcorning I'm sorry that happened! We have some remote workers at my house, so I understand the importance of a solid connection. The only way to speak with someone is to navigate the prompts i'm afraid. There is no direct line to an agent. I agree that the forums are not practical for immediate help, however checking the app or the other methods in the first link I posted earlier for area issues is an option to see if it is a widespread problem. Then for quicker person to person help, utilizing the chat option on the second link would get you to someone after navigating through some questions. I can also check out your account and see if I can find out why you are having frequent issues.

Please send a direct message to us by clicking the chat icon in the upper right corner of the page, click on the pen and paper icon, then enter “Xfinity Support” in the “To” section. Please include your full name and complete street address to get started. Thanks!

@XfinityFrank​,

The prompts in the app do not work, they run you in circles.  Everything you type sends you back to the beginning.

It's just like 1-800-XFINITY, but that is programmed to hang up on you if you ask to speak with an agent.

I got upset and typed "Request a callback" over a dozen times into the app and it actually requested a callback!   That appears to be the secret, hammer the broken "Customer Support" system as hard as possible and it finally works!!! :)

I was able to talk with a human on the phone!

There is no outage in my area, however there IS scheduled maintenance for August 3rd in my city.  There are known intermittent issues in my area that are causing the exact problems I'm seeing.  They are replacing some cables that day.

My internet went down DURING that call.

The outage map (https://www.xfinity.com/support/status-map) appears to broken as well, it makes no mention of the known issues in my area OR the scheduled maintenance.  It would be awesome if that worked, customers wouldn't have to try to use the broken customer support systems to get answers.  A tiny blurb of "intermittent disconnection issues" would go a long way.  An erroneous "Everything looks good!" when its known to be NOT good makes no sense.

I'm hopeful that my issues will be fixed August 3rd.

Thanks for the update @pcorning ! I am glad you were able to get some details on what is happening. Even as an employee, I have utilized the status map and the XFINITY Assistant myself and had good results. I am not sure why your experience has been poor, but that is definitely not as designed. I appreciate your detailed feedback however, and as mentioned it will be passed along, so it can be reviewed and improvements made.  If you are still having trouble after August 3rd, or anytime, please let us know, and we would be happy to assist in any way we can!