U

Visitor

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2 Messages

Friday, August 20th, 2021 12:29 AM

Closed

Getting charged for an inactive Flex box. Use it or get charged?

I am displeased that I was not notified, via my email or on my Xfinity account, of a potential penalty fee for not using my Flex stream box. It wasn't until the charge appeared on my bill that I had to call customer service. Even the representative at customer service had to do some research as to why and what the charge was for. It would have been extremely helpful to have the serial number of the box included on the bill. All it said under the charge was "TV Box + Remote".  I use all my own equipment, Flex and it's included box are free. This is why I was confused. The representative was very helpful and said she would remove the all of the charges. Unfortunately, she forgot to remove part of the particle charge they applied to last month. I will be calling to have that removed also. I explained to her, my sister had an accident with the TV at my mother's house. I brought my TV that the Flex box was attached to over there until they could get a new one.

The representative asked if there was another TV in my house that I could attach the Flex box to and keep it active, otherwise, through monitoring, they would continue to charge me for and inactive box! I stated for the record I think that is absolutely ridiculous. I wanted to repeat it here so others may be aware. I could find no mention of an inactivity fee under terms and conditions for Flex. It is my choice if I want to use Flex or not as it is included with my internet. I should not have to log in to keep it active and avoid a fee.

This was poorly handled by Comcast as they should have contacted me if they thought something was wrong with my Flex box, or some other problems as the customer service rep explained. It was only through her grace and understanding that I am somewhat happy.

Official Employee

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1.7K Messages

3 years ago

Hi, u/user_8996c5. Thank you for creating your post to discuss your recent experience and unreturned equipment charge. The great part about the Xfinity Flex service is we do provide the first box free of charge. This way you can enjoy all the great apps with no equipment fees attached. I understand you recently helped your sister out after they had issues with their own equipment. As a result, this led to the Xfinity Flex equipment being disconnected and inactive. The equipment being inactive for at least 30 days will be detected by the network, and the account would incur an unreturned equipment fee. The system will assume the device is no longer in use and is set to likely be returned. We understand things happen, and that is not always the case. We are always willing to work with you as you’ve experienced with our team earlier and will continue to do so. I will say; however, the fee will likely be assessed each month until the box is active or returned. Did you have a chance to reach us regarding the charges for the previous month? If so, did we get everything cleared up?

Visitor

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2 Messages

@XfinityVianney 

Thank you for your reply,
But you have not answered the question of why was I not contacted first by Comcast and warned that my Flex box had been inactive and may incur a fee? I mentioned previously, they have my email. I've gotten plenty of notices about promotions and changes, there and on my Xfinity account. Is the charge automatically applied by a computer or a person, when they see the system monitoring the Flex box shows it inactive? I understand if I discontinue my internet services and try to keep any equipment, then you can charge me for it. But I hadn't moved and I continued to use my internet. Can you show me, and post it here for others to see, under the terms of use for Flex any such statement about incurring an  inactivity fee? Not a fee for disconnected services and unreturned equipment. You say this fee will incur if the system does not show activity for 30 days? What happens if a person goes on an extended vacation or is hospitalized? Does the Flex box actually have to be used or just plug into the wall? 
 I ask this because, I moved the tv it was on to my Mother's house in early January. The box remained here plugged into just the wall. The charge didn't start occurring until mid-August when it said I had a service change. Which I did not. The only thing I thought of is, when I put my air-conditioner in. I unplugged the Flex box to use that outlet for the ac. I have since moved the Flex box to my Livingroom and plugged it into a tv there. To appease the system gods, I watched a movie on Peacock Premium. I will be keeping Flex as I can watch movies on channels like Peacock Premium, included, that aren't available on my Roku. However, it is a data vampire! With your limitation of 1T coming up and more exorbitant fees if you go over that. I can get most of the same channels on my Roku and not use as much data.
 I have not called back yet, about the prorated fee for the previous month that was forgotten to be removed by the CSR. She was new and had to do a lot of research to get me some of the answers. It was a small oversite that I will call and have corrected. I am more disappointed in the way I found out about this fee and the new Franchise tax of $0.23. May not sound like much but when you're collecting if from everyone... That's a lot of money!
I work hard for my money, I'm not cheap, but I am frugal and pay close attention to my bills. Some people just pay their bills without giving them a second thought. I always scrutinize my bills for any such mistakes and changes to them. This post is to make folks aware of what may be going on and why they should question any changes to their bills

Official Employee

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1.4K Messages

For security purposes, we don't/can't monitor data usage from each device so as long as the Flex box is plugged in and turned on we can read it as active on our end you shouldn't be getting any inactive fees. I can completely understand being frugal and wanting to know why charges appear on your bill. We're the corporate team here so we can always tell you why said charges appear, but not necessarily why they exist as we don't create the charges. I'm sorry for the miscommunication and I hope I was able to clear up a few things for you. 

I am an Official Xfinity Employee.
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Visitor

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2 Messages

If we continue to use Xfinity Internet, can we return the Flex Box if not in use? I don’t want a box and the Xfinity employee over the phone said it was free and added it to my order anyway even though I said no. I don’t want to have it plugged in all the time just to avoid a charge. It’s a waist of electricity, space and time dealing with this box I did not ask for.

Official Employee

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263 Messages

Yes you can return it 

I am an Official Xfinity Employee.
Official Employees are from multiple teams within Xfinity: CARE, Product, Leadership.
We ask that you post publicly so people with similar questions may benefit from the conversation.
Was your question answered? Please, mark a reply as the Accepted Answer.tick

Visitor

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1 Message

3 years ago

I also am being charged, seems this Flex Box is a scam. They send you the box for "free" and in the fine print charge you if you do not return it. I had mine gathering dust for two years having tried it and not liking it so I ended up tossing it. When I closed my account they wanted it back, so much for "free" Now are charging me $118.00 for a two year old useless item that was supposed to be free. I will never use XFinity again, they still owe me $95.00 for continuing to charge me after account was closed. After making at least 5 phone calls and visiting the store twice.

Visitor

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1 Message

3 years ago

I just got an email from xfinity asking me to return my "free" flex box. They actually pressured me into getting two of these "free" boxes (one each on two separate occasions). I was on the phone for an unrelated tech support issue a while back and the rep kept asking me if I wanted this free flex box and I told him I already had one and he said that I did not have one even though I was looking right at it. When you all tell a customer that something is "free" and 'no catch' and then request I send it back when I don't use it, that seems almost criminal. I don't recall getting a contract. I was never notified of any fine print or exceptions to this box.

When are you going to start charging me for my two "free" boxes that you basically threw at me? I suspect this email you just sent is just the beginning of this little saga.

Official Employee

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695 Messages

@user_cfc9d0, Could you please send our team a direct message with your full name and full address? Our team can most definitely take a further look at this issue. To send a "Peer to peer" ("Private") message:
Click "Sign In" if necessary
• Click the "Peer to peer chat" icon
• Click the "New message" (pencil and paper) icon
• Type "Xfinity Support" in the "To:" line and select "Xfinity Support" from the drop-down list which appears. The "Xfinity Support" graphic replaces the "To:" line
• Type your message in the text area near the bottom of the window
• Press Enter to send it

I no longer work for Comcast.

I am an Official Xfinity Employee.
Official Employees are from multiple teams within Xfinity: CARE, Product, Leadership.
We ask that you post publicly so people with similar questions may benefit from the conversation.
Was your question answered? Please, mark a reply as the Accepted Answer.tick
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