Xfinity Phantom Mobile Account - will not issue refund

I know this is lengthy, but getting the information out there to inform others. 

About a year ago,   I called Xfinity to inquire about bundling our mobile phones,  we are with AT&T, and our Internet, which is with Xfinity. At the end of the call, I ended up staying with AT&T.   After the call and unbeknownst to me, Xfinity CONNECTED one of our mobile phone numbers to their system and started billing my Visa.   Our Xfinity Internet bill was around $50, so when I saw a charge for Xfinity come through on my Visa, I thought it was for Internet service. As it turns out, my spouse was paying for the Internet (a ‘we just moved mix-up’), and I was unknowingly paying for a phantom mobile phone account. On multiple occasions, I viewed the Xfinity APP to see what our charges were, because initially I was thinking there could be an additional charge.  I never saw a mobile account under our account information, nor an additional charge and I did not even think the unthinkable: that Xfinity would connect a device to their network without permission or an agreement, but alas, they did. 

Over the past six weeks I have been trying to get a refund ($785 owing) but doing so has been nothing short of daunting, frustrating and infuriating. Every chat or phone call thus far has resulted in conflicting and incorrect information, multiple transfers - up to five agents - and no acknowledgement of a mistake or proper explanation of the issue.  In the first three weeks, I was unable to find out what happened, as the agents created multiple stories. 

On two different occasions, agents recommended opening a ticket:  EMC0000 etc. 

First ticket:   The ticket was opened, then promptly closed the next day by Xfinity and followed up with an autogenerated text stating the refund request was closed and “no further action is required”. I waited a while to see if Xfinity would apply the money to my Visa, to no avail. It took several more interactions with agents and wading through more misinformation, since as stated,  I was told something different each time I contacted Xfinity, to find out what had happened, that the ticket was closed because it was not properly opened.

Second ticket:  11 days later, I had it in me to call again. I spoke to two agents before being transferred to an agent who told me the  first ticket was not opened properly.  He opened the ticket ‘properly’ and assured me I would get a refund.  He also complimented me on how kind and courteous and patient I had been considering the wild goose chase I had been on, more to come.   

After this interaction and being assured I would get my money back,  I felt good and decided not to switch Internet providers.   Sadly, it only got worse from here.

A week or so after the second ticket was created, and after receiving the same autogenerated text message stating the ticket was closed and no further action was required, I checked my Visa several times for the refund. No refund showed. Here we go again; I had to follow up with Xfinity for a resolution because even though they tell you no further action is required; further action IS required.

When I contacted Xfinity over the next three days to find out the results of my ticket, Xfinity agents told me three different things.  The first time I reached out via chat I was told the refund would be applied to my Visa by Thursday.  When a refund did not show up several days later, I again contacted Xfinity, via chat, and was told I had to wait 7-10 business days after the ticket was closed to get my refund.  The third time, again via chat, I was transferred three times and then asked for a callback, which the agent said they arranged,  but nobody called.       The next day, I reached out again, got asinine information from the chat agent, and asked for a callback from a manager. When the call came, it was someone from Xfinity Home Security! 

When I finally got connected to a mobile billing employee, whom I thought was a manager because I asked to be transferred to one, the call lasted two hours  (plus one hour on the chat).  The agent told me I was not getting a refund because finance refused my refund request due to the fact the one phone connected to the Xfinity mobile network, which per policy, negates a refund.  Ticket closed.   Wow, this was news to me, as not one Xfinity agent mentioned these details during multiple interactions.  At no time did I enter into a contract with Xfinity for mobile service, nor did I approve a connection of one phone to the Xfinity cellular network.   How would I even do that?  There was no usage of this singular mobile account – no data used, no phone calls were made/received, no texts were sent/received.   I am very concerned as to why Xfinity could connect a phone, under contract with a different provider, to their network and then charge me.       Hearing this made me livid, as I have spent 20+ hours (including typing out this protestation) trying to get my money back.  The agent tried to be helpful and was the first agent to fully explain the situation.  When I asked why I kept receiving different information from each agent I encountered, he said ‘maybe’ the other agents did not have the courage to tell me the truth.  After the agent spoke to his manager, he advised me that my issue needed to be escalated to the ‘fraud department’ to determine who/what prompted the connection.   Two hours later, I had to be somewhere and could no longer be on the phone.  The agent said I would receive a call back from his manager that evening with an update.   Forty-eight hours went by with no manager callback.   I checked in with Xfinity three days later via chat to see what the notes said.  As per Xfinity,  allegedly a manager  called me at 5:40 PM that evening.  My call started at 3:36 PM and lasted 2 hours and 4 minutes, which would mean my hang up time was 5:40 PM, the exact time the Xfinity manager said I received a call back.   Nobody called me back nor attempted, yet a manager updated the notes with a lie, which in keeping with the interactions and lies I have been told, is not surprising.    

The Xfinity agents have done nothing but drop obstacles at every turn with their polite, inadequate customer service and consistently inconsistent information.  The ambiguity created by each Xfinity agent resulted in wasted time and extensive explanations on my part to get the new agent up to speed, of which I finally stopped doing and referred them to the notes on file.  The agents have told me to dispute the transactions with my Visa provider (which I am now doing for three months’ worth of charges, which is the limit), that I quality for a refund of only three months, that I will receive a refund for the full amount, that I will not receive a refund.   The agents have mixed up my address, called me by the wrong name on multiple occasions even when told my name, told me they did not see a mobile account (right, because I do not have a mobile account), told me they would arrange for a callback, but no call came, cancelled my so-called mobile account, then charged me one more time, and now! they started billing my Visa for the Internet!  How does this even happen!?  My Visa was supposed to be deleted several interactions ago, yet it is still on file and now being billed. 

The agents are over the top polite, ineffective, and wishy-washy.  They gaslight customers by undermining the circumstances, providing a flow of misinformation delivered by using sing song phrases such as:    I am a customer too, I am

going to help solve your problem because you are such a valued and important customer, I am going to do everything I can to help you today, I hope you are having a great day, we will give you a $20.00 credit towards your internet.  The autogenerated messages smack of indifference.   The interactions I had were wrought with misinformation,  incompetence and a lack of accountability on Xfinity’s part. I have spent so much time trying to resolve an issue that Xfinity caused, then made worse, and in the end, Xfinity is unwilling to admit a mistake and take accountability. 

Comcast (Xfinity), you are a multi-billion-dollar corporation.  2023 Q4 revenue was $30.55 billion, annual gross profit for 2022 was a gazillion bazillion million and 11 dollars; that is a lot of money.    Customer service is friendly, but agents are not equipped, nor do they seem to have the desire to assist with complex issues created specifically by the company.     Employees are pressured by metrics to push sales, which creates an urgency to end a call/chat.  Agents stoke the situation  by providing inadequate responses with the intention  of pacifying the customer and moving on quickly.   There is no focus on quality or a solution, rather,  the focus is on ditching the customer and their problem quickly in pursuit of the next call and potential sale.  Xfinity is pitting their agents against their customers by rewarding sales, not customer satisfaction.   I dug deep when interacting with every agent.  I was beyond friendly, even when making assertive requests, yet the system Xfinity espouses, is the very system that creates the torrent of abuse hurled at the agents.  I really wanted to lash out, but the agents do not deserve that.  The ‘high-powered executives’ who get paid millions of dollars are the ones who have created and supported the system whereby employees and customers suffer, while they continue to line their deep corporate and personal pockets.  Spending countless hours trying to resolve issues created by Xfinity, a company that clearly is unwilling to fix their mistakes/errors,  leaves customers feeling helpless and hopeless.    Unfortunately, we have become accustomed to corporate bad behaviour.  If Xfinity needs my money so badly, the CEO’s salary is $32 million a year after all (my $785 is three minutes of his yearly salary), they have sufficiently put in place a system that deters and stops people from getting back what they are owed.