'Your Call is Important to Us.' Yeah, Right, Comcast.

If your internet has been up and down last night and today, you're not alone.  In fact, most Comcast customers in Golden Valley are dealing with the same thing. 

But before you try to call for an explanation, let me save you the trouble.  I'm told by the Comcast call center in Blaine that there's an "unplanned maintenance outage."  Apparently crews are working to fix outdated equipment, and that's causing phone and internet disruptions in Minneapolis and the west metro.

I understand these problems happen with a huge company that deals with technology.  What I don't understand is why it took me seven phone calls from last night to this morning to get a straight-up answer. 

It was close to midnight Monday night, and I was working on several administrative tasks for Patch.  As I hit 'send' on a long email, the first error message of the night popped up.

After a little waiting and then restarting the computer... nothing. 

Ordinarily, I'd find the public relations number for the company and get my answer.  But without internet, I didn't have access to my contact list.  I was no longer a journalist, I was a lowly customer.

Then, thinking about those Xfinity commercials promising friendly agents answering my call, I dialed 1-800-Comcast and hoped for the best.

The first time I call, I get an automated operator promising to reset my modem... and then I was hung up on.  Nothing happened to my modem.

The next time I call, I get an agent speaking broken English informing me he's in Costa Rica.  He says his name is Joe.  Joe tells me a long story about cables being on the ground right here in Golden Valley, and that crews are working to fix the problem.  He promises internet will be restored in two hours or less.  I ask him some follow-up questions - how widespread is the problem? Was there some kind of accident that caused all of this?

After a terribly rude exchange where I asked for his supervisor, I was put on hold and told, "My supervisor doesn't want to talk to you.  If you want more information, go to the website."

After the difficult conversation where I say I can't access a website without internet, I'm laughed at and hung up on.  Seriously.

Four more phone calls, all but one going to Costa Rica, and I was told yes there was an outage but it was planned and wouldn't take long.  I was told, no, there was no outage being reported and I must have misunderstood the previous agents.  And finally, yes, there's an outage, but why don't I call back in the morning.

After several calls this morning, where I gave up after waiting on hold more than ten minutes, I finally got through around 11:00 a.m.  To my shock and delight, I was talking to an agent in Blaine.  After four minutes, I had my answer.  Make that four hours, 20 minutes... and then four more minutes.

The agent explained that there is a problem with aging equipment from a previous provider, like Time Warner perhaps, and that crews are working to replace it.  The outage affects Golden Valley and much of the west metro.  It also affects most of Minneapolis, but not St. Paul.  The problem is expected to be completed today, but no one knows for certain.

As for the rude Comcast agents and having to call Costa Rica?  Unfortunately, I was told, supervisors here can only deal with agents here.  Outsourced calls are dealt with somewhere else.

From now on, I'll be sure to have the PR numbers of the cable, gas and electric companies on speed dial, because being just a regular ol' customer in Golden Valley is like living in a rude, foreign land.  And no one deserves to be treated like that.

But for those of us who are, there is a place to vent and look for answers.  In fact there are plenty of websites.  I'd recommend this one because a Comcast representative works to help solve your problem.

Good luck, you'll need it.