UPDATE: After Lengthy Comcast Outage, Customers Ask About Credits

UPDATE: After several as of waiting for their internet, telephone and cable service to be restored, most Comcast customers were finally back online by late afternoon on Tuesday.

Reports from readers on the Toms River Patch and Brick Patch were that service for many customers had been restored by about 4:30 p.m. But several readers also said the outage had started earlier than 9:30 a.m. -- even as early as 2 or 3 a.m.

“Mine has been out since last night then came back on for 2 hours and out again,” said Jeanine Reuter Krempel.

For some, the outage was an annoyance, but for others, it interfered with work. And for some, the cost was more than a loss of productivity:

“ We pay a ridiculous amount of money monthly for a service that definitely does not warrant the price! Paid a lot of money for a 2 day webinar from home, only got a days worth on Monday. I wonder if Comcast will reimburse me for a huge loss??? My guess, no...“ said Courtney McLean MacKenzie.

Others asked about the potential for a credit:

“Do we have to pay for no service?” asked Theresa Brush. “If we don’t pay there is no service.”

One thing was almost universal: people wanted to get away from Comcast.

“Comcast used to have great customer (service), but over the past 5 years they have really gone down hill. Does anyone have recommendations of who has better service?” asked Diane Arnone.

The company said nothing Tuesday about a blanket credit to customers in the region, but there are several people who believe thy have.

Readers should call Comcast at 1-888-COM-CAST (888-266-2278) to inquire.

PREVIOUSLY: If you’ve been wondering why you have no Comcast cable service, company officials have an explanation.

A software issue is blamed for an outage that some Comcast customers in the Jersey Shore area have been experiencing since mid-morning on Tuesday, according to company officials.

“We are currently addressing a software issue impacting the network feeds to some of our central and northern Jersey Shore systems,” Jeff Alexander, vice president of public relations for Comcast’s Northeast Division, said via email.

He could not give an estimate of how many customers are affected by the outage, which started about 9:30 a.m.

“Our engineers proactively detected the problem and have been working aggressively to resolve it since that time,” he said. “They are working to restore services as soon as possible.”

“We appreciate our customers’ patience as we remedy the interruption and apologize for any inconvenience,” he said.