Some of us like to watch channels other than PBS and the big 4.

Here, here! Can't beat $5 for an HDMI cable (plus shipping).

Better send this to Comcast Frank if you want a quick and competent resolution.

The above is what happens when you ask for more wall jacks than you have signal for, and don't inspect the work before the installer leaves. Some of the installers don't care, but some do. Not all of it is horrible, it's just that no one wants to post when an installer does a stellar job.

From what it looks like, the guy took a bunch of shortcuts to get enough signal to one particular outlet by barreling all those connections through and removing the splitter. Which most likely means you have a fairly poor signal coming to your unit that was too much trouble for him to fix. Hope you don't plan on adding any more services/need to use those other outlets.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

You should have them explain just what they are going to do before they do it. And ask questions - they're going to be jacking around in a place that you are responsible for. At least that way you'll know they've put some thought into it.

@MisterTerry: sorry the link is [www.comcast.com]

If it hasn't been mentioned already, email Rick, VP of Customer Operations at [www.comcast.com] I did twice recently about a couple of issues and each time was immediately contacted (within 24 hours) personally by phone from someone in the local Comcast office and was asked when I would like a tech to visit (notice no waiting for a day long "window"). The tech that came was knowledgeable (not always the case) and even replaced all end connectors on my cables (several on my setup) to ensure the best connections and signal. Also, after the job was done I was again contacted by local cs and asked if I was satisfied that all issues had been addressed and that I would receive a credit on my bill for any inconvenience.

@utensil42: no im not a professional, but im a handyman on the side. i can pretty much install anything or do any home repair.

@theblackdog: any reasonable landlord would not only let you do this, they would deduct it from your rent for improving the property.

I know this isn't the point, but from looking at the pictures it doesn't look like major drywall repairs are needed. If she can't get Comcast to make this right, then I would suggest either a drywall patch kit from Home Depot (for like $5) and/or some spackle or joint compound to fill the holes.

As a homeowner (and a landlord) who has done a little bit of drywall work it's actually not that difficult to do. Chances are you can do it yourself, cover it up with some flat white paint and nobody would ever know that there was a problem there.

Admittedly yeah, the mess - barring the rip in the wall - wouldn't be too hard to fix (though I have no idea what to do with the wires). However, the cable is just for ONE roommate who wants it in her room, and I didn't expect to have to do any work in the process! Not fair, I say. And not professional on the part of Comcast.

FYI-- those connectors with the blue are sold at Home Depot and Lowe's. We use them at work, and I've got a set for home too. Supposedly waterproof, and pretty easy to strip and make with the tools in the kits. Seem to hold up as well or better than a lot of the crimp connections for us (these use compression).

The one does not necessarily imply the other, as I have seen numerous "Comcast" vehicles that were clearly just some guy who happened to subcontract for them.

@djsyndrome: No..in looking at the pictures a bit more closely, one could simply undo the splices and screw the coverplates back on again and everything would go back to the way it was. It looks like Amy and her roommate were relocating wall jacks, and rather than running new wires from the entrance, the installer simply tapped into the existing connections. That said, it is still a crappy install

@ameyer: Ah, good! I'll let Comcast know about the tagline they should use for their next series of ads: "Comcast: at least we won't murder anyone."

@sockrockinbeats: By your description and the one reported for this article, you two got premier installation service.

Lame-o-install guy who did our could only say that "most people run cable under area rugs if the apartment's cable outlet is not in the wall you need it to be since I can't alter the apartments walls..." Utterly worthless and this was for a first floor apartment on a 7' tall stand up crawlspace accessable through a door only lightly screwed shut with two phillips head screws.

Thanks for nothing, nimrod. I just had him leave enough cable to run under the apartment from wall to wall and did it myself. I even left out the wall box part by peeling up the carpet in a corner and drilling through the floor to feed the cable back up. Sure beat the last residents solution of poking a hole through the bedroom wall into the other bedroom and running the cable through that. And the apartment managers had even seen that crap yet didn't fix it before we moved in...

@graceless:

LOL

the OP was present and allowed the arsehole to leave without calling Comcast?

Hells Bells I would have been on the phone with Comcast as soon as the tech had "completed" the first connection.

Not there the entire time? Really? The OP knew the job took 2.5 hours.

When these clowns screw up.... DON'T let them leave.... start your hissy fit while the tech is still on your premises. Preferably have the hissy fit on his/her head.

@TheFuzz53: @TheFuzz53: Heck I even point my own dish. It's a bit of a pain, but with a little know how, its much quicker and easier than calling the company. As for the professional installation, I find it's just as easy to hide the satellite cables behind vinyl siding. My job looks professional.

Artistic?

Care to explain?

Apparently nobody is interested in reading that. Let's not spoil Comcast bashing...

The first picture just needs shoved in the wall and a blank wall plate put over it. The installer had to pull the work box out of the wall because the cable was too short to get a new fitting on it. The second picture is actually even easier than the first. As for the third picture, the cable coming through the hole in the wall plate needs the fitting cut off and and pulled back into the work box. Install the plate over the hole and voila, it's all fixed.

I am an actual cable company service technician (not Comcast) and I'd never leave anything like this nor do I think it's OK, but it's not nearly as awful as some of you are attempting to make it out to be.

@axiomatic:
That's the best one yet!!! Thanks for the chuckle!

The funny thing is that he tech won't get yelled out for this, its total normal.

In all fairness to Comcast, in today's economy the value of free Comcast installation might be higher than the home value.

@2719: I'd put $100 down on what you said.

Axiomatic FTW. I had cable Intertubes dropouts all the time, and it was fixed when I called a Comcast tech in, gave him $40 and told him "I am going to tell you exactly what to do." He said "OK. What do you want me to do?"

He ended up running a line direct from the utility pole right to my cable modem. No wall plate, but the glory of uninterrupted tubes was well worth the $40.

Installing cable in an apartment can be a pain in the ass. This apartment is not properly wired (not his fault, continue reading). It's designed to have splitters behind the wall-plates meaning one line goes in and it splits behind the first wall-plate, after that it goes to another wall-plate and is splits again...It's called cascading splitters and it's something that was done 10+ years ago.

The problem is there is not a lot of space in there and new fittings and splitters most of the time won't fit in. Also it's likely you can't have reliable digital or internet service.

The correct way of doing it is called 'home run'. It means you have one feed line going to your unit, most of the time in the wall inside the closet. From there you have dedicated lines to each of the rooms. No other splits are needed.

If Comcast is like other cable companies they do not run cables inside the wall (wallfish). Also inside wiring is not cable co's responsibility.

He probably had problems getting acceptable signal levels on the outlets you will be using and he bypassed the ones that you will not be using or did not tell him you would. Sometimes you just can't have a modem in that room due to 3 splits on the line...

@Diet-Orange-Soda: The guys who did my recent satellite install did put in a wall plate. Actually they were some of the better installers I've had.

Classy.

you would think that but no

I just had a comcast tech scratch my hardwood floor AND break my brand-new HDTV and then accuse me of breaking the TV!

Awesome.

I'm staying with Comcast for 2 more weeks and then I'm switching to DirecTV.

Just an FYI..

Now, let me say that I do feel a little bad about this, but I hope this stuff continues. I've made a few hundred dollars re-doing comcast cabling and adding lines for friends that just don't know how to do it. Sometimes trying to install new cable is a pain in the ass, that's why they put the wires in before drywalling :)

P.S. If you're internet or Comcast digital service seems intermittent, try a new splitter.

@renilyn: ya, and thats the whole point of doing it yourself or hiring an outside professional. order the dvr online and ill have the contractor put in as many outlets as i see necessary.

A Comcast side note - Comcast opened a new CS office in the area - and it has a "closed-window" design (no person-to-person contact). Someone noted it had "bullet-proof" glass between the customer and the CS reps. So they "bullet-proof" their CS reps - instead of providing better customer service. Unbelievable.

Yeah...so...um... how do you plug the cable into the TV now? The first two outlets are completely useless.

The best part of this story is missing. I would have loved to hear how the conversation went between the tenant and Comcast when he packed up his things and left the apartment.

Wow. I recently moved and had Comcast come out to install stuff, the guy actually did an excellent job--I was assuming I'd have to find a way to hide cables under rugs and stuff, he had a special tool that allowed him to rip up the edge of the carpet and run the cable underneath. It was awesome.

I really hope Amy pushes Comcast to make this right. There's no excuse for this kind of incompitence.

they just drill a hole and be done with it.

That's simply awful. I'll stop complaining about my scratched aluminium siding and crooked outlet jacks from now on... (All courtesy of Comcast as well).

This girl needs to contact Comcast directly and threatened them to report them to the BBB unless they make repairs. She should also get her landlord involved so she won't get slapped with "repairs" charges when she moves. Comcast can't afford another bad post to the BBB. I did it with Best Buy when they were trying not to honor my 1 year warranty on some computer hardware.

[www.wsbtv.com]

I know it seems very cut and dried for most people and being in the business in the past reminds me what a hole of a business cable is...Fact is, it sucks just about as much as anything else these days.

So...did anyone say anything to him about this or did he just say bye and leave?

getting the landlord to go after comcast for repairing the installation is probably more effective than the OP and her roommates doing it.

"You'd Think Comcast, A Cable Company, Would Be Better At Installing Cable"

Directv is no better. Their "professional" installation doesn't include going down the walls. How the hell else are you supposed to do a professional job without doing that? That's why I wired my house myself and just had the guy put up and point the dish.

thats why you have the install done by professionals. i have always done all my home wiring. phones, cable, satellite. im not gonna trust my biggest investment (house) on some loser installer guy who's biggest concern is getting out of there as fast as possible. i bet she paid extra for that installation too.

the thing about this comcast hires outside contractors for this work. FOR example cleatus and his wife breandeen with a magnetic comcast side on the side of the pickumup truck. Anyone can become a comcast installer anyone.

the thing about this is the hire outside contractors to do this work. For example cleatus and his wife branden and just slap a magnetic comcast sign on their ford truck.

Wow. Just wow.