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qwijybo
June 26, 2009 9:38 PM
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I sure this only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to so called computer techs trying to scam those who don't know much about computers. I hate to think of how many times this has actually worked.

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AngryK9
June 29, 2009 3:10 PM
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@qwijybo: Yeah, anybody can pass themselves off as a \"technician\" these days and get away with crap like this. It pisses me off because it gives us real technicians a bad name.

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eskimo81
June 26, 2009 9:40 PM
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This story doens't add up to a scam to me, more an idiot that thinks he's a technician.

To misconfigure a computer for a static IP instead of a dynamic one takes only a few minutes. The \"technician\" spend more than 2 hours there (according to the elderly couple).

I think the \"technician\" really isn't a well trained technician, and couldn't figure out that a static IP had been set, and was actually planning a reformat to try and resolve the issue, but after 2 hours of pathetic attempts to fix the problem, he was't willing to spend the extra 2 hours to reinstall an OS.

If he was running a scam, and knew what he was doing, he could break that in a couple of minutes, and still offer to fix for a couple hundred bucks. Why waste 2 hours pretending that you're trying to fix it?

Seems like too much effort and risk for too little payoff.

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katstermonster
June 27, 2009 6:36 PM
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@eskimo81: I agree with all the other responses, this guy could have spent 2 hours there on Comcast's dollar, or just because he felt like it.

And ignoring everything else, 200 bucks for a reformat?? That's highway robbery. It's an hour of my time and requires about 2 brain cells. 4 if you bother to check that all the drivers are installed.

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ShadowFalls
June 27, 2009 2:10 AM
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@eskimo81:

The static ip as mentioned in the story isn't likely to have been set by the user who doesn't even know what one is. It also isn't in the default range of a Linksys router, so that removes that unlikely possibility.

Also, as a tip to the person who sent this in. When troubleshooting any NT based machine for a networking issue, the first thing you do is run ipconfig...

It is pretty clear this was a scam. This was an easy fix that even an ISP rep should be able to troubleshoot off the paper that is in front of them. You know, the paper that tells them all they actually know.

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CheritaChen
June 28, 2009 3:09 PM
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@ShadowFalls: Also, as a tip to the person who sent this in. When troubleshooting any NT based machine for a networking issue, the first thing you do is run ipconfig

I disagree. The first step is to confirm that all the relevant equipment is present, connected and running, which is what he did (\"Blinky lights--OK\"). The best next step will usually depend on any reasonable suspicions of what's wrong based on the individual situation. In this case, since it was a new installation, it could have been faulty hardware or faulty software configuration, so it was a tossup which to check first. He verified the router and modem weren't the problem and moved on to the software. That's where the first step is ipconfig.

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ehlaren
June 29, 2009 4:26 PM
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@CheritaChen: When you work at a computer repair shop or do service calls and you got in 20 computers/people that day that all want their crap fixed by 3PM the first thing you do is take 5 seconds to type ipconfig.

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Xerloq
June 26, 2009 11:02 PM
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@eskimo81: Seems pretty likely that the 2-hour failed-repair was part of the con. I mean, computers are complicated. What better way to reinforce that than to appear to be working hard for a couple of hours.

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coren
June 26, 2009 10:12 PM
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@eskimo81: And maybe the couple, lacking in knowledge, attributed some of the installation time to him trying to get them online?

If he wasn't offering to do a simple OS reinstall for 200 bucks I might believe he was just incompetent too

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enthreeoh
June 26, 2009 10:00 PM
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@eskimo81: He probably spent 2 hours trying to convince them to pay him to fix it.

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JRules
June 26, 2009 9:52 PM
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@eskimo81: Considering hes getting paid by Comcast for that 2 hours, doesn't sounds like too much effort to me. For that 2 hours if the customer falls for it hes going to make an extra $200. Also spending 2 hours on it makes it seem like hes tried all possible fixes.

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strathmeyer
June 26, 2009 9:44 PM
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@eskimo81: Because Comcast pays him for two hours of work? Because people are more likely to pay you to fix something after you've been in their house for two hours? Because he needs some nap time? I could go on...

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Anonymous
June 26, 2009 11:33 PM
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@eskimo81: @eskimo81: @strathmeyer:

Since he was a contractor, he doesn't get paid by the hour. They get paid a per job rate, so the longer the job takes, the less money they make. Most likely not a scam, but rather a stupid contractor. If those customer contacted Comcast, there would be an investigation launched that would ultimately lead to loss of employment for said contractor.

However Comcast should be blamed for not being able to resolve the connection issue over the phone, or with a trained comcast technician. Shame on them!

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Mike8813
June 26, 2009 9:45 PM
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Great sleuthing, Rick!

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pmcpa4
June 26, 2009 10:42 PM
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The original comcast \"tech\" assigned the wrong IP to break the computer, he then offers to \"fix\" it for $200. All he has to do is change it back to dhcp.... Yea, the guy is trying to scam people. I DONT blame Comcast here, cause they don't know what's going on. Good Job OP! I also run a tech company, and I would ahve gone through all the same steps, and come to the same reaction! I would contact the couple and see if they could contact Comcast about the original tech. I'm sure Comcast would take care of this \"issue\" (read: Tech)

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trujunglist
June 26, 2009 10:47 PM
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Excellent find there. It sounds like some shady stuff is going on over in that direction. If I were the OP, I'd make sure that BOTH customers knew how you felt so that they can take it to Comcast. If their computer was connecting to the internet previously - I assume via some sort of high speed connection and not modem because no one really does that anymore - then it is obvious what is going on. I'd check with them to verify that and then make sure Comcast knows. The only one that can really do anything about it is Comcast, and if they see that there is a pattern with this particular installer (i.e. he goes out, it doesn't work, so the customer calls Comcast etc...), then it's obvious what is happening.

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fencepost
June 26, 2009 10:50 PM
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There's a misconfiguration going on, but it's probably innocent. 10.1.10.1 is the default address for Comcast's cable modems.
I suspect a badly-trained installer is trying to assign a static IP so he can get to the modem directly, but is entering values into the address rather than the gateway. This obviously makes a mess of everything.

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TVarmy
June 27, 2009 5:06 AM
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@fencepost: I'd like to add: Comcast modems also tend to ignore DCHP configuration sometimes when connecting to a new PC, so they often need powercycling a few times to work. Or these could be flakey modems to begin with. This makes it very probable that he is simply a guy who got the idea that he's good with computers.

What makes me wonder if really is a scam, or at least unethical beyond using the Comcast brand to sell his unrequested services, is that he still charges $200 after the fix fails to help the problem. It's true a doctor may charge for a treatment that was unsuccessful, and a mechanic may charge for a fix that doesn't repair the problem, but PC repair tends to be pretty trial and error, with fixes being part of finding the root of the problem. When I fix computers for pay (under the table as a side-job), I never ask for payment until the problem is fixed. The only time I ask for any money before the job is done is when I need to get hardware that costs more than $20 or so.

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slickdealer
June 26, 2009 11:08 PM
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10.1.10.1 is the default ip address for certain comcast business cable modems, and only if they are put into router mode as opposed to bridge mode (router mode is the default). Generally the residential ones (such as the motorola surfboard 51xx series) only run in bridge mode and require your computer to use dhcp to get an IP address from their servers. If they can't get online, then they will most likely give you a 192.168.100.x ip address. In any case, I think this is more likely a case of a stupid technician then a scammer. He probably couldn't get an ip address using dhcp, and decided to try to set it statically to the normal business nat'd subnet of 10.1.10.x, and set the ip to .1 instead of the gateway. Could have been done as a scam, but the 10.1.10.1 makes me think stupidity.

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trujunglist
June 26, 2009 11:44 PM
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@slickdealer:

I'm just wondering why he would offer to reinstall Windows for $200 then. That's a ridiculous price just to reinstall an OS, and it wouldn't fix the problem automatically either.

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Bradford Johnson
June 27, 2009 2:10 PM
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@trujunglist: Geek Squad would charge $100-$150 for just data backup and $129 more for OS re-install. Of course their prices are robbery as well but just wanted to give a comparison.

I have been to the point of just re-installing the OS for people. Most of the time it's because of a major virus or spyware intrusion. Sometimes they really bog down the system OR completely screw up the network settings and cannot be fixed easily.

Whether this person is innocent or not, he is definitely trying to take advantage of people with limited computer knowledge. Kind of like an elderly couple I just helped get a new computer at their new house. They have lived there for about 6 months and Windstream were so kind to set them up with a \"package\" of phone and DSL, because a package saves right? Well they had no need for DSL for the past 6 months so I got ahold of Windstream customer service and got their last 6 months credited back for the DSL portion.

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Joeb5
June 26, 2009 11:09 PM
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Are they useing the comcast cd that you don't need and they may just have a bad build of it?

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ChuckECheese
June 27, 2009 12:27 AM
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@Joeb5: Along the same lines as your comment, I think that installers would have a Comcast-issued install CD. There's no need to set everything up from scratch. The 2 hours of fussing (you could reinstall the OS in less time than that) and the $200 repair offered make it sound like shenanigans.

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SnoopyFish
June 27, 2009 1:17 AM
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@ChuckECheese: It takes way longer than 2 hours to reinstall an OS for customers. First you need to back it up which runs at an annoying speed programs like ghost or just folder copy. Then there is the reinstall. Then there is adding the data back on the computer plus an explorer used to assess that data. Then showing them how to access that data. Then installing drives (hopefully they have the cd's of it's more time spent looking for all that crap). Way more than 2 hours.

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ChuckECheese
June 29, 2009 5:07 AM
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@SnoopyFish: I was referring only to reinstalling the OS, not the backup and reinstallation of other applications and data, and not user instruction.

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TVarmy
June 27, 2009 5:09 AM
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@SnoopyFish: Just reinstalling the OS, and nothing else, is faster. I'm guessing this jerk didn't go through the steps of finding the right drivers, backing up data properly, recreating accounts, and so on. He probably just popped the Vista CD in, clicked Next until it was over, and then took his check and went home.

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Papa Midnight
June 26, 2009 11:25 PM
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Who wants to bet Comcast responds with \"We are taking this matter very seriously\"?

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ComcastBonnie
June 28, 2009 3:55 AM
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@Papa Midnight: Sometimes \"We're taking this very seriously\" is warranted, like this situation. It is a very serious situation, and will not be tolerated. I spoke with Rick, and got the info to the End Bosses for the area (not the mini bosses). The folks affected prefer to remain anonymous, so I'm not able to get the exact info... but we're digging in and finding out who this rogue tech is.

(Happy Weekend!)

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TVarmy
June 27, 2009 5:11 AM
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@Papa Midnight: These cable installers are always contractors, as far as I know. It looks like this person is going to lose a sizable amount of his installations. Further, I doubt his side business is going to do so well with stellar referrals like this one.

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oldgraygeek
June 26, 2009 11:34 PM
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I haven't seen this scam here in Delaware yet.
I don't understand the mentality of someone scamming people like that. My PC repair business is right on schedule:

-- I started off with less than a dozen customers in the summer of 2004.
-- I don't have employees or a storefront, and I don't aspire to have either of those things... ever.
-- I get new customers from referrals and my Idearc SuperPages ads.
-- The more satisfied customers I have, the more referrals I get. New customers come in at about the same rate year to year, so I slowly get busier.
-- Right now, I have about 750 customers who spend an average of $100 per year.
-- In five more years, I should have about 1500 customers. If they still spend an average of $100 per year, I will no longer need to advertise (much).

All of this would collapse if I started ripping people off.

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Mackinstyle
June 27, 2009 11:00 PM
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@oldgraygeek: Wait, are you trying to tell us that doing hard, quality work pays off?

But I'm fat, lazy and impatient! Why can't I just scam old people. They're not going to need the money soon!

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Project_J187
June 26, 2009 11:51 PM
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Wow. They called all those tech support/customer service numbers and no one though about checking the TCP/IP settings to see if they were automatic?

Glad I don't ever have to call tech support.

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Shoelace
June 26, 2009 11:56 PM
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Rick - were you able to verify that the same tech went to both houses? If so, perhaps suggest that both customers call Comcast, describe their very similar experiences and identify the tech by name. Whether shady or incompentent, Comcast should be notified about this guy.

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HogwartsAlum
June 27, 2009 12:40 AM
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\"He offered to help provided they called him after he got off work for the low price of $199.99 (hmm... I've heard that before).\"

A plumber who worked for Roto-Rooter did this to me also. After spending a couple of hours trying to unclog my bathtub. He wanted less than the company would charge for coming back but something didn't feel right to me so I said no. This was after three visits, none of which helped.

I got tired of bathing in the sink, so I called someone else who actually went under my house to look at my pipe configurations, located the hairball in the pipe, waved a magic wand and *voila* It was fixed.

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Megalomania
June 27, 2009 12:46 AM
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If the old folks were upgrading from the same service, it's conceivable that their computers had been set up to use a static IP for the 255... subnet from their old router. In either case, the guy was being somewhat sleazy in offering his \"side business\" services like that.

That said, the fact that he wanted $200 to reinstall an OS is not something I would consider wrong, so long as he was willing to be held responsible if something went wrong and data was lost (or, possibly more annoyingly, no valid license key for the OS was found for reinstallation).

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Anonymous
June 27, 2009 1:21 AM
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Hey, I am Rick. To answer some of your questions.

@fencepost @slickdealer: You are correct! However, they were behind a Linksys router. The default LAN scope is 192.168.1.X

@Papa Midnight, @Shoelace: Comcast did get in contact with the editor and then he passed the contact information along to me. I called the customer to make sure I could reference their information and pass it along to the Comcast POC. They refused. I assume they had enough and quite frankly if the guy got fired I do not wish any harm to come to them. I did ask the Comcast Rep to get in contact with their regional manager which she assured me she would. They will be bringing this up at their next meeting. Hopefully that will make the guy think twice before trying this again.

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wagnerism
June 27, 2009 3:22 AM
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Long story short - setting a static IP address is a willful act regardless of the intent. Sure it matches the modem, but it didn't get that way itself.

Offering to fix a computer for $199 where the only thing wrong is that static IP address is either amazing incompetence or fraud.

Since the tech believes his time and ability is worth $199, I vote fraud.

I'll link this to the local news \"on your side\" whatever consumer advocate and see if they want to pick it up.

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Anonymous
June 27, 2009 3:59 AM
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Just to let you guys know, that IP he said he saw 10.1.10.1 is actually used by the Comcast SMC modem/gateway that business class customers use. i know because i have one.

maybe the guy tried tricking comcast into thinking a residential account was a business account? Then the trick didn't work anymore?

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slickdealer
June 27, 2009 5:17 AM
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This is why you should never let a Comcast technician near your computer. I remember back in 1999, I had Cox Cable and had them \"install\" high-speed internet in my house. The tech said he *had* to install special software on my computer in order to get online. I knew this was BS, but he wouldn't install it without me letting him on my computer to install this ad ridden crap. Finally I agreed to let him use one of my computers. One running linux without any X installed. This is back in 1999, so it wasn't a common thing. Tech sat down, hit a few keys, stared at the monitor, and gave up quite quickly. Low and behold, he was amazed when he found out his little CD did jack shit to get people online.

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ehlaren
June 29, 2009 4:36 PM
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@slickdealer: What is screwy about this is when you get FIOS installed they have to plug in a usb drive that has a program on it for them that talks to your TV reciever box and also their servers across the net. The guy actually does have to do this because it pretty much looked like he had to fill out electronic paperwork via this program as part of his job.

The screwy thing is you couldn't get into this program without running the pre-program that did all the normal 'add a bunch of settings and crap to my computer I really don't need' before it got to the program he needed to use to get your T.V. reciever to actually work.

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DreamTheEndless: Death's little brother
June 27, 2009 6:56 AM
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@slickdealer: That's one of the reasons I love having a Mac. Comcast insists that I need to install their software to get online until I tell them I have a Mac - (3 of 6 computers on my network are apple) - then they say nevermind and walk me through configuring it without running their custom software.

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ChuckECheese
June 29, 2009 5:08 AM
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@DreamTheEndless: Another idea is to go ahead and install the software, then delete it all after the connection is configured.

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organizedhome
June 28, 2009 4:27 AM
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@DreamTheEndless: Not just Comcast, kids.
]
This Mac user just hates hates HATES Charter Internet ... but when my DSL service went south and stayed there for several weeks, I had to let them in the door to \"install\" it.

Of course, Johnny-Boy Installer takes one look at hard-of hearing grandmother and begins the Schmooze routine. \"Oh, no, ma'am--I HAVE to install this software on your computer.\"

I look at him hard. \"Okay, fine. You can come in to this little room and use this vintage Win Me machine.\"

He puts in his CD, starts wheezing at the fact that the computer takes a million years to boot, then \"installs\" his crapware programs.

I just stand and watch. He wants to set up my email? \"No, dear, I don't need you to do that for me ...\" says the old granny.

He tries to sell me \"network service\" for up to five computers? (This in a house with no fewer than 5 desktops, 4 laptops, and a couple of iPhones all sharing the WiFi--and only two of the above are PCs; all the rest are Macs). For an additional cost, of course ... and again, Granny here tells him, 'My, no, we don't need anything like that; just install the Internet.\"

It's my Sweet Senior Citizen Routine.

As he's wrapping up, I say, \"You do know that I'll have that MAC address cloned and in the router before you're out of the driveway, don't you?\"

The poor young man just boggled. Out of his depth, so he was ... and me and my crowd of Macs have enjoyed wired and wireless networking without any help, assistance or additional charges from Charter ever since.

The End.

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endless
June 27, 2009 5:43 AM
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@slickdealer:

hahaha well played.

it would probably be even funnier now with a GUI based linux like ubuntu... looks just close enough to completely mess with him.

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Anonymous
June 27, 2009 8:32 AM
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I used to be an installer/repair guy for comcast. What happened was an old version of the software from back in the @home days was used at some point on that computer. I don't know why, but it seems that tons of people still have those old cd's just sitting around. This installer was an idiot and didn't know how to fix it. A full reinstall would have worked, but was completely unnecessary. Either way it was unethical to offer outside repair work to someone he met during his day job. I told people all the time to take their broken machines somewhere to get them repaired and never offered to do it off the books, even though I do repair computers in my spare time.

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Anonymous
June 27, 2009 1:46 PM
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First and formost i am a Comcast employee BUT I am speaking as myself not as Comcast.

If EVER you run into an issue like this get the name of the contracter and call Comcast. We do not allow a card to be passed from a tech much less a offer of additional service. What happened here is a direct conflict of intrest and that contracter needs to be \"coached\" appropriatly. (up to and including termination - though we do not fire contracters we will not allow them to work on our network)

Our customers hold the power of our company not us and not our contracters.

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quail
June 27, 2009 9:13 PM
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Idiocy, or scam artist? Who knows? But that 2 hour business with the computer is the fishiest part. If part of that time was running cable, OK. But to spend that time messing around on the computer? I'd suspect that he might have had a thumb drive on there and was snooping for good stuff. Gramps porn? Grandma's bank account information?

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Riff Raff
June 28, 2009 2:13 AM
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In regards to the Comcast tech:

Not only is this a disgusting case of disregard for honesty, but the price quoted for \"repair\" ($200) is an absolute crime. An OS reinstall should not take you over 2 hrs, barring a really antiquated system, gigabytes of information to back up and restore, or multiple programs with the size of Adobe's Creative Suite. By that logic, this asshole's hourly rate is about $100. Pathetic.

I'm trying to start a little side job performing IT house calls. It infuriates me to no end when I hear about individuals and companies charging these obscene amounts of money for simple jobs, and when they scam the hell out of hard working folks they should be helping. Hell, have a look at Geek Squad's price list. Practically every service is grossly overcharged. On top of that, if you want a technician out to your house, be prepared to pay about a $100 premium on top of the fortune you're being charged. Finally, you better hope you have nothing digital that's worth stealing; certain enterprising individuals have proven that G.S. has an appetite for their customers' pr0n.

Wait, I take it all back. You stay classy, Geek Squad. It just make me look all the more better.

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MyTQuinn
July 3, 2009 3:06 AM
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Either the tech was scamming people, or he was clueless enough to not discover such an obvious problem. Either way, it's inexcusable.

Also, he's probably in violation of his (employer's) agreement with Comcast. I do a lot of subcontract work, and I have yet to see an agreement where soliciting the customer on behalf of another company, or even revealing that you're a subcontractor isn't prohibited.

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JPeg
December 2, 2009 2:11 AM
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Not saying the installer is bright or anything, but YES, 10.1.x.x IP's are at times valid.

Off Airports and Time Capsules...

Now obviously this isn't the case HERE, but I chalk it up to a tech who thinks he knows more than he does, and can't admit when he hosed it up...

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