Comcast used to be a joke. One of those bitter jokes shared by strangers sitting around a bar, wondering why the world won't ever change for the better.
Its customer service was reputed to be the worst in America. Who could forget Comcast being voted America's worst company[1]? More than once.
More bitingly, who could forget the so-called Comcast[2] customer retention specialist who simply wouldn't let a customer leave[3]? Ever.
This, though, was the past. The last time I had a problem with my cable service, I got extremely helpful texts from a clearly knowledgable engineer. Even if the last time I called Comcast to ask about my bill, it wasn't quite so good[4].
Then came last Sunday. The TV in the kitchen wouldn't show the game. All that it displayed was an insistence that I should indicate my preferred language. When a TV won't show a game, my preferred language is usually coarse. This wasn't one of the options on the screen. However, my XFinity handset simply wasn't connecting to the TV.
I tried every basic maneuver I knew. Yes, the batteries were fine. Yes, the connections all seemed to be there. Yes, I unplugged everything and plugged it in again. I gave up.
On Monday, I connected to Comcast via its website and swiftly received a call. The customer service representative went through every maneuver he knew. He took in all the information I could give. No, I didn't know the model of the handset. It wasn't written on it. Yes, it had a voice button. He asked me to press various keys on the handset together and hold the pose. He rebooted the whole system. He tried for many