The first rental we looked at out here was absolutely beautiful. Brand new, never before lived in townhouse with marble counters, hardwood floors and stone tile. And my geek flag was flying over the place as soon as I saw the fiber hanging out of the wall in an unfinished unit. Verizon FIOS, 50 mbits.
Sadly, the location was less than ideal, to put it mildly, especially when the place we landed is an easy 23 minute drive most of the time (a far cry from the 45+ I've been doing in Cleveland the last four years). So no fiber to the Interwebs, and instead an ISP that has a few pockets around the sound, in an otherwise Comcastic area.
They promised 15 mbits, which is still an upgrade over what Time-Warner was pushing out in Cleveland. And sure enough, ran that speed test on the morning we got the keys, and it was hott. Even the upstream was 1.5 mbits, which sure helps.
Then I started work the next week, and my speed was not even 1 mbit most of the time in the evenings. I called, they sent out a tech. The tech said the modem was fine, no worries. It's definitely not a local problem. I sent a message to their support people, who blew me off and said I should call to have a tech come out. Idiots. I started documenting speed tests (to their own server, by the way), and sending them the results.
That got me nowhere, so given my background working for two different franchising authorities (i.e., cities) as a cable nerd, I found the contact for the local city and started copying him. He forwarded to the local VP/GM, who in turn sent me this:
I have reviewed your issues and have authorized a significant equipment upgrade that will be in place by December 31st of this year. I will monitor the change in service and speed issues serving your home.
I will send you an e-mail the day that this change takes place so you can confirm that you are seeing improved level of service.
So yeah, that's cool that there is action and whatever, but why do you have to cc people, be a dick and yell to get what you're paying for?
I have never gotten any response out of Comcast unless I went through the county. Unfortunately, that technique is one that so few people realize exists.