Washington Man Will Sell Home Because of Comcast Goof

Photo by John Murdock via Instagram

It’s been weeks since a Comcast customer service story went viral — but don’t worry. It’s usually just a matter of time. And sure enough, a new story has emerged.

Here’s the short version: Guy works from home. Guy wants to buy a house. House doesn’t have broadband Internet service. Guy asks Comcast — the biggest local provider — if he could be hooked up at the new house. Comcast says yes. Guy buys house. Turns out Comcast doesn’t have a ready connection to the house after all. Now guy must sell the house he bought three months ago.

It’s a sad story. Consumerist reports on the plight of “Seth,” a Washington state man who has endured the above tale over the last few months:

Like an increasing number of Americans, Seth works from home, meaning that it’s vital that he have a reliable high-speed Internet connection at all times. That’s why before he even put an offer on the house in Kitsap County, WA, he contacted Comcast to confirm that he could get service to his potential new address.

According to Seth, who has kept a detailed timeline of events, one Comcast sales rep even said that a previous resident at this address had been a Comcast customer. Seth says he tried to get it in writing that the house was serviceable, but Comcast said they simply do not do that.

The problem? Seth’s house is 2,500 feet from the nearest hookup point for Comcast’s high-speed lines. Extending the network to his house would cost tens of thousands of dollars, the company determined, and — after a series of miscommunications — Comcast decided not to extend the service to his home. Alternatives to Comcast didn’t prove workable either, Consumerist reports.

After about seven weeks of pointless install appointments, deleted orders, dead ends, and vague sky-high estimates, Comcast told him that it had decided to simply not do the extension. The company wouldn’t even listen to Seth’s offers to pay for a good chunk of the cost.

“I’m devastated,” he wrote at the time. “This means we have to sell the house. The house that I bought in December, and have lived in for only two months.”

Consumerist concludes: “now that Internet access has become crucial to our work and home lives, broadband providers must be held accountable when they give customers misleading information.”