Xfinity Store by Comcast — Local services in Arlington

Please do not become an Xfinity customer.

I have one gripe with this store in particular but in general they are a shady, useless, conniving enterprise.

To start, when I first signed up for the basic internet package over a year ago they sent me a "free" Xfinity Flex streaming box (which I did not request). I researched what it was and saw warnings that they use it to try and get you to pay for their streaming AND will charge you if you do not return the device (despite having not requested this item in the first place). Fast forward to a year and a half later I'm moving out and ending my service. My first issue is i am forced to schedule a call to end my service and in today's age cannot just complete this online like all my other utilities. ALSO, I set a reminder in my calendar for a month before I moved out about the Flex box (thankfully) but for some odd reason it does not show in my account as equipment that I need to return. So had I not researched this beforehand there would be no way for me to know it needs to returned. Oh, because it doesn't show in my account I can't mail it in and have to physically go to an Xfinity store (even though its as small as a CD).

So I speak with the customer service lady on the phone (clearly outsourced to who knows what country) who I asked if i needed to return anything which she answered no (even though I know thats not true) and had her schedule my internet service to end in about 3 weeks, which I have email confirmation of. The next day I go into this Xfinity store, wait in a 30 minute queue for my name to be called, all to hand the man the tiny device and leave. THE VERY NEXT DAY MY INTERNET IS SHUT OFF. Mind you this is still 3 weeks before the date I had requested. Either the man at the store whom I handed the Flex box to must've expedited my internet shut off without any notice or authorization from me (I simply handed him the box, he gave me a receipt with said Flex box was returned, and I left) or their system thought because I returned the streaming box they sent me for no reason which had never been opened, that meant I no longer needed internet.

Now they can't just correct this and turn it back on, nope, I have to repurchase my internet package if I want internet for the next 3 weeks. Oh wouldn't you know, my old package is no longer available and the only one I can use is twice the old price. I tell them i only need it for 3 more weeks and he still tries to upsell me on the even more expensive faster package. I can't be bothered fighting this any longer so I subscribe and low and behold I read the fine print and I WILL BE CHARGED A $110 EARLY CANCELATION FEE FOR ENDING MY SERVICE BEFORE MY ONE YEAR CONTRACT HAS ENDED. THEY ENDED MY SERVICE EARLY AND ARE NOW TRYING TO CHARGE ME AN EARLY CANCELATION FEE FOR THE NEXT "CONTRACT" I HAD TO BUY BECAUSE OF THEIR IGNORANCE.

Please use any other service...

This place is customer service hell. I went in to return a cable card and the "greeter" took my cable card and asked for my first name. I thought to myself "hmm looking up an account just using a first name and cable card barcode is a weird way to do things but ok..." He then printed out a small piece of paper with my first name and a barcode and told me "please take a seat a customer service representative will be with you shortly." I stumbled away kind of confused and then I turned around and said "wait why do I need to talk to a representative, you've already taken my card?" He replied "The representative will be able to print a receipt for your return." "How long is this wait going to be?" I asked still very confused. He replied "about 20 minutes"...

That's when I blew my gasket. "Why would I wait 20 minutes for you to print me a receipt? I already gave you my cable card and you've already processed it. Why can't you just print out my receipt?" He said "sir only a customer service representative can print a receipt. I am only a customer greeter." I asked, "wait are you serious? Listen I just want to return my cable card and be on my way. I'm not going to wait 20 minutes just to return something, especially since I already cancelled my cable service over the phone."

At this point a customer service representative (who appeared to be doing nothing at her desk) chimed in with a customer service classic of "sir, this is the policy. There are other customers who are waiting. To get a receipt you must wait for a representative."

I then remembered that the Comcast CSR that I spoke with on the phone told me that I could take the cable card to a UPS store and they would mail it to Comcast on my behalf for free. So I said "ok give me back my cable card, I'm just going to take it to UPS where I won't have to wait 20 minutes to get a receipt. I can do that right?" The greeter frowned and said "yes you can." So I said "ok I'm going to do that then." He went to the back, got my cable card, handed it to me, and then I exited whilst cursing under my breath.

tl;dr: DO NOT COME HERE. PROBABLY THE WORST CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE AND "POLICY"...

Beware. Xfinity's pricing scheme punishes loyal customers. When you sign up, you will almost certainly be given a promotional discount. That discount only lasts for 12-24 months, though. Without any notice of that discount phasing out, you will forget about it and then see your monthly bill go up while your rates appear the same. Then when you look at the statement, you see that the promotional discount is phasing out. Of course, there are no offers or discounts--from what I have experienced---for loyal customers who stick around for a couple of years and demonstrate a good history of payments and equipment maintenance.

It appears that the new move for customers is just to flip-flop back and forth between service providers to get discounts and chat with their useless AI until you experience true despair from the lack of help and transparency.

Like the classic toxic relationship, Xfinity will treat you great when you're new. But once you've stuck around and shown them healthy attention, they will boast increased speeds at the same rate while pulling back that discount. Then, you get nothing as a reward for your loyalty when you give them mercy by sticking around. Unless you switch to their mobile services, of course!

Sure, read the fine print and remember that short conversation with customer service explaining the discount while you were trying to end your 30-minute phone call (accounting for wait time) after 15 minutes of droning the AI into the ground with "please just get me a human." Consumers should be responsible. But Xfinity should be equally realistic about the surprise the phase-out will have on their customers and at the very least, provide notice.

Shame on you, Xfinity. Society is worse off because of your pricing...