Comcast ---- arrrrggggghhhhhh!

[oldpilgrim]

Recently my 90 yo Dad died. I have been tasked to help my 90 yo mother to get 'things' in order.

We had gotten pretty much everything taken care of except for getting a few of her 'auto pay' bills switched over to new bank account we opened in her name only. Her electric bill is one and Comcast is another.

I went to the electric company and they took the new auto pay info which they took with no problem....all done...simple.

To get the name changed on the account, they required my mother to fill out a simple form.

Then I went to Comcast and gave them the new auto pay info which they took with no problem....all done...simple.

Then I asked them to correct the account name from my father's name to my mother's name.

"No problem. All you need to do is fill out this 2 sided form and supply us with a copy of the death certificate."

You need a copy of the death certificate? !?!?!?!?

"Yes, we'll make a copy and you can have your original back."

You have to be kidding. Forget changing the name. I'll let you deal with a dead man from now on.

I left.

We'll see what happens.

 

[Pixguy]

Sorry for your loss OP.

I'd consider canceling the service and starting it back up in her name as a new customer. You may even get the new customer pricing.

 

[oldpilgrim]

Thank you.

I didn't consider that!!!!

 

[davesl708]

Sorry for your loss. I agree with Pixguy. You cannot fix stupid in the corporate world.
Don't waste time with Comcast. Cancel and negotiate a lower monthly cost to get you to renew.

 

[C4Ranch]

Sorry for your loss!

Worst company in America.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Sorry for your loss, it's tough enough going thru what you have to deal with, without companies making it harder.

 

[KubotainNH]

They may not let you cancel it without the certificate. Close the bank accounts and they might resolve it quicker.

 

[mark02tj]

Sorry for your loss. You are to be commended for helping to take care of things for your mom. Taking care of aging parents is a HUGE job that people that haven't done it don't appreciate.

Try calling and cancelling over the phone claiming to be your dad. It should work fine.

I recently set up on line access to one of my dad's bank accounts. I know all his info (SSN, mother's maiden name, etc.) so it was pretty easy. I was waiting for the person on the other end of the line to say "you sound pretty spry for an 81 year old man! And, you're to be congratulated for wanting on line access at your age!" LOL!!

BTW, I do have POA for both of my parents but have found that it's much easier to do things over the phone posing as my dad. Otherwise they want copies of the POA, etc. and that's just a major pain.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

Recently my 90 yo Dad died. I have been tasked to help my 90 yo mother to get 'things' in order.

We had gotten pretty much everything taken care of except for getting a few of her 'auto pay' bills switched over to new bank account we opened in her name only. Her electric bill is one and Comcast is another.

I went to the electric company and they took the new auto pay info which they took with no problem....all done...simple.

To get the name changed on the account, they required my mother to fill out a simple form.

Then I went to Comcast and gave them the new auto pay info which they took with no problem....all done...simple.

Then I asked them to correct the account name from my father's name to my mother's name.

"No problem. All you need to do is fill out this 2 sided form and supply us with a copy of the death certificate."

You need a copy of the death certificate? !?!?!?!?

"Yes, we'll make a copy and you can have your original back."

You have to be kidding. Forget changing the name. I'll let you deal with a dead man from now on.

I left.

We'll see what happens.

My old Comcast account started out in my father's name. He died.

The cable bill came to me in my name.

Comcast refused to remove my father's name from the account.

So every time I called into Comcast I had to pound in my dead father's SS number and be reminded how much I love and miss him.

To say I dislike Comcast is an understatement.

 

[oldpilgrim]

I have had POA's and health proxies for both parents for years. Unfortunately a POA turns into toilet paper upon the death of the author.

You're right about the phone thing. I've made the mistake of saying that I'm calling for my Dad with various companies over the past couple of years. They told me that he must authorize me to 'work' with them and asked me to hand the phone to him....he was deaf. I told him to say yes when he has the phone and when he gives it back to me, they tell me it's ok to 'work' with them as he gave them his permission. I could have passed the phone to someone walking by on the sidewalk for all they cared.

How there can be so many idiots in the world, I'll never know.

Just saying that I was him worked better.

I might have to try that again.

 

[dragoneggs]

My condolences...

I had to take care of my mom's stuff as executor when she passed. I did even try to say I was her one time on the phone and it was sort of funny but not convincing (maybe my baritone voice?) :confused3: It wasn't Comcast but the person on the other end of the phone said, "no... I really need to talk to her", I said it is 'me' and I have a low voice from smoking all my life and I don't have a lot of time left at all to deal with you! I ended up having to write a dang letter.

 

[MossRoad]

Recently my 90 yo Dad died. I have been tasked to help my 90 yo mother to get 'things' in order.

We had gotten pretty much everything taken care of except for getting a few of her 'auto pay' bills switched over to new bank account we opened in her name only. Her electric bill is one and Comcast is another.

I went to the electric company and they took the new auto pay info which they took with no problem....all done...simple.

To get the name changed on the account, they required my mother to fill out a simple form.

Then I went to Comcast and gave them the new auto pay info which they took with no problem....all done...simple.

Then I asked them to correct the account name from my father's name to my mother's name.

"No problem. All you need to do is fill out this 2 sided form and supply us with a copy of the death certificate."

You need a copy of the death certificate? !?!?!?!?

"Yes, we'll make a copy and you can have your original back."

You have to be kidding. Forget changing the name. I'll let you deal with a dead man from now on.

I left.

We'll see what happens.

First, sorry for your loss. 90 is pretty darn good! :thumbsup:

As for the situation with Comcast... in all reality, many things require a copy of the death certificate. It isn't that hard to hand them a piece of paper for them to copy and then fill out a form to get a name changed on an account. You're getting all worked up over something that's nothing. You'll get worked up again every 30 days when the bill shows up with the deceased's name on it each month and look back on this incident and remember how angry you were at them on the day you tried to change it. And then you'll stew on it for the rest of that afternoon, and again every month after that forever and eternity until you do something about it....

OR

You could just deal with it now and never have to be reminded of it again in the future.

I went through the same thing when my mom died and we were getting things all put in my dad's name, and I went through it again when he died and we were settling out the estate. I had to provide several dozen death certificates over a 4-5 year period. Its not that hard and it resolves the issue immediately.

BTW, I also dislike Comcast.

 

[bcp]

There are probably people who repeatedly die whenever they want to avoid a bill, so companies want documentation now.

Bruce

 

[Furu]

Sorry for your loss. Now is the time to dump Comcast and go with an alternative. There are many and they are all better. Even the worst option is better than Comcast.

 

[oldpilgrim]

There are probably people who repeatedly die whenever they want to avoid a bill, so companies want documentation now.

Bruce

. I just gave them my mother's new bank info for auto pay and they had no problem taking money from her bank account, and they were happy to take her money with no death certificate. It seems to work when my money is involved but not a simple thing like an administrative piece of paperwork

This is not me trying to sell her stocks or cash in an insurance policy, it's cable TV for crying out loud.

 

[Texas Dawg]

Recently my 90 yo Dad died. I have been tasked to help my 90 yo mother to get 'things' in order.

We had gotten pretty much everything taken care of except for getting a few of her 'auto pay' bills switched over to new bank account we opened in her name only. Her electric bill is one and Comcast is another.

I went to the electric company and they took the new auto pay info which they took with no problem....all done...simple.

To get the name changed on the account, they required my mother to fill out a simple form.

Then I went to Comcast and gave them the new auto pay info which they took with no problem....all done...simple.

Then I asked them to correct the account name from my father's name to my mother's name.

"No problem. All you need to do is fill out this 2 sided form and supply us with a copy of the death certificate."

You need a copy of the death certificate? !?!?!?!?

"Yes, we'll make a copy and you can have your original back."

You have to be kidding. Forget changing the name. I'll let you deal with a dead man from now on.

I left.

We'll see what happens.

Comcast regularly makes the list of the worst and most hated companies in America. Your experience with them has done nothing to suggest that they won't continue to make the top 10 list every year.

 

[dragoneggs]

. I just gave them my mother's new bank info for auto pay and they had no problem taking money from her bank account, and they were happy to take her money with no death certificate. It seems to work when my money is involved but not a simple thing like an administrative piece of paperwork

This is not me trying to sell her stocks or cash in an insurance policy, it's cable TV for crying out loud.

Of course... it is all about the bottom line now and service is secondary.

 

[dstig1]

I won't defend Comcast, though they were at least "OK" when we had them. But there is a good reason why they ask for the death cert, and I am surprised you did not run into it a lot (we have with my father's and later MIL's passing). There are a lot of cases of divorces/ex's that do dastardly things like shutting off the phone, power etc to get back at their ex. This is one of the big reasons they need confirmation that it is OK for you to have access to an account in someone else's name. But you typically need to do more than just get someone to say yes, as they will ask identity confirming questions first. Same with the death cert. They need to know you aren't trying to pull a fast one on an ex or someone you hate, or whatever. This way everyone is covered. Yes, this is what the country has become. Sadly.

 

[Coyote machine]

Sorry for your loss.
I've gone round with Concast in two states over the years with my aunt's account and my my mother's. I told them I would not give them ss#s under any circumstances, and they'd have to figure out something else. They agreed to let me give them a made up number to use to get into the account(s). They are so full of it, it makes you want to scream.:mur:

 

[oldpilgrim]

I won't defend Comcast, though they were at least "OK" when we had them. But there is a good reason why they ask for the death cert, and I am surprised you did not run into it a lot (we have with my father's and later MIL's passing). There are a lot of cases of divorces/ex's that do dastardly things like shutting off the phone, power etc to get back at their ex. This is one of the big reasons they need confirmation that it is OK for you to have access to an account in someone else's name. But you typically need to do more than just get someone to say yes, as they will ask identity confirming questions first. Same with the death cert. They need to know you aren't trying to pull a fast one on an ex or someone you hate, or whatever. This way everyone is covered. Yes, this is what the country has become. Sadly.

I have run into it many times already. Stock transfers, insurance, health insurance transfers from my father's retirement, pension continuance, etc. All were involving money or service transfers to my mother.

As far as Comcast is concerned, nothing about the account changed, same address, services, etc, just the first name on the account.