Comcast Email and Webmail problems still an issue
July 29, 2008 | Filed under Email / IM, News
We reported on May 29th about the Comcast Email service being hacked and their site showed a message “Site Is Under Construction”. This only stayed for a short time and then the service was up and running.
Today we are hearing from PR readers that there are still problems with the Comcast Email and Webmail service.
Below is a comment one PR reader sent in:
I’m in email hell with Comcast right now. For the past two weeks I never know if my sent email is getting to where it’s sent. It leaves but does not arrive.
I’ve spent hours on the phone to Comcast with no answers. Some emails arrive some do not. I can’t believe I’m the only one experiencing this.
Are there still issues with Comcast Email, do you share the same problems as above? Let us know in the comments.
Read other Comcast news here.
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There is no email outage that I have seen. If you are experiencing this, visit me on Twitter or call 1-800-COMCAST.
Thanks,
Frank Eliason
Comcast
@ComcastCares on Twitter
We_Can_Help@cable.comcast.com
I and many others I know are having serious problems - lost mail, password problems.
Good luck getting help at 1800Comcast. You might as well dial 1 800 GO2-HELL.
I signed up with Comcast in April ‘08 and it seemed to be fast and seemless.
Now it seems slugish and is PAINFULLY frustrating.
When I send email I never know if it is going to arrive or not.
I’ve started saving copys of sent mail so I can open it on the computer where I work and save what I want to my work computer.
Sending to another Comcast customer seems to work fine…
ISN’T THAT FUNNY.
After no problems ever with Comcast e-mail servers, some email from some people to my Comcast addresses bounced on parts of nine days in July 2008 and again on Aug. 1 2008. The bounced messages don’t contain an blocking code; they merely say “delivery failure” and “Failed to connect to SMTP host COMCAST.NET because SMTP Protocol Returned a Transient Error.”
Tier 1 support at Comcast has been useless, and I can’t get through to Tier 2. The problem has been happening most frequently on Fridays and weekends; I think some e-mail addressed to my Comcast addresses is going to a Comcast e-mail server that is somehow corrupted or overloaded. It takes about 12 hours for the delivery failure message to come back.
All of my e-mail accounts are set up correctly. The problem isn’t on my computers or my settings. I know about the problem because I can see by looking in my computer at work that some e-mail arrives there and is sent on to my Comcast addresses (I have an agent set up to forward my mail to me) but comes back to my work inbox with the delivery failure error. People have also told me that messages sent to me are not being delivered.
Comcast–if you’re out there, you’re about to lose a longtime, loyal customer unless you fix this problem.
I have 2 computers at home, 1 pc and 1 laptop both with the same email address ……….
I DO NOT receive all emails on both computers.
Why??
Also Comcast Web Mail shows I have NO emails……… either in my inbox, or anywhere else, and no addresses………..
Why??
On Thursday 8.7 one of my users began getting emails sent back after the mailerdameon held for redelivery (4-5 hour) to any of her “user”@comcast.net customers. We have been experiencing this now for three days. Any comcast.net email address is eventually failing to be delivered.
We are sending from in the 60614 area code…. Lincoln Park, Chicago, We are using a comcast business internet cable service to send through. We have no other external email users with the same failures… only comcast.net users. I do see that the comcast “network health” section on the comcast.net website shows that comcast.net is reporting an outage alert, however I can’t extrapolate if that would affect email delivery.
I’ll be opening a trouble ticket with to my account rep, but since we send through a business account that won’t be possible to do so until Monday morning.
BTW - If you’re a comcast tech reading this you may want to inspect your DNS servers to see if you suffered the same fate that ATT’s DNS servers did for an evening last week…. something that may be effecting DNS reverse lookup.
Just a thought
I have Comcast SmartZone. The name does not describe what it is. Once you are put into this email you are stuck. They have no idea what they are doing and provide conflicting information. Apparently they work on the servers between noon and midnight. They tell me everything is fine and lead me to believe it is me or something strange with my particular email as my sons email is fine. I have had delayes in receiving email between 2 and 24 hours. Nothing is consistant in their servers. I am very disappointed in Comcast email. One of their own people said we shoul dnever use an ISPs email but use a free email….hmmmmmmm. I am so relieved to know others are having issues. Thank you
Thank you for bringing this to our attention.
On behalf of Comcast, I would like to apologize for the inconveniences we may have caused. Please send your account information at We_Can_Help@cable.comcast.com so that we can take a closer look into this.
Best Regards,
Mark C.
Comcast Corp.
We_Can_Help@cable.comcast.com
Mark C at Comcast, please read this entire post and tell Frank Eliason at Comcast about it. I posted a few days ago about my problem receiving mail at Comcast from some senders, particularly my employer. It turns out that my employer has recently been unable to e-mail its customers, sales people, and others who have Comcast addresses. This was a giant problem. My employer worked with Comcast techs on this problem all day Friday and they figured out that the problem was that the information on the American Registry for Internet Numbers was incorrect for my employer’s domain (name server information old and network information old).
It seems that Comcast uses ARIN to validate mail servers and apparently a configuration that Comcast implemented Aug. 1 will not allow e-mail to pass through Comcast.net until ARIN information is corrected. I don’t know if this is what is causing the e-mail problems for the other people posting here. I believe it explains why I am receiving e-mail at Comcast from most senders but not from some senders. I can’t explain the problem in any depth, but high-level Comcast tech support knows about it. Mark C at Comcast, it would be great if you could check with high-level Comcast tech support and report here if the problem is related to Comcast’s new configuration for validating mail servers and what Comcast is doing about the problem. More broadly, it would be very helpful if Comcast would send an e-mail to its customers and let them know about the problem and what it is doing about the problem so people don’t have to waste their time calling Tier 1 support like I did. Of course, this suggestion presumes that the problem for other users is indeed the new configuration with ARIN to validate mail servers, but that makes sense to me.
Mark,
I have already been through the Comcast support system and they have not been helpful. My point to this forum was so see what others are going through and see what has worked. All I have gotten from Comcast so far is the lecture about how important customers are but my issues are not resolved.
Chris
Just a bit of follow up tech information for those interested.
One of the previous issues I’ve had with sending email, as it relates to reverse DNS lookup, is that the actual IP address of my SMTP service is not the IP address of the URL/Domain name spelt out in the email address. I receive email through a third party spam service which is being directed toward by changing the MX records at my domain name registrar. The access records at my mail serever had to be altered to accept from only my spam filter. Then, in order to use a proxy system (through a different ISP than Comcast) on my end which would send email from a third IP address, I had to transfer at least one domain name registration to my ISP, so they would return a correct/verified reverse DNS.
Comcast has yet to require such a registration transfer, but email does show in the header information that the IP that I use from Comcast “Could be spoofed”, though I have not had any issues with that notation.
I’ll follow up more specifically Monday morning (in the morrow).
Thanks!
The problems experienced are a result of domains not being registered properly and therefore causing domain look up to be unavailable. This is an indication of spam. Correcting the domain registration can help avoid the problem from occurring.
Helpful information can be found on the following URL:
http://postmaster.comcast.net
Thanks,
Mark C.
Comcast Corp.
We_Can_Help@cable.comcast.com
“The problems experienced are a result of domains not being registered properly and therefore causing domain look up to be unavailable. This is an indication of spam. Correcting the domain registration can help avoid the problem from occurring.”
It’s one indication of spam, but certainly not mutually exclusive. As I said above, the IP which Comast has issued me to use still reports “May be forged” (not “may be spoofed” as I quoted earlier) which tells me that the IP verification process is less than complete.
I assume, then, that Comcast is working on the issues thier customers are experiencing receiving emails because domains are incorrectly registered with ARIN, as suggested above?
Marc C, I’ll initiate specific contact through “We_Can_Help@cable.comcast.com”.
I have been a Comcast subscriber for many, many, MANY years…and I’ve never had as much trouble with my email service as I had in the last 3-4 weeks. At first they were blocking port 25 and telling me that it was a MS Office problem, because I use Exchange as my email application - so they had me change my port number. Comcast often directed me to only use their WEB BASE email application, saying they didnt support Outlook. At least when I had this problem, I could tell my e-mails were not being delivered, as they would never leave my OUT box. But this latest problem is even more disturbing, ALL emails leave my OUT box, but now I’m finding there is no rhym or reason in which ones are actually being delivered. Emails that were always delivered 3-4 months ago are now suddenly not being delivered - there is no pattern - sometimes they reach their receipt, and some times they dont. Receipients are both corporate and private email addresses - originally thought it was something to do with SPAM filter updates on the corporate side, but even that shows inconsistencies - as the delivery into corporate email boxes can vary to the exact same receipient - sometimes they get it, sometimes they don’t. There is definitely something different going on with the management and application process of Comcast E-Mail Service - I wonder if Verizon services are any better…
My Comcast-email delivery problems are very similar to Patty D. above. Some reach the recipients and some don’t to the exact same recipient. Additionally emails sent to me are sometimes deliverd and some not delivered. Emails from International ISPs e.g. UK, France, are most often rejected by Comcast email service.
Comcast email service is definitely not reliable. Note my new gmail address…
I have been having increasing problems with Comcast for 2 years. Overseas customers are not recieving e-mails. Now the problem has spread to the US.
My e-mails are considered SPAM becasue they come out of comcast.net
As a result, we have reosrted to Verizon and believe it or not AOL to assure thast our e-mails are not rejected.
This week I am definitely not recieivng email. Messages sent to my address, and to my son’s gamil account, arrive at his, but are lost in the ether when addressed to me.
I do not need Comcast to protect me from Spam at the expense of losing legiitmate correspondence.
Comcast has lost us at 1 location ($250+/month) and are about to lose us at a second.
This reminds me of AOL when their service dropped to zilch in the 80’s.
Here’s the problem in a nutshell…. for all those that can translate this tech paper.
https://www.kb.cert.org/CERT_WEB/services/vul-notes.nsf/id/800113
Here’s a solution for all those that can find where thier DNS server IP addresses are programed. These are the server IP’s with *issues for the technicians from comcast who are reading this (yet haven’t followed up further)
If you find that your DNS servers are:
68.87.72.130 …. or …. 68.87.77.130
Change them to either:
68.87.72.132
68.87.77.133
…even 68.87.72.133 or 68.87.72.131 seem to report the correct randomness.
If the Comcast techs would like to suggest a different fix for this… or apply the fix to those DNS servers which they have issued for me to record, I’ll be happy to oblige / change back.
I’ll let you know if this allows a corrected reverse DNS, but clearly, certain DNS cache’s have been poisened.
Thanks!
I should have said…. “Here might be a solution…”
More info: http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/04/isps-error-page.html
The regional director of public relations assured me last Tues that smartzone e-mail would be back on the air. He missed that by 24 hours and since Thur at best I have been able to get to my e-mail. It seems that the service is down more than up. Then ther was the Tech rep Dan that insisted the problem was with my router for wireless hook up to my Daughter’s PC . I don’t have much respect for any one telling me that, since the network was back up within an hour of our conversation, but only for avery short time and I will not talk with another rep until they insure the problem is thier’s.
I become an Comcast suscriber since june 2008 but i never been able to send any e-mail withatachment from my home.
Well it seems my router has fixed it self as I am bble to recieve and send e-mails again. Hey Dan, did u wave a magic wand or something else because I did not do anything to make this happen . Now I hope smartZone will stay fixed for awhile.
I, also, have received word from the Comcast techs that they have repaired the DNS issue I was having. Maybe they did it accross the board and everyone will be happy!!!
Not being able to send attachments can be something else… most likely not related to Comcast services.
The DNS issue is one that is, unfortunately, not able to be (ever) 100% worry free as per inherited design. Just let them know if there is an issue again. Based on what they did to fix it this time methinks they’ll be able to “key in” faster the next time.
I’ll wait for comfirmation of repair from the staff here, and will report back.
Thank you all.
Longtime comcast customer seriously considering knology. comcast has had horrible problems with my email this summer, losing me completely for over a week and saying my email address was not mine, but belonged to someone else (I’ve had this address for over 5 years).
now I can send but not receive email from my primary account. can send and receive from my secondary (which I hardly ever use). no help from comcast “help.” Always wanting to say it is my computer when it is not. I have the same problem with my email account on my Imac, my Ipod Touch, My rarely used laptop and another email s/w program I downloaded to test. I also had someone install my email address, etc, on their computer at their home and the results were the same; they could send but not receive. And what does comcast want to do, change my settings. am once again waiting to hear from tier 2 before I can go to tier 3 and then 4 and then
and then Knology
We have Comcast and my wife does consulting work from home. She realized she had a problem when she could not send a client an e-mail with an attachment that contained a hyperlink that had a Comcast.net email address. When she removed the hyperlink but left the address - it turned into a hyperlink when she sent it, resulting in the same problem. When she completely removed the email address, the email with attachment went through. Go Figure!! I’m going to notify Comcast of this.
Mine don’t always go out either and I get this message that no one wants to talk about:
Task ‘mail.comcast.net (1) - Sending’ reported error (0×80042109) : ‘Outlook is unable to connect to your outgoing (SMTP) e-mail server. If you continue to receive this message, contact your server administrator or Internet service provider (ISP).’
I’ve been unable to reach anyone at Comcast to discuss this.
I began receiving two copies of each email several weeks ago and can’t get it stopped. Anyone?
I have recently had the same problem with comcast email. For years I have had no problem using comcast.net email through Outlook Express. The only issue I have had previously (which is REALLY annoying) is that my emails from comcast.net to my child’s school teachers (all of them–they all use the same school address @_____.org) would go to their SPAM box. Many never noticed them and deleted them. While this is annoying enough, now it appears they (the school) are no longer receiving the emails at all. Not even in their SPAM folders. I cannot figure out what is going on. I can send test emails to my other email accounts and don’t have any problems, so I know it is not a problem with the setup of the account. Apparently I will no longer be able to rely on comcast.net for my emailing needs.
Wow….this is so discouraging. Not only does comcast block delivery receipts (has been doing that for sometime) but Comcast is blocking my mail from the state in which I do business. The confirmation email from the state for my report on taxes- does not even get to the Comcast web mailbox - let alone Outlook. I changed the outgoing server from 25 to 587 in outlook - per the online chat help. The dianostic test email then failed. However, the online chat help would not believe that I actually followed their directions. So, they wanted to look at my settings remotely - okay - only problem was they locked up my entire computer and I had to power down. . Then I called the Tech support line, and the rep could not answer my questions - and did not want to escalate until I requested. Then the rep did not also know the process of when someone would contact me. Gosh, gmail works.
I know exactly what is going on. IT DOES NOT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH POSTS OR IS SETTINGS. Comcast has issued a new policy that bounces all emails originating from a Comcast IP that does not come from a Comcast mail server. Thus, if any of you folks are sending and/or receiving emails from a website that you own… then guess what - you can no longer send emails to a Comcast client! It’s an anti-spam tactic because of the increased botnet activity but is turning into a real nightmare. You can send emails with your Comcast email address as well as your gmail or hotmail addresses… just not any additional websites addresses. It’s their BL004 error, and it’s against the law.
My problem is receiving emails from outside the US (anyone remember when Verizon did this a few years ago?) Well here we are again. Comcast customer care dept are the worst I have ever encountered and just tell me it isn’t happening so what can they do about it…..
Anyone found a way of contacting Rick Germano SVP of Customer Operations who says on website “your satisfaction is my number one priority”?
I did contact Rick and he does care, but he is not able to do much except massage your ego. He is not too savy on operations, but can look up your comments on his desk top. Maby he could hold a meeting with all of the Comcast tech. reps., and tell them how to treat customers.
I was contacted via phone and via email by a dedicated Comcast Official who stayed with me until we got it solved. It took about 90 minutes but now everything is up an running smoothly again. I am appreciative for that help with problems that took him by surprise as well. There was no virus nor trojan nor worm.
What Comcast is doing and how this may affect you:
Note: this applies is if you are NOT on a blacklist, usually from the result of spam complaint. This is just if you use Comcast as your ISP and use other email addresses, such as ones set up for a website that you either own or are part of.
If you send/receive any emails using email accounts other than your *@concast.net address there is a very,very good chance that your email will not be delivered to a comcast client.
Free email hosting accounts such as gmail and hotmail are generally excluded UNLESS you send messages using these email addresses through a non webmail base such as Outlook or Outlook Express. If this happens your emails will be filtered.
My emails were being blocked from being sent to any comcast email accounts as well as any email (coming or going) was being deleted if it had a link in it which was on any blacklist. This is probably a good thing for the average user but these blacklists sometimes included places like ebay, youtube and even paypal. But I track down and report spam sites, so I found my complaints not being delivered to government agencies as they contained spam related links.
Here is the actual response from Comcast when I first inquired as to why none of my emails were being delivered:
**********
Your request for IP block removal has been denied for the following reason:
- You have been blocked from emailing the Comcast network because we have determined that you are sending email from a dynamic/residential IP within the Comcast domain. Comcast does not allow subscribers to send email from a mail server other than smtp.comcast.net. All mail should be sent through Comcast’s mail server.
**********
Comcast refused to remove these blocks as they claimed they were global settings, and the only way I could regain full access to sending and receiving emails was if I upgraded to a business account. The comcast rep informed me the ticket was closed until I told them I was filing complaint with the FTC… and they reopened it.
I just returned from a technology vacation only to be dumped into a living hell with Comcast. I first noticed that I wasn’t getting emails from a friend with an sbcglobal.net account, them it was a vendor with a private domain, (one I had received emails from for the last 4-5 years) flawlessly.
When I contacted Comcast they attributed it to my spam filter. I asked them what the criteria was for spam, who knows, my business might be porn for all they know, (it’s not) but they couldn’t give me the parameters in tier 1 support. They supposedly expedited my incidences but did nothing.
I’m still not receiving emails, it’s not so much not knowing about the ones who actually pick up the phone it’s the ones who might assume that I don’t want to do business and are going somewhere else.
Glad to see this webpage, now I can go back with some ammo, the customer service reps/ techs have their heads in the sand or must just be getting tired of fielding these calls.
Well I thought the problem was fixed, however today something has raised an ugly problem. I cannot download any e-mail, or fwd any email. My wife works with the church and is expected to be able to down load certain material. Today none of that has been able to be accomplished. Maybe I should e-mail Rick again.
The only person I’ve spoken to at Comcast who understands what’s going on is in the Abuse Dept (856 317 7272). As the customer care dept is so useless, they are getting a large amount of the complaints and seem to be valiantly trying to deal with them.
I cannot send email using outlook express from my comcast email accounts to other accounts, gmail, yahoo, etc… There is no bounce back - I send them and they never arrive at the destination.
After upgrading to a static ip address, I thought this would clear up but I still have the problem.
I downloaded eudora and tried using it and it worked. I perfer to use outlook express and do not know what to do next.
Having the same problem as everyone else and am about to go nuts….Spent hours on phone with comcast…they insisted by changing the outgoing SMTP to a smtp.comcast.net and the port to 53 my own company’s emails would be sent. If I do a test in account setting it indicates the email was sent, however, like others the email is never received….I am at my wits end with this situation and hope someone can devised a solution. I am all ears if anyone knows of a better way to manage mulitple email accounts..
I’m having email problems that I noticed yesterday. I was at work and was trying to send an email from my work email to my home email. It bounced back as “undeliverable”, saying that address does not exist. After that, I tried to log on to my email account through the comcast.net site, but I could NOT log in. I got the message “wrong username or password”. I tried many times after that, typing real slow making sure there are no typos, but it was as if my account was deleted.
The weird thing is I tried logging into my secondary account, and it worked fine. I sent an email from my work email to my secondary email, and it worked just fine. So only my main account is down.
I called comcast and the guy said that some server was down, but the people that work on it went home at 5:00pm. He gave me a ticket number and said my problem is noted, and should be fixed within 24-48 hours.
I’m trying to be understanding, but this is my MAIN email account that I use for EVERYTHING. I feel crippled right now. I’m afraid I might be missing important emails.
OK. Just an update. Now my secondary email is doing the same thing.
So if you’re keeping score, I now have zero comcast accounts. Their 48 hour deadline will be up tomorrow.
Since my last posting I have only one problem, and that is when I fwd a document it is not all being recieved by the other end. Now if I send the same document thru my “g” mail accnt all of it gets to the other side. So I guess comcast will try to figure out how to stop that..
I have not been able to solve a WEBMAIL problem of re-sending of an incoming email containing jpg type photos to another party ….
the receiving parties report that the photos do not open .. and only a large square with a miniature icon in the upper left corner appears.
I suspect there is a setup problem in WEBMAIL that I have been unable to locate.
Any clue?
Well, the promise from Comcast was very short lived. I tried filing some spam complaints and discovered that I could not forward any email, even as an attachment. I tried sending attachments to both spamcop and the FTC and none were ever delivered with no indication at all about them being blocked.
I also tried filing a complaint with a hosting company in Brazil, who was unknowingly hosting a spam and virus site and ALL of the emails I sent to them bounced with 554 errors.
I own and operate a server full of websites and I cannot transmit anything from any non-Comcast address that has any links in it. Great job in helping the spammers Comcast!
I also run a forum. I have been contacted by people saying they have tried emailing me but the emails were returned. I also have problems contacting other members who use comcast email addresses. This is BS.
If ANY of your traffic is being used on Comcast bandwidth, then you are being monitored and filtered.
If anyone here uses Comcast and operates their own website, which means they have their own server space elsewhere that is being used to send and receive their emails, your emails are being filtered.
I’ve been fighting with comcast for a month on this issue and I’m tired with dealing with inept people. Looks like I’m going to DSL. Comcast just lost a $65 a month customer.
I have had problems for 2/3 days. It seems that I am having the problem and wasn’t sure if it was related with AVG. We have email being bounced bacl to our main account with AVG stamp.
An email was sent to me on 9/11 and did not arrive. The sender has two email addresses due to this happening before. To check if it might be the sender’s problem, two emails were sent today from both addresses and they did arrive. This has happened in the past; that is why the sender has 2 addresses. There is no indication that there is any problem. I just don’t receive anything at times.
Yesterday, 9/14 I had difficulty getting into my email. It kept going back to the HomePage after I clicked on Email. Go Figure !!!!
This morning I spent about 45 mins. with Dan at beta support, I could not log into my SmartZone email. All was fine last night but not this morning. When we finished he said he had not done anything to correct the problem, however it was fixed. Now when I try to log in I am sent to ….comcast mail. This trial period must end and Comcast must see by now it will never work as stated and we were all better off before we voluntered into this mess.
I have not received email since 9/17/08 on my comcast account. When I called comcast, they sent a test email which I received. I can even email myself and receive that just fine. I cannot receive from any other server. Comcast gives me the run-around…saying everything on their end is fine. Anyone with suggestions? I’m ready to dump Comcast altogether!
Oh, yeah! you guys are doing one hell of a job for your unbelievable cost! eat shit and die; you just lost one $154.00 a month customer,forever!
I use a mac and macmail for my email. I have not been able to receive email for over a week now. A lock shows on the inbox. All of my preferences are set correctly. When running maildoctor, it shows that I am not connected to my POP account. I am able to SEND email, but I need to log onto Comcast’s website to receive email. I get run around every day when I call Comcast.
Two days ago, someone told me that they are experiencing a lot of email problems and that I should try every few days.
VERY annoying to say the least.
Heres an update thats long overdue. My problem had been fixed, but a week after I first reported it. I got sidetracked and forgot to post about it here.
In my last post, I said their 48 hour deadline till my problem was resolved was almost up. Well, of course when it was up, my problem was NOT resolved, so I called back. When I finally got through to a tech, they said their computer showed my problem was resolved. I told her it was NOT. So then the whole thing started all over again. I got a new ticket #, and had to wait 24-48 hours. I called back the next day, still nothing. Let me also add that while talking to these techs, it’s obvious they don’t give a damn. Like someone posted earlier, you might as well dial the number 1-800-GO2-HELL. I had to talk to 5 tech support people, before finding out the real problem, and getting it fixed. Of those 5 techs, only the last one I talked seemed like he had half a brain and nailed my problem. I will refer to that last tech as “the Smart Tech”.
The cause of my problem, and probably many other people posting here, was Comcast switching over to that new “SmartZone Mail” or whatever they call it. For me, during the switch my emails somehow got hung up. For me it was like my emails were deleted, but they were actually frozen. The Smart Tech compared it to a persons computer being locked up. To fix it, you have to reboot your computer. To fix my email problem, he had to reset my modem on his end, and he had to reset my account passwords. It worked. He even commented “I don’t know why no one else figured this out”. The Smart Tech also knocked a few bucks off my bill for my trouble.
People of Comcast, if you are reading this, most of your tech support sucks. I’d say 1 out of 5, maybe even 1 out of 10 of your techs actually know what they are doing. Most of them sound like they are reading index cards while trying to fix your problem. How much do you guys pay someone to just tell people to “Unplug your modem and wait 10 seconds. Plug it back in and wait 2 minutes.
Anyway people, IMO Comcast will continue this uncaring path until some other high speed internet company steps up to the plate and gives them some competition. It reminds me of the time when I only had 1 phone company to choose from. They didn’t give a damn about their customers till other companies started providing phone service in my area and I switched.
I wish the rest of you the best of luck.
I cannot agree more with the bad tech support at Comcast. The last person I dealt with was well beyond the definition of rude. When I repeatedly asked why Comcast was blocking my emails from non-comcast accounts (my websites) he would scold me saying things like “are you telling me you are doing business on a residential Comcast internet account? We can cancel you for that!” So I mentioned that I Comcast was blocking my emails to the Feds regarding my work in closing spam accounts, he just laughed and made some smart alec remark along the lines of “Oooooh, yea, because email advertising kills soooo many more trees than newspapers.” It was bizarre how this guy was, it was almost like a talk show joke!
So I switched to DSL and now everything is fine. Surprisingly, even though my speed tests are in the 3Mb range (Comcast was over 7) all of my websurfing is much faster, there are no more email problems, and I am saving about $40-50 a month,
Ha - talking about unplugging the cable modem…. I had one Comcast tech tell me that I needed to unplug my modem and leave it out for 8 hours! Why, so when I call back with the same problem it won’t be on your shift?
I was a Comcast customer for many years. Poor customer service and filtering my personal transmissions were enough to end this relationship. I’m happy with my DSL and satellite TV.
I hope Comcast reads this as well. When I called and cancelled my service the person was very friendly and apologetic… something the tech support department needs to pick up a few tips from!
This is the bulk of my last two nights, trying to resolve the issue of not being able to send e-mails through my Comcast connection, while searching for a job in this very scary time:
– Total hours on the phone with Comcast = 4.5
– Total number of hang-ups/disconnects by Comcast = 5 (once after 20 minutes on hold, once after 25 minutes with one good customer service rep)
– Total number of Comcast reps spoken with = 9
– Total number of Comcast reps who seemed to care = 2 (2 of 9…yay!)
– Number of solutions arrived at by Comcast = 0
(I discovered the second night that they labeled my help ticket resolved without even checking with me!! — Needless to say, it was not.)
Their set-up is an unbelieveable clusterfu**. Even the few CS reps who care are crippled by the system.
My delusional prayer is that one day, there are more than two providers of this service in my area (the other one also completely blows, unfortunately…where is Verizon?!?) and these people will be forced to actually provide SERVICE.
I swore I’d never again go to SBC but their DSL is looking better and better.
I’m almost afraid to call comcast beta help, I noticed a slow down on Sunday and today I a 400 error message when I try to log into my e-mail. Should I just wait and maybe it will fix itself.
After 8 calls (to my cell phone number) from their retention center, I had thought they had finally understood that I have no intention of going back to Comcast.
But they continue to have the last laugh. I got a bill today for service through October. I instantly called them and at first they said I never called for disconnect, but after quoting the name and exact time that I called they admitted it was in their computers “but my service is still active”. Now Comcast says the service won’t be disconnected until 10/10 and I may be charged for the time.
Even after I cancelled they still are a pain! They are also arguing that they need to pick up my cable modem, despite the fact that I purchased it at Best Buy and it’s not a rental.
As their retention call center calls almost daily, I just can’t wait for today’s call!
I have not been able to get into mu email now for 4 days. I log in and then sit on Smart Zone screen forever– This is really a bad name for it– I have never seen such poor customer service. I called and they have a message that says they are having problems. (that is an understatment) Ineed mu emails– what does one have to do????
We’ve been having e-mail issues for a good month now. I also had issues 5 months ago like some have described where your e-mail leaves but never gets to it’s destination. Comcast was NO HELP. Blamed the e-mail program, the computer, everything but them, and they JUST took over in our area when the trouble started. Now wer’e having this issue where everything runs fine for a day then your computers start asking for the server passcode, and can’t send of receive e-mail. When I called the first time on this problem I was told it was a problem on my end, and that it was “Microsoft’s Outlook server” that was down!!! Even though we know Microsoft doesn’t have a server, and I was having the e-mail trouble on two computer, one using Outlook express and one using Microsoft Office. You are much better off with the live chat than dialing the 800 number. The 800 number operators are clueless. At least with the chat if you push them they’ll tell you what the deal is. Oh, GET THIS!!! I asked the tech “at what point does Comcast give us some kind of credit for all the down time”. His response, …you won’t believe it….”Comcast cable considers e-mail to be a value added service that is not paid for but free with the internet service, thus they don’t give any credit if it’s not functioning.” How’s that for Customre Service!
SmartZone user experience, Oct 2008:
After over a year of beta testing, Comcast is rolling out SmartZone to existing customers. If my experience is typical (and the Comcast forums on the subject suggest I am definitely not alone), SmartZone should be called DumbZone. Skip all the marketing hype. This software is designed to add all sorts of bells and whistles to “improve” the user email experience. Bull puckey. Basic functionality has been lost, notably the ability to access secondary email accounts via a single login to a primary account. Oh, they say they are “working on it” but there is no estimated time this previous capability will be available. Other people have trouble with basic email operations, such as reply. The “Help” link works for some folks, not for others. As if all this weren’t enough, the DumbZone servers are different ones than the ones used for the previous webmail. And the new servers are available and working only about half the time.
Comcast should be ashamed, embarrassed, and mortified for putting this piece of over-rated junk into use, without testing it with everyday users instead of techies, who apparently were demanding all the bells and whistles. It is absolutely awful. Unfortunately, they are ramming this down customers’ throats, instead of giving us a choice.
I could not agree more with the last few comments, I as many have had more than a share of problems with this new and better (HA HA) SYESTEM AND HAVE STATED BEFORE THAT THEY SHOULD HAVE SCRAPED it long ago. Now we all have it and God bless us, because comcast will never…
If comcast knows what is causing these issues, and how to resolve them, I think it makes sense to let their Technical Support know the answer. Some of the technical support for comcast know more than most and have no idea what to tell customers.
I too am frustrated by SmartZone, another oxymoron like military intelligence. The DeadZone is more correct. My neighbor gave me a good way to correct it. It’s called Embarq and 3.0 Mbps is good enough for me at $29.95/month
It has been six days since I’ve been able to get email - one of you technicians was able to get my email and kind enough to read me what I could not get or see. All this has been happening since you started the SmartZone crap. This is so frustrating and I am not going to tolerate it much longer. YOU ARE AWARE THERE ARE OTHER INTERNET PROVIDERS OUT THERE, DON’T YOU??
Your technician told me this SmartZone could not be removed. I have news for him and you - I can remove IT AND COMCAST.
i just read your comment at the bottom of this page - check this box if you want a reply to this email. Big joke!!! How can we read your reply when we can’t even get any email.
I know it’s time for me to upgrade my Windows 98-BUT!!
Stupid Zone say my java thingy is rejected and i need Vista to access my other email addresses.It was working fine before with my dinosaur system.
I think it’s bye bye time for comcast.net
the problem for me and others is first comcast makes changes and does not tell you . my outlook express stopped working so i tried web mail and that took me to smartzone . I tried to talk to comcast online but ohhh thats being updated so i call them and the first person i talked to had no clue so i called back and another guy told me that yes they are going to smartzone –I understand thats fine for webmail but i like my outlook express to he found that i need to change my incoming mail to sz-pop.mail.comcast.net . ok great but what is the outgoing smtp setting –comcast doesn’t have a clue I have tried different setting but still not workin. wats up with all this so i have been using the web mail because i can’t send out from my outlook any clue anyone anyone
We are all pissin’ in the wind. Comcast is the biggest joke of an outfit. They’ve just sent out an e-mail that they’re going to start “managing” the usage at peak times. In other words if you’re uploading or downloading anything that takes more than 15 minutes “you may experience interuptions. This will only affect 1% of customers.” This is such Bull-%#$% but so expected. If you don’t have enough band width work on it. The solution isn’t to to “rolling brown outs” which is what you’re doing. They say they did testing in 5 towns in Colorado and haven’t had ONE “managment” related complaint. I’ll bet all the above doesn’t account for ONE e-mail related complaint either. Why? Because everyone’s problem is either with their Outlook Express, or other e-mail program, or it’s your anti-virus program which isn’t compatable…..” I was told two weeks ago that BOTH my Outlook Express computer and my computer with Windows office 2007 were asking for for network passwords all of a sudden because ” THERE MUST BE A PROBLEM WITH MICROSOFT’S SERVERS!” I kid you not! I was connected to Microsoft, who of course told me that they don’t have any servers, and if I’m having the problem on two different computers with 2 different mail programs it has to be Comcast’s problem. When I called Comcast back one of the techs must have read the sticky note on the bulletin board that there was “trouble in my area”. It only took me an hour and a half to find that out. Oh by the way, I get this message to enter my network passcode about every other day. So they’re having “trouble” every other day. And get this, I asked if at any point they’d give a credit for all the downtime on the e-mail….The answer….”Comcast considers e-mail and “add-on service” and is thrown in with the internet service. Nice.
“I understand thats fine for webmail but i like my outlook express to he found that i need to change my incoming mail to sz-pop.mail.comcast.net . ok great but what is the outgoing smtp setting –comcast doesn’t have a clue I have tried different setting but still not workin.”
So you are able to get email but not send it? Since this is an “always on direct to the internet connection” you may be able to install a simple, free SMTP server program to bypass the Comcast “issues”. Just a thought. BTW, use the “OpenDNS” server IP’s instead of Comcasts DNS when you config that service.
I know not everyone is a computer geek, but it is quite simple to buy a website and have a third party host your webmail. It’ll be independent of your internet connection, available worldwide from a browser and comes with it’s own POP3 mailbox and SMTP service, as well as a seperate support staff. I know this may be a few bucks a year, but always worth seperating your emails from your internet provider, and especially in this case where they clearly aren’t treating this like a service you are paying for. No doubt - considerably less frustrating,
I stumbled onto this forum through a search on “duplicate” emails from Comcast. Tonight my wife opened her Comcast email (on Outlook) and it said “receiving 1016 new messages”. Somehow, Comcast’s server reset the status of all messages ever sent to her over the past 2 years to “new” and re-sent them to her again. I went into Settings and unchecked the box for “save copies of items on the server” but it’s too late now. Not sure how this happened but I am certain it is due to the SmartZone project. Also, since mid-summer I get sporadic error messages where the server rejects my login or password, which will then work a few minutes later.
Your’re right, DSL is sounding better all the time.
I just signed up with comcast Friday the 17th. I am getting http: 400 error and have had no email service. I can’t even log into web mail. After 11 calls and 2 requests to go to a supervisor my problem was given a repair ticket and I waited almost 48 hours for the tech to call me. They are well aware of the problem and have to do something on the backend which usually is resolved in a few hours but could take 3 days. Tthey have credited me $45.00 because I am still paying for my previous internet company for service since I can’t switch. The level 1 tech support has no idea what is going on and have tried everything to get me to go away..I just keep callling. Always ask for a supervisor that has been the most helpful.
Good luck!!
I guess I’m lucky — I have no problems with e-mail other than the fact that DumbZone doesn’t work the way they say it’s supposed to. It looks like it would not be a bad system if it worked the way the tutorial says it should. You’re supposed to get auto fill on your e-mails, something I’ve been wishing for since we left AOL. But it diesn’t work that way. Auto-fill doesn’t work. The address book page gives you your entire list of contacts with no way to refine your search alphabetically. When you are composing an e-mail, clicking on the “to” button gives you an unalphabetized list of all your contacts , so that you have to go through the whole list to find the ones you want. I have about 50, I can imagine that most people have a lot more. I agree with whoever said that this is for the techies. I just want to send and receive a few e-mails a week. I have half a dozen people I e-mail regularly, and to do that easily, Comcast apparently would like me to delete all my other contacts and just leave those six. Ugh!
Smartzone has been an absolute nightmare. In order to change providers, I need to change my email address on letterhead and business cards…..and the trickle impact goes on and on. I have also spent countless hours in chat and on the phone, only to be held captive on hold, disconnected after being told to wait for 20 minutes, put on hold when asked to speak to a manager, blablabla.
My address book is a mess.
Messages do not appear in the message area, but the subject does appear.
Mailboxes cannot be linked up.
Drafts not available.
These are the obvious problems. Who know about the receving end of the emal!!!! Comcast should be so ashamed of itself. I dread cancelling all of my services, but don’t know what else to do. Any suggestion on good provicers who bundle services for phone, cable, and email? I am in Park Ridge, IL
I too have the screwed up address book problems with Smartzone. When attempting to compose an email and clicking on the To: icon, I get a randomized list of addresses to use. Many names are missing and again, it’s not alphabetical. Call to tech support finally (after 30 minutes) got them to document my complaint. They said the more people complained, the sooner it wood be fixed. So people, start complaining to them. Who tests this crap? Would seem to me that composing an email using your address book would be a simple first test. Unbelievable.
Is anyone out there having problems getting into their email?
Ever since Smart Zone appeared, I haven’t been able to get to my emails.
One time I got in and I clicked on the new emails and I got a microsoft
error report. I get those annoying reports every time I try to get my emails.
Comcast said it is not a problem on their end, and told me to call
Microsoft, who told me that they do not provide support for Windows 98 Plus
users. Anyone know what I can do to resolve this problem.
Extremely annoying, and I think it is pretty weird that it all started when the
Smart Zone thing was done. Also, interesting is that I can get into my
Yahoo email account with no problems, whatsoever!!
I cannot consistently get into my email. I receive the subject area, but often there is no message I can access. Address book is also a mess………………..and nothing has changes since the problem began last THURSDAY
After hours and hours on the phone with tech support about SMARTZONE EMAIL, I finally talked to a tech manager who admitted that they HAVE NOT BEEN TRAINED IN SMARTZONE. She advised me to get help from the online Comcast chat under the smartzone problem heading. Some not all of my email issues, most of which have been discussed already here, have been resolved. Like others, I have been in email hell for weeks. (I would love a name of a VP who made the decision to switch over to smartzone but everyone I have talked to is mum)
I rec’d help by contacting through chat-one problem at a time. I spent 4 hrs one day. This was after the many many hrs with tech support. So far they were the only ones to straighten out some problems. Even then, one set of instructions rec’d had a command left out that caused it not to work. Next chat person included the left out command so it did work.
Instructions to Link up Mailbox addresses:
Must first link the addresses through the primary address before using the linking process with the secondary addresses.
Log into primary email
Preferences/Email Manager/Add external Account
Enter unique name to identify the email
Enter the secondary acct email address
Select POP3
Change the Email Server to : mail.comcast.net
Enter that secondary acct email’s password
Click Save and wait for confirmation that it was a success. If failed, keep trying making sure that everything entered is accurate.
Email address should now appear in left side of screen to access.
After all email addresses have been linked and appear on left screen you can now go into the secondary account and link email addresses in the same way.
Welcome to Smartzone Hell.
Rose from Mt. Prospect
I recently found this on http://www.wired.com about a hijacking Comcast DNS info… heres the link, maybe it will help.
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/05/comcast-servers.html
It’s a little old, but may help those who had a problem around that time… dont know, just trying to help.
I had to get on someone else’s computer to see my emails. I noticed that
my address book only went from A-M. Gee, what happened to the rest
of the alphabet? This is total nonsense. Comcast needs to go back to
the old email we all had, coz it worked just fine!
Yep-can only “see” my messages about half the time. Need to run to my iphone now to actually read all my email. Also,
*my sent mail is in a draft folder
*my addresses are not alphabetical and some were missing as well
And it goes on and on………….and they seem clueless on how to handle the complaints.
Anyone know if we can revert to the old Comcast webmail?
SmartZone is not an upgrade and lacks the most basic functionality (sort by name) for example. Email in my inbox seems to come and go (via browser refresh). It’s usable as I don’t know if I am seeing all my mail at any particular time. Does anyone test this before they shove it down our throats?
This is the final straw - I checking into getting Verizon FIOs if they won’t or can’t restore the old (crappy too but no where near as crappy as this) webmail.
No email for 11.5 days. And Comcast technical support is NO help. I’ve spoken with them every “24 to 48 hours”, and each time they offer to schedule a technician to come out and take a look at my line/settings/dog laying on his side/all other things that are going on that “smartzone” has not yet corrupted.
This is freaking ridiculous. At MY job… if we have a software glitch, NONE of us are getting paid. The problem is quickly resolved, overcome or whatever to keep the income streaming in…
How is this different??? Well… I called Comcast, and it seems that email is only a perk to the overpriced (and slower and slower) broadband fee of like… $50 per month or more, right? AND NOONE I TALKED TO WAS WILLING TO ISSUE A CREDIT FOR THE LACK OF EMAIL SERVICE.
You must all temper this with my frustrations over Hurricane Ike… which most of the country has forgotten about… but the Houston area is still dealing with A LOT. It took me weeks and weeks to get my power back… and now that I’m super trying to get my life back together… I’m also challenged with fighting cancer in a loved one.
And all of the oncological reports sent to my personal email on comcast… were lost. For a while I believed they were working on the problem, but 12 days later… I don’t. I’m beyond being annoyed by the inconvenience. It angers me much more to know they simply do not care.
Why should all of this be so hard. ATT rules on cell… guess I’ll be adding additonal services!!!
not that it matters….but a couple days after i posted here (oct 18) i logged on to comcast,”stupid zone” was gone and the old format showed up for a little while.I checked my “secondary” e-mail addresses.Then the next time i logged on, STUPID ZONE was back.Anybody else notice it?
Thanks
I COPIED MY LIVE CHAT FOR REVIEW. THE FINAL SUMMARY OF THE TECH IS
BASICALLY WHAT WAS STATED ABOUT 9 DAYS AGO TO ME! CAN’T WE GET SOME CONSUMER COMPLAINT GROUP OR LOCAL TV STATION ON THIS PROBLEM?
Live Chat
Status: Analyst Dani Mae is here and your issue status is: working
Problem: my messages are not consistently showing up End Session user sue_ has entered room
sue(Sat Oct 25 14:27:38 CDT 2008)>my messages are not consistently showing up
analyst Dani Mae has entered room
Dani Mae(Sat Oct 25 14:27:47 CDT 2008)>Hello sue_, Thank you for contacting Comcast Live Chat Support. My name is Dani Mae. Please give me one moment to review your information.
Dani Mae(Sat Oct 25 14:28:08 CDT 2008)>Hi Sue.
Dani Mae(Sat Oct 25 14:28:11 CDT 2008)>How may I help you today?
sue_(Sat Oct 25 13:28:24 CDT 2008)>None of my smartzone problems have been resolved
sue_(Sat Oct 25 13:28:55 CDT 2008)>First and foremost, I cannot read my email half of the time. there is a subject but not information in the text area
sue_(Sat Oct 25 13:29:20 CDT 2008)>All my problems should be noted in my file
Dani Mae(Sat Oct 25 14:29:45 CDT 2008)>sine
Dani Mae(Sat Oct 25 14:29:47 CDT 2008)>Since when did you experience this concern?
sue_(Sat Oct 25 13:30:03 CDT 2008)>Since the transition to smartzone about 9 days ago.
sue_(Sat Oct 25 13:30:45 CDT 2008)>If you cannot help me, please refer me to someone that can. I don’t want to go through it all again. I have already spent about 8 hours with comcast trying to explain.
sue_(Sat Oct 25 13:33:49 CDT 2008)>Seems like you have disappeared on me.
Dani Mae(Sat Oct 25 14:34:20 CDT 2008)>I am still here Sue, I am checking on your concern.
Dani Mae(Sat Oct 25 14:35:10 CDT 2008)>Please click on this link and click on Run http://www.comcastsupport.com/sdccommon/download/Comcast%20Assisted%20Support%20Controls%20Setup.exe
sue_(Sat Oct 25 13:36:43 CDT 2008)>done……now what?
Dani Mae(Sat Oct 25 14:36:57 CDT 2008)>Did you click on Run
sue_(Sat Oct 25 13:36:56 CDT 2008)>yes
Dani Mae(Sat Oct 25 14:39:21 CDT 2008)>Please click the link again
sue_(Sat Oct 25 13:39:51 CDT 2008)>I did it again
Dani Mae(Sat Oct 25 14:40:28 CDT 2008)>Thank you.
sue_(Sat Oct 25 13:40:47 CDT 2008)>what is next?
Dani Mae(Sat Oct 25 14:42:02 CDT 2008)>Your window will come out and be able to install it
sue_(Sat Oct 25 13:42:43 CDT 2008)>hmmm………………I don’t understand……….what window? There is nothing going on that I can see
sue_(Sat Oct 25 13:43:06 CDT 2008)>How can I link my mailboxes?
sue_(Sat Oct 25 13:43:24 CDT 2008)>How can I get the correct time on my messages received?
sue_(Sat Oct 25 13:43:52 CDT 2008)>How can I stop my sent messages from going into my draft box? Will this insatllation take care of this?
sue_(Sat Oct 25 13:46:02 CDT 2008)>so, are you still there?
Dani Mae(Sat Oct 25 14:46:23 CDT 2008)>Yes I am still here.
sue_(Sat Oct 25 13:46:24 CDT 2008)>good
Dani Mae(Sat Oct 25 14:47:45 CDT 2008)>May I verify your mainconcern Sue?
sue_(Sat Oct 25 13:48:12 CDT 2008)>My main concern is that I cannot read my email because it does not consistantly appear in my messages!!!!!!!!!!
sue_(Sat Oct 25 13:48:41 CDT 2008)>The subject appears as does the name of the sender. Half the time there is no messages available to read.
Dani Mae(Sat Oct 25 14:48:46 CDT 2008)>May I have your comcast username and password please?
sue_(Sat Oct 25 13:48:58 CDT 2008)>PROVIDED TO TECH
sue_(Sat Oct 25 13:49:08 CDT 2008)>PROVIDED TO TECH
Dani Mae(Sat Oct 25 14:49:28 CDT 2008)>Thank you.
sue_(Sat Oct 25 13:52:51 CDT 2008)>please note the operative word consistent. Some messages appear in text, many do not.
Dani Mae(Sat Oct 25 14:54:06 CDT 2008)>Pleaese wait
Dani Mae(Sat Oct 25 14:58:38 CDT 2008)>I see, that you are experiencing this glitch. That is due to the transition stage of the SmartZone system. All of this glitches will be corrected, after the transistion stage completes. The estimated transition time is 2 days from now as all of the High Speed Internet customers are being transitioned that time. Thus, to avoid congestion of the service and at least maintain an acceptable functionality, some features are disabled. I understand this is very frustrating as your e-mail is an important communication medium. We working on this intensively, this I can assure you. That feature may not function as of yet as it is one of the glitches that is being intensely drilled on. Consider this resolve already as you do not need to do anything on your end for the glitches that is happening to SmartZone. It is on our end and we can assure the correction in the said time frame.
Dani Mae(Sat Oct 25 14:58:50 CDT 2008)>Would there be anything else that I can help you with?
sue_(Sat Oct 25 13:59:49 CDT 2008)>Well, I have to wonder if you are reading from a script because I was told 9 days ago that it would be only up to 72 hours for the transition to complete.
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©2007 Comcast
I wonder if all we have been through is the material of a class action lawsuit. I am not much for litigation, but this situation, in particular, has quite far reaching repercussions.
Some noted lost medical records.
I can no longer find some client documentation since I did not have any warning as to when the Smartzone process would occur……….so could not back up anything.
Time lost from our normal work schedules to try to communicate with comcast only to be disconnected, told the problem will be resolved in 48 hours, etc.
Basic poor company mgt, poor customer service, and inept service at that.
I have email Comcast three times about the issues I am having with the new webmail. I need an answer soon but apparently they are swamped with customer webmail problems. My email sometimes doesn’t show up, sorting is non-functional and the webpage seems to be down half the time. This is the only way my wife accesses her account and if they do this to her (she still has the old webmail) she will be without mail. I emailed (again) to see if she can opt out but I have the feeling Comcast is hell bent to shove this retro untest crap down our throats. I am looking for another internet provider as I write this.
Add this to the growing list …
I am unable to send email to any of my …FORMER ADELPHIA …email addressees who now have COMCAST address are rejected and returned to me as undeliverable with the citation of their former Adelphia address … even though my
address book DOES SHOW PROPERLY WITH THEIR >>COMCAST>> address..
Still unable to forward any email containing .jpg type images .. and only show a large square with a minature icon in upper left corner that cannot be opened.
Yes, Winders 98, about a week ago, I happened upon the OLD web