On Tuesday Geoff and I moved into a house in San Francisco. The move itself went incredibly smoothly – shout out to Delancey Street Movers for their awesome service and great price. Wednesday we went back to the old place to clean it up for the buyers, and were done ahead of schedule. On the way home we stopped by Best Buy where I got a $130 microwave for $30 thanks to a sale and a bonus reward redemption. All in all, a good two days.

Then came Thursday morning: our scheduled Comcast appointment. The fact that I’m posting this from Starbucks and not the comfort of my living room should tip you off to how that turned out. (Hint: this story plays out nothing like those Xfinity Movers Edge commercials.)

Let’s back up three weeks. On October 2, Geoff called Comcast to schedule the transfer of our Xfinity service, which we use for phone, internet, and cable TV. He told the rep that our new house doesn’t have a cable line, so a bucket truck would be needed to string the line to the house. Sure, no problem, they’ll be there on the 22nd between 8:00 and 10:00.

Yesterday at around 9:30 a Comcast contractor showed up in a van, took one look at the house, and said to Geoff, “I can’t do anything for you, there’s no cable line running to the house.”

“Right,” Geoff says, “where’s the bucket truck?”

Ohhh, the bucket truck. The one he mentioned they’d need to send when he set up the appointment three weeks ago. “I’m going to call my supervisor,” the contractor said. “You’ll get a call within 24 to 48 hours.”

“To let me know when they’ll come to string the cable to the house?” Geoff asks.

“No, to let you know when someone can stop by to confirm that a bucket truck is really needed.”

Of course, because it’s not like they had three weeks to drop by and verify that a bucket truck would be needed, and it’s not like they have a database that would show this house has never had Comcast service, ever.

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