Troubleshooters: Helping Xfinity customers with bill problems and beyond

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The Action News Troubleshooters are at it again, this time helping more customers of a local cable giant.

This first story will have you checking your own cable bill to see if you should be fighting for money back or asking the Troubleshooters for help.

Walter LaSota and his wife Maryellen comb through their statements every few months.

"Just looking for opportunities to maybe reduce the bill, maybe there are some services that we don't require," LaSota said.

So while he was at his local Xfinity store, LaSota was surprised to learn he'd been double-billed by Comcast for a service for years.

"He said you should not be charged this $36 a month," LaSota said.

Lasota had been paying an extra fee for faster internet service, but faster internet was later included in his plan - meaning he'd overpaid Comcast by more than $700!

The representative at the Xfinity store gave LaSota a credit for only $48 and when LaSota called Comcast, he was told he'd get back only an additional $180, a credit for just six months out of the two years he'd been over-charged.

And that is the company's policy.

In fact, it's in your Comcast customer agreement. It says, if you intend to dispute a charge or request a billing credit, you must contact Comcast within 120 days of the date on the bill. You waive any disputes or credits that you do not report within 120 days.

"Maryellen says to me, 'you know we watch 6abc and we've seen some stories on Call for Action, what do you think?' And I said, 'well, why not, we'll give it a try,'" LaSota said.

We'll reveal the LaSota's results in just a minute.

But let's move on to Charles Bice-Bey of Kensington.

Bice-Bey says the Comcast technician shorted a circuit and destroyed his 60-inch Samsung TV.

"The minute he tested the system it arced from the HD wire and then started smoking from the circuit boards and the whole thing burnt out," Bice-Bey said.

While waiting for Comcast to assess the situation, he contacted the Troubleshooters via Call for Action to help expedite the matter.

"Immediately they talked to Comcast and in a couple of days they called me and said, 'Mr. Brice-Bey, we are sending you a check for your damage,'" Bice-Bey said.

Comcast sent him a check for $917!

Now back to Walter LaSota.

Comcast gave him the entire balance of the credit he was due, another $561.40.

"I felt great I was very pleased with Call for Action the results they obtained, I know I couldn't obtain them on my own. I had hit a brick wall with their customer service folks; I was very pleased," LaSota said.

Comcast sent us a statement, which reads in part: "We work with customers to answer questions and resolve requests ... In these cases, we were already working with both consumers to make it right and we ultimately satisfied their requests."