STEPHANIE KLEIN-DAVIS The Roanoke Times

More than 300 people packed the Salem Civic Center's community room, most of them dissatisfied with some issue related to their Comcast cable provider. Several times during the forum, they were asked to raise their hands if they had complaints about their service.

How do you fill a sprawling conference room with hundreds of angry cable customers?

Offer them the opportunity to discuss their feelings about Comcast Cable's service in Salem and part of Roanoke County.

That's what was presented Thursday night at the Salem Civic Center, and it drew a much larger-than-expected crowd -- about 300 people, largely older adults.

The crowd's concerns ranged from service delays and poor communications to billing problems and channel lineup changes related to new converter boxes.

"People have felt powerless over this issue," said Councilwoman Lisa Garst, who said she gets her television signal through Comcast. "I'm very sympathetic."

And while the hundreds on hand seemed to relish the opportunity to speak out, they got little else back for their time.

After more than an hour of hearing customer complaints, two visiting Comcast representatives -- Robert Jacobs, vice president of franchising and government affairs, and Paul Comes, director of government affairs -- offered their regrets and told the crowd they simply hadn't realized there were so many customer issues.

It's a pot that has been boiling all summer, since a June change in transmissions caused many subscribers to lose a number of popular networks.

In his opening remarks Bob Allen, communications council to the city, said service appeared to have worsened over the past month, resulting in "little or no help in response" to calls, which he felt had spawned a lack of accountability.

Georgia Wiley, of Queensmill Drive, lamented the lengthy windows of time for service calls -- sometimes 12 hours or more.

"Why does it take so long? Why do we continue to get the runaround?" she asked.

According to George Cook of Salem, the high-definition options Comcast offers local customers are a fraction of those available in other localities.

"When are we going to get into the 21st century and have the kind of technology our neighbors in Roanoke County have?" he asked. "I don't see that we're going somewhere."

But Anne Marie Green, director of general services for Roanoke County, said problems extend beyond the city limits into Glenvar and Bennett Springs which, unlike the rest of the county, are served by Comcast rather than Cox Communications.

Allen said there are about 3,500 Comcast customers in Roanoke County.

High Street resident John Frederick said his biggest issue was credibility. He praised the work done by the company's local office, but said his admiration ended when it came to call centers outside the area.

"One hand does not know what the other hand is doing," he said.

And Chris Nuckols of Salem said that by his calculations, rates have gone up nearly 30 percent in the past two years.

These issues continue to swirl even as the city moves nearer to the Oct. 16 expiration date of its franchise agreement with Comcast.

It remains unclear whether Salem will negotiate a renewal of that contract, will attract a competitor or attempt to provide service on its own, much as it now distributes electricity.

"I don't doubt that there's a better way to do it than the way it is right now," City Manager Kevin Boggess told the crowd. He went on to say that Salem's old and new franchise agreements are nonexclusive, but he also voiced doubts that another cable company would come into the city to compete, citing the capital investment it would require.

Salem civic leader Cabell Brand took the microphone to offer what he said were two basic facts: "Salem cares about its citizens and Comcast does not care about its customers."

Brand urged the city to take over cable operations itself and said the rewards would outweigh the costs.

"Under no circumstances renegotiate the current contract," he advised.

When Jacobs' turn came to speak, he was repeatedly interrupted by questions and exclamations from the crowd. Boggess eventually urged those on hand to remain orderly and to allow Jacobs to speak.

"Will the franchise negotiations solve every issue we've heard tonight? No," Jacobs said.

"You have to accept that the world is changing," he said, regarding the company's recent upgrade to digital channels. "Ultimately, you'll see it's better."

After the meeting, he offered a fairly basic outline of how he would proceed with the concerns he had heard.

"We're going to take it back to the people who handle those problems," Jacobs said. "Our regional office."

Comes declined to answer questions and directed inquiries to Comcast's senior manager of public relations.