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Comments on news posted 2014-07-18 12:38:45: Comcast made the wrong kind of headlines this week after a support representative was recorded simply refusing to let a customer cancel. ..

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ISurfTooMuch
join:2007-04-23
Tuscaloosa, AL

2 recommendations

ISurfTooMuch to itguy05

Member

to itguy05

Re: Really?

said by itguy05:

I'd take that with a grain of salt.

I won't. I've personally seen it done, and there was absolutely no effort to hide it. In fact, the people involved joked about it.
ISurfTooMuch

ISurfTooMuch to davidc502

Member

to davidc502

Re: Comcast embarrassment was only due to...

said by davidc502:

Nothing will be done about it either.

Oh, something will be done. This guy will be fired for making the company look bad. They're going to hang him out to dry.

anonymouse
@207.250.70.x

anonymouse to ISurfTooMuch

Anon

to ISurfTooMuch

Re: Really?

I worked at Comcast and we used to regularly feign being sups for others to get jerkoffs that wouldn't get off the phone, off.
innoman
-
Premium Member
join:2002-05-07
Seattle, WA

2 recommendations

innoman to train_wreck

Premium Member

to train_wreck

Re: Because Comcast doesn't give a F...

Exactly! The point of the video is to use humor to make a point, making it effective.

ILpt4U
Premium Member
join:2006-11-12
Saint Louis, MO
ARRIS TM822
Asus RT-N66

1 edit

1 recommendation

ILpt4U to tshirt

Premium Member

to tshirt

Re: And a merger will fix this...

Agreed. Not just Comcast. Others in the industry do the same, as you mention, for better and worse

Comcast has plenty of hard working, honest employees and contractors working for them. There will be bad apples in any group, and a Company that size will have them. See it at AT&T daily, and I would assume Verizon, CenturyLink, TWC, Charter, Cablevision, Frontier, Cox, Sprint, etc are all along similar lines.

But to put the blame squarely on an employee, and not examine policies and processes that can encourage this behavior, is naive at best

dfc888
Premium Member
join:2003-07-22
San Bruno, CA

dfc888 to itguy05

Premium Member

to itguy05

Re: Really?

If I ever reach this guy or reps like him while trying to cancel, I think I'd end up fucking with them, to have them on the end fish hook for an upsell, and then eventually cancel anyway at the end.

KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium Member
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK

KrK to itguy05

Premium Member

to itguy05
They put you on hold forever or "accidentally" disconnect you, or just get another co-worker to claim they are supervisors. Haven't you read the stories?

cb14
join:2013-02-04
Miami Beach, FL

1 recommendation

cb14 to tshirt

Member

to tshirt

Re: And a merger will fix this...

said by tshirt:

And some customers make it work for themselves, going from promo to promo by "suggesting" they'd like to stay, but can't handle they price.

Due to ever rising prices for ATT's internet service I use this technique myself because it is the only way to partially limit further price increases for already shamelessly overpriced services.

I agree with you that Comcast merger will not change anything, at least not directly. Indirectly it will create an even more powerful, politically influential lobbying force.
TimCo
join:2005-01-14
Ronkonkoma, NY

1 recommendation

TimCo to Kuro

Member

to Kuro

Re: Passing the buck

Cablevision did almost the same to me. They asked how are you going to get TV, I told her, over the air. She insisted that I would still need there box. I was speechless. I will never return to Cablevision. Never.
smcallah
join:2004-08-05
Home

1 recommendation

smcallah

Member

To be fair...

To be fair to Comcast, about the "they don't care about users that are billed for equipment they returned..."

I was a Comcast customer in 2002. I moved away, turned in everything. 2005, I'm trying to get a mortgage. There is a Comcast collection on my credit report for $500. It's for unreturned equipment. I had to clear it off my credit report to get the mortage, had less than 30 days. So I just paid the $500.

A month later, I get a $500 check from Comcast without even raising a fuss or calling them at all.

Someone cares, or at least used to.

Monstie
@24.17.56.x

Monstie

Anon

Comcast Reps

As a current Comcast CAE (Customer Associate Expert) I am appalled by this, though not shocked. Many of the mega corps we all do business with, this is BAU (business as usual) though it seems even worse at Comcast (bigger company, bigger media attention).

I'm a tech support rep. I even have to try get sales, though my metric requirements are quite lower.

I hear from all my friends how they hate Comcast. I hear from many of my customers (of which the repair/tech call centers take calls from less than 1% of the customer base) how bad things are. I see badly messed up orders because a sales rep was thinking about the $$$ and not the customer. This frustrates me to no end and there is nothing I can do about it except for give credits, temporary free services and expedite orders that should have been done right in the first place.

I know from working on the tech support side of things from different service providing companies, infrastructure means everything for good reliable service. I, myself, have been a Comcast customer for nearly 20 years (many different addresses) and a rep at Comcast for just over a year and my service has always been stellar. Lucky break for me that I've lived in areas where the infrastructure was solid.

Sure I've been upsold, but you get that EVERYWHERE. Now, do a lot of reps go over-the-line. . .yea. Are there policies for the Loyalty and Sales departments to push push push the sales end to keep their numbers up because their paychecks will suffer . . . I don't know for fact but I'm sure that's accurate. What I do know is that it's nothing new.

If you want to blame anyone, don't blame Comcast. They are just following the model set before them and they excelled at it. Microsoft did it to. So did T-Mobile and countless others. The issue lies in the groundwork laid before them. Who has supported the "Big Business" approach in the first place?? If you know that answer, you know who the fault lies with.

Now I'm not saying Comcast is in the right, because they are not. But they are not the ones to blame overall, nor are they near to being the only ones playing the same game. We are the ones that have allowed this to happen and were are the ones that can change it.

imadojchee
@144.160.98.x

imadojchee

Anon

Monstie, I don't know what center you are at, but even myself who has worked for Comcrap for over 13 years i would have to disagree. Its why i left the company. The tactics they put in place were not fair to the CAEs. The Market i was in was a local market that handled everything from Retention to Tech Support. No i heard its a big ole Cluster F. The model doesn't work for every company. TWC has a local model that works in every market. ATT has a Enterprise model that work for their markets. COX has a Local model that works as well for their own markets. Simply to state Brian and Ralph Roberts are just greedy! They do not care about their employee's. When you compare the Cable companies i have done business with comcast rates last! If Comcrack wants to revive its name, it needs to bring its local practices back and let each market / Region make its own policies. Hell i was an employee and lived off the main hub with fiber and still refused the free services i got! I have full fiber in my neighborhood, and ATT uverse TV service is far more superior. This is how bad comcast service calls are! My neighborhood is approx 200 homes. I have converted at least 75 percent to U-verse with 300 up 300 down. Bottom line is, Comcast is at fault and they need to re think and re align the approaches and tactics that are used. And for crying out loud, Comcast needs a better Work flow tool for agents to properly troubleshoot the issues!
ackman
join:2000-10-04
Atlanta, GA

1 recommendation

ackman

Member

A scam business, top to bottom

I signed up for triple play within the past year, on an on-line promotion directly through Comcast.com website, for a $500 gift card. There were problems with the order up front, but the rep assured me I would get the $500 gift card. I called customer service a few weeks later to confirm, because I just didn't trust them. Bottom line, 7 months down the road, they are denying my eligibility for the gift card. To add insult, customer service denies any knowledge of Comcast ever offering a $500 gift card for new signups. Try to sue, you have to find which of the myriad companies they are using to serve your area, then file in that county, which may be outside your own county, or even hundreds of miles away. I hate Comcast, they are pure scam, top to bottom.

someipanon
@76.106.153.x

someipanon

Anon

last time i was upgraded at comcast was through a quick sneak trick

I asked for a lower price and rep said, we can do that without disclosing any change in service.

So here's the kicker, eventually the price goes back up and I look at the bill, turn it to hbo for the first time and see that I've had hbo all along.

Ok call me stupid but I'm pretty tired of accountability being a one way street.

antdude
Matrix Ant
Premium Member
join:2001-03-25
US

antdude to battleop

Premium Member

to battleop

Re: Because Comcast doesn't give a F...

said by battleop:

That video is now as funny as a Rick Roll....

Accurate too.
intok (banned)
join:2012-03-15

intok (banned) to ILpt4U

Member

to ILpt4U

Re: And a merger will fix this...

The "embarrassed" press release is just a formality for the media and politicians. Nothing will change because they got caught, the rep will just be fired under an NDA payout to never go public about what has been going on so that there can't be a Barbra Walters style interview.
intok

intok (banned) to houghe9

Member

to houghe9

Re: Really?

The "Jerkoff" CSr is in the customer retention department, his job and paycheck depend on him irritating you into hanging up and keeping the service. They get paycuts and then fired if they lose a certain number of customers.
intok

intok (banned) to itguy05

Member

to itguy05
Reporting it to the supervisor gets you nothing, the supervisor is the one enforcing the harassment policy.
intok

intok (banned) to en103

Member

to en103

Re: Comcast embarrassment was only due to...

Wrong, they will fire him under NDA and hush money payout to never speak of this to anyone. Happens all the time, allot of past the fact whistle blowers and tellalls are people who where fired under NDA and payout.

IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
Premium Member
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy

Premium Member

Id just lie to them

Maybe their reason was financial distress but I'd say I switched to DirecTV because of dissatisfaction with Comcast.

Many people cancel their service because of financial distress and don't want to admit it.

anon123
@50.170.133.x

anon123 to bbbc

Anon

to bbbc

Re: The free market at its best

Free market, except for certain restrictions, not available in all areas, ETFs might apply, additional fees for actually using NetFlix, lawsuits if you try to make your own ISP... Oh hell, it's pretty much a monopoly.

Xioden
Premium Member
join:2008-06-10
Monticello, NY

1 recommendation

Xioden to IPPlanMan

Premium Member

to IPPlanMan

Re: And a merger will fix this...

»www.youtube.com/watch?v= ··· MNsFzwxs

cork1958
Cork
Premium Member
join:2000-02-26

cork1958 to SunnyD

Premium Member

to SunnyD

Re: Because Comcast doesn't give a F...

"It's no more appropriate today then it was yesterday, or 6 months ago. But it's still just as appreciable"

Yep,
I remember that one! Just as true today as ever!

pumpkinhead7
join:2002-06-14
Clarksburg, WV

pumpkinhead7 to IPPlanMan

Member

to IPPlanMan

Re: And a merger will fix this...

No, but it will ensure I have to put up with the same nonsense. Im currently a Time Warner customer and despite high cost I really cant complain about the level of service or the quality of service.

That being said, I dont trust them as far as I can throw them...
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