  sansri88digital is herePremium
join:2005-12-17
New York, NY
kudos:1 | Interesting.... Because I've never had any problem with techs that come to my house. They don't know what they're most of the time, but they don't do any damage. | |
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 bdh
join:2007-08-21
Little Elm, TX | good luck! In theory: sure it sounds great. Being a former Comcast employee prior to the TWC merge, I highly doubt it will happen. There will always be contract work; its simply cheaper than having all the work in-house. | |
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 | | | Re: good luck! said by bdh:In theory: sure it sounds great. Being a former Comcast employee prior to the TWC merge, I highly doubt it will happen. There will always be contract work; its simply cheaper than having all the work in-house. The trick is to hire and use internal employees for a steady state budgeted workload and then hire contractors for expansion projects and for those times when problems occur(like hurricane season in some locales and ice storms in other locales).
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Internet News
My BLOG
My Web Page | |
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| |  MaxoYour tax dollars at work.Premium,VIP
join:2002-11-04
Tallahassee, FL | Re: good luck! said by fAcEtIOUs:The trick is to hire and use internal employees for a steady state budgeted workload and then hire contractors for expansion projects and for those times when problems occur(like hurricane season in some locales and ice storms in other locales). I agree, and wish more companies saw it this way. Temp work should go to temp workers. Core parts of your business need to be in house. | |
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|  PhoenixDown-- Wants FIOSPremium
join:2003-06-08
Fresh Meadows, NY
kudos:1 | BDH, how are things now under TWC from an employee POV?
Better / worse / different? | |
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 JonPremium
join:2001-01-20
Lisle, IL | solution to cable's woeful customer service reputation? No, just another reason to raise prices!  | |
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| | Omg! I always thought the techs that came to my place were pretty decent. They knew what they were doing basically and were polite. (Probably because they are not Comcast employess?) One even hung around a while checking his eBay auctions lol! I never read any of those other horror stories so now I consider myself quite lucky.
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The statement below is true.
The statement above is false. | |
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| | | Re: Omg! Was he selling items he swiped from customer installs?
Better check your on your baseball card collection. | |
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| | | | Re: Omg! Hah! He was selling truck parts mostly. If a tech manages to disassemble your truck while seemingly installing your service I think he deserves to keep them. ^^ | |
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| Reviews:
 ·Comcast
 ·Comcast Digital ..
| Contract work surely has its place. Although, now that they are providing phone service I see the need for more in-house techs. They need quicker response from more knowledgeable techs to handle this type of service that people depend on. For installs and such, I don't see a problem with contractors. It really is only when there are problems there needs to be an in-house tech. | |
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| |  PolarBear03The bear formerly known as aaron8301Premium
join:2005-01-03 | Re: Omg! Exactly. With all the new technologies, they need more in house techs so they can make sure they are trained properly. The one thing I hate the most is when I talk to a CSR or they send someone to my house that knows LESS than I do. | |
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|  MadMANNPremium
join:2005-08-19
kudos:2 | said by binarycode:I always thought the techs that came to my place were pretty decent. They knew what they were doing basically and were polite This describes the average tech. However, DSLR will find any horror story and try to illustrate that most techs act like those in the stories.
I am here to tell you that there are plenty of great contractors as well as in-house. The rare idiot that makes the headlines here are the ones that give good ones bad reps. | |
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bmn? ? ?Premium,ExMod 2003-06
join:2001-03-15
hiatus | Good for Comcast... It is good to see that Comcast wants to improve the level of service they offer to their customers... It will give them customers a much better experience and, in the long run, will pay off for Comcast in terms of less negative publicity and lower costs.
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Prove it...
Save the Internet Time (NTP) service, use the pool. | |
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|  kalphearionIn nomine PatriPremium
join:2003-11-08
Broomfield, CO | Re: Good for Comcast... said by bmn:It is good to see that Comcast wants to improve the level of service they offer to their customers... It will give them customers a much better experience and, in the long run, will pay off for Comcast in terms of less negative publicity and lower costs. Don't get your hopes up | |
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 DaSneaky1Done wall to block them allPremium,MVM
join:2001-03-29
The Lou
·Charter
2 edits | In house techs not needed... The problem with Comcast is the outsourced techs they use, not simply that they're vendors. Make sure the vendors used are reputable and professional. Make sure contract with them pays enough to encourage them to hire people worthy of a decent wage (you get what you pay for...and hiring someone willing to work for minimum wage often gets you bottom quality employees).
Vendor support doesn't have to be bad, and I'm sure there are plenty of frustrated techs that desire to work for themselves and are willing to vend for Comcast. Pay them, but hold them accountable for representing your image correctly. If they don't, drop them. They'll learn.
Not sure if they do, but, hold classes to teach your standards (safety, clean installation, professional appearance).
Comcast can save money by using vendors, but make it worth the vendors while to represent Comcast in a proper way...and hold them to it.
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:: my trivial ramblings :: | |
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| PolarBear03The bear formerly known as aaron8301Premium
join:2005-01-03 | Re: In house techs not needed... said by DaSneaky1D: Vendor support doesn't have to be bad, and I'm sure there are plenty of frustrated techs that desire to work for themselves and are willing to vend for Comcast. Pay them, but hold them accountable for representing your image correctly. If they don't, drop them. They'll learn. That's how DirecTV does it. Screw up or make DirecTV look bad and they'll pull your contract in a heartbeat, no questions asked. DirecTV does NOT tolerate shoddy subcontractors.
Ever wonder why you hear these horror stories about falling asleep, murder, digging in the wrong yard or blowing up laptops, dishwashers or homes from Comcast, but not DirecTV?
The worst that ever happens on a DirecTV install is simply a sloppy installation, and a simple single complaint from the customer and they send a pair of managers out to redo the install, free of charge.
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There comes a point in your life when you get tired of fixing everything and wiping everyone's ass. But it’s not giving up. It’s realizing that you don’t need certain people and the bullshit and drama they bring to your life. | |
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| | | | Re: In house techs not needed... said by PolarBear03:That's how DirecTV does it. Screw up or make DirecTV look bad and they'll pull your contract in a heartbeat, no questions asked. DirecTV does NOT tolerate shoddy subcontractors. Ever wonder why you hear these horror stories about falling asleep, murder, digging in the wrong yard or blowing up laptops, dishwashers or homes from Comcast, but not DirecTV? The worst that ever happens on a DirecTV install is simply a sloppy installation, and a simple single complaint from the customer and they send a pair of managers out to redo the install, free of charge. In all fairness, there have been cases of D* contractors committing crimes while on the job. Certainly not as high profile as Comcast's recent negative press, however. | |
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| | | PolarBear03The bear formerly known as aaron8301Premium
join:2005-01-03 | Re: In house techs not needed... Well, nobody is perfect, but my point was that DirecTV is much more on the ball about getting rid of shady contractors than Comcast. It takes a LOT less for DirecTV to can your ass then it does Comcast. | |
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| | | PolarBear03The bear formerly known as aaron8301Premium
join:2005-01-03 | Re: In house techs not needed... Apparently you didn't read my last post very well. It said:
said by PolarBear03:Well, nobody is perfect, but my point was that DirecTV is much more on the ball about getting rid of shady contractors than Comcast. It takes a LOT less for DirecTV to can your ass then it does Comcast. Also, although the flat cable should have been run UNDER the screen and not through it, don't you think that running a cable through screen is much less severe than falling asleep, murder, digging in the wrong yard, or blowing up a dishwasher, laptop, or entire house?
It seems to me that you are comparing apples to oranges, trying to make DirecTV look bad. I am not trying to idolize DirecTV or put them on a pedestal; I am just saying that they are more strict with their subcontractors than Comcast.
I could show you TONS of pictures of crappy installations from DirecTV subs; I could also show you tons of crappy Dish Network and Comcast installs, as well. The only difference is, DirecTV FIRES those that do the crappy installs, whereas Dish and Comcast merely apply a slap on the wrist.
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There comes a point in your life when you get tired of fixing everything and wiping everyone's ass. But it’s not giving up. It’s realizing that you don’t need certain people and the bullshit and drama they bring to your life. | |
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| | | |  codeePremium
join:2001-10-01
Minneapolis, MN | Re: In house techs not needed... In all honesty, from what I see DishNetwork has some very nice installs. I have yet to come across one that is bad, besides in a apt where there isn't much of a option on what to do with the dish and lines. I see a very large amount of just plain gross looking DirecTV installs. Now, is it because there are x times as many directv installs opposed to dish around here? I don't know. When I got my Dish installed, I got 2 dishes on my roof picking up 4 different satellites, along with a OTA antenna for HD Locals (before dish carried them over the satellite) and the installers made it look amazing. Everything was very clean looking, and homerun into the basement. They used flex clips and zip ties all the way along, and everythink looks excellent. I haven't seen a directv install look like that ever, not even in the $1,000,000+ homes that I go into. I mean come on...these homes are pre-wired with almost every type of cable possible to a central location, and it isn't even tied in nicely there.
I can't say this for sure, but it seems like contractors don't do cdv installs around here, and certain other types of jobs of higher importance.
There are fantastic contractors that care, and some that couldn't care any less and want to get to the next job as soon as possible, but there are probably some in house techs that are the same way sometimes. The inhouse techs that aren't upto par can be dealt with much quicker then a contractor though I'd imagine.
PLUS, all other things being equal, a bad install for cable (no matter what company) will show a LOT more then with either of the dish co's. With sat, there isn't any ingress to worry about (they use frequencys well above that of any potential OTA ingress)and sat doesn't really need to worry about a return path either. A fitting that works great with dish could cause major tiling on a cable box. There are just so many more potential problems with a cable install that it isn't even funny. Even a kink in a cable can cause microinfractions which could cause hell with the SNR, returnpath, etc all of which are visible to a customer.
People more then likely won't call to complain about something until it actually affects their ability to view TV,surf the internet, or use the phone....those things are just very minimal with satellite aside from the occasional weather related issue. | |
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| | | | | PolarBear03The bear formerly known as aaron8301Premium
join:2005-01-03 | Re: In house techs not needed... Good points, my friend. I am inclined to agree. | |
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| | | | | | No. You never hear about DirecTV installers falling asleep, or blowing up laptops.. you only hear about them burning entire houses down, or drilling into sewer lines causing bad cases of black mold making the house a total loss.
Comcast only goes for the little things. DirecTv likes to make it big. (By the way, it is rather funny that DISH has also been in the news for the same reasons as DirecTv as well.) | |
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 dadkinsCan you do Blu?Premium,MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA
kudos:18 | Guess I'm lucky! *HERE* in Hercurock, we get real Comcast techs in real Comcast vans. 
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Think outside the Fox... Opera | |
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| sansri88digital is herePremium
join:2005-12-17
New York, NY
kudos:1 | Re: Guess I'm lucky! Same for us in Central Jersey. At least for my area... | |
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| | | said by dadkins:*HERE* in Hercurock, we get real Comcast techs in real Comcast vans. Unless your Comcast van says Wide Open West on the side, you're not lucky! 
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"I've learned that depression is merely anger without enthusiasm." | |
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| | dadkinsCan you do Blu?Premium,MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA
kudos:18 | Re: Guess I'm lucky! said by burgermeister:said by dadkins:*HERE* in Hercurock, we get real Comcast techs in real Comcast vans. Unless your Comcast van says Wide Open West on the side, you're not lucky! *MY* Comcast is bulletproof! 
ALL of my Comcast services are great!
YMMV.
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Think outside the Fox... Opera | |
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 Titus PulloI came, I saw, I slept
join:2004-06-26
kudos:1
 ·Embarq Now Centu..
| I've not been able to make my freaking co*k grow larger either; do I run around proclaiming that the day is coming? These guys want in-house at basement rates. So basically you'll end up with brown uniforms at $8 without accents who still don't know diddlyshit.
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A monthly desktop thread should only happen when Paris Hilton buys a computer. | |
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 15063053This space for rent.
join:2007-07-22 | . Around here Comcast uses contractors to bury cable. I tell you they do a decent job at digging trenches for $7.00 an hour.
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"THE SHOCKER"
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| | A little about Comcast Tech's For starters the issue Comcast has is mainly with sub contractors. The sub contractors are "trained" by their hiring company and not Comcast. All Comcast "In House" Tech's are required to attend 6 weeks of training and get certified in safety and other areas before they are to solo in the field.
After completion of the initial training (CT1 and CT2 respectively) the technician then goes back for training as a CT3. Of course between CT1 and CT2 is a 90 day period (introductory, can be fired easily) and the between CT2 and CT3 is generally another 90-180 days depending on performance in the field and over performance.
The majority of horror stories are in relation to the sub contractors... I know. I used to be a Comcast tech. | |
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| | | Re: A little about Comcast Tech's said by smithy9:The majority of horror stories are in relation to the sub contractors... I know. I used to be a Comcast tech. And the contractors that Comcast hires are the sole responsibility of Comcast. Comcast makes the choice to have these companies represent them, therefore Comcast is to blame for the service and all the crap that happens.
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"I've learned that depression is merely anger without enthusiasm." | |
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| | | Re: Use 'em for target practice! Maybe he did an HD cable card install and after a stack of cablecards were "bad" they decided they had enough of comcast.
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"It's always funny until someone gets hurt......and then it's absolutely friggin' hysterical!" | |
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| | Employees cost too much..... Management is always looking for ways to cut costs. If you could hire a bunch of part timers that you could rid of anytime you wanted, companies would be in heaven. Full time employees cost too much with their salary, benefits, vacations, etc. | |
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See 29 replies to this post |
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 ctceoPremium
join:2001-04-26
South Bend, IN | What? They can't even keep the ones they have trained well enough. Let alone awake during the process of troubleshooting. Why make it worse on themselves? | |
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Reviews:
·Optimum Online
 ·Verizon FiOS
| Need good workers? There are some newly unemployed miners from Utah who need a job... can you say, retrain as comcast intallers?
Oh yeah, right, the money isn't that good.. yet when the cable bill arrives you feel like your getting raped by big black Bubba... | |
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 KylemaulLovin' My FirefoxPremium
join:2001-03-30
North Port, FL |  Suuure....
And I'm not saying that a high percentage of Comcast personnel wouldn't want this to happen, it's just that they aren't the percentage that make those decisions. | |
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 JohnnyPremium
join:2001-06-27
Atlanta, GA
kudos:1 | Wasting money anyway The truck rolls that do nothing are a huge waste of money. Gene Shatlock really wants to get things done correctly, and if he is involved, they DO get done correctly.
The contractors may be a problem, but their full-time installers don't know squat either. And their CSRs are beyond hope.
Just ask Comcast subscribers how many truck rolls they had that didn't fix the problem, didn't talk to the customer, and didn't follow up. Fuel, salary, vehicle maintenance - all wasted. What Gene should do is go on some truck rolls and he'd quickly see where money is being wasted. | |
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codeePremium
join:2001-10-01
Minneapolis, MN |  Contractors?
Do I like contractors? I can't make a blanket statment about all of them, but I will say I've seen more sketchy jobs done by them then good ones.
Do I feel there is a place for them? Absolutely! There is no way to have ALL in-house techs. The labor load just fluctuates way to much. Contractors are needed to fill the void. The theory is, all work in the pool gets routed In-house first, and then overflow goes to contractors. | |
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Reviews:
·AT&T DSL Service
 ·Virgin Mobile Br..
| Mixed bag I recently moved and my first Comcast contract installer spoke mostly Russian and didn't know anything. He left the pedestal outside unlocked, said I needed a new line because he couldn't find my line and left. I went out and plugged myself in without a problem. The contractor that installed the new line was fine. The next installer was fast, competent, asked questions about my concerns and did a great job. My irritation was having 2 installation times "canceled" without a phone call so I sat at the house for 4 hours two times for nothing. | |
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Titus PulloI came, I saw, I slept
join:2004-06-26
kudos:1 | Shatlock, shitlock these guys move through towns like a bad river. I've heard town criers in old movies that were more believable than these corporate dopes.
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A monthly desktop thread should only happen when Paris Hilton buys a computer. | |
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