bicker
join:2007-05-10
Burlington, MA | reply to CableTool
Re: Pay to Pay?!?!?!
Personal attention by a human being is about the most expensive way of paying a bill. I definitely want companies to charge customers insisting on that level of personal attention to pay more for the privilege. |
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SJC_Comcast
@sbcglobal.net
| reply to CableTool
Well in the San jose offic 3 to 4 CRS are busy with lines until they close. The San Jose CRS tell you that you will be out the door in UNDER 2 minutes. I was not saying this was profit, My point is this represents an additional 400K gross income per year in JUST the San Jose office, 90$ per hour X 3 CSR X 6 hours per day X 5 days per week X 50 weeks, that provides credit for being closed holidays! Just another way for comcast to graft the customer!! |
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Chuckles
Premium
join:2006-03-04
Saint Paul, MN
| reply to TKJunkMail
said by TKJunkMail  :Some people like to pay in cash because they live off of the financial grid. They earn their money under the table in cash; don't have checking accounts or credit cards; and avoid paying anything to Uncle Sam. Not to mention illegal immigrants that don't want the scrutiny checking accounts create. I hope these people aren't driving on any roads, using the library or calling the police, sending their kids to public school, using social services, etc..
They can think of it as a 'stay off the financial grid tax'.
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kustomerservice.net |
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fiberguy
My views are my own.
Premium
join:2005-05-20
| reply to perfimage
Why should comcast or any other business have to pay a staff of hundreds or thousands, nationwide, to stand in an expensive building to take your payment in the first place?
For years, people paid their bill through the mail with no problem. There are many options for paying your bill.
1) Pay by mail.
2) Pay on line - credit card or checking account.
3) Pay by telephone via the ARU (Automatic Response Unit)
4) Use a 3rd party BillPay service.
The options that require a customer service rep, who have ALWAYS been placed there for customer needs such as changing your service levels, getting help on using the service, helping you UNDERSTAND, ADJUST ERRORS ON or READING your bill or setting up repairs, installs, etc. It wasn't until the advance of credit cards in general that they now became "I want to pay my bill by phone"...
Customer service standards are being imposed by regulatory bodies all the time. This means they have to answer the phone in X amount of time or pay a fine.
Read other posts here alone. How many people complain of sitting in a que waiting for 30 minutes to get their repair issues solved, or trying to get help and have to wait while a slew of people are waiting to pay their bill with a live person.
The free options exist and shouldn't slow anyone down. So why should comcast or anyone else have to pay the staff to take your payment when they all have methods available for you as always?
Most people that need to pay their bill by cash are usually doing so because they are late on their bill or disconnected. That group of people tend to be the majority of the reason why companies have to staff these centers in the first place. It's never stops amazing me how some people won't pay their bills when they are due, or get the second bill with a balance forward, the late notice, or the disconnect notice. It's when the box goes POOF! or the tv goes to the all snow channel when they rush to the payment centers.
So, that $1.99 fee? A drop in the bucket. You could have simply dropped your payment int he pay drop box outside.. but wait, that requires a check or money order, and money orders usually cost about $1.00 +/- to get.. not to mention your time. See what I'm getting at? Time... how much is your time worth to you? Comcast's employees time is usually worth about $20+ an hour when you figure in ALL costs to put that person on the payroll.
In other words.. it's not free on ANY part to take a payment but when you use hard core resources to make it, I am behind any company that charges a small, REASONABLE fee to collect that payment.
(And so you know, they started taking credit card payments period and they pay about 1% to 2% of your payment just to take it.. it's a conveneince to you, but they still have to pay. The reason they eat this fee is it often offsets the cost associated with collections)
Good luck to you.. and hopefully you can find a way to save some of that $1.99 next time.
P.S. My power company charges me 8% of my payment to make a credit card payment no matter WHAT method I use!
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"Complaining is the least path of resistance for the self-serving, the lazy, and I’m told it’s a woman’s prerogative..." |
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fiberguy
My views are my own.
Premium
join:2005-05-20
| reply to Zoder
What does being poor have to do with not having a checking account in the first place?
Judging from the area of the OP, I can only imagine the amount of payment transactions that are processed at the customer service center.
The phone company, for years, never had a payment center. You made all payments through the mail - period, where I was from. It wasn't until the early to mid 90's that they started to partner with businesses to accept payments for them like hardware stores or check cashing places. Many of those places charged a small convenience fee as well.
Companies realize it does cost money to process transaction payments, but just how much cost should they accept before they pass it on to the customer? I, for one, would rather they charge those that use the un-necessary resources to pay their bills rather than a blanket across the board rate increase. After all, if more people are making payments in person now, it IS costing them more money to accept payments and they do need to recoup that money.
I don't see the problem.
By the way.. I'd almost guess that it would be harder to find a bank that doesn't offer a senior free or regular free checking account that it would be to not find one.
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"Complaining is the least path of resistance for the self-serving, the lazy, and I’m told it’s a woman’s prerogative..." |
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fiberguy
My views are my own.
Premium
join:2005-05-20
| reply to SJC_Comcast
Your math is wrong and assuming that you are running tight as can be. Ignore the signs or what they say about under 2 minutes. (It's funny what people hold a company to vs. what they don't hold them to)
You also assume that every customer in the center is only there to pay their bill. What about box drop off, swaps, etc. Those take some time. Some people also go in there to set up and establish service.. etc. I've been in the service center plenty of times to see 1 person take 5 minutes of the person's time.. and that was just to pay their bill as well as argue about the very bill they were there to pay.. not to mention, they were late, the service was shut off, etc.
In your calculations, did you factor in the cost of the employee beyond the hourly rate? It costs a company to employ someone beyond their hourly pay.. and then there is a building, electricity, insurance, repairs, etc etc etc.
Graft the customer? Maybe today's customer is more expensive to have than the customer of years back when it was a lot easier.. ie: get a bill, you pay it by check in the mail.
Go to the post office, waste your own time in line there, grab an .89 cent money order, drop said payment in box for free. Done! Simple.
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"Complaining is the least path of resistance for the self-serving, the lazy, and I’m told it’s a woman’s prerogative..." |
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Greg_Z
Premium
join:2001-08-08
Springfield, IL
 ·Comcast
| reply to goober22
The CSR is hired to man the phones, not take bills. I remember walking into a Call Center once, where the window is now shut, and you have to drop your bill in the drop box by day's end to be credited for your bill.
Call Centers are not Payment Centers. Matter of fact, when I go to drop off my power bill, the girl in the Customer Service Center is there to answer questions, not take payments. There is a drop box on the wall that is collected from during the day. |
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Greg_Z
Premium
join:2001-08-08
Springfield, IL
·Comcast
| reply to bicker
That is what the Help line is for, not the person that is there to check in boxes, answer questions, add on services. Bill Gates has a book about how companies should enter the digital age, and not think 19th century. Comcast and a lot of other companies are doing just that.
Matter of fact, those that have Cingular, use a Self-Service Kiosk to process their payments, and the rep in the store never touches it. |
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rody_44
Premium
join:2004-02-20
Quakertown, PA | reply to perfimage
i still dont think its proper to charge to pay with cash at comcast. no big deal tho since i pay with auto pay anyhow. |
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Zoder
join:2002-04-16
Miami, FL
| reply to fiberguy
said by fiberguy :What does being poor have to do with not having a checking account in the first place? ... By the way.. I'd almost guess that it would be harder to find a bank that doesn't offer a senior free or regular free checking account that it would be to not find one. Not all banks offer free checking accounts and will charge fees if the balance is below a certain amount. Statistics show that millions of low income households have no bank accounts at all. I can't answer you why but that just seems to be the way it is. Low income household can also have a checking account but the bank will hold the funds on the deposited check for several days. Since on average their balances will be lower, this can cause their checks to bounce.
I'm sure you have observed that there are check cashing stores in low income neighborhoods? If everyone in these neighborhoods had bank accounts and didn't need the money available without the bank holds, the check cashing stores wouldn't be in business. |
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fiberguy
My views are my own.
Premium
join:2005-05-20
| You're a bit off...
First off, I never said "all banks" have free checking.. I said that most all areas do... SOME bank if offering a free checking option. A lot don't care about balance either. And even if they do charge a monthly fee, it's about $7 or less.
Most people that are poor and don't have checking accounts is because they were poor... poor at managing them.. or, either screwed their banks by bouncing checks, over drawing, going hundreds in the negative and no longer deserve checking accounts. It's because they decided to live beyond their means and write checks that they couldn't handle...
If you want to know why check cashing places are there.. that's the reason.
I hate to say this too, but those people who screwed up that bad and have to use check cashing places were no angels to begin with and should be happy they at least have these options to them even at the cost.
Those that are irresponsible are part of the reason why fees to everyone else are so high.
And also.. money holds on deposits are the same no matter who you are. Most places/banks hold instate checks for 24 to 48 hours and out of state checks for up to 5 days. That has nothing to do with being poor.. or in poor neighborhoods.
I'd like to see a bank that has a policy based on your wealth vs state and federal banking laws.
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"Complaining is the least path of resistance for the self-serving, the lazy, and I’m told it’s a woman’s prerogative..." |
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comcrap90
@comcast.net
| reply to CableTool
that sucks too..i go to the comcast office and did you notice at my comcast office . there are no chairs to sit down .have to wait in a line to process the bill . i guess thats why every one around me has satellite,,  |
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TurboDan
join:2006-06-08
Point Pleasant Beach, NJ
| reply to perfimage
I can't imagine taking the time to physically deal with going to the cable company to pay the bill, but at the same time, it is things like this that will cause so many people to dump Comcast out of spite alone when they get the chance.
Is Verizon any better to their customers? Who knows... but Comcast has pissed so many people off over the years, I really believe their spitting in the face of customers will cost them in the long run. At least, I can only hope it does. |
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Zoder
join:2002-04-16
Miami, FL
| reply to fiberguy
said by fiberguy :And also.. money holds on deposits are the same no matter who you are. Most places/banks hold instate checks for 24 to 48 hours and out of state checks for up to 5 days. That has nothing to do with being poor.. or in poor neighborhoods. I'd like to see a bank that has a policy based on your wealth vs state and federal banking laws. I might not have been very clear. What I meant was that people living paycheck to paycheck usually won't pay their bills until they receive their next paycheck. So they have a higher chance of having their checks bounce because of the hold. If they pay in cash then they avoid that problem.
Personally, I could care less if Comcast charges a convenience fee. It just always struck me as ironic that the people most impacted by this fee are the customers who could least afford it. |
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Insider101
join:2006-09-19
Brooklyn, NY
1 edit | reply to perfimage
This is an easy one. They are obviously joining the trend to attempt to minimize the amount of in-house staff used. They key here is automation. Cutting labor cost is a bean counters top priority. That and to discourage unionization.
Just to be a little more clear.
If they start to see a significant % decrease in the amount of customers being processed by the walk in rep's per day, they can start to minimize the amount of on hand reps per day. What is the point of having a bunch of employee's just sitting around doing nothing? If an employee leaves then they may not replace them. |
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senatedon
join:2002-03-18
Mechanicsburg, PA
 ·Comcast Digital Vo..
·Comcast
| reply to perfimage
While I disagree with what Comcast has done with this fee, I gotta tell you...I'd rather they do this than increase rates across the board.
I for one pay my bill electronically through my online banking, so I won't be hit with this charge.
But, I'd be upset about another cable bill increase.
To make matters pleasant, I signed up yesterday for the sports tier promo at $1.99 for a year, saving $3.01 per month. See - there are some good things with comcast. |
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Greg_Z
Premium
join:2001-08-08
Springfield, IL
·Comcast
| reply to Insider101
Has nothing to do with minimizing in house staff. It has to do with entering the Digital Age, and using the tools that are available to make things easier not only for the company, but for the consumer.
Why duplicate a task that can be done through automated processes (upgrade services, pay your bill, check account balances, reset receiver, schedule appointments). The telephone company has been doing this for some time, specifically Ameritech was big on it. |
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Chuckles
Premium
join:2006-03-04
Saint Paul, MN
| reply to comcrap90
said by comcrap90 :that sucks too..i go to the comcast office and did you notice at my comcast office . there are no chairs to sit down .have to wait in a line to process the bill . i guess thats why every one around me has satellite,, Because satellite companies have chairs?
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kustomerservice.net |
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Greg_Z
Premium
join:2001-08-08
Springfield, IL
·Comcast
| No, it is because the only way to pay your bill with Satellite companies is online, or call their AVRS (Automated Voice Response System) to pay your bill. If I recall, Satellite companies have set the standard in charging extra for stuff that you can do through automated processes (fee to ask for Pay-Per-View, fee to pay bill with CSR). |
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CableTool
Poorly Representing MYSELF.
Premium
join:2004-11-12 | Haha, so if Cable removed the option altogether they would be on par with sat?
Awesome!
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CableFAQ.org/Technicians Unplugged
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