Insiders: 5 Confessions Of A Comcast Customer Service Rep
By Ben Popken on Readers

I've been meaning to post this from The Consumerist and am finally getting it up. Enjoy.

..."I am going to tell you a few things that you may not believe happens in a call center but it does. (yes it does!)

5. SUPERVISORS WILL ONLY STEP IN IF YOU REFUSE TO BE MOLLIFIED

Ever wonder why anytime you request a supervisor that the CAE tells you that we will need to get your information and have one call you back, or we ask if you allow us the opportunity to assist yo.? The reason for this is that we have escalation measures set in that a customer cannot speak to a supervisor unless the supervisor feels that he or she must take the call. Beyond that, it's the CAE's problem to calm down and take care of the customer. Usually the call may be taken away if the supervisor is listening to the CAE's phone call and see how irate the customer is, and that no matter what the CAE says a customer refuses to get off the phone unless they speak to a supervisor. So if anyone was wondering why they can't just request a supervisor...then there is your reason.

That's a better system than we have. For me the customer will request a supervisor, if they aren't in a "meeting" or out smoking, they will leave the customer on hold asking me stupid questions about why they want a supervisor hoping the customer will hang up. Most do. I guess this system works.

In another department the "supervisors" were just reps who got paid more that day to take the complaint calls. In other departments you just ask the person sitting next to you to talk take the call.

4. CUSTOMER SERVICE HAS NO IDEA WHEN A TECH WILL SHOW UP

You guys ever wonder why the person you speak to about your tech's expected time arrival is a mystery most of the time? That's because to the customer service rep at Comcast, it is. Only dispatch knows where a tech is and when a technician is on its way. Thanks to the bureaucratic way Comcast works, your CAE that you are screaming at must send an email to dispatch and wait for dispatch to send a reply, which can take about a minute to nearly thirty minutes. Now, they will always tell you that dispatch or the tech will call you back. More than likely, they will not. There is a chance that they may do it, but chances are pretty slim. So next time you call and ask where is your tech and when is he coming to fix your problem or do your installation, just relax and know that since there are so many customers and so few dispatch people capable of answering phones you will not get any good answer off the bat. Just be nice and ask them to fill out a resolve form and give you a reference number for later. It will make everyone's job easier.
[ed. Here are the numbers for dispatch so you can call directly, even if your Comcast rep can't.]

Yeah we HATE this question. I can look at the tech's log but I don't know what he/she's actually DOING or GOING TO DO. I could tell you that you are next but then the tech out in the field could rearrange his list and now I've hung up with you and you are last. Or if you are in Illinois he/she probably will just write that he/she was there and no one was available. Even if you have been sitting on the front step all day waiting. Or he/she could have went home sick or took 1/2 day off, if the outside supervisor "forgets" to pull the work from that tech and get it on another person no will be out.

3. IF YOU DON'T PICK UP THE PHONE WHEN THEY "CALL', YOUR APPOINTMENT IS CANCELED, EVEN IF THEY NEVER ACTUALLY CALLED

Let's also stay on the subject of dispatch and phone calls. I know that many of you notice that when you wonder why your tech isn't showing up and you find out your appointment was canceled. They consider that if you don't pick up your phone...even if they never called you...you are not home verified. That means the tech does not have to go to your house because your appointment was canceled. Please don't ask your CAE about these calls... the CAEs don't make them, dispatch does. No matter what you tell your CAE, the chances of a technician going to your home after your appointment was canceled and you were not home verified is slim to none and you WILL have to reschedule. Issues like these creates arguments with my supervisor in ways you can never believe. When your appointment gets canceled and your CAE says your appointment was cancelled with a claim that dispatch called you and they didn't just stop, breathe, and count to three and ask to reschedule. That's really all that can be done. I am sorry, guys.

Pretty much what I said in #4.

2. DON'T GET COMCAST PHONE IF YOUR AREA HAS LOTS OF CABLE OUTAGES

The next thing I want to cover is your services. Due to the monopolistic ways of cable companies I cannot say if a problem like this plagues other cable companies but beware of their phone service. Not that it's a bad product mind you but there are some caveats that will not be explained to you, until its too late. First thing you must ask yourself...does Comcast in my area suffer from lots of outages.? If your area does, then stay clear of it. When there's a cable outage, you will not have a phone. Also, I must mention that with the phone service, do not be delinquent with your payments. If you get to the point that they will disrupt your services (phone, cable box, and modem is deactivated) you will have to pay for your phone to be activated again. Hope they change that one.

If you are upset don't threaten me that you are going to take your business elsewhere. (we put you on hold and make fun of you) If that were the case you would just do it and not mention it. Unless you go with cable it's still our lines and our techs and within a few months we'll throw incentives at you and you'll be back.

1. COMCAST IS A GIANT, UNCARING MACHINE

I don't want to say much else but just know there's a very important thing I want to impart to the readers is that a business is only around to make money and charge you for the services they contain. When a business gets large enough it turns into a machine and the only thing that makes it seem human is the people they hire. Unless you really can't control yourself, keep your anger in check. For Comcast, your screams and your cries are not heard anymore. There are so many people screaming that Comcast has become tone deaf. They will start listening again soon when the money stops rolling in. That's how you put a company in check. You leave them and make them lose money in any way possible. Comcast needs a wake up call and the consumer needs to give it to them.

I doubt it's just Comcast, I've called other call centers for lots of different businesses and it's just the way it is.

I don't mind getting upset or pissed off customers and I actually enjoy the ones that scream and swear. Hee. **I** know it's not going to help but it is pretty funny and breaks up the day. The customers I do go out of my way to help though are the soft spoken nice ones who apologize for being upset. (upset? compared to others they are kittens and puppies) This type of customer I empathize with, I don't need a sad story about a sick mother, father, child blah blah. I KNOW the tech screwed you and if I can I'll fix it. No need to embellish.

Same as when I was in billing. Point out the error, give a short explanation (some of my peers really are stupid) then stop. If you're not getting anywhere ask for a supervisor. If that person is an idiot ask for their supervisor. You'll get results the higher you go.

Personally I avoid call centers but this reminds me I need to call AOL. Now THAT is a trip. I hope I can understand the person I get. Oiy.