So as I’m sure most of you have noticed that a Comcast representative actually responded to my last blog post about leaving Comcast. I have posted below the email chain once I contacted him to discuss everything further. All in all I think it was nice of him to credit my remaining balance and such but I don’t see myself going back to Comcast anytime soon due to the lack of service I received during the entire time I had them. The only edits I made to the conversations was to remove my email address, account information, and I removed the set of emails of me trying to verify that this person was actually from Comcast. Everything else has been included.
From: Jonathan B. Clark
Date: Tue, Feb 19, 2008 at 10:43 AM
Subject: Fwd: [NonaTheNinja] Comment: “Red Robin”
To: frank_eliason@cable.comcast.com
What have you got to say?
From: Eliason, Frank <Frank_Eliason@cable.comcast.com>
Date: Tue, Feb 19, 2008 at 10:48 AM
Subject: RE: [NonaTheNinja] Comment: “Red Robin”
To: “Jonathan B. Clark”
I want to apologize for the service that you received from us and I am
sorry that we have lost you as a Customer. I would like to make it
easier upon you leaving, so if it would not be too much trouble, can you
forward me your account information and I can make sure you are properly
credited to the date that you called.
We are working to improve the service we provide to our valued Customers
and this is an example that we can learn from. Please also share with
me any feedback you have regarding your experience with Comcast. I work
for the senior staff of the Comcast and I would like to make sure we
learn from all our experiences with Customers.
Thank you for responding!!!
Frank
From: Eliason, Frank <Frank_Eliason@cable.comcast.com>
Date: Tue, Feb 19, 2008 at 10:48 AM
Subject: RE: [NonaTheNinja] Comment: “Red Robin”
To: “Jonathan B. Clark”
I want to apologize for the service that you received from us and I am
sorry that we have lost you as a Customer. I would like to make it
easier upon you leaving, so if it would not be too much trouble, can you
forward me your account information and I can make sure you are properly
credited to the date that you called.
We are working to improve the service we provide to our valued Customers
and this is an example that we can learn from. Please also share with
me any feedback you have regarding your experience with Comcast. I work
for the senior staff of the Comcast and I would like to make sure we
learn from all our experiences with Customers.
Thank you for responding!!!
Frank
From: Jonathan B. Clark
Date: Tue, Feb 19, 2008 at 1:18 PM
Subject: Re: [NonaTheNinja] Comment: “Red Robin”
To: “Eliason, Frank” <Frank_Eliason@cable.comcast.com>
Frank,
I would have to say I have had a lot of problems with Comcast when it comes to
customer service and I hope this list below will assist you in your
goal of improving the service for the future.
To start off I would like to point out some service differences
between Verizon and Comcast. Comcast technicians never call me when
they are on their way, and they ALWAYS show up outside the window. I
have previously tried calling to find out what is up and where they
are only to be told they are on their way, and 2 hours later the
technician still has not arrive. What is the point of giving me a
window if you are not going to make the window? When the technician
finally shows up, he doesn’t seem to have the information he needs to
complete the job and gives informs me of “requirements” that I have
never heard of before that keeps the job from being completed or
ensure I get charged extra… When I subscribed to Verizon, I received
an email and link to walk me through any requirements that I might
need and inform me of the entire process. I knew the things I needed
to have onsite when the tech arrived and what was going to be
completed before the tech arrived. A technician called me the day
before to confirm the appointment and was aware that I had completed
the online “Pre Service” checklist, he called me when he was on his
way to my house, and when he showed up (inside of the window I
received with plenty of time left) he was knowledgeable about the
install and able to resolve any problems I had with the service. In
fact he didn’t leave until he ensure all the services I was having
installed where working and he even called me 2 hours later to ensure
the services were still working.
Onto problems I’ve had with Comcast.
Whenever I call into support it doesn’t seem that anyone is empowered
to make a decision and take care of my problem. I have to sit on hold
for the first technician who appears to be only capable of reciting a
call sheet, then I get to the second level where I have to repeat my
problem again only to have minimal troubleshooting done (Why do I have
to repeat the problem?), when I finally get to the third level and
explain my problem again, I’m told they need to send a technician out,
to just reboot, or I actually get hung up on. I actually had someone
tell me the problem was with my wireless network and modem because I
owned the equipment. No offense to your service, but I’m a network
engineer myself and I’m well aware on how to troubleshoot my network
and determine where a problem resides. When I inform them of this,
they simply tell me to reboot or the call gets disconnected. I
actually watched one time as my modems IP address changed from an
internal IP address to an external IP address as the technician said
they were not doing anything at all, when I brought this to their
attention they told me I was wrong and they could send a technician
out.
When it comes to customer service, it appears they don’t really care
that I am a customer or are well informed of ANY process/procedure. I
call one person and get one answer, I call another person and get
another totally different answer. I ask to speak with a manager and
they are never available and they never call me back. It took me over
4 days to get a credit to my account when a technician showed up 6
hours late to my house (BTW this was the initial install at my house
where you would want to make a good impression). Then the technician
tried to get me to sign a form saying he arrived on-time. I can’t
tell you how many times I called to speak with a manager and was told
I would receive a call back but never did until 4 days later…. I
mean 6 HOURS late and 4 DAYS to actually get a response is completely
unacceptable!!!!! I call to complain and I’m told “Sorry” or I’m hung
up on. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been hung up on and then
have to repeat the holding process. Whats the point of asking for my
phone number at the beginning of the call if you never call me back
after an “accidental disconnect”? Why am I told that a manager isn’t
available and they can help to solve my problem if they never do? It
really makes me feel like they don’t care if I goto another service,
so here I am going to another service.
Also it really seems like the only way to get a problem resolved is to
call up comcast and tell them you are going to discontinue your
service. The next thing out of their mouths is “I’m sorry for any
inconvenience you may have experienced, is their anything I can do to
help you stay with our service?” Why do I need to threaten to leave
your service in order to actually get service? Why is it that you
pick up my blog about leaving comcast (titled something completely
different not mentioning comcast) but are unable to pick up my blog
post titled “Comcast Blows” (located here:
http://nonatheninja.wordpress.com/2008/01/29/comcast-blows/). It
seems as though only when I’m about to leave the service do I actually
get treated as a customer. But in my mind, why should I stay because
I know the crappy service will only continue until I threaten to leave
again. My wife and I actually debated about calling Comcast at the
start of the month and saying we were going to leave the service so we
could actually get decent service. That idea lost out when I decided
to first call Verizon and experienced what their normal customer
service is like.
I have had Comcast a total of 4 times in my life spanning over 10
years and have never had a good experience with you. You have never
once even been able to do a first install at any of my houses without
screwing it up. At one time the technician told me that he wouldn’t
ensure my internet was working because I owned my own modem and he
left. I had to call comcast after it wasn’t working and have them
register the Modems MAC Address, a process I informed the technician
needed to be completed and he denied. Another time I picked up my
cable boxes only to have NO services added so after 3 days (when the
hot swappable box period ended) I ended up with basic cable. I spoke
with your customer service team 4 times before getting fed up and
heading to the local comcast office to return the box as defective,
only once I arrived the nice lady at the counter informed me the boxes
didn’t have the proper services activated on them….. Why couldn’t
customer service see this?
When I started to receive fuzzy and weak signal one time, a technician
came out to my house and informed me I had the line split too many
times, when I informed him it had been like this for the past 3 years
without problems he informed me I was wrong…. (BTW you all did the
split in the attic when the cable was installed and you all did the
drops to each bedroom). When he went into my attic he forced open the
door and ended up ruining the new paint job I had just done in that
bedroom. He was able to leave without mentioning a single thing to me
until I caught up to him. When I asked him if Comcast would fix it,
he gave me a number to call and left. When I called that number I
never got a response back until I called to cancel my service. Then I
got a call from the exact technician who caused the problem angry that
I had reported it and asking how I expected him to fix it. I mean he
damaged my house and now I’m suppose to have the exact same technician
come out again? I think not.
In conclusion, Frank I appreciate the ability to voice my frustrations
and I would love to hear any response you have besides “I’m Sorry.” I
have run a call center myself at one time and understand how difficult
it is to maintain a high level of customer service and how important
feedback is. I hope that these incidents will provide some insight
into how to better improve your processes and procedures.
If you can also confirm that my account is all squared away and how
much my final bill is I would appreciate it.
Thanks
~Jonathan B. Clark
From: Eliason, Frank <Frank_Eliason@cable.comcast.com>
Date: Tue, Feb 19, 2008 at 7:35 PM
Subject: RE: [NonaTheNinja] Comment: “Red Robin”
To: “Jonathan B. Clark”
I want to apologize for your experience with Comcast. Our treatment in
your situation is what led to your poor opinion of our Company. I will
be asking our local team to look into the handling of your account. We
are doing many things to address the exact issues you mentioned. First
there is a communications gap between technicians and Customer Service
representatives. We are in the process of equipping our technicians
with small handheld computers that will allow for real time updates that
can be placed within the account. We will also be using this technology
to better communicate delays, and better yet, reroute other technicians
so there is no perceived delay by the Customer.
We do realize that the service we have provided in the past is not up to
par. In October we brought in Rick Germano as the Senior Vice President
for Customer Service. I like dealing with Rick because he calls it like
he sees it. No non-sense. You can review some of the improvements we
are working on at the following URL:
http://www.comcast.com/customerservice
In fact the technology I spoke about is discussed in Rick’s notes from
the road, which is a link on the right side.
We do recognize that we have not always provided the best in class
service. We now need to learn from past experiences, such as yours. We
then need to take what we learn and implement true changes so it does
not impact other valued Customers.
I had one of my team members review your account, and make sure we
adjusted the balance to 0. She is going to follow the account through
the account cycle to make sure it remains that way. If for some reason
it does not, we will make the adjustment. I will also follow up with
you via email.
Thank you for the feedback. I will be sharing it and we will learn from
your experience!
Sincerely,
Frank Eliason
