Comcastic Customer Service

Comcast is a great company.  Their success can certainly be measured in Philadelphia, as it is the Comcast building that tops the Center City skyline.

Yet people still complain about their customer service.

Ok… So sometimes you have to wait to go through their teleprompt system until you get to the option you want, but compared to companies like AT&T, Comcast soars as high as its new skyscraper in its customer service.  Heck, I can even get to a live representative within four options, and they actually give you that option as opposed to other companies that hide it.  Yes, yes, I understand, you need your internet back NOW.  You’re not happy when your cable TV goes out in the middle of your favorite show… Nobody is, so join the club.  I think that for their sheer size they [Comcast] do a bang-up job of getting the problem fixed as quickly as possible.

As the owner of a small DJ business, I understand the difficulties of managing efficient customer service. What I couldn’t do is imagine that responsibility times millions.  The reason I say this is that through my social media surfing, I cannot help but notice the occasional “Comcast sucks” and think to myself, “There goes another impatient and unrealistic customer.” Sorry if that sounds as if I’m being overly sympathetic to a multi-billion dollar corporation, but I honestly believe it. The older I get I am beginning to wonder about the old saying; “The customer is always right.”  Certainly it is easy to apply that when we are the customer, but when we are working doing the best we can for that customer who just can’t be reasonable (and sometimes can’t even be nice) do we really feel that strongly about it?

I’m old enough to remember dial phones, where when you couldn’t get through to a representative you just got a busy signal and had to call back.  I think in comparison we’ve made leaps and bounds since then.

Like I said earlier, I’ve been there… On hold with muzac playing waiting for sometimes twenty minutes or more for any range of services (power, telephone, hospital, computers, etc) and I wasn’t happy at all, but I don’t think I’ve ever had to wait that long for Comcast.  Did they give me their infamous ‘window,’ telling me the service guy would be out (on a work day) between 11;00am and 4:00pm?  Sure they have, but I deal with it.  Life goes on and for a company that services so many millions, Comcast does a fantastic, no… a ‘Comcastic’ job IMHO (in my humble opinion).

Currently, Comcast is saving me almost 75% compared to what I used to pay (with AT&T).  They aren’t perfect, but they’re really, really good, and that combined with their prices is perfect enough for me.  I think the saying “You can’t please all of the people all of the time” would be more appropriate whenever discussing customer service as a whole.  I get the feeling that Comcast representatives truly care, and talk ‘to me’ not ‘at me’ in comparison to other companies like Dell for example that farm out their customer service departments where you end up dealing with a representative named ‘Buddy Smith’ who has such a heavy foreign accent that I hardly understand him, much less believe ‘Smith’ is even a surname in the country the call is actually being received in.

Heck, you can even reach Comcast on Facebook and twitter!  This is a company that breathes accessibility, and that shows me that they truly care.

I own a small DJ company with fifty employees, but the way Comcast treats me I feel like a Fortune 500 CEO.

Keep up the good work Comcast.

-Craig

www.cuttingedges.wpengine.com

2 Responses

  1. Sue

    I agree completely with your assessment of what I have heard disgruntled folks call “Dumbcast”.

    I scheduled a hook up of cable/internet, in person at a branch office, near the very end of June. Four re-schedulings later, my hook-up was finally completed Saturday, July 25. I could complain about the wait, mistakes, etc. but I’m not.

    In addition to the detailed explanations (and my resulting education), sincere apologies, lengthy phone calls with pleasant and concerned, customer service reps., I also received more than enough compensation (offered freely) to make up for the time I was without service. In the end, I think I was the one who made out. Behind that logo there are real, hard working people who, yes, like all of us, make mistakes but also own up to said mistakes … and fix them.

    I have been in customer service my entire career and with my knowledge and experience I can very comfortably say I recommend Comcast.

    … and CuttingEdge too.

    Great blog as usual Craig!

  2. MikeY

    Late last summer my wife and I visited Philly and stayed near the building. It was on my site seeing list and we were awed by the show and the friendliness of the people. Went back for multiple visits. Can’t say as much about the local service in Chicagoland switched to AT&T broadband and cable a while back…..

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