Those of you (like me) who are slaves to cable companies know the frustration around customer service. With a handful of providers to choose from, companies that provide TV, broadband and telephone get away with charging exorbitant prices and offering poor customer service.
I’ve had my own run ins with Comcast Cable. I’ve had issues with my internet service cutting out for no reason, forcing me to reboot the router or wait until it resets. When this happens dozens of times a day it can be pretty frustrating. Service people who have come out to look at my problem usually swap out the modem and promise to check the outside line–after which, I get no follow up. The problem has since mysteriously fixed itself. But there’s no guarantee it won’t start up again. Calling customer service is useless. They tell me they have no way of knowing if any of the follow up work promised was completed or not.
That’s my tale of woe, but it’s nothing compared to this poor guy who was literally held hostage on the phone to a Comcast rep who refused to just disconnect his damn service like he asked. The conversation literally turns abusive, as the rep continually demands that the customer give him a good reason for shutting off the service. Being told NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS and PLEASE JUST SHUT OFF MY CABLE does not deter the rabid rep.
The customer, Ryan Block, took over the call from his flustered wife, and was so outraged he began to record the speaker phone conversation with another phone. Mind you, the audio is over 8 minutes long and it’s only the tail end of the encounter!
Finally, the rep agrees to discontinue the service, but refuses to give him a confirmation number. His insistent tone is rude, condescending and downright creepy.
Comcast has expressed embarrassment and regret in the wake of the phone call going viral. The company said in a statement, “The way in which our representative communicated with him is unacceptable and not consistent with how we train our customer service representatives. We are investigating this situation and will take quick action.”
Block responded to the statement on twitter, “@comcast I hope the quick action you take is a thorough evaluation of your culture and policies, and not the termination of the rep.” He went on to add, “PS I hope you’ll also extend that apology to my wife, @Veronica, who had to get through the first (unrecorded) half of the call.”
The bullying demonstrated in this phone exchange was extreme, but I have no doubt it was a product of Comcast’s corporate culture. I bet customer retention figures into a rep’s raises and bonuses. Comcast gets away with pushing the hard sell, until one its employees is such a bad salesperson, he ends up veering into psycho territory.
Listen to the phone call below. Feel free to share your cable company nightmares in comments! Gifs are welcome!
Via The Wrap
