Sky bidder Comcast labelled 'worst company in America'

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Sky bidder Comcast labelled 'worst company in America'

Experts urge closer scrutiny over regulatory breaches, customer service and pricing concerns

Mark Sweney
Sun 4 Mar 2018 17.02 GMT

Comcast, which last week unveiled a £22bn offer for Sky, has been labelled the “worst company in America” twice in recent years over shoddy customer service and pricing. It has also been involved in regulatory transgressions which legal experts believe means its plan to take over Sky should be closely scrutinised by watchdogs.

The pay-TV firm, which is poised to formalise its bid to try to steal Sky from under Rupert Murdoch’s nose, announced a $300m plan to spruce up customer service three years ago, but to little avail so far. Comcast was named “America’s most-hated company” in a respected customer satisfaction survey last year.

On top of Comcast’s poor reputation with consumers, it is the company’s corporate transgressions that are most concerning to legal experts examining the merits of its potential takeover bid for Sky.

In recent years, Comcast has been fined more than $2m (£1.5m) by US regulators and was forced to relocate a rival news service nearer to its news channels on its TV guide, while one of its leading TV presenters was involved in a sex scandal. In November, NBC News host Matt Lauer, one of the best-paid TV presenters in the US, was fired after a complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behaviour.

In 2016, Comcast paid a $2.3m fine to resolve a federal investigation into allegations it added charges to customers’ bills for unordered services, including premium channels, set-top boxes and digital video recorders.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/mar/04/sky-bidder-comcast-labelled-worst-company-in-america

[Bradshaw3]

1. I can attest to that

I've dealt with a lot of bad companies in my 64 years but none compares with Comcast as to how they treat their customers. It's been well known for years as in various lists but they never seem to change.

[silverweb]

2. Seconded!

I severed ties with Comcast last year and hate that company with a passion. They harassed me for 2 solid years about a mistake they made and admitted to, but couldn't seem to resolve, although they kept promising to "within the next billing cycle." ​​

Finally, I said they'd better start talking to my lawyer rather than me, because I was done with their repeated assurances that meant absolutely nothing.

The next tool who called mere days later asked what they could do "to get you back as a customer." "Not a damn thing," I said, "so don't ever call me again," and hung up. ​​

It's been blessed silence ever since. ​​
​​

[Bradshaw3]

4. Wow, exact experience I had

I paid a final bill at their center that later closed. They later said they didn't have a record and, like you, got harassed for two years for a bil that had been paid. And the reason the bill was final was because I got rid of their service because they were so bad at customer service!
I finally had to threaten legal action - like you - and then it stopped. They obviously do this on purpose to people to make extra money any way they can. That company is run by scumbags.

[silverweb]

5. I'm sorry to hear what they put you through, too.

In my case, I had moved from one apartment to another in the same complex and transferred my internet service (the only thing I ever had with them), but they kept posting my payments to the old apartment, not the new one. Then they claimed never to have been paid at all until I provided proof. Finally they admitted it was their mistake and said they would rectify it - month after month after month - but they never did.

Then the collection agencies started. This went on for 2 f'ing years. The amount was only something like $115, but I sure as hell wasn't going to pay them twice. Mention lawyer, though, and it does seem to shut them up.

I wish the whole damn company would crash and burn, along with the parasites running it. They truly are the worst company in the nation.

[sweetroxie]

3. Unfortunately, Comcast has a veritable monopoly

where I live. I have a choice of one lousy company (Comcast) vs another lousy company (Verizon FIOS). Great choice! (sarcasm)

[silverweb]

6. True in a lot of places.

We have two basic options here, also: Comcast or AT&T. Maybe Verizon, as well, but I'm not sure and wouldn't use them, anyway. They have an abysmal record for treatment of employees, although I don't know about their customer service.

When I ditched Comcast, I went with AT&T DSL, which isn't quite as fast but is still perfectly adequate for my needs. None of the provider companies are perfect, but I've been with AT&T for our cell phone family plan for at least 20 years and their customer service as compared to Comcast's is like night and day.