Does Comcast outsource it's customer service?

[louis-t]

I haven't used them for many years.

[RoyGBiv]

1. Yes ...

It's been outsourced to /dev/null

[louis-t]

2. What is dev/null?

[KamaAina]

6. It's a Unix programmers' joke

/dev/null is a null (non-existent, just like Comcast's customer service) device that exists only for coding purposes.

[louis-t]

8. Ah, humor, arg arg.

[RoyGBiv]

9. Yeah, sorry ....

I have a very low opinion of Comcast's customer service.

I was a customer service supervisor for another cable company awhile back, and when I moved and was forced into using Comcast, I could see the difference in the way they ran things even from my side of the phone. It's atrocious. I actually talked one of their technicians through how to fix a problem I was having, which is just absurd.

Anyway, more seriously, what Orrex said is pretty much on target. They try to keep their phone tech support in-country, but the online stuff can be anywhere. They're also pushing toward downsizing the call center staff and moving toward online support for as much as possible. They've already got one menu prompt in their phone call tree that will actually direct a person who is having Internet problems to a website.

[quiller4]

11. I've been a Comcast customer since 2002 and my experience has been positive

On a Saturday afternoon we had a large Douglas fir taken down in our yard. When it fell it damaged our underground cable. I called and Comcast had a crew at my house within 45 minutes. They did a temporary fix and returned the following day, Sunday, with the equipment for a permanent repair.

My old modem began to fail. I called customer service and talked to somebody in customer service who did remote diagnostics. That was on a Friday night. The following day, Saturday, they sent out a technician with a replacement modem. He was fast and friendly. It didn't bother him a bit to have a Cocker Spaniel at his side watching him work.

When our remote began giving us trouble even after a battery change, I called. They sent us a replacement via UPS express.

I have never had an outage that lasted more than 4 hours. That followed a bad windstorm where we were without power for 3 of the 4 hours.

There are things I don't like about Comcast Corporate but I have nothing but praise for their customer service.

Comcast has a local service and call center with over 250 employees in this county.

[RoyGBiv]

12. You're in the minority then ...

They're broadly considered the worst in the business and are used by other companies as an example of what not to do, notably, companies with which they are not in direct competition.

Local centers can vary, of course. If you're in an area with good infrastructure, which it sounds like you are, then your turnaround time for service will be minimal, and the outages will be rarer.

But you hit the nail of the problem with something you said. Many of the decisions made and policies implemented by corporate directly affect customer service, e.g. buying out a small cable system with poor infrastructure and using that area as a hedge against encroachment and to maintain continuity with outdated public lease and franchise agreements. Corporate then doesn't distribute resources to those areas to maintain an appropriate customer service presence.

[teamster633]

14. I guess I'm one of the lucky ones, too.

For 20 years we've lived at a location that is situated in such a way that a large high-voltage transmission corridor prevented us from receiving even the local college signal only 4 miles away. We've had no choice but to subscribe to cable. In all that time, we've rarely lost service beyond the length of any power outage we might have. Service has always been prompt and courteous. Price is the only complaint I could cite, and with no other options even that is a moot point.

[Liquorice]

16. I've been with Comcast since 2000 and have had nothing but positive experiences with them too. nt

[Orrex]

3. Yes and no

When I call for routine customer service, I get someone in Pittburgh's 24-hour call center, and I have to say that they're always friendly, helpful, and professional.

When I submit a question via Comcast.net's online "chat-help" function, the tech person on the other end is usually in another country. Still friendly, helpful, and professional, though.

[AlinPA]

5. Comcast's Pittsburgh's call center is very good. nt

[louis-t]

7. Then I have my question for Comcast CEO.

"Will you make a commitment to move your customer service jobs back to this country?"





Dear Louis,

On Thursday, Congress will put Comcast CEO Brian Roberts in the hot seat. Both the House and the Senate will take a hard look at Comcast’s takeover of NBC.

It's now up to you to make sure they ask tough questions.

What Would You Ask Comcast's CEO?
Click Here to Add Your Question

Are you worried about this deal raising your cable rates, giving you fewer choices online, or setting off a wave of new mergers across the country? Are you concerned about losing local jobs and declining customer service?

Follow the link above to www.DearComcast.com where you can grill Comcast’s top exec. We will forward your questions to key members on both committees and urge them to use your words and stop this bad deal by putting Roberts in the hot seat.

As they used to say in grade school — there is no such thing as a bad question!

Grill Comcast's Top Executive Now!

Follow the link and use the tool to ask your question to Roberts, and then stay tuned on Thursday to see if one of your questions is asked.

Don't miss this chance to make your voice heard.

Thanks,

Josh Stearns
Program Manager
Free Press
www.freepress.net

[KamaAina]

4. What customer service?

:shrug:

[npk]

10. Yep. Comcast is horrible

When I had a problem I would call and usually speak to somebody that sounded like there were from India. Of course the people I spoke to were usually very nice. It's the company itself which I could no longer deal with. It's not the people on the phone in India or other parts of the world that made me cancel their service, it was the garbage that Comcast offered. Glad I got rid of them.

[underpants]

13. My EXTENSIVE experience with them has featured people in LA, IL, and Canada

Comcast sucks horribly.

Cold this morning-no internet
Rain? no internet

[DavidDvorkin]

15. I've had consistently excellent customer service from Comcast in Denver

Much better than I did from the small, local company I was with until I switched.