Comcast bill rude name change

[Opti]

Comcast changed the name of one of its Washington customers from 'Ricardo Brown' to 'A--hole Brown' in a mailing sent after the customer had cancelled part of its service.


A major cable provider was forced to apologize when its mailings referred to a customer as an "A--hole" after the man's wife cancelled part of their service.

Ricardo Brown, a Comcast customer from Washington state, received bills that referred to him as "A--hole Brown" following the call his wife placed to reduce their monthly payment, the Consumerist reported.

www.nydailynews.com/news/national/comcast-apologizes-renaming-customer-a-hole-article-1.2095975

Surprised? Not surprised?

[billisonboard]

"This call may be recorded ..."

Wouldn't it be interesting to hear the call. 

[Opti]

Jan 30, 2015 9:27:02 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

"This call may be recorded ..."

Wouldn't it be interesting to hear the call. 

Yes it would. Comcast is saying they don't know how it happened.

I wonder if its true or they didn't want the PR issues of keeping whoever did it.

[billisonboard]

Jan 30, 2015 9:31:54 GMT -5 Opti said:

Jan 30, 2015 9:27:02 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

"This call may be recorded ..."

Wouldn't it be interesting to hear the call. 

Yes it would. Comcast is saying they don't know how it happened.

I wonder if its true or they didn't want the PR issues of keeping whoever did it.

I find it hard to believe that they can't narrow it down to a very small group or even an individual. I can see how it might happen. You are sitting there listening to someone who is ticking you off (could be justified or could be you are having a bad day). You idly type a new name for the person as the conversation drones on. You change screens to do something else and totally forget you changed the name. I may have done something similar once or twice on a notepad during a conference call. I was just fortunate that it was personal notes.

I think Comcast has handled it the best way possible.

[gs11rmb]

I read that Comcast fired the employee involved.

[lexxy703]

I can only imagine how many times my Comcast file has been labled Irrational Bytch from Hell.  With or without the word drunk attached.

[8 Bit WWBG]

I think for companies like Comcast, they will always be hated.  Don't most TV providers have a monopoly in many markets?  People are addicted to TV.

I know companies are "concerned" about the increase of "cord cutters".  Has the segment reached a worrisome size yet, or are they still just figuring most people will never follow through.

[billisonboard]

Jan 30, 2015 15:28:12 GMT -5 lexxy703 said:

I can only imagine how many times my Comcast file has been labled Irrational Bytch from Hell.  With or without the word drunk attached.

I am sure my mother had a special label on hers. She was seriously addicted to television, had every special premium station possible (except sports).She was always sugary sweet when she called but would always explain that she was why they were a profitable company so of course they would be doing every thing possible to meet her current need immediately. And they did.

miss you Mom

[Sam_2.0]

Having worked for a call center, I can certainly understand the temptation to do such a thing. But any mention of a name like this even in a note in the system would have gotten us fired. It's pretty easy to track who changes which fields and when. That's why you get a piece of paper and a pen, like billisonboard said, and make sure you drop off your scratch papers in the shredder bin on your way out each night

[billisonboard]

Jan 30, 2015 16:09:53 GMT -5 Sam_2.0 said:

Having worked for a call center, I can certainly understand the temptation to do such a thing. But any mention of a name like this even in a note in the system would have gotten us fired. It's pretty easy to track who changes which fields and when. That's why you get a piece of paper and a pen, like billisonboard said, and make sure you drop off your scratch papers in the shredder bin on your way out each night

We work with a guy, let's say his name is "Ed", who presents some, let's say "special", challenges for us. There is particular way we reference this person to ensure we realize we are talking about the same guy. We had a young gal working for us for a while. One day I had a note from her in my box that he had called. I had to explain to her the different rules for verbal and written communication.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Jan 30, 2015 15:49:24 GMT -5 8 Bit WWBG said:

I think for companies like Comcast, they will always be hated.  Don't most TV providers have a monopoly in many markets?  People are addicted to TV.

I know companies are "concerned" about the increase of "cord cutters".  Has the segment reached a worrisome size yet, or are they still just figuring most people will never follow through.

But they don't have to treat their customers the way that they do.  

It's not just TV, but at least locally Comcast is the ONLY internet provider in town as well. 

 

[Formerly SK]

I have never felt so violently angry in my life as I felt last week when I got my bill from Centurylink and it showed once again that they had fucked up my account.  I must spend an hour of my life every month getting my bill fixed.     Unfortunately, I don't have options for internet providers.  Or I should say, my other option is Comcast and I know they are no different. 

[tloonya]

Remember once I was posting here mentioned Dick Van Dyke show and it appeared that autocorrect changed Dyke into a lesbian?

When I saw my post my eyes popped! And I sent it to mods and they had changed it. Maybe similar thing had happened?

[8 Bit WWBG]

...:::"But they don't have to treat their customers the way that they do.  It's not just TV, but at least locally Comcast is the ONLY internet provider in town as well.":::...

Perhaps a larger question is: do they REALLY treat the majority of customers badly, or is it just the outliers who skew the reputation for the whole company.  Are airlines as terrible as we perceive?  Or is it just that 5% of customers whose flights were cancelled and luggage lost that shape the perception.

What would get me most is the mistakes these companies make and get away with.  Shoddy record keeping on their part costs customers time and energy.  Do these companies compensate customers when there is a billing error, perhaps with a discount or a temporary upgrade?  Or is your reward for your time and energy that you aren't overcharged?

I really try to be nice to reps, but some of these companies "policies" cause unnecessary difficulty.  Customers cry foul when policies seem all to convenient for the company -- such as ones that prevent the simple redemption of rewards points.

[Deleted]

Feb 7, 2015 7:22:14 GMT -5 8 Bit WWBG said:

...:::"But they don't have to treat their customers the way that they do.  It's not just TV, but at least locally Comcast is the ONLY internet provider in town as well.":::...

Perhaps a larger question is: do they REALLY treat the majority of customers badly, or is it just the outliers who skew the reputation for the whole company.  Are airlines as terrible as we perceive?  Or is it just that 5% of customers whose flights were cancelled and luggage lost that shape the perception.

What would get me most is the mistakes these companies make and get away with.  Shoddy record keeping on their part costs customers time and energy.  Do these companies compensate customers when there is a billing error, perhaps with a discount or a temporary upgrade?  Or is your reward for your time and energy that you aren't overcharged?

I really try to be nice to reps, but some of these companies "policies" cause unnecessary difficulty.  Customers cry foul when policies seem all to convenient for the company -- such as ones that prevent the simple redemption of rewards points.

I've been having a dispute with AT&T for a few months. DD went in one of their stores to ask a question and was given incorrect information, and I ended up with a huge bill for services I didn't want and nobody was using. When I called for an explanation, I spent well over an hour on the phone, but the end result was my account would be credited for over $200. New bill, no credits. Call again, young lady doesn't know what I'm talking about, there are no notes of my call in the computer even though I gave her the time, date and name of the person I spoke to. My bill was due, but I was so ticked at being lied to, that I didn't want to pay it.

Called again and got someone in the finance department because my bill was past due. Had a conversation with him about why I was so upset that I didn't want to pay the bill. Kept apologizing for my tone of voice, because I wasn't upset with him in particular. He said it was ok, he gets worse calls from people that have a lot less to complain about. He was appalled at the misinformation in the store that led to the whole fiasco, while I was more pissed that I'd spent all that time on the phone, getting all those promises that were lies. He finally said he saw where there were a bunch of credits on my account entered on the first day I'd called, but no notes, and that the credits should show up on my next bill. Fine. I paid the bill.

New bill, no credits. Now I'm going back to the store where this all started, with my little notes of who I've talked to, when, and what was said. I've spoken to the manager once already, but that was while I was waiting for the credits to appear, so it was more of a "you need to know one of your employees is giving customers bad information" than I need you to take part in getting this fixed. The manager acknowledged how the employee might have been confused because I had one of their older plans at the time and promised to make sure he knew the correct information.

It would have been better on their part to just not even offer me the credits because now I feel like it was just blowing smoke up my ass and wasting my time. They said they'd give them to me, and I want them. I've been with them for over a decade and I've never been a problem customer.

I've aked twice about the calls being recorded since the person I talked to apparently didn't leave notes in the computer. Nobody can access to the recordings. 

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Feb 7, 2015 7:22:14 GMT -5 8 Bit WWBG said:

...:::"But they don't have to treat their customers the way that they do.  It's not just TV, but at least locally Comcast is the ONLY internet provider in town as well.":::...

Perhaps a larger question is: do they REALLY treat the majority of customers badly, or is it just the outliers who skew the reputation for the whole company.  Are airlines as terrible as we perceive?  Or is it just that 5% of customers whose flights were cancelled and luggage lost that shape the perception.

What would get me most is the mistakes these companies make and get away with.  Shoddy record keeping on their part costs customers time and energy.  Do these companies compensate customers when there is a billing error, perhaps with a discount or a temporary upgrade?  Or is your reward for your time and energy that you aren't overcharged?

I really try to be nice to reps, but some of these companies "policies" cause unnecessary difficulty.  Customers cry foul when policies seem all to convenient for the company -- such as ones that prevent the simple redemption of rewards points.

We have Comcast and they are incredibly difficult to deal with.  Yes, they do treat you badly.

We had a major league package that we were supposed to get for a year at this special price, according to the contract signed.  After 3 months, the price went up 50%.  TD called and argued with them, they would not honor the price on the literature we were given.  We canceled phone service and downgraded cable to the minimum.  During this time, we lost our Internet.

We did get someone out here reasonably fast and it turned out the buried line between the road and house broke.  For 8 months, we had a cable running from the road to the house ver the lawn.....despite being promised that the cable would be buried within a week.  When TD called to find out when they were going to bury the cable (have you ever tried to mow around one?), Comcast finally got their ass in gear.

The crew called and canceled 8 separate times over the following 2 weeks.  If I hadn't been home, TD would have had to take time off from work to deal with it.  When they finally showed up, it was while he was out of town and I was here alone.   The doorbell rang at 6 am....3 hours before they were scheduled to arrive.

No, you don't get compensation.  We didn't get any credit even for the time we were without service (I want to say almost a week), even though it was their equipment failure.

[Deleted]

DD had a Comcast guy at her apartment a couple weeks ago to set up their cable. I told her she needed to call Comcast and report him. In reference to my 9mo grangdaughter, he said "That little monkey is gonna be strong". Calling anybody's baby a monkey is a bad idea, but a white man saying it to a black woman raises a different set of questions. He wondered what would happen if he dangled my 2yo grandson over the balcony by his ankles. He asked "what's the rent over here $300?" which was an insulting comment about their apartment complex. He was just completely unprofessional and didn't know when to shut up. DD's BF finally told him to get his shit and get the f*&% out of their apartment. They still don't have cable.

[motherto2]

I think anyone who works at some point will have those people we'd like to label.  The key is to never put things in writing! Just look at the Sony fiasco when they were hacked. I have Direct TV and while I hate the package I have (almost all infomercials and times when there is absolutely nothing to watch other than shows that are on rerun for the fifth time) I can't do anything about it til October. But the guy that works my area is the worst. He came in October 2013 and it was very unusual weather where I didn't run the heat or ac for a few weeks. One day I noticed that the attic trap door was askew. I opened and saw that the GI Joe jeep that belongs to my son had been dislodged so that the tire was making the door close improperly. I was looking around and noticed the pipe that took condensation to the outside from the ac return had been broken off. Now, my daughter was deployed at the time and my son was away in college, so no one home but me. Plus I don't believe either child has ever been in the attic. I couldn't prove it was the guy since it had been 2-3 weeks, so I sucked it up and fixed it. Then another time I noticed what looks like water damage on my daughter's ceiling. Then it dawned on me that the Direct TV antennae is right above that area. And then when my son moved bedrooms this August I called and wanted to move two of the boxes.  My son stayed home to wait for the guy, never showed. That was a long run around, but several calls later, the guy finally showed up the following week.  Oh, and after he left on the day of install I noticed he had left several cut twist ties laying all over the floors and beds upstairs. Thankfully my dog doesn't mess with things like that, but we had just gotten my daughter's puppy and she wasn't allowed upstairs other than to sleep so I was able to get all of them gathered up before she got a hold of them.

On the other hand, I've had wonderful customer service from everyone I've always talked to on the phone.  I've hesitated to contact them about their service guy because he had told me he lives a couple miles away so he would be the one servicing my house.  Makes me a little uncomfortable. 

I won't even get in to the fact how much satellite costs these days.  I have internet through a local company and that's pretty good.  The cable goes bad from time to time, or I can't get the connection back with the help of their customer service and they send someone over right away.  I've had people at my house at ten oclock in the evening!

[8 Bit WWBG]

...:::"I've aked twice about the calls being recorded since the person I talked to apparently didn't leave notes in the computer. Nobody can access to the recordings.":::...

Amazing how those records are never available when its in my favor.  I've started saying "this call will be recorded" right back to them.  I won't accept a double standard on this point: if they can legally record it, so can I.  And if the rep refuses to speak to me, I'll waste a lot of their time.

...:::" I feel like it was just blowing smoke up my ass and wasting my time. They said they'd give them to me, and I want them.":::...

That is the worst.  You know they are just trying to get you to go away.  I say over and over here that I am no longer accepting deals in which I trade an up front certainty for an unspecified future possibility.  Its easy to blame someone who isn't there to defend themselves.  I refuse to be bounced between departments.

I wonder what happens if you can get your CC company involved, pay the bill, then immediately charge back what you believe you were overcharged.  If you let the CC know up front your intention and why you are doing what you are doing, I'd hope they'd be on your side.

Pink Cashmere.... yikes!

[dannylion]

Feb 7, 2015 10:03:19 GMT -5 @pinkcshmere said:

Feb 7, 2015 7:22:14 GMT -5 8 Bit WWBG said:

...:::"But they don't have to treat their customers the way that they do.  It's not just TV, but at least locally Comcast is the ONLY internet provider in town as well.":::...

Perhaps a larger question is: do they REALLY treat the majority of customers badly, or is it just the outliers who skew the reputation for the whole company.  Are airlines as terrible as we perceive?  Or is it just that 5% of customers whose flights were cancelled and luggage lost that shape the perception.

What would get me most is the mistakes these companies make and get away with.  Shoddy record keeping on their part costs customers time and energy.  Do these companies compensate customers when there is a billing error, perhaps with a discount or a temporary upgrade?  Or is your reward for your time and energy that you aren't overcharged?

I really try to be nice to reps, but some of these companies "policies" cause unnecessary difficulty.  Customers cry foul when policies seem all to convenient for the company -- such as ones that prevent the simple redemption of rewards points.

I've been having a dispute with AT&T for a few months. DD went in one of their stores to ask a question and was given incorrect information, and I ended up with a huge bill for services I didn't want and nobody was using. When I called for an explanation, I spent well over an hour on the phone, but the end result was my account would be credited for over $200. New bill, no credits. Call again, young lady doesn't know what I'm talking about, there are no notes of my call in the computer even though I gave her the time, date and name of the person I spoke to. My bill was due, but I was so ticked at being lied to, that I didn't want to pay it.

Called again and got someone in the finance department because my bill was past due. Had a conversation with him about why I was so upset that I didn't want to pay the bill. Kept apologizing for my tone of voice, because I wasn't upset with him in particular. He said it was ok, he gets worse calls from people that have a lot less to complain about. He was appalled at the misinformation in the store that led to the whole fiasco, while I was more pissed that I'd spent all that time on the phone, getting all those promises that were lies. He finally said he saw where there were a bunch of credits on my account entered on the first day I'd called, but no notes, and that the credits should show up on my next bill. Fine. I paid the bill.

New bill, no credits. Now I'm going back to the store where this all started, with my little notes of who I've talked to, when, and what was said. I've spoken to the manager once already, but that was while I was waiting for the credits to appear, so it was more of a "you need to know one of your employees is giving customers bad information" than I need you to take part in getting this fixed. The manager acknowledged how the employee might have been confused because I had one of their older plans at the time and promised to make sure he knew the correct information.

It would have been better on their part to just not even offer me the credits because now I feel like it was just blowing smoke up my ass and wasting my time. They said they'd give them to me, and I want them. I've been with them for over a decade and I've never been a problem customer.

I've aked twice about the calls being recorded since the person I talked to apparently didn't leave notes in the computer. Nobody can access to the recordings. 

Pink, have you considered escalating to the C-suite?  Seriously, you've done everything you can with the rank-and-file personnel to try to get your problem resolved.  It looks like it's time to hand it over to someone who has the power to make the problem go away.  I've had good luck in the past addressing a company CEO when I couldn't get an issue resolved at the customer service level.  It's easy to find the name and address of the CEO, lay the whole thing out in writing (I always include a timeline and what was said and who said it, etc.), and ask for help.  The CEO won't see it, of course, but he/she has a staff and at least one person on that staff is charged with dealing with this sort of thing when it gets to that level.  I have never not had a problem resolved to my satisfaction when using this method.  Of course, keep the correspondence professional and to the point (I'm sure you know that)--I actually tend toward whimsical and baffled in communications like this, I have no idea whether that has an effect--but do spell out what you want done and ask for help.  It can't hurt.  Sometimes a company will have an executive responsible for customer service or customer satisfaction or something along those lines, so it might also be useful to cc that individual. 

Good luck.  I hope you can get this straightened out.  It does sound frustrating. 

[Deleted]

Feb 7, 2015 14:55:57 GMT -5 dannylion said:

Feb 7, 2015 10:03:19 GMT -5 @pinkcshmere said:

I've been having a dispute with AT&T for a few months. DD went in one of their stores to ask a question and was given incorrect information, and I ended up with a huge bill for services I didn't want and nobody was using. When I called for an explanation, I spent well over an hour on the phone, but the end result was my account would be credited for over $200. New bill, no credits. Call again, young lady doesn't know what I'm talking about, there are no notes of my call in the computer even though I gave her the time, date and name of the person I spoke to. My bill was due, but I was so ticked at being lied to, that I didn't want to pay it.

Called again and got someone in the finance department because my bill was past due. Had a conversation with him about why I was so upset that I didn't want to pay the bill. Kept apologizing for my tone of voice, because I wasn't upset with him in particular. He said it was ok, he gets worse calls from people that have a lot less to complain about. He was appalled at the misinformation in the store that led to the whole fiasco, while I was more pissed that I'd spent all that time on the phone, getting all those promises that were lies. He finally said he saw where there were a bunch of credits on my account entered on the first day I'd called, but no notes, and that the credits should show up on my next bill. Fine. I paid the bill.

New bill, no credits. Now I'm going back to the store where this all started, with my little notes of who I've talked to, when, and what was said. I've spoken to the manager once already, but that was while I was waiting for the credits to appear, so it was more of a "you need to know one of your employees is giving customers bad information" than I need you to take part in getting this fixed. The manager acknowledged how the employee might have been confused because I had one of their older plans at the time and promised to make sure he knew the correct information.

It would have been better on their part to just not even offer me the credits because now I feel like it was just blowing smoke up my ass and wasting my time. They said they'd give them to me, and I want them. I've been with them for over a decade and I've never been a problem customer.

I've aked twice about the calls being recorded since the person I talked to apparently didn't leave notes in the computer. Nobody can access to the recordings. 

Pink, have you considered escalating to the C-suite?  Seriously, you've done everything you can with the rank-and-file personnel to try to get your problem resolved.  It looks like it's time to hand it over to someone who has the power to make the problem go away.  I've had good luck in the past addressing a company CEO when I couldn't get an issue resolved at the customer service level.  It's easy to find the name and address of the CEO, lay the whole thing out in writing (I always include a timeline and what was said and who said it, etc.), and ask for help.  The CEO won't see it, of course, but he/she has a staff and at least one person on that staff is charged with dealing with this sort of thing when it gets to that level.  I have never not had a problem resolved to my satisfaction when using this method.  Of course, keep the correspondence professional and to the point (I'm sure you know that)--I actually tend toward whimsical and baffled in communications like this, I have no idea whether that has an effect--but do spell out what you want done and ask for help.  It can't hurt.  Sometimes a company will have an executive responsible for customer service or customer satisfaction or something along those lines, so it might also be useful to cc that individual. 

Good luck.  I hope you can get this straightened out.  It does sound frustrating. 

Dannylion, after I read your post, I found some interesting stories on the web about AT&T's legal department sending cease and desist notices to customers that write to their CEO. I thought that was kind of funny.

I had to go into the store yesterday anyway, so I still spoke to the manager again. He just pissed me off. So much so that I didn't even buy what I went into the store for.

I decided to try one more call and surprisingly, the lady I spoke with could see notes on my account about the credits and my phone calls, but she could see they hadn't actually been applied. She took care of it. I just logged into my account and instead of having a balance due in a couple of weeks, I have a negative balance. Finally!

Just wanted to update you since you were so kind as to offer me some advice on what to do next. Thank you!

[dannylion]

That's interesting, Pink. I have never had a problem when I have written about an issue, but I am always careful to be polite and express my displeasure more in the form of disappointment than anger.  I wonder if the people referred to in the stories were less circumspect in expressing their displeasure.   I'll keep what you found in mind, though, should I ever need to address an issue to the AT&T CEO!

I'm glad you finally found someone who could (or would) solve your problem for you.  Sometimes I guess it really does come down to getting the right CSR on the phone.