Sometimes the best way to get something done is to tattle to one’s mother. Apparently, that works when it comes to fixing Comcast’s cable service.

Philly.com columnist Ronnie Polaneczky did just that earlier this month when she contacted Suzanne Roberts, the 92-year-old mother of current CEO Brian Roberts and wife to Comcast founder Ralph Roberts, on behalf of a couple who recently moved to the area and was having trouble getting Comcast to hook up their service.

The couple, who moved from Washington, D.C. to Philadelphia earlier in the winter, had been waiting since Dec. 23 for Comcast to turn on the Internet and cable in their home.

While one might consider going with a different provider after such a long wait, the couple didn’t have that choice.

“Our complex is a Comcast-only building, so it’s not even like we can try a different cable company,” the wife told Polaneczky. “We have no choice but to use Comcast.”

While Polaneczky says she could have called Charlie Haim, the new czar of customer experience for the company, she says in her column that something “cracked” and she made the decision to let Brian Roberts’ mom “hear what he’s been up to.”

Aside from being mother and wife to Comcast’s top players, Suzanne Roberts is a fairly prominent figure in Philadelphia herself. She hosts several TV shows on the local Comcast network and her name adorns the theater for the Philadelphia Theater Company.

Polaneczky writes that she was disappointed when Suzanne Roberts’ assistant answered the phone.

However, the call apparently did the trick as Polaneczky received a call less than 18 hours later from Ralph Roberts’ personal assistant asking how she could be of assistance.

She told the story of the couple who had missed a combined 13 days of work waiting for cable technicians who never showed up for 14 appointments and the hours they spent on the phone with customer service representatives.

The assistant said she would get things fixed, and three hours later things were in fact improving.

The couple called Polaneczky to let her know that several Comcast trucks and technicians were on the scene fixing the issue.

After three more hours, the couple was fully connected. However, they were told by one technician that their special service call meant that another customer’s appointment had to be canceled.

So, while contacting the CEO’s mom might have gotten the ball rolling for the Internet-less couple, it appears that the assistants really the ones that get things done.

And because we don’t all have access to Suzanne Roberts’ or her assistant’s personal phone numbers, here are six ways consumers can try to get Comcast customer service.

Bad Comcast service? Call CEO’s mom! [Philly.com]

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