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Comcast Call Center Sales Contest Sheet: "Don't Let These Freeze Masters Get You"
By 1.31.08
From inside a Comcast call center, we got a sales goal sheet designed to excite call center reps to sell more new customer bundles using with four cartoons icons of cold; Sub-Zero from Mortal Kombat,, Mr. Freeze from Batman, Frozone from The Incredibles, and Ice-Man from X-Men. The flyer exhorts: “ANTI FREEZE INCENTIVE. Don’t let these freeze masters get you…Sell some bundles and protect yourself from the cold!!!” If you’re in the top three of your department, the flyer continues, you can win $250, $150, or $100 for 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, respectively. Exciting. What is the symbolic function of the “freeze masters” as a performance incentive? What does, “the cold” represent? Left out in the cold? Given the cold shoulder by your peers if you’re not contributing enough to the 2000 bundle goal? An inability to pay one’s heating bills? We have no idea, we’re just glad we don’t work in a call center, we’ve never been too good at winning knife fights. (click to enlarge).
Does Comast Check To See If 911 Works On Your Digital Phone?
By 1.30.08
A Comcast insider warns us that Comcast does no checks to make sure 911 is working on your Comcast digital phone:
Comcast Fined $12,000 For Having Crappy Customer Service
By 1.30.08
Comcast has been fined $12,000 for having crappy customer service by Montgomery County, Maryland..
Opt Out Of Comcast's Arbitration Agreement
By 1.30.08
Included in the Comcast January bills was a new Comcast Agreement for Residential Services pamphlet, and a new opportunity for customers to opt out of mandatory binding arbitration as a way to settle disputes with their cable provider. Just go to comcast.com/arbitrationoptout, enter the required information, and hit go. Boom, you’ve just held onto your constitutional rights. Here’s a related post on the 9 ways arbitration screws consumers over.
By 1.28.08
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Starting March 11, Comcast will begin charging a $3.99 “human interaction fee” if you want to pay your bill by talking to a live operator. [The Oregonian via DSL Reports]
Case Closed: Comcast Billing Gone Bonkers
By 1.23.08
After we posted SM’s battle with Comcast to stop fraudulently billing her for over a year, , Comcast took notice and asked to get in touch with SM. We played matchmaker and now Comcast reports that the problem is solved. The account is cleared and CMI has been notified to stop trying to collect on it. Inside is the letter they are sending to SM. Hooray, problem solved. Comcast’s billing system, however, remains a mess. Hopefully CMI won’t still try to collect, for CMI’s sake. Otherwise SM will now really have a very good basis for making quick and easy cash by suing them in small claims court for violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
Best Internet, TV, Phone Service Providers
By 1.23.08
Lots of companies are pushing deals for their bundled internet, tv and phone plans, but which are best? Consumer Reports surveyed its readers and here’s how they ranked the service providers:
Comcast Billing Gone Bonkers
By 1.22.08
SM writes:
This story starts in March 07 when my sister moved out of the country and canceled her Comcast account. I returned her modem, and they told me her account was settled. Then, my mom (who has power of attorney) gets a bill for around $193. Comcast customer service tells my mom that she really only has to pay around $35, so she sends a check for that amount, but another bill arrives for $135.35. Again, Comcast customer service tells her, no actually you only need to pay $43.86. My mom tries to dispute the bill, but Comcast sends my sister’s account to a collection agency called CMI…
Shareholders To Comcast: Fire The CEO
By 1.18.08
Chieftain Capital Management Inc., owns 2% of Comcast (about 60 million shares) and is unhappy with the way its investment has been performing. They’re calling the management tenure of CEO Brian “Bad Install” Roberts a “Comcastrophe,” a term that might just good enough to be Mr. Robert’s new official Consumerist nickname. Brian “Comcastrophe” Roberts. We like it.
Reach Comcast Executive Customer Service
By 1.10.08
215-640-8960 is the number to reach the Comcast executive offices.
Comcast Quietly Leaches $3/Month From Former Adelphia Customers
By 1.10.08
A reader from Vermont writes in to let us know that he accidentally discovered Comcast has been charging him a $3/month modem rental fee for a modem he owned, because Comcast claimed that due to poor record keeping, it had no way of distinguishing between Adelphia’s modem renters and owners. This fee went on for months undetected because Comcast doesn’t itemize such fees on their online statements, only on their printed bills. (Well yeah, because including such details online would waste ink…wait, what?) When our reader called Comcast to have the fees refunded, he was told he’d have to provide proof of purchase for his modem.
FCC To Investigate Comcast's Bittorrent Blocking
By 1.9.08
The FCC announced that it will investigate complaints against Comcast for disrupting BitTorrent traffic. Then again, it wasn’t a formal announcement, it was in response to a question posed by Consumer Electronics Association’s CEO Gary Shapiro in an interview before a live audience during the big electronics expo. “Sure, we’re going to investigate and make sure that no consumer is going to be blocked,” is what FCC Chair Kevin “Pretty Boy” Martin said exactly. “Sure” is not a word one uses to make a strong statement. He may have just been playing to the crowd. C’mon, it’s CES, he knew if he said otherwise he could find a bunch of geeks sitting on his car in the parking lot looking to “reformat his harddive,” if you know what I’m saying.
Comcast: Watch 3,000 Hours Of TV On Our New Website
By 1.8.08
Comcast has set up a site called Fancast.com where viewers can watch more than 3,000 hours of television shows from NBC, Fox, CBS and MTV and where they will soon be able to remotely program the digital video recorders in their homes. The shows on Fancast are available free. Comcast has yet to say how it will price the rest of the content as its plan moves forward.
By 1.4.08
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There’s a promotion going on right now whereby Comcast customers can get 6 months of internet for $19.99 per month. [SlickDeals]
NFL Surrenders: Giants-Patriots Game To Be Simulcast On NBC, CBS
By 12.27.07
After threats from US Senators and general hue and cry from sports fans, the NFL has caved and will allow NBC and CBS to simulcast the upcoming Giants-Patriots game in which Tom Brady and the boys may become the first team to go undefeated since the Miami Dolphins first did it in 1972, and the first team to go 16-0 in the regular season. The game will be available nationwide.
DirecTV Just As Incompetent As Comcast
By 12.22.07
“I was one of the majority when it came to being fed up with Comcast. However, unlike most, I never had any of the customer service nightmares so often reported on consumer sites. My dissatisfaction with Comcast was purely based on what I felt was unfair pricing.
