With Comcast losing pay-TV subscribers in favor of streaming video services, the company is doing what it can to retain customers who not only ante up for TV and broadband, but also for home phone service. [More]
dispatches from kabletown
Is Comcast Running Manipulative “Push Poll” In Response To Philly Customer Service Study?
By 6.9.15
Earlier this spring, Philadelphia released its Needs Assessment Report regarding Comcast, the city’s primary cable/broadband provider, one of its biggest employers, and the tenant of its tallest tower. The results of the survey were not good, with 99% of the written responses unfavorable to Comcast. At the time, the company said the report was innaccurate and said it would “deliver comprehensive proof” to the city. A new telephone poll being conducted on Comcast’s behalf appears to be in response to the city’s report, but some who’ve taken the survey say the questions being asked are designed to put Comcast in the best possible light. [More]
Here Is Comcast’s 10-Point Action Plan For Winning Over Customers
By 5.6.15
For years, Comcast’s plan to win over customers was to do absolutely nothing because they — just like most cable companies — were the only choice. But with its pay-TV subscriber numbers dropping, the company is realizing that can indeed lose customers by treating them horribly. In an e-mail obtained by Consumerist, Comcast leadership has outlined its optimistic plan to win back all those customers who hate being residents of Kabletown. [More]
Group Sponsored By Comcast Gives An Award To Comcast
By 5.5.15
Sometimes you have to pat yourself on the back after a job well done. But if you’re a company for whom accolades may be in short supply, it helps to sponsor (and have one of your executives be in charge of) a professional organization that is willing to give you an attaboy when you need one. [More]
Comcast Is About To Have More Internet Subscribers Than Cable Customers
By 5.4.15
Cable companies can try to downplay cord-cutting all they want, but even if consumers aren’t rushing to get rid of pay-TV plans, the fact is that the Internet has quickly become more important than cable and is likely to become the dominant business for cable providers. [More]
Comcast CEO Tries To Cheer Up Employees Following Implosion Of Time Warner Cable Merger
By 4.24.15
While the majority of American consumers were opposed to the merger of the nation’s two largest cable/Internet providers, there is a large group of people for whom today’s news may be a big downer: Comcast employees. [More]
Comcast Tries To Refute Philly Customer Service Study, Does About As Good A Job As You’d Expect
By 4.10.15
Yesterday, Philadelphia finally got around to releasing the results of a long-in-the-works Comcast customer service survey of city residents, and the results weren’t very favorable for the cable company. Of course, Comcast, which had more than a month to review the report before it was made public, is now trying to discredit it, saying the consultants that put it together should have asked Comcast — and not the citizens of Philadelphia — for accurate data about customer service. [More]
Philadelphia Finally Releases Results Of Comcast Customer Service Survey; It’s Not Pretty
By 4.9.15
Earlier this week we told you how the city leadership here in Comcast’s hometown of Philadelphia appeared to be dragging their feet in getting around to releasing the results of 15-month-old survey of city residents about Comcast service, even though the cable company had already been shown the report. Today, the city finally got around to sharing this info with the public and it’s about as unpleasant as you’d expect. [More]
Surprise, Surprise: Comments In Favor Of Comcast/TWC Merger Come From Groups Comcast Has Donated To
By 4.6.15
Large companies do a lot of philanthropic and community giving. Comcast is not alone on that front: volunteerism, grants, donations, and employee matching are common, perhaps even standard, at many of America’s biggest businesses. But where Comcast differs is that they, very publicly, turn their valuable giving into an unpaid army of on-demand lobbyists whenever they have a company to buy. Like Time Warner Cable. [More]
Philadelphia Won’t Show Results Of Comcast Customer Survey To Anyone — Except Comcast
By 4.6.15
From the skyline to the mayor’s office (to the very broadband line through which this story is being published), Comcast is everywhere here in Philadelphia. But even this company town occasionally has to go through the process of reviewing and renewing its franchise agreement with said company. Unfortunately, it looks like some of Philadelphia’s top brass may be dragging its feet on this process — and ignoring the opinions of their constituents — at the same time Comcast tries to acquire Time Warner Cable. [More]
Comcast Continues To Screw Up Accounts, Even After Local News Involvement
By 3.16.15
We’ve done seemingly countless stories in which the only reason a company paid attention to a wronged consumer was the involvement of the media. And in most cases where this happens, the customer’s problem is finally resolved, never to crop up again. But that’s not always true. [More]
Detroit Business Owner Unhappy To Be Featured In “Bullsh*t Comcast-Powered Sh*tfest” Video
By 2.23.15
Imagine you own a business that’s gotten some good press for the work you do. Now imagine finding some of that press repurposed into a video sponsored by a company that you really, really dislike, and which is trying to spend billions of dollars to dump your entire area off into the hands of a brand new company that may be even worse. [More]
Complaining Comcast Customer Renamed “Super B**ch” On Her Cable Bill
By 2.5.15
While Comcast says it’s doing its best to stop employees from renaming customers things like “A**hole Brown,” the reports of Comcast customers with rudely revised account names continues. This time, it’s a Chicago-area woman who has been dubbed “Super B**ch” on her Comcast bill. [More]
Comcast Says It’s Working On Making It Harder To Change Customers’ Names To “A**hole”
By 2.3.15
Last week wasn’t a good one for Comcast. It began with a report that someone at the company changed a customer’s name to “A**hole Brown” and ended with multiple customers claiming their names had also been changed for the worse. Now Comcast says it’s making an effort to curb this sort of rude and bizarre behavior. [More]
Politicians’ Letters In Support Of Comcast Merger Were Actually Written By Comcast
By 1.26.15
In the eleven months since Comcast announced that it would acquire Time Warner Cable, numerous local and national politicians have written to the FCC in support of the merger, claiming it will create jobs (in spite of the fact that thousands of employees will inevitably be made redundant), spark investment (even though Comcast could just invest the $40 billion instead of using it to buy TWC), and provide broadband access for the poor (a program that’s been criticized as window dressing), without hurting competition (because there isn’t any to begin with). Many of the letters hit the same points… almost as if they were ghostwritten and the politicians just signed their names to them. [More]
Sources: Comcast “VIPs” Automatically Pushed To Front Of Phone Queue
By 1.13.15
Last week, it was revealed that a Comcast office in the power epicenter that is the D.C. suburbs maintained a “VIP” list of local politicians, business leaders, and other bigwigs. However, Comcast claims that in spite of the VIP label, these folks received no special treatment. Not so, multiple sources tell Consumerist. [More]
Comcast Rings Out 2014 With Yet Another Tape-Recorded Customer Service Disaster
By 12.30.14
It’s been a bad year for Comcast’s customer service image — probably not what the company wants to hear when it’s trying to convince federal regulators to let it swallow up millions of Time Warner Cable customers — and while many consumers are taking this week off from work, the folks at Kabletown know that bad service doesn’t take a holiday. [More]
Comcast, Time Warner Cable Merger Review Delayed Again
By 12.23.14
Even with bought-and-paid-for Senators urging the FCC to hurry up its review of the pending merger of Comcast and Time Warner Cable, there is only so much the regulators can do when they don’t have the documents they need to complete that review. That’s why the FCC has once again hit the pause button on the time clock for this mega-merger. [More]
