Independent Thinking Blog

Comcast Hits the Sweet Spot

Companies make mistakes. After all, they’re run by people–and we’re not perfect. But those that “get” customer service understand that it’s how you respond after the fact that truly leaves an impact. Good or bad. Yesterday, Comcast responded in a way that says: We’re not that cable guy company anymore.

Here’s what happened. I had a service appointment set up for yesterday between 11 a.m.-2 p.m. As anyone who has waited for a technician can tell you, it never turns out to be a great time to be tied to your home. For me, I had to reschedule one appointment and push back a conference call. So when 1:30 p.m. rolled around, I figured I should call and check when the technician might be there. That’s when I learned that Comcast had me down for service the following Wednesday.

The customer service representative was very nice, but there was nothing she could do to help me except give me another 3-hour window on another day. I set up the appointment, hung up, and was feeling pretty frustrated. That’s when I sent a DM (Twitterspeak for a private message) to Frank Eliason, the public face of Comcast’s customer service operation, asking if he had two minutes to talk. I didn’t expect him to be able to do anything for me; I just wanted someone to feel my pain.

I got a phone call almost immediately from @ComcastBill, who’s a member of Frank’s team. He took the details, asked how long I would be home, and said he’d try to get a technician over there before I had to leave two hours later. I then received four calls from Pat Carroll, a manager in the local office (one to tell me he was sending one of his best tech guys to my home, the second to verify that his technician had arrived, and two voicemail messages to make sure the problem had been resolved). Bill also followed up to close the loop.

This is my Comcast story. Others have their own, and I’m sure not all have such happy endings. But I think it’s important to acknowledge when people go above and beyond to be helpful. We scream a lot when we’re things go wrong; it’s only fair we share the love when things go right.

What’s your customer service story?

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