Why Comcast customer service on Twitter >>> phone CS
For your edification...how to get customer service from Comcast on Twitter. :) Including the DMs without my phone # so I can leave this public!
Background -- got home last night and my internet along with digital and analog cable were out. We had really high winds here, so just like earlier this summer I was expecting there to be a large outage, and just like earlier this summer, it actually appears to just be me. (As they explained it last time, somehow, in the middle of a thunderstorm and BSG, my connection INSIDE the building stopped working.)
Also -- For the non-twitterers, d means the note was a direct message to comcastcares, everyone else couldn't see it. @ means that the tweet is a reply to an earlier tweet and is a way of "aiming" your tweet at someone, others can see these if they want.
Me: Grr. Got home and cable and Internet appear to be out. Possibly due to crazyass wind outside. Calling comcast folks now. 9:40 PM Dec 21st from Twittelator
Me: Lovely...no outages reported here so Comcast made me an app't for Tues AM. I love it when bad weather takes out only me. So they say. 9:52 PM Dec 21st from Twittelator
At which point I called Comcast customer service. I had to sit through a prerecorded upsell for NFL games BEFORE I even got a chance to report the outage! Fail, Comcast. Fail hard. Phone lady was nice enough, but couldn't do anything more than set up a service appointment, and couldn't do it any sooner than 8-11 Tuesday -- when I'd like to be packing my car and leaving for SC, leaving me internet and cable-less again tonight. She also wanted to send a signal to reactivate my digital cable box, even though I told her my analog cable TV and internet were also out.
I come back to Twitter and I have this --
comcastcares @carencey I can easily verify that. They can see your home and all your neighbors. Would you like me to look? 9:54 PM Dec 21st from web in reply to carencey
I had heard that there were customer service ninjas on Twitter, and that was part of the reason I made my tweets public, but I wasn't expecting that on a Sunday night! I ran over to consumerist real quick to make sure this was the guy they had verified, and it was. Score.
So back to the convo-
Me: @comcastcares That would be great, thanks! Had my own personal thunderstorm outage over the summer, hoping no repeat. 10:31 PM Dec 21st from Twittelator in reply to comcastcares
Me: @comcastcares Oops, am in Gaithersburg, MD. 10:34 PM Dec 21st from Twittelator in reply to comcastcares
comcastcares @carencey DM phone number on the account and I will check 10:34 PM Dec 21st from web in reply to carencey
Me: D comcastcares ##########. Thx. 10:36 PM Dec 21st (redacting my phone #, of course)
comcastcares @carencey I believe it may be an area thing. All systems are not able to pull data from your neighborhood. 10:58 PM Dec 21st from web in reply to carencey
Me: @comcastcares Thanks for checking. Service Still out here. about 23 hours ago from Twittelator in reply to comcastcares
That was the end of it for last night. This AM, I woke up to no cable, no internet, AND no hot water. Completely separate problems though.
Me: Chillyful outside. But a very pretty day. Also, my hot water was out this AM. At least maint was already on it. Cable/int not back either. about 13 hours ago from Twittelator
ComcastBill @carencey can i help? about 13 hours ago from web in reply to carencey
Me:@ComcastBill @comcastcares could not get any data from my neighborhood last night. I haven't heard anything new today. about 12 hours ago from web in reply to ComcastBill
Me:d comcastcares any updates on service for my area? still not sure if it's just me that is out ##########. also any way to verify other comcast twitters? about 11 hours ago (This was me being unsure that ComcastBill was actually with Comcast, even though they did not ask for acc't info.)
comcastcares @carencey ComcastBill works for me. I asked him to check it out about 11 hours ago from web in reply to carencey
Me:@comcastcares thanks! a girl can't be too careful these days and no employee IDs on twitter. :) about 11 hours ago from web in reply to comcastcares
ComcastBill @carencey can i send a tech out today? also there is just @comcastcares @comcastgeorge @comcastscott and myself on twitter. about 10 hours ago from web in reply to carencey
Me: @ComcastBill what time? I have one scheduled for tomorrow AM but if I can get one this evening that is better. and thanks for the list! about 10 hours ago from web in reply to ComcastBill
ComcastBill @carencey be out today by 6pm about 10 hours ago from web in reply to carencey
Me:@ComcastBill Am at work now and can't go home quite yet- how late can they make it? about 10 hours ago from Twittelator in reply to ComcastBill
ComcastBill @carencey i can try like a 5-8 about 10 hours ago from web in reply to carencey
Note that the phone rep had told me nothing was available today at all. The tech called me at 3:30 wanting to come at 4 because he couldn't do a 5-8 on such short notice. I got the ok from my boss to run home and then come back, made it home just in time. Turns out the lock to our cable closet is busted, and my cable was disconnected. Nothing was connected in its place, but guessing a neighbor decided to "borrow" my cable connection. (not that Comcast doesn't do accidental disconnects, but the tech didn't think they do their regular ones on weekends.)
Me: hooray! zoomed home to make my early comcast appt and all fixed. thx @comcastcares @ComcastBill! about 8 hours ago from web
Me: somehow, cable line was disconnected again - lock on the conxn closet is broken. but comcast tech doesn't think they did it. about 8 hours ago from web
ComcastBill @carencey woohoo have a good holiday about 7 hours ago from web in reply to carencey
But nooo, not done yet - I got a confirmation call from Comcast while at dinner, the original 8 AM tues app't was still on. I called once to try to cancel. Got stuck on hold for 15 minutes. Gave up. I called again to try to cancel. Got stuck in phone system loop, had to hang up and start over. I called one more time to try to cancel. After sitting through the SAME DAMN PRERECORDED NFL NETWORK UPSELL, I got a real person. But get this - they can't cancel my app't without either a) the amount of my last bill or b) my account number. There is NO way to verify that I am the person who can cancel this appointment without my having my bill in front of me. This is far more security required than there was to make or confirm the appointment, btw. Sample of conversation:
Phone lady (incredulous voice): You don't remember the amount of your last bill?
Me: Ma'am, I pay a LOT of bills. I don't memorize them.
So once again, I go to Twitter.
Me: Aiiiee. At dinner, trying to cancel original 8 am Comcast app't since @comcastcares fixed me up, and can't w/o my last bill amt or acct#. about 4 hours ago from Twittelator
comcastcares @carencey I can cancel. DM phone number on account and say cancel appt about 3 hours ago from web in reply to carencey
Me: D comcastcares ######### please cancel app't for 8 am tues. Thx! about 3 hours ago
Me: @comcastcares Thanks!!! about 3 hours ago from Twittelator in reply to comcastcares
comcastcares @carencey It will not let me cancel, but I will have someone care for about 2 hours ago from web in reply to carencey
So that is where we stand -- guess we'll see whether a cable guy shows up tomorrow AM, probably while I am in the shower.
>>> regular phone CS.
They actually give useful info, do not immediately assume that problem is caused by my being too stupid to tie my own shoes (I have problems with this on occasion, but not today!), respond quickly, and do not waste my time with captive-audience sales pitches for non-functional services. Not half bad. They couldn't diagnose the problem without the service call, but I don't demand a magic wand, just a bit of effort. It looks also like these guys are authorized to do more than the front line phone CS folks, so in effect you're going straight to a supervisor. Always better if you can.
Background -- got home last night and my internet along with digital and analog cable were out. We had really high winds here, so just like earlier this summer I was expecting there to be a large outage, and just like earlier this summer, it actually appears to just be me. (As they explained it last time, somehow, in the middle of a thunderstorm and BSG, my connection INSIDE the building stopped working.)
Also -- For the non-twitterers, d means the note was a direct message to comcastcares, everyone else couldn't see it. @ means that the tweet is a reply to an earlier tweet and is a way of "aiming" your tweet at someone, others can see these if they want.
Me: Grr. Got home and cable and Internet appear to be out. Possibly due to crazyass wind outside. Calling comcast folks now. 9:40 PM Dec 21st from Twittelator
Me: Lovely...no outages reported here so Comcast made me an app't for Tues AM. I love it when bad weather takes out only me. So they say. 9:52 PM Dec 21st from Twittelator
At which point I called Comcast customer service. I had to sit through a prerecorded upsell for NFL games BEFORE I even got a chance to report the outage! Fail, Comcast. Fail hard. Phone lady was nice enough, but couldn't do anything more than set up a service appointment, and couldn't do it any sooner than 8-11 Tuesday -- when I'd like to be packing my car and leaving for SC, leaving me internet and cable-less again tonight. She also wanted to send a signal to reactivate my digital cable box, even though I told her my analog cable TV and internet were also out.
I come back to Twitter and I have this --
comcastcares @carencey I can easily verify that. They can see your home and all your neighbors. Would you like me to look? 9:54 PM Dec 21st from web in reply to carencey
I had heard that there were customer service ninjas on Twitter, and that was part of the reason I made my tweets public, but I wasn't expecting that on a Sunday night! I ran over to consumerist real quick to make sure this was the guy they had verified, and it was. Score.
So back to the convo-
Me: @comcastcares That would be great, thanks! Had my own personal thunderstorm outage over the summer, hoping no repeat. 10:31 PM Dec 21st from Twittelator in reply to comcastcares
Me: @comcastcares Oops, am in Gaithersburg, MD. 10:34 PM Dec 21st from Twittelator in reply to comcastcares
comcastcares @carencey DM phone number on the account and I will check 10:34 PM Dec 21st from web in reply to carencey
Me: D comcastcares ##########. Thx. 10:36 PM Dec 21st (redacting my phone #, of course)
comcastcares @carencey I believe it may be an area thing. All systems are not able to pull data from your neighborhood. 10:58 PM Dec 21st from web in reply to carencey
Me: @comcastcares Thanks for checking. Service Still out here. about 23 hours ago from Twittelator in reply to comcastcares
That was the end of it for last night. This AM, I woke up to no cable, no internet, AND no hot water. Completely separate problems though.
Me: Chillyful outside. But a very pretty day. Also, my hot water was out this AM. At least maint was already on it. Cable/int not back either. about 13 hours ago from Twittelator
ComcastBill @carencey can i help? about 13 hours ago from web in reply to carencey
Me:@ComcastBill @comcastcares could not get any data from my neighborhood last night. I haven't heard anything new today. about 12 hours ago from web in reply to ComcastBill
Me:d comcastcares any updates on service for my area? still not sure if it's just me that is out ##########. also any way to verify other comcast twitters? about 11 hours ago (This was me being unsure that ComcastBill was actually with Comcast, even though they did not ask for acc't info.)
comcastcares @carencey ComcastBill works for me. I asked him to check it out about 11 hours ago from web in reply to carencey
Me:@comcastcares thanks! a girl can't be too careful these days and no employee IDs on twitter. :) about 11 hours ago from web in reply to comcastcares
ComcastBill @carencey can i send a tech out today? also there is just @comcastcares @comcastgeorge @comcastscott and myself on twitter. about 10 hours ago from web in reply to carencey
Me: @ComcastBill what time? I have one scheduled for tomorrow AM but if I can get one this evening that is better. and thanks for the list! about 10 hours ago from web in reply to ComcastBill
ComcastBill @carencey be out today by 6pm about 10 hours ago from web in reply to carencey
Me:@ComcastBill Am at work now and can't go home quite yet- how late can they make it? about 10 hours ago from Twittelator in reply to ComcastBill
ComcastBill @carencey i can try like a 5-8 about 10 hours ago from web in reply to carencey
Note that the phone rep had told me nothing was available today at all. The tech called me at 3:30 wanting to come at 4 because he couldn't do a 5-8 on such short notice. I got the ok from my boss to run home and then come back, made it home just in time. Turns out the lock to our cable closet is busted, and my cable was disconnected. Nothing was connected in its place, but guessing a neighbor decided to "borrow" my cable connection. (not that Comcast doesn't do accidental disconnects, but the tech didn't think they do their regular ones on weekends.)
Me: hooray! zoomed home to make my early comcast appt and all fixed. thx @comcastcares @ComcastBill! about 8 hours ago from web
Me: somehow, cable line was disconnected again - lock on the conxn closet is broken. but comcast tech doesn't think they did it. about 8 hours ago from web
ComcastBill @carencey woohoo have a good holiday about 7 hours ago from web in reply to carencey
But nooo, not done yet - I got a confirmation call from Comcast while at dinner, the original 8 AM tues app't was still on. I called once to try to cancel. Got stuck on hold for 15 minutes. Gave up. I called again to try to cancel. Got stuck in phone system loop, had to hang up and start over. I called one more time to try to cancel. After sitting through the SAME DAMN PRERECORDED NFL NETWORK UPSELL, I got a real person. But get this - they can't cancel my app't without either a) the amount of my last bill or b) my account number. There is NO way to verify that I am the person who can cancel this appointment without my having my bill in front of me. This is far more security required than there was to make or confirm the appointment, btw. Sample of conversation:
Phone lady (incredulous voice): You don't remember the amount of your last bill?
Me: Ma'am, I pay a LOT of bills. I don't memorize them.
So once again, I go to Twitter.
Me: Aiiiee. At dinner, trying to cancel original 8 am Comcast app't since @comcastcares fixed me up, and can't w/o my last bill amt or acct#. about 4 hours ago from Twittelator
comcastcares @carencey I can cancel. DM phone number on account and say cancel appt about 3 hours ago from web in reply to carencey
Me: D comcastcares ######### please cancel app't for 8 am tues. Thx! about 3 hours ago
Me: @comcastcares Thanks!!! about 3 hours ago from Twittelator in reply to comcastcares
comcastcares @carencey It will not let me cancel, but I will have someone care for about 2 hours ago from web in reply to carencey
So that is where we stand -- guess we'll see whether a cable guy shows up tomorrow AM, probably while I am in the shower.
>>> regular phone CS.
They actually give useful info, do not immediately assume that problem is caused by my being too stupid to tie my own shoes (I have problems with this on occasion, but not today!), respond quickly, and do not waste my time with captive-audience sales pitches for non-functional services. Not half bad. They couldn't diagnose the problem without the service call, but I don't demand a magic wand, just a bit of effort. It looks also like these guys are authorized to do more than the front line phone CS folks, so in effect you're going straight to a supervisor. Always better if you can.