Confessions of a Comcast customer service rep: 'I don't personally care.'

If you've ever had to call Comcast'southward customer service, you're familiar with how frustrating a simple cablevision fix can be. The department is the main reason for the company's notorious national reputation. In the past twelvemonth, multiple calls to i-800-COMCAST went viral online thank you to beleaguered customers who wanted to become the promotion they were promised, protest phony charges or, most memorably, cancel their service. Last summer, for instance, one customer posted sound from a telephone call with Comcast after the customer service representative tried, for 20 painful minutes, to talk him out of changing his cable provider.

In March, Comcast announced that in order to ameliorate its customer service – which the company's own CEO called "embarrassing" – it would be tripling the size of its social media team to endeavor to solve problems online. Simply the state'south largest cablevision company tin't solve everything via Twitter. In our latest Confessions serial installment, a Comcast customer service representative tells what it's like from inside the call center. Spoiler alert: It's not so pleasant.

Comcast's customer service has been having a rough fourth dimension lately. What's it similar on your end when cringe-worthy calls become viral?
Nosotros want to keep customers, but if someone says they want to leave, I don't personally care. The ane call that went viral [concluding summer], I don't even know how that would happen; that's just non how the chat goes downward when a customer wants to cancel. You endeavour to offer them a good bargain, but you don't effort to force them to stay.

People need to understand, yous're getting beat out up all 24-hour interval, everyday. Y'all accept to stay on the phones, you definitely tin't hang up. And a lot of times people are screaming at the states when we have no control over what's happening. Yous tin't blame us.

Do you feel motivated to exercise a good job?
Not always. At that place are people at that place who care nearly following upwardly with customers, and I practise too. But if you're an asshole to me, I don't intendance. If you're degrading me and being awful to me, why would I desire to go above and beyond to assist y'all? We accept sales goals and incentives, and I endeavor, but I don't know if I'll be there long enough to get promoted anyhow.

What are your sales incentives?
A lot of times it's an hour or two off the phone during piece of work. We're grown-ups, but information technology feels like we're being treated like children. Sometimes nosotros'll become candy or have raffles. I won something small in one case merely so had to pay taxes on information technology anyway. That got taken out of my paycheck.

How involved is upper management in your day-to-solar day?
If you demand help with something during a phone call – at that place are certain deportment that a manager has to corroborate – y'all have to put the customer on hold, and sometimes it takes a while. You get stuck and yous take no other option but to put people on concord if you're waiting on a supervisor. The supervisors don't want to take the calls either. If a customer is asking for a supervisor on the telephone, 99 percent of the fourth dimension, they're merely talking to another customer service rep who's pretending to be a supervisor. It'southward considering the customer doesn't actually need to talk to management; they're only yelling at you and demanding to speak to someone higher up yous. You also rarely speak with your supervisor directly – it'due south all through an function chat and e-mail. I only meet them and talk to them in person once a calendar week to review my calls. It'due south very impersonal.

What practice you wish Comcast customers knew nearly your chore?
I'd tell them to but recognize that we are people on the other line. We're doing all that nosotros tin; anyone who'south calling in, I never want to do them wrong. I desire to aid them. I don't want their Tv set to be broken. I want to fix it, and I'm never trying to brand their lives harder, but a lot of times it's out of our hands. Nosotros're only people trying to do our jobs. But people will scream at you lot, then say, "I know it'southward not your fault, but…" and and then go on to scream at you. Just remember we're people working crazy schedules – it'southward a 24/7 call center that closes for nothing. I might be on the phone with you lot holding in pee considering I need to go to the bathroom and you won't stop yelling at me. Again, information technology feels like I'm back in school and it's very strict – they use a lot of scare tactics, and you're just so afraid all the time that you lot're going to make it trouble for something.

Scare tactics?
Basically to brand you think that y'all're going to get fired. You can't have your cell phone out; you lot can't go on the Internet if it'southward non Comcast-related. They monitor your computer screen constantly. If you don't see your sales, y'all get fired. They record every call, and they really practise listen to them. If you're mean to someone on the phone, y'all tin't get away with it. Comcast client service has such a bad reputation, but you will get caught if you pull anything on the telephone with a customer. Fifty-fifty someone I know who has worked there for years is still agape. It'south not laid back whatsoever.

How'southward the office culture?
You really tin't talk to anyone that much. Sometimes, very few times, there will be breaks betwixt calls and you can talk to your desk buddy, only you're not supposed to. They don't encourage you to be social. You can exchange looks with people across from you if you're both dealing with someone awful. You're just in understanding like, "this sucks." But it's non a very social environs.

There are too a lot of age differences, only we're all working in the aforementioned role, which is a little bit weird. You do accept benefits: After three months, yous can get health insurance, 401K, or they'll pay for part of your school. Anybody gets costless cable, likewise, which is nice. But I'thou embarrassed of the job itself. I do everything I tin can to not tell people what I do. I don't remember everyone else there feels that style, though.

Have you ever had an out-of-the-ordinary, positive feel with a customer?
A woman called in and she needed to have her box reset and pay her bill. We got to talking and she was telling me that she was single with a newborn and just having a hard time all around. Some people will tell you lot a lot of personal things. Normally, at that place's a surcharge for people who pay their bill over the telephone, but since we were talking and she was a good client, I waived the fee. It was merely a courtesy gesture, but she was so thankful for the extra money, she got emotional over the phone and eventually nosotros were both crying on the telephone together.

I felt actually adept afterward that. Yous're helping people, in a small-scale way, just you're doing something. It seems lightheaded, but people are really serious about their cable.

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