One week? No way…

Posted by on Sep 3, 2009 in Marketing Industry, Social Media, Technology | 3 comments

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I recently moved from Minneapolis to St. Paul and in need of internet and cable I decided to give Comcast a call.

“I’m sorry, Ma’am, you can only do that online,” or “You have to call the regional number to get that deal,” and worse: “September 7th is the soonest we can have it installed.”

Thinking of a week without Internet made my heart break, so I asked the Comcast rep if there was any way to get the installation appointment sooner. She told me they were booked and no waiting list on cancellations existed.

I had read the various articles on Frank Eliason, or @comcastcares and decided to give him a try. If you haven’t already heard of Mr. Eliason, he is Comcast’s customer service voice on Twitter — dubbed the most famous customer service manager in the U.S.

@hillaryheinz: @Comcastcares TV/Internet installation wait is one week….really?

@ComcastSteve: no way. send us an email w/home addy and contact info. we’ll speed it up. we_can_help@cable.comcast.com

In less than 1 hour I got a call from John, a local Comcast representative who kindly set me up with an appointment the next morning. Shocked (and happy!), I asked John how this was possible when others had me waiting until September 7th? John didn’t have the clearest of answers for me, but said I was a special case.

The next morning I had Internet, and a phone call from John following up on the appointment.

Comcast’s social media customer service worked out great for me, but why was I a special case and how did an appointment suddenly open up? In my head I pictured some sad St. Paul soul getting a call from Comcast saying their appointment had to be rescheduled.

I couldn’t decide if I was happy for getting what I wanted, or angry that I didn’t get this service in the first place. And I wonder, does Comcast leave open appointments for loud, angry, social media enthusiasts?

Feel free to share your stories or thoughts!

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  • http://www.fasthorseinc.com Mike Keliher

    I wonder if the same thing works with @god on Twitter:

    mjkeliher: @god Purgatory? For eternity? Really?

    god: @mjkeliher No way. Pete’s just messin’ with ya. Let me DM him…

  • Sheena Miller

    I had a somewhat similar circumstance, but while at work. I worked at the U of M and was in charge of getting cable, projector, carpeting, etc. for our department office area. Cable was only installed in a conference room while wanting to use online features with the projector – so we didn’t need the cable all that often. Luckily we decided to test the cable that had been installed for over 6 months the day before an important meeting and discovered then that it wouldn’t make a connection.

    Where all social media and online activities were prohibited in this department, I, a Twitter novice, decided to jump online anyways and ask @ComcastBill if he could help speed up the process. In no time, we had a tech servicing our connection.

  • http://www.comcast.com ComcastCares

    Thank you for the feedback. Ultimately the original person you spoke to should have escalated the concern to see if there is something that can be done to assist. As we can see, there was opportunity to do so. When possible we do strive to accommodate Customers needs no matter what channel they communicate with us. In fact my team helps people in social media, but the vast majority we speak to are either via phone or email.

    Thank you again for being a Comcast Customer!

    Frank Eliason
    @ComcastCares on Twitter
    We_Can_Help@cable.comcast.com