Not so Comtastic really.
02.09.2008

I am about to walk away from the desk, get a cup of coffee and start my morning over after experiencing the most unintuitive, frustrating slap-in-the-face online customer experience. I am planning to add an additional TV but have satellite in two rooms already. I just want the local channels but I'm thinking maybe i'll get a basic cable channel install instead of a new HD antenna. So I go to the comcast site...where I am not allowed to view pricing without putting in an address. I can understand the local issues there. But I still can't see prices because it recognizes my address as a current subscriber (internet) and I have to log in.

- - I edited out the entire process here because it was a pointless rant. Needless to say it took me around 15 minutes just to log in. - -

 I log in - - - Still No Prices. As a loyal customer I am offered "special" bundles. Which for cable ranges between $54 - $120 month. I click on the Shop, See All Products link. But I don't get to see all the products. I am escorted back to the items i am "allowed" to buy. I then see a little link that says 'See Channel Lineup". There I see an option called "Basic". Ah Ha - this is what i want. The locals,  some news, a couple of multi cultural's and if I want some drama, there's the Hallmark Channel.

But still no pricing. So I break down and call where after a short wait I am told it's 16 bucks. Thanks, was that so hard.

Anyway, my point here is a company's website is an extension of the brand. At any point where a customer interacts with the company is an opportunity to build trust and loyalty. Most companies seem to know this, yet certain companies seem to stumble with this concept every time. Denver based US West was more often than not referred to as US Worst, and now Qworst after the Qwest buyout. Thanks to competition such a VOIP, many users don't have to use Qwest any longer. Business owners strive to create passionate users. These are the people that loyally buy only from you; your coffee, your shoes, your services, etc. Aside from the expected technical glitches, Comcast's services are not all that bad. That part of the brand experience equation works. It's the customer service touch point that hurts. You know your doing something seriously wrong when you have inspired a legion of current and ex-customers that are passionate about hating your company. What company inspires headlines like "Horrible Service Reps, Terrible Phone Service and Less Than Appealing Prices. That's Right, It's Comcast" or "Comcast Tech Bullies Customer for Cash, Breaks His Hard Drive, Drills Huge Holes In Walls And Baseboards" in fact just google "comcast sucks" for 89,000 sites citing a shared experience of poor service.

And now there's 89,001


There are 6 Comments for Not so Comtastic really.

I don't remember Comcast being that great when we lived in Jacksonville, but no one can be worse in customer service than Time Warner Cable. No shows, rude CSR's, billing mistakes, faulty equipment, etc.
from Laura about 1 year ago
By "no shows" I mean they give you the "we'll be over there between 8am and 8pm," and then they don't show up at all, resulting in a missed day at work for no reason at all.
from Laura about 1 year ago
I had the exact same experience a few months ago-- I already subscribed to their basic cable package and broadband service, and all I wanted to do was add HBO, so I could watch Extras and Flight Of The Conchords on demand. NO WHERE on the site could I find a simple little calculator to tell me how much more I would have to pay. Same story as you; just kept getting redirected to page after page limiting me to New Subscriber services, or log-in screens. SO frustrating. I actually really like their branding and their TV marketing campaign, but I their website is just horrible. Oddly enough, the only thing they make easy ios paying your bill online. Funny how that works.
from doug about 1 year ago
Maybe it's the same story for all large communications companies. If they put as much effort into retaining clients as they did gaining clients...but then what are your options.
from Danny about 1 year ago
I used to be very happy with Comcast... actually for several years. They bought out AT&T Broadband here in Washington, and it was SUCH a relief (Danny knows well about my long-standing grudge with "Death Star Communications"). But there has been a steady erosion in the quality of their customer support; oddly coupled with a gradual and continuous increase in prices. Go figure! More troubling than their failings on the customer service front is the now blatant misrepresentation of their internet access, which they describe as unlimited. Recent evidence has proven otherwise, particularly for BitTorrent users. At the end of January, Comcast VERY QUIETLY changed their terms of service to say, in effect "well, yeah, we do limit usage... and we reserve the right to censor communications over our networks." Don't take my word for it... read it here: http://www6.comcast.net/terms/use/ For a less legalese interpretation, try this link: http://www.savetheinternet.com/blog/2008/02/06/comcast-new-terms-of-service-recipe-for-discrimination/
from Chris about 1 year ago
Great qoute from the article chris posted: "The reality is that Comcast should have invested in a better network with more capacity. It’s time for the cable giant to come clean that what it’s selling isn’t the real Internet — it’s the crippled Comcastic version."
from Danny about 1 year ago

Add A Comment

Name:
Email:
URL:
Message:
Powered by MosaicGlobe.