I Had A Random Thought...

[JonCole]

Yeah, basically Yahoo or any other conglomeration of weird news/blog brands. He went back to AOL to revive Engadget as it was flailing post Verge-exodus, and then he moved up into the business part of AOL overseeing a number of their blogs like Engadget, TechCrunch, etc.

[Ucantalas]

Wow. I do have to say, Ryan stayed much calmer through the whole thing than most people I know would have been (or most people I've talked to during my brief stint at a call center).

I guess we know now why they claim people don't want faster internet.

[Bjorn]

Wow. I do have to say, Ryan stayed much calmer through the whole thing than most people I know would have been (or most people I've talked to during my brief stint at a call center).

I guess we know now why they claim people don't want faster internet.

 

My anecdotal experience with friends in KC who are getting hooked up to Google Fiber is that they don't want pay for gigabit speeds when there is a super cheap, but good enough, option.  Every single person I know has opted for the unlimited free 5mbs (one time $300 fee) in lieu of the $70/Mo gigabit connection.  I was all excited that I could at least go over and play with someone else's super fast Internet, and then no one actually got it. 

[Dewar]

Gigabit is a bit extreme. I'm pretty happy with my current 50 megabit connection, I just want the same upstream as downstream and I want it to reliably be that speed all the time.

[tegan]

This article sums up my feelings nicely.

 

If you understand this call as a desperate interaction between two people, rather than a business transaction between a customer and a company, the pain is mutual. The customer service rep is trapped in an impossible position, in which any cancellation, even one he can’t control, will reflect poorly on his performance. By the time news of this lost customer reaches his supervisor, it will be data—it will be the wrong data, and it will likely be factored into a score, or a record, that is either directly or indirectly tied to his compensation or continued employment. It’s bad, very bad, for this rep to record a cancellation with no reason, or with a reason the script should theoretically be able to answer.

 

[…]

 

Of course, it’s absurd that a company like Comcast is able to force two humans into combat like this in the first place. If you don’t take the existence of a near-monopoly company like Comcast for granted—and why should we?—the situation is as clear as can be: The rep didn’t abuse Block, and Block didn’t torture the rep. Comcast, the organization, is tormenting them both.

 

I've done gruntwork like this before, and in so many positions at retail and call center jobs, you absolutely can and will be punished for giving someone "good" customer service.

[JonCole]

Yeah, I agree with that assessment as well. The thing that ran most true (though probably not in the way they hoped) in Comcast's statement was their insistence that their customer service reps are trying to "do the right thing". The only problem is that the right thing in this case is not a judgment made by either the rep or the customer - "the right thing" is customer retention and bottom line. 

[Twig]

I also agree with that assessment. I think most people realize that's a problem with Comcast as a whole, and not with a specific person. It's why I don't necessarily like the way he asked for the call rep's name at the very end.

 

That said, this guy went pretty far. Usually they give up much sooner. I sort of respect his persistence. I literally would not be able to take the part of either of the people in that call. Ryan is incredibly patient where I would've become super frustrated and angry, and the call rep is super persistent where I would've given up after fifteen seconds and gotten fired the next day.

[Bjorn]

Ah, I think the track has been removed, it's not showing up for me. 

 

Edit, nevermind!  It's on the article that Tegan linked to.  Jesus, this is painful.  Not sure I can get through it all.

[SuperBiasedMan]

I also agree with that assessment. I think most people realize that's a problem with Comcast as a whole, and not with a specific person. It's why I don't necessarily like the way he asked for the call rep's name at the very end.

 

That said, this guy went pretty far. Usually they give up much sooner. I sort of respect his persistence. I literally would not be able to take the part of either of the people in that call. Ryan is incredibly patient where I would've become super frustrated and angry, and the call rep is super persistent where I would've given up after fifteen seconds and gotten fired the next day.

 

 

It's possible this dude had been specifically noted as needing to improve his score or something and knew that he couldn't handle many disconnections that day.

[Twig]

Yes that had occurred to me. Like I said, it's a problem with Comcast, not with that guy.

[syntheticgerbil]

So what I don't understand is why people have such a hard time disconnecting? You just have to be assertive and play hard ball. If they can't hit the deal of the competitor then you tell them no, if they fuck around too much escalate it. I don't get it, every communications company does this. It has not changed since I moved out of my parents house and dealt with this a decade ago.

 

In fact, I love making these phone calls to these big phone companies and hearing the rep flounder at whatever new deal I found. My conversation for switching from AT&T had to do with what politics they were into and who they were funding, plus I told them it was okay to switch since they didn't buy out T-Mobile. The rep had no answer.

 

I'm sure I will have to deal with this soon because Comcast purchased Time Warner, which I have been using since my latest move here in Austin, TX. Their service is so inconsistent and the Google Fiber man installed a line in our backyard a couple of months ago so our area is good to go. I think late this fall we can start buying. This is good for two reasons, one being that Comcast has data caps in many cities and Google Fiber prevents that complete shit from ever happening in Austin. They still guage my usage for no reason and my wife and I do about a terrabyte a month, and I hear the usual cap is 300 gb. I also bet they throttle my connection but no idea how to get proof, but the service seems to die a lot even though I'm paying for "turbo." It's pretty shitty. I used to have Clear before and while not extremely fast, I had a good deal and it was nice in the area I lived in until I moved and it wasn't near a tower. Sprint bought them out and cancelled all Clear internet I guess so they could take over whatever towers themselves, eliminating more competition.

 

The other reason Google fiber is good is that it is making everyone step up their game. Suddenly after the Google Fiber man came by, U-verse decided to finally provide for my area and I hear Verizon is trying to expand FIOS too. The only thing is, I'm not paying $70 a month for a god damn gigabyte from Google. Maybe if I could get a half gig up and down for $35, I'd be down for sure, but I don't think it works like that. But the other companies don't know that and if I have to switch service again because of the Comcast buy out or just that I can renegotiate a deal with one of the other awful companies, I can probably drive down my monthly price extremely low in comparison to Google Fiber. I know my yearly "special introductory deal" of $55 a month for 25 mbps will discontinue soon and I hope Google Fiber helps me threaten enough to either keep that rate or achieve a lower one, even though the service is shit.

 

Among my ordeals with them, the most hilarious thing that happened with Time Warner is about two months after I got it they tried to sell me turbo internet for $20 more a month. I had to look up what my account said I had while talking to the rep who called me and then I told them, "wait a minute, I already have this service and you are trying to make me pay more for it?" The rep seemed embarrassed and abruptly ended the call by saying something like, "Oh thank you, bye." Ugh.

 

Also to hear some reps flounder, here's some great listening:

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/253/the-middle-of-nowhere The bill on the last act on this episode and the way sprint deals with it is terrifying but it's nice to see the consumer wield psuch ower and make them eat humble pie.

 

This call is funny just because basic math escapes these people, including all managers. It gets a bit painful. The dude was totally trying to pull a fast one though, so he brought this on himself.

[JonCole]

When I was cancelling my Comcast TV/internet package in favor of internet-only, they offered me a "deal" that was literally the exact same services (50 down + a "starter" cable package) for less than five dollars less expensive (it was like $78 vs my $81/mo) that was only valid for a 6 month window. After that six month window elapsed, the plan would increase in price to over $15 more than what I was paying at the time. When I did the math for the rep of what the plan I had would cost in a 1-year period vs what was being offered, I swear she was silent for a good 30 seconds before saying something like "you're right, your current package is better than this promotion".

 

Also, Comcast charged me a rental fee for two cable boxes when I only had one. Through presenting various receipts and statements, I figured out that there were two serial numbers on the box - one for the box itself, and one for the embedded cable card inside - and there was a charge for each item as though they were each a cable box (despite the fact that you couldn't even remove the cable card if you wanted to). It then took them 3 months to fully disburse a refund.

[syntheticgerbil]

Holy shit, yeah I went ahead and bought my modem outright when dealing with them because I was worried about charges like that. Plus their rental fees for a year cost way more than just buying one myself either second hand or new.

[Gormongous]

Holy shit, yeah I went ahead and bought my modem outright when dealing with them because I was worried about charges like that. Plus their rental fees for a year cost way more than just buying one myself either second hand or new.

 

I used to do that with Charter, but they recently changed their policy to require a modem rented from there. If they detect a modem that's not the one they've sent you, which I guess they're doing through the MAC address you're required to register, they terminate your service as a violation of contract. It's ugly and gross.

 

I also have to ask to speak to a "retention specialist" every year when my contract expires and my entry-level cable internet doubles to sixty dollars for thirty megabits. I have always gotten it with them for much less, but Charter recently "did away with contracts", which is supposedly pro-consumer but really means they have no obligation to keep giving you the package and deal you agreed upon. Instead, once a year, I have to inform the customer service rep that I'm cancelling their service if I can't get a better deal until he actually believes me enough to connect me to a retention specialist, who are the only people with any sort of bargaining power at Charter. Once connected, they are usually extremely friendly, helpful, and practical, willing to negotiate a price I can pay to keep me on as a customer. It's a sick and twisted process, for sure.

 

I'll never forget when my internet went out for an entire week the first year I was in St. Louis and Charter tech support actually told me it was because I was running Windows XP instead of upgrading to Vista. I blew my top like I never have before, to which the rep offered me six months of free cable TV service for my trouble. I'd still have to keep paying for the non-functional internet, though. I told her where she could stuff it, though I'm not proud of doing so. If there were any alternative to them, I'd be there.

[syntheticgerbil]

Wow, I've never even heard of that company, but I will avoid if possible if I am ever in a location where they are one of the choices. Where are you located where that is your most viable option? Usually it's a fight between either AT&T and Comcast/Time Warner in most cities.

[Gormongous]

Wow, I've never even heard of that company, but I will avoid if possible if I am ever in a location where they are one of the choices. Where are you located where that is your most viable option? Usually it's a fight between either AT&T and Comcast/Time Warner in most cities.

 

Charter's mostly located in the central and eastern US, not so much in the south or west. They're a big one, they tried to buy Time-Warner but failed to out-perform Comcast. The only other game in town is AT&T's DSL network, which provides an expensive and inferior alternative to Charter. They're mostly about tempting people with DirecTV and serving as a bargaining chip to help people drive Charter's prices down. It's a weird situation, though more typical than it should be, I understand.

[tegan]

I am probably not supposed to talk about this, but at my old call center job, I was briefly transferred to a team whose duty was to outright lie to customers about when they would be getting phones replaced through a certain Canadian service provider's extended warranty program after they lost their fucking warehouse. They stopped sending out phones, modems, etc to customers who had ordered them; or at best sent them an empty box; and didn't tell their actual staff any of this (and instead lead them to believe it was our call center's fault) until the stores themselves stopped receiving stock.

 

What I'm getting at is, phone and internet providers are scum.

[SuperBiasedMan]

I think the worst part is that the company clearly considers you revealing information like that to be worse than them failing their customers and blatantly lieing to them about it.

[tegan]

Yeah, nobody quote that in case I decide to edit it later.

[Bjorn]

Unless I misunderstood something, what you're describing sounds an awful lot like fraud, in which case the only reason the company wouldn't want it talked about is because they are being fucking criminals and don't want anyone to know. 

[tegan]

Another thing: I have totally had Canadian phone/cable/internet provider reps come to my house and insist on knowing why I didn't "want to pay less" or whatever, like even pushier Jehovah's witnesses. Ugh.

[clyde]

I pay $72 a month for a 3mbps connection. I would consider it a rip off but I don't because it is a cooperative.

[SecretAsianMan]

Comcast is the best at being the worst.

 

What is the worst use for a sticker?  I don't mean worst as in "that's a dumb place for a sticker", I mean worst as in "that's evil man!".  My first thought was a sticker on an oxygen tank that always shows full.

[tegan]

[Justin Leego]

I pay $72 a month for a 3mbps connection. I would consider it a rip off but I don't because it is a cooperative.

 

Go on, then. How does that work out?