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[Chicago Tribune] And the customer service award does NOT go to ...

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout' started by swu, Aug 17, 2005.

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  1. swu

    swu Member

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    http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0508170154aug17,1,5769158.story?coll=chi-news-hed


    By Scott Goldstein
    Tribune staff reporter
    Published August 17, 2005


    Until recently, LaChania Govan's complaints about Comcast's service seemed relatively tame. The 25-year-old Elgin mother of two said she was put on hold, disconnected, even transferred to the Spanish language line.

    But after persistent problems with her digital recording system forced her to make dozens of calls to the cable company in July, her August bill came with a change really worth complaining about: In place of her name were the words "b**** Dog."

    "I could not believe it," said Govan, who works in customer service for a credit card company.

    She said she immediately called Comcast to cancel her service and was sent to an operator.

    "She asked me for my name. I said, `You really don't want me to go there,'" Govan said.

    Recounting her problems on Tuesday, she said she was transferred to a supervisor who assured her he would find out what happened and get back to her soon.

    In the meantime, she said, he offered her two months of free cable, which she declined.

    A Comcast official said Tuesday the company was aware of the incident and that the bogus name change was authentic but said she couldn't discuss the specifics until the company discovered how it occurred.

    "If this is not that customer's name, it shouldn't be on that bill," said Patricia Andrews-Keenan, vice president of communications for the company. "But we don't know why that happened. It's obvious that that's inappropriate to have a name like that on that account."

    The name on Govan's account has been changed back, said Andrews-Keenan, who is based in Chicago.

    The company should be able to track who made the change, she said.

    "Generally, it's much like any other billing services. You should be able to look and see who made different notations on that account," she said. "And that's where we are now; we're looking to see if we can find that out."

    Martin Cohen is executive director of the Citizens Utility Board of Illinois, which handles complaints about utility and other service providers. Although Govan's troubles aren't all that common, the organization learned this week about a similar case involving a Peoples Energy customer, he said.

    In that case, Jefferoy Barnes, 44, of Maywood received four pieces of mail from the company that included the words "scrotum bag" in the line with his name.

    Unlike Govan, Barnes said he couldn't recall any interaction with company employees that could have prompted the slur. One of the company mailings, a July 23 letter, concerned an overdue payment on a gas bill.

    "I was shocked," he said. "I showed my friends and a couple of relatives. I can't believe they did that, and I couldn't even understand why."

    After a reporter inquired about the problem Tuesday, a company spokeswoman said the employee responsible was being fired.

    "We have identified the representative who is responsible for this change, and this person is being fired immediately," Elizabeth Castro said.

    "Additionally, we are now checking all records that this person had contact with to ensure that no other similar changes have been made. And finally, we have called the customer and have spoken with him directly to apologize for this. This is not how we treat our customers."

    Barnes said he received an apologetic call Tuesday evening from a company executive.

    But more than a week after receiving her bill, Govan has not heard back from Comcast, she said.

    Her August bill for $77.50 came after a month in which she estimates she called Comcast 40 times because of repeated problems with a new digital recording box.

    Govan, who does not speak Spanish, said she didn't appreciate being transferred to the company's Spanish-language line.

    But receiving the bill with the obscene name topped it all, she said.

    "That hurts my feelings, and I feel that is just beyond the bottomless pit," Govan said. "You don't do a customer like that in any business that you're in."

    Govan said she was never abusive to Comcast employees.

    "I did express my dissatisfaction with their customer service," she said.

    She said the company did eventually replace her digital recording system--twice, because the first replacement didn't work either.

    Now, with her cancellation request pending, she is simply waiting for the company to show up and disconnect her.

    ----------

    sgoldstein@tribune.com
     
    #1 swu, Aug 17, 2005
  2. wizkid83

    wizkid83 Member

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    Further proof that Comcast sucks (I've made a thread on this a while back) and every one who contributes to the sh!tiness of that company needs to be beaten.
     
    #2 wizkid83, Aug 17, 2005
  3. wnes

    wnes Contributing Member

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    Time Warner Cable is no better.
     
    #3 wnes, Aug 17, 2005
  4. Uprising

    Uprising Member

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    COX is even worse....
     
    #4 Uprising, Aug 17, 2005
  5. Gutter Snipe

    Gutter Snipe Member

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    Well, that isn't good customer service - but it's not surprising and it's hardly obscene. Derogatory and worth a hell of a lot more than two months of free cable, but not obscene.

    I love that - we're soo sorry - we'll give you two months of FREE CABLE!

    Come on guys - you're about to lose a customer for calling her a b**** in writing and the best you can do is 2 months? That represents the worst customer service in this whole scenario, in my book. It costs you nothing to supply one customer with cable. Nothing! And you have everything (a paying cable customer) to gain.

    Good call guys. :rolleyes:
     
    #5 Gutter Snipe, Aug 18, 2005
  6. rrj_gamz

    rrj_gamz Member

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    Comcast sucks...I hate it because I have to use them until DirecTv comes down on their HD prices... :(
     
    #6 rrj_gamz, Aug 18, 2005
  7. DallasThomas

    DallasThomas Member

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    Grande blows too.
     
    #7 DallasThomas, Aug 18, 2005
  8. wnes

    wnes Contributing Member

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    I don't understand this, why is everyone still sticking with cable companies?
     
    #8 wnes, Aug 18, 2005
  9. Rocketman95

    Rocketman95 Hangout Boy

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    When it's storming outside and I'm stuck inside, I like to watch television on occasion. I found that I couldn't do that on a consistent basis when I had either Dish Network or DirecTv. That being said, when I get a house, I'm going with DirecTv because of the NFL Ticket.
     
    #9 Rocketman95, Aug 18, 2005
  10. ima_drummer2k

    ima_drummer2k Member

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    b**** Dog? Scrotum Bag?

    Having worked in 3 different call centers in my career, I think this story........is prettty damn funny.
     
    #10 ima_drummer2k, Aug 18, 2005
  11. meggoleggo

    meggoleggo Member

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    I've never worked in a call center, but I still think the story is funny as hell. That being said, once they got caught, they definitely should have kissed more ass than just 2 months free cable. They're the scrotum bags if you ask me.
     
    #11 meggoleggo, Aug 18, 2005
  12. swilkins

    swilkins Member

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    Time Warner works well for me. The price sucks though.
     
    #12 swilkins, Aug 18, 2005
  13. yobod

    yobod Member

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    Time warner is the only consistent cable company that I have ever used and it's also the fastest ive had. The internet rarely goes out at all, and if it does, its usually back up within 10-15 minutes. I think its safe for me to assume that there are more complaints about Cox and Comcast than there is about Time Warner.
     
    #13 yobod, Aug 18, 2005
  14. Joshfast

    Joshfast "We're all gonna die" - Billy Sole
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    TVMAX is worse then all of them. I wish I had TimeWarner......
     
    #14 Joshfast, Aug 18, 2005
  15. fadeaway

    fadeaway Member

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    :D Me too. I did tech support for Comcast and I can see how this could happen. Whenever someone calls in, the customer service rep. has the option of leaving "notes" on the person's account, which act as a history of sort for that caller. If a caller is nasty, the rep. might leave a nasty note. Obviously, some worker who didn't care about his/her job anymore took things a step further and changed the person's name too.

    BTW.. I've transferred people with poor English over to the Spanish line too. I'm not going to be much help if I don't understand what you're saying. :cool:
     
    #15 fadeaway, Aug 18, 2005
  16. don grahamleone

    don grahamleone Member

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    I'd love to hear the service call person's side. I bet b**** dog was just that on the phone. Customer service people rarely get pissed first.
     
    #16 don grahamleone, Aug 18, 2005
  17. ima_drummer2k

    ima_drummer2k Member

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    This is SO true. Most people don't call a customer service person to say "Hello, everything is fine and I couldn't be any happier! Goodbye", they call because they're pissed about something and more often than not, they're total a-holes to the very person that's trying to help them.
     
    #17 ima_drummer2k, Aug 18, 2005
  18. wnes

    wnes Contributing Member

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    No, customer is never wrong.
     
    #18 wnes, Aug 18, 2005
  19. Coach AI

    Coach AI Member

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    BWAAHAAHAHAHAHA.

    If there's anything that customer service/retail teaches you (depresses you with), it's the fact that there's a lot of idiots in this world.

    That said, it takes an idiot to let the customer, even if she really was a 'b**** dog' or whatever, make you take it to the other level.

    Unless, of course, the person was just about to quit anyway. That's just classic.

    f*ck you, f*ck you, f*ck you, you're cool, f*ck you, I'm out!
     
    #19 Coach AI, Aug 18, 2005
  20. Smokey

    Smokey Member

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    I effing hate Cingular Wireless and they've lost me as a customer as soon as my contract is up. I dealt with a douche down at the local store. I lost my AT&T phone so I had to switch to a Cingular phone. He assured me there would be no termination fee as long as I signed a new contract. We made small talk for about 20 mins as he ported me to Cingular.

    A couple of days later I found my phone and went back to the store to return it. The guy wouldn't talk to me and referred me to another sales person. Since he set up my account -- how many ports can this podunk store do -- another sales person asked him about my account and he said I don't know. The guy was pissed he lost his commission cause I was returning my phone but he didn't have to be an ass. I got my phone returned, my old phone reported, and got billed for termination after the douche told me there would be no fee -- I b****ed out Cingular and got that taken off. F Cingular.

    Buy all your phone stuff online. Put local stores out of business. All they do is hire douches who can't find real jobs.
     
    #20 Smokey, Aug 18, 2005
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