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Here’s why your cable guy never shows up on time

Published Aug 4th, 2014 11:35AM EDT
Why Is Comcast So Bad

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Now we know why Comcast’s customer service is so terrible — basically, Comcast puts enormous pressure on its employees to upsell its customers on more expensive services while putting significantly less pressure on them to resolve customer problems effectively. And now The Verge has written a new report that seemingly solves the mystery of why Comcast’s technicians almost never show up on time, and unsurprisingly it’s because Comcast has once again decided that its bottom line is more important than delivering good service.

The Verge talked with more than 100 different Comcast technicians and they said that Comcast basically tries to book their schedules so tightly that it leaves them no room for error if unexpected complications arise at a certain job. In fact, the technicians said that Comcast will often intentionally overbook them because the company figures that at least one of the appointments will call in to cancel anyway.

Comcast tells The Verge that it doesn’t allow for double booking and says that its own internal metrics show that Comcast technicians show up on time for the job 97% of the time. However, anyone who has ever had to have a Comcast technician come to their house to do work will probably wonder just what advanced experimental mathematical formula or illicit substances Comcast is using to calculate these metrics.

“They schedule the jobs expecting that one of your jobs will cancel,” one Florida Comcast technician told The Verge. “I usually run over somewhere and have to make up the time at another job. You have to start trimming corners to make up that time you lost. It’s gotten worse lately because of the extra stuff they’re making us do, and they haven’t given us any extra time.”

“Comcast got sloppy and started scheduling impossible tasks in a two-hour window,” explained a Pennsylvania Comcast technician. “They often scheduled multiple jobs in the same window. They would only give you 45 minutes to install a triple play (voice / internet / tv), but those jobs can be complicated and can take up to four hours.”

The Verge’s full report is well worth reading and can be found by clicking the source link below.

Brad Reed
Brad Reed Staff Writer

Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.