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Comcast wants to fix one of the things you hate most about its service

Published Nov 20th, 2014 5:30PM EST
Comcast Customer Service Improvements

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Is Comcast really making an effort to improve its customer service? Given how its recent push to improve its image has coincided with its efforts to merge with Time Warner Cable, we remain skeptical. That said, it looks like the company is taking some steps to fix one of the absolute worst aspects of its customer service: Waiting around for cable technicians who may or may not show up on time.

RELATED: Two Comcast customers nearly go insane fighting thousands in bogus fees

As anyone who’s ever had an appointment with Comcast knows, waiting around for a technician to show up in a given time window can be infuriating because you literally don’t feel you can leave your house until they show up. Because of this, Comcast is now giving you a way to track your technician and let you know when they’re going to arrive at your place in 30 minutes.

“Customers with scheduled appointments will be alerted through our App when our technician is about 30 minutes away from arriving at their house, and will be able to track this technician’s progress on a map,” Comcast explains on its official company blog. “We’re hoping this will prevent our customers from just needing to sit at home and wait.  They can check the app from the office, or wherever they are, and head home when they see we’re on our way.  If we are running late, which can happen if our tech gets tied up at someone else’s house, we will let folks know that too, and provide real-time status updates so they can plan accordingly.”

Comcast says the new feature is beginning a trial run in the Boston area this week and will be available to customers who download the company’s My Account app.

While this feature won’t fix all of Comcast’s customer service issues — its over-the-phone customer service and billing practices, for example, still seem like total horror shows — this is a neat feature and we can’t wait to try it for ourselves.

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.