The Cable gods Are Not Happy
 
I recently read a article <Consumers Hate Cable Companies> about how cable television companies were one of the most hated businesses according to consumers. I can relate having been on both sides of the line. Recently I moved to new apartment that did not have the wonderful fiber pipe I had in my old place. I was faced with a couple of choices; get new service with Comcast, get new service with ATT, or transfer and downgrade my existing service to DSL with a 8x1 pipe for lack of fiber. I won't do business with ATT just on principle. They have had this country in a choke hold since Bell invented the damn thing. Their customer service is crap and they couldn't care less about their customers (from my experience anyway). Comcast has one of the worse reputations on the street for customer service and is universally hated by everyone I've ever asked. Just for fun I called to find out about some of their data packages. My good friend Tyrone (his real name) was not a wealth of information. He was able to tell me about a 40 meg download package but when I asked him what the upload speed was and he had no idea. He had to Google it (he told me that while I waited it was 10 megs just so you know). The service was priced at 44.99 for 12 months then went up to 59.99 and then would settle at 64.99 which he tells me is the regular price. He never was able to explain to me how we went from 59.99 to 64.99 and I felt further inquiries weren't necessary so we moved on. I then asked him if I wanted to move forward, what sort of installation windows did they have available. He told me he would have to build the work order and then see if maybe he could get into the billing system. He informed me that since they were in the middle of a merger, they were running two systems side by side. “It might work maybe” was the best he could do. He also told me there would be a installation charge ranging from 19.99 to 39.99 depending on where I lived...Oh, and he would also need my social to run a credit check to determine if a deposit was necessary. I thanked him for his time and we ended the call. Fun fact, the Comcast/Time Warner merger is still being reviewed by the FCC. Now Tyrone might have had access to information that I don't and carelessly let the cat out of the bag but I kinda doubt. Tyrone was probably some pour underpaid rep with little or no training that was just trying to make a few bucks for himself. I can't fault him for that.

In fairness a lot of this is standard stuff. Credit checks are something thats been going on for several years. I'm sure some high level management type could explain it to me but the words “its pointless and just another way to keep you away from our service” will never come out of his/her's mouth. Installation charges aren't uncommon either. It costs about 110 bucks to roll a truck to a location. Gotta make your money somewhere. The main fault here is that Tyrone didn't have his shit together. I mean the way he handled my call was clumsy. He didn't seem all that interested in getting me on as a new customer. That's all fine and good. Tyrone didn't have any skin in the game. He was probably being paid minimum wage and working for some third party call center that has Comcast as a client. Believe me, I've seen behind the curtain at Xerox. They answer the phones for Nextel. These are sadest places that make me think of what a prison galley might have looked like. Lots of hollowed out empty eyes, no real motivation, and a yearning to do something else. I actually had one of the ass-hate supervisors brag about how he had been there five years. It isn't something I'd be bragging about but thats me.

So that brings me to Frontier Cable. They are a small cable outfit that I have had service with for about a year. They had fiber to premises service where I lived which I had never seen before. Let me say, it was super fast, never went down, and I loved it. I only had to call them twice in a year and both times my calls were handled like I would expect them to be. I guess the only thing I would say about the installation on that place was the tech that did the install didn't even pull out his meter until I asked to see it. He had no light meter or any other diagnostic equipment. When I was a tech we called it “plug and pray” short for plug it in and pray that it works. In this case it did and I had no issues.

Fast forward to a week ago when I'm transferring my service to this new place. No, there is no fiber here (Sorry keep beating that drum) but yes they can service me with a 20x10 pipe. Well that ain't what I want but I'll take anything so as not to have to get in bed with Comcast. Sure, sign me up. It'll be about a week before they can get to me. Not great but I understand. The day before the install someone calls me up to say that they can't give me the 20 meg circuit, there aren't enough ports and the best they can do is 8x1. Well shit, says I, that sucks. So I started asking some technical questions: so this is DSL? How far from the CO am I, stuff like that...guy has no clue what I'm talking about. I give up. He says, well we can just have the tech drop the modem off so you don't have to wait around all day. It's called a fast connect where I come from and usually I would be ok with that. I start saying things like this is wired with CAT3...upload/download stuff...he's like whoooa Mr Customer, you own the wiring, we'll make sure its good to the NID. I'm like yea, I know about demarcation but this is a apartment complex and the likelihood of me getting a wiring upgrade are zero. I want a guy to come in, hook it up and make sure it works. I'll take it from there. Fine he says.

So the next day I'm excited because I haven't had Internet in a week. Even crappy service is better than no service right? I'm set up for a 9am – 1pm time slot. So I wait...and wait...and wait. Its noon now I make my first call. Hey there, are we still on for this install...yes sir Mr Customer he must just be running behind. Ok, says I, I been on the other end of it so I know things can get backed up. Its 3pm now. No call no tech. My second call...yes sir, Mr Customer, we're running behind. Let me give the tech a call and see what's going on....so he puts me on hold and I wait...and wait...and wait. Sorry about the hold Mr Customer, I left the tech a voice mail to give you a call with a update. I'm like well now shit...I know that one. Things are starting to not look so hot. So now it's 6pm. No call no tech no nothing. So I make call number 3. 33 minutes later this nice lady up in Washington named Wendy tells me well Mr Customer looks like your install got pushed till tomorrow. They left you a automated message to number xxx xxx xxxx....Im like thats the wrong number. Shes like, oh guess that's why you didn't get it. I ask her if its common to push work orders till the next day. She says sometimes it happens. I can remember living in a world back in the late 90's early 2000's when we did stuff like that. It wasn't like that when I left I can assure you. She says she'll call me in the am and make everything right. She was nice enough to wave the 9 dollar activation fee. Thanks, I appreciate that. Will she follow through? I'll be really impressed if she does.

This is the kind of stuff that drives customers insane. I'm being easy because I worked in the business for 14 years and have seen all aspects of it. I know what happens when things are busy, your short handed and over loaded. However this stuff happens on a large scale and across all markets and all companies. That suggests to me that something is broken. When I was in the field I took a whole lot of pride in the work I did. I appreciated the money I made, the perks I had, and all the things that went with working cable. It was interesting and fun. I never made promises I couldn't keep, I worked quickly, and I was really good at putting out fires. Fires are customer issues that are burning so hot no one wants to touch them. I was the guy that ran toward the fires, I was a fixer. There were others like me but not everyone was. There were people that didn't care but most did. I think management philosophies drive a lot of the problems. Too much emphasis on the bottom line and less thought for customers and employees. This little peek into my life is just a slice of what happens everyday across the country. It's whats wrong with cable operators.

I'm giving serious consideration to getting back in the game. I loved working with customers and putting out fires. If you've ever had a bad experience similar to this I just want you to know that there are those out there that still give a shit. People that want to treat you like they want to be treated. People of honor and character. Remember it's the people on the phones, in your homes, and on the street that do the actual work. Before you rip one of them a new one, remember they operate within some tight confines and aren't' always responsible for your bad experience. Most will go out of their way to turn you around. I always wanted to walk away with you feeling warm and fuzzy and ready to tell someone about what a great experience you had. We're still out there, some of still care. I still care.