Comcast has a reputation for providing terrible customer service. The company is hoping to turn that around.
On Tuesday, the company announced a series of steps intended to improve its customer service. Among them: it s hiring 2,000 new call center employees and hundreds of new technicians and promised to pay $20 each time a technician is late to an appointment.
We re on a mission and everyone is committed to making this happen, Neil Smit, president of Comcast s cable division, said in a statement.
As part of the new initiative, Comcast set a goal for itself of being on time for all customer appointments by the third quarter of this year. The company is also investing in employee training and in new cloud-based software that can help representatives address customer concerns. It s also building out a network of retail stores; it currently has 125 that are open or built.
We ll be successful when our customers see and feel this change in every interaction with us, Charlie Herrin, executive vice president of customer experience and Comcast s cable division, said in the statement.
Comcast s move to bulk up its customer service comes on the heels of its decision to abandon its planned merger with Time Warner Cable amid opposition from regulators, customers and consumer advocates. Part of the opposition to the deal stemmed from both companies reputations for providing poor customer service and the concern that a merger would only worsen matters.
The company has long been jeered for its customer service. It and Time Warner Cable were among the lowest ranking companies in last year s American Customer Satisfaction Index, for example. Customers have filed thousands of complaints against the company with the Federal Communications Commission. And a recording by tech blogger Ryan Block last year about his frustrating attempt to disconnect his Comcast service went viral in part because it resonated with other customers.
Comcast has vowedrepeatedly over the years to improve its customer service, with little to show for it. Last year, for example, the company s ACSI rating actually declined.
Photo courtesy of Comcast.
