Comcast Customer Service Nightmare: Ryan Block Shows Us All How to Handle an 'Oppressive' Representative (LISTEN)
ByAn eight-minute phone call in which one Comcast customer wanted to cancel his service has now proven to be somewhat of a black eye for the company.
Though audio rarely goes viral, as Digg.com author Stan Alcorn noted, Ryan Block's phone call with a Comcast customer service representative did. Block is a tech writer and critic, a co-founder of Engadget.com and a vice president at AOL.
According to the Associated Press, Comcast has issued an apology from their Philadelphia headquarters and publicly stated that they are "embarrassed" by the customer service representative's actions. A California resident, Block, now a former customer, spent eight minutes trying to disconnect his service while the representative tried repeatedly to change his mind.
"I can guarantee right now that you are doing an incredibly good job of helping your company be worse," Block said at one point during the call.
Block apparently got the idea to record his conversation with Comcast when his wife, Veronica Belmont, had clearly had enough of the customer service rep. In the accompanying description on SoundCloud.com, Block said he got on the phone about 10 minutes into the conversation.
He began recording only "a few minutes" after talking with the representative, who he described as being "oppressive" and "condescending."
If you ever find yourself frustrated like Block and his wife were, take note of these textbook responses to an overbearing customer service rep.
1. "I don't owe you an explanation."
Block is right and most customer service personnel would know it to be true.
2. "I'm declining to state, we want to switch providers, can you please go to the next question."
If the rep took the bait and simply moved on, this whole ordeal may not have been a story.
3. "That's none of your business; your business is to disconnect us, please."
The representative apparently forgot the golden rule of customer service.
4. "Can you disconnect us by phone? Yes or no?"
Block knew the answer was "yes," but he wanted to hear it from the representative.
5. "I'm no longer interested in your service."
Block said something like this several times.