I’m not going to claim this was my finest 15 minutes

19Oct11

Oh hi. No time to read blogs, tweet, promote stuff, etc. I will return to the world of the general literate internet when the new job and I have reached equilibrium.

I try to be compassionate about the frustrations of customer support. I know that the reps are required to shill all sorts of dumb products, and that they’re sitting somewhere with headsets on in (I imagine) a room with terrible lighting, and they just want to pay the rent, and it’s not their fault I can’t find out on my Comcast account page what internet bandwidth I have. Or that the email rep wasn’t allowed to answer the question over email. But still, world, did this really have to take 15 minutes?

–
analyst NAME has entered room

NAME: Hello Danielle, Thank you for contacting Comcast Live Chat Support. My name is [NAME]. Please give me one moment to review your information.

Danielle: My Issue: Hi– I have a reference number for this case. It is 6467466.

NAME: I am looking forward to help you this time because our customer guarantee is our promise to you. Learn more about the Comcast Customer Guarantee by clicking the link below. http://www.comcast.com/Corporate/Customers/CustomerGuarantee.html

NAME: How may I help you this time, Danielle?

Danielle: I have a reference number for this case. It is 6467466.

NAME: Please give me a minute or two to check of that reference number.

NAME: For the integrity and security of your account information, please fill in the following information ask below: Account Holder’s Name: Full Service Address: Phone number: Zipcode: SSN# last 4 digits:

Danielle: You mean mostly the information I filled in to get to this chat in the first place?

Danielle: [NAME], [ADDRESS], [PHONE], ####.

NAME: Yes, Daniele, but this is to prevent social engineering and possible hackers.

NAME: Thank you so much.

NAME: While you are waiting why not check out www.comcast.com/Corporate/Learn/DigitalCable/digitalcable.html and see how to take advantage of the full value of your Digital Video service.* If you have any questions once we are done with this, I’ll be more than happy to answer them for you.
[* I don't have Digital Video service.]

NAME: Just to let you know, at the end of this chat there will be a short survey. I would appreciate it if you would take a moment to complete it so we can continue to improve the service we provide to you.

[long pause]
Danielle: All I want to know is what service I currently have.

Danielle: In particular I want to know what internet bandwidth I have.

NAME: Yes, I certinly can, please let me check if first in here,

[long pause]
NAME: Please bear with me while I am still checking the the internet package for you.

[long pause]
Danielle: It is ridiculous that I can’t find this out on my account page in the Comcast website, but don’t respond to this because I know you can’t do anything about it and responding will just take more time.

[long pause]
NAME: Danielle, please give me a chance to let you know the internet package that you’ve signed up.

[long pause]
NAME: You have signed up to Online- performance with an internet speed of 12Mb/2Mb for upload and download.

Danielle: Thank you.

NAME: You are most welcome.

NAME: It has been my pleasure serving you today and I truly appreciate your understanding and cooperation. Do you have other concerns for me today? I will be glad to assist you further.

Danielle: No that’s it. Thanks.
–

Seriously. Fifteen minutes. At least I resisted the urge to tell the rep how ridiculous this was. I vented at the survey instead. And now, to you.
xx
djd
p.s. New England SPJ social media training Thursday night.
p.p.s. How fortunate it is that I have a “grouching” category. Good foresight, self.