Comcast Rant

Ok guys, so, my summer job has been working for Comcast. Sort of....I work for a company that works for a company that works for Comcast. Anyway, the basic gist of my job is taking people through some benefits that they have online with us. Sounds pretty simple, yes? Well, yes it is actually. It's ridiculously simple...The problem comes in when I interract with those people who are just out to get someone...never a good day when that happens. So I'm gonna talk about them first.

For those of you who have ever worked at a call center, you know grumpy people can make or break your day. Now, I'm not out to sell people anything. Which is always a plus. But people treat me like I am trying to sell them something. They keep telling me "I don't want to pay anymore" and when I explain to them that they are already paying for what I want to show them, they get all confused, and hang up on me. So I say to myself, ok, I'll let you squander in cybernetic oblivion. I didn't care about you anyway.

Continuing with the grumpy situation, I get those people who tell me all about their problems, how much they hate Comcast, and how much they hate me 'cause I'm a terrible representative. Ok people, first of all, I'm trying to show you over $300 worth of software and you hate me? Second of all, telling a lowly peon in the Comcast department all of your problems, isn't going to do ANYTHING! If anything, it'll make me grumpy, and I'll cancel your service... And lastly, if you hate Comcast, why are you still paying for it?

And then there are the old people. This really confuses me. A lot of the time, when I call them, they tell me they have just bought a new computer. Ok, these old people don't know how to use a computer period! I think they heard somebody tell them they needed a new one and they assumed "oh, if I get a new one, I'll never have to LEARN how to use it...it'll take care of itself!" I'm pretty sure that is their thought process... So anyway, I start talking to them and they pretty much only know how to turn on the computer and nothing more. When the computer starts up, I ask them to open their internet browser and they ask me "what's that?" Which is the point where I smack my head on the keyboard. My first question, why are you paying for Comcast Internet when you don't even know what the Internet is, or how to access it? But ok, you're paying my salary so whatever. For the next hour, I take them through a very painful process of simply setting up their email and repeating it over and over again because they just don't understand. I never even get to any of the programs that we have for them because they'll be so confused and it'll take me so many more hours that I don't even bother. They're happy with just email. They're old. They're simple. But at least I made them a little happier.

Now then, there are a couple of things that I hear a lot while working here. One of them is "why are my rates going up?" This question is asked by those people who don't bother reading the fine print when they sign their contract with Comcast. Let me tell you something peolpe, that "One Year Deal for $100" only lasts ONE YEAR! Ugh! Of course your rates are going up! Your promotion expired! And so then they're all like "oh then I'll just switch to Qwest" and I just think to myself, have fun switching back and forth every year when your new promotion expires! Man people are dumb sometimes!

Now, I know that some people out in the world are actually busy and don't have time to talk to us for a night or two. But the problem comes in when we call them continually and ask "can we do the orientation now" or "how about now" and it feels like we have to chase them down! That's just ridiculous. Now, I'm not suggesting that you have to be rude or anything, but if you don't want something, just tell us! I'm tired of asking "oh so is there another time we can call back?" and the person just says "oh just try me again" and leaves it at that... What am I supposed to do about that?! Do I tell all my coworkers that it's time for tag the next couple days and we waste time trying to get someone to talk to us?! No! 'Cause that is retarded! If you don't have the balls to be a grown up and tell me you're not interested, go move back in with your parents...