Comcast finally admits it has terrible customer service and says it wants to change that by appointing a new senior vice president for customer experience.
Neil Smit, Comcast president and Comcast Cable CEO, announced in a blog post on Sept. 26 that the company has appointed Charlie Herrin to "reimagine the customer experience and ensure that we are delighting our customers at each touch point."
Herrin, who is formerly the head of product design and development and is known for his work on Comcast's X1 TV interface, will work with leaders across all departments and listen to customers and employees. Comcast aims to make customers the focus of every decision they make from hereon.
Smit says his company has been so focused on bringing innovation that it had simply overlooked customer service as part of its success as a business. Developing their technologies, products and content, he believes, is only half the story; the other half being excellent service.
"The way we interact with our customers -- on the phone, online, in their homes -- is as important to our success as the technology we provide. Put simply, customer service should be our best product," Smit says.
Internet service providers and cable companies are generally known to have lousy customer service, but Comcast is taking most of the flak from angry customers. Earlier this year, an exasperated Comcast customer who also happened to be an executive at AOL posted a recording of a call he had with a Comcast customer service agent who refused to cancel his service as the customer had asked. Another customer gained media attention after complaining that Comcast hit him with a $1,000 early termination fee after the customer wanted to end Comcast's poor service.
In most cases, Comcast rarely takes action unless these complaints make it to next day's headlines, which is exactly what happened to the man who was being forced to pay $1,000 for cancelling his service. This is why the company has won the (dis)honor of being voted the Worst Company in America for the second year. The American Customer Satisfaction Index of 2014 shows Comcast at the lowest rung of the ladder for customer satisfaction and is closely followed by Time-Warner Cable, which Comcast is hoping to merge with in a $45 billion acquisition that is currently facing regulatory scrutiny.
Reforms might not yield positive results immediately, but down the road the company hopes that in a few years it can take pride in its customer service.
"That is our goal and our number one priority... and that's what we are going to do," he says.
