Is Comcast the Worst Company in America?

[Judi Lynn]

Is Comcast the Worst Company in America?
Saturday, 13 September 2014 12:16
By Lynn Stuart Parramore, AlterNet | Op-Ed

There are a lot of really strong contenders for the title of worst company in America. Walmart, Bank of America, Ticketmaster and Carnival Cruise Lines have all consistently delivered exquisitely horrible experiences to the American consumer, and their contributions to the national anxiety-level must not be underestimated. But there is one firm that truly stands out — a company so horrendous the very mention of its name causes body tremors and facial constrictions. I refer, ladies and gentlemen, to Comcast, which seems to take as its motto, If you do a thing, do it as badly as possible.

According to Comsumerist's annual reader poll to nominate the Worst Companies In America, Comcast is the best at being the worst. The cable company has won the Golden Poo award for the second time, excelling in awfulness in an industry dominated by companies that treat their customers to a never-ending pile of crap.

In a recent article, "Three Possible Reasons That Everyone Hates Comast," Gene Marks cites the monopolistic hugeness of the company, the helplessness of customers caught in the jaws of the behemoth, and customer service representatives whose typical profile is "a podunk from God-knows-where humiliatingly walk[s] you through a condescending set of instructions from 2006 starting with 'please disconnect your router, wait 3 minutes, then reconnect.'"

Just listen to the now-famous recording of customer Ryan Block attempting to disconnect his service, only to encounter a refugee from a Kafka novel on the other end of the line whose marching orders apparently include attempting to slowly drive Block out of his mind by the tried-and-true methods of badgering, obstinacy and circular argument.

More:
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/26163-is-comcast-the-worst-company-in-america

[Kalidurga]

1. We have lasted just a little over two weeks.

We signed up for wireless internet. But, I couldn't get internet on my desktop because I didn't know how to set it up. So I called, the tech head didn't know how to do that either. The call took about an hour. Then I called again got a different tech head. She didn't know how to fix it either. So I called Quest, got no where that way. Called them back the tech head didn't know how to fix it. Then we went to Best Buy where I got the wireless adaptor and they had no idea. Then we went to the Comcast store, person at the desk had no idea how to help, but for 40 dollars a month we could upgrade and then they would have this magic help. Actually each rep said this. Then we went home I made another call, got nowhere. We had made an appointment to have a tech come out it would have been 40 bucks and would take over a week to come out. So, I tried a few more things gave up for a bit. Daughter came over she made a call, while she was talking I poked around on the options tab or something on my comp and saw some blue linky thing I clicked on and ta da internet. So we cancelled the tech appointment. In a couple days we are going to be switched back to Direct TV/Centurylink and they are pretty bad as well, but at least there are around 200 more channels for about the same price.

[femmocrat]

2. We have DirecTV and have been happy with it.

We dumped Comcast when they put MSNBC into a higher tier, but kept Fox. We are unable to get smaller local stations, however.

DirecTV has been great about coming out on technical calls. We do lose the signal during really bad storms though.

[Kalidurga]

3. Yep we lose signal during bad storms too

A week ago I told someone we weren't getting phone calls since we switched to Comcast. She made that funny face like she found something smelly. I will be glad when things are back to normal even though I don't watch much T.V.

[blkmusclmachine]

4. ,

,

[Blue_Tires]

5. For me it's still Verizon, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, and Electronic Arts...

[JoeyT]

6. They're not the worst, they're just the best known and most personally irritating.

They're not actively killing people like some of our "private security contractors", and they're not passively killing people, like some of our insurance companies, shadier hospitals, tobacco companies, etc.

[mwooldri]

7. I wont know until the twc takeover.

time warner cable has been okay so far... i don't have any other wireline choices... don't want the satellite contracts... i got an antenna on the roof for local channels not carried by twc. otherwise twc delivers. if comcast screws it up then i'll know for sure that they are the worst.

[deafskeptic]

8. when I see

instructions like this: 'please disconnect your router, wait 3 minutes, then reconnect.'" , I take it as a sure sign that their tech don't really know how to do their job.