Is Comcast the 'Worst Company in America'?
Or do some people just have a Comcastic passion for the sport of hating big corporations?
In the latest trashing of Comcast’s reputation, unknown visitors to Consumerist.com — the snarky, theatrical subsidiary of Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports — voted the MSO the “worst company in America” in a 32-company elimination “playoff” bracket. (Previous recipients were AIG, Countrywide and the RIAA.)
Hence, Comcast was the winner of Consumerist.com’s 2010 Golden Poo award.
Classy.
Let’s set aside the statistical invalidity of a self-selecting Web poll that, let’s be honest, was purely a crowd-pleasing bit of click-bait. Note that Comcast “beat” Cash4Gold in a “semifinal” matchup. That’s like asking what you hate more: the Florida State football team or hangnails.
The bogus methodology didn’t stop Verizon from gloating in a tweet, “One of the few times you’ll hear us congratulate Comcast. Consumerist readers have spoken…”
The bigger point is, Comcast (still) has an image problem. Comcast didn’t shrug off the episode as a silly or meaningless stunt, even though it maintains that third-party surveys show the MSO is improving its customer-service standing.
“We’re working every day to improve our customers’ experiences with us, including offering a Customer Guarantee that’s backed by significant operational changes,” the company said in a statement. “We’ve taken steps over the past two years to improve our product reliability and service, and if a problem does occur, we work to quickly to resolve it, find the root cause and make changes so it won’t happen again.”
Comcast and other cable operators have consistently trailed on customer-service surveys — although there are notable exceptions like Cox, Cablevision and WideOpenWest that have turned in above-average scores (see and Cover Story: To Win Wallets, Win Hearts First).
For Comcast specifically, what is the problem? Is it the ghosts of horrible customer service past? Anger over increasing prices (more keenly felt in a down economy)? Or is it Comcast’s hugeness that is threatening — the Consumerist cited its pending deal to gain controlling interest in NBC as one of the reasons it was “the worst company.”
What’s your take? Add your comments below.
Comcast must have some happy customers, given that it added 1 million broadband subscribers in 2009 (although it lost 623,000 video subs).
Buck commented:
Comcast has the worst customer service and worse cable service i have ever delt with. THEY FUCKEN SUCK. I tried for hours and days to work with this pile of crap people and company. go no were. I am tempting to filling a lawsuit agaisnt them.
JK - Wayland, MA. commented:
I think Comcast is doing a great job on applying & extending cable technologies over many of its competitors ever since they took over the bz from AT&T, MediaONE.
I've triple plays - So far the link is very reliable. GREAT JOB to folks at Comcast !!!!
-Joe
sammy714 commented:
We switched from Cox to Verizon and had nothing but problems for the year. They said we would get "better picture quality". What a joke! We went back with Cox and here we will stay!
Cabled commented:
There are thousands of ex-customers out there who were turned off by indifferent, inept or downright rude customer service. All the improvements in the world will mean nothing to consumers refuse to ever again talk to Comcast. You only get one chance to make a good impression.
cypherstream commented:
NO. Comcast WAS pretty bad, but they knew it themselves. Comcast has improved 110% from where it was in the last 5 years. They are really pushing the envelope with DOCSIS 3.0, Project Calvary, HD-VOD.
The only thing Comcast needs is an overhauled full HD on screen guide. Their navigation stinks, but it's not entirely their fault. Many cable operators are stuck with I-Guide. Thankfully Comcast realizes this, and I have a feeling next year we will see more innovation in that regard once the dust settles on the foundation improvements (Bandwidth with Calvary, DOCSIS 3.0, HD expansion, etc...)
M.Richards commented:
The ONLY reason I have Comcast is because they don't allow CSN Philly on satellite (and no FIOS in my area).
M.Richards commented:
The ONLY reason I have Comcast is because they don't allow CSN Philly on satellite (and no FIOS in my area).
M.Richards commented:
The ONLY reason I have Comcast is because they don't allow CSN Philly on satellite (and no FIOS in my area).
Snuffy commented:
"click-bait"
isn't that the whole point of YOUR blog??? :^)
Snuffy commented:
"click-bait"
isn't that the whole point of YOUR blog??? :^)
Joe61614 commented:
When Comcast took over for Insight here 2 years ago, things went downhill. Channels were soon dropped, price increases, audio/video compression, bad service. Ironic, since Comcast had 50% ownership of the system before change over. In Central Illinois, most would prefer Insight to return.
saadams3699 commented:
They need to switch to Cox Communications Inc., if it's available in those areas. We have excellent services and reliability.