Overview
Comcast Customer Service Fiasco refers to the online backlash surrounding a recorded telephone conversation in which tech blogger Ryan Block repeatedly tries to request a Comcast customer service representative to cancel his cable service subscription over the course of an 18 minute-long call. The recording instantly went viral after Block uploaded a portion of the conversation to Soundcloud in July 2014, which ultimately prompted the American cable company to issue a personal apology.
Background
Comcast Doesn’t Give a F*ck
The consumers’ dissatisfaction with Comcast’s customer service department has been previously discussed online, most notably in a parody Comcast commercial by Funny or Die titled “Comcast Doesn’t Give a Fuck.”
Ryan Block’s Audio Recording
On July 15th, 2014, Ryan Block uploaded a recording of his attempt to have his Comcast cable service discontinued to the audio-sharing website Soundcloud (shown below). During the call, Block repeatedly pleads with the representative to cancel his service and is aggressively met with questions about the decision (shown below).
Notable Developments
Online Reaction
The same day, Block’s spouse Veronica Belmont tweeted[1] a link to the Soundcloud file, receiving over 1,300 retweets and 900 favorites in the first 72 hours.
Shortly after, several posts about the recording reached the front page of Reddit,[3][4][5] many of which which mocked Comcast’s customer service. In the comments section of a post on the /r/television[6] subreddit, Redditor txmadision claimed to be a former Comcast data analyst and explained the financial incentives that may have caused the representative’s extreme behavior. The comment was subsequently featured on the /r/bestof[7] subreddit.
Comcast Response
Also on July 15th, Comcast released a statement apologizing for the representative’s behavior, claiming it was “not consistent” with how they train employees.
“We are very embarrassed by the way our employee spoke with Mr. Block and are contacting him to personally apologize. The way in which our representative communicated with him is unacceptable and not consistent with how we train our customer service representatives. We are investigating this situation and will take quick action. While the overwhelming majority of our employees work very hard to do the right thing every day, we are using this very unfortunate experience to reinforce how important it is to always treat our customers with the utmost respect.”[8]
News Media Coverage
In the coming days, several news sites published articles about the incident and Redditor txmadison’s subsequent revelations, including NPR,[8] Business Insider,[9]CNET,[10] The Washington Post,[11] Mashable,[12] Slate,[13] BoingBoing[14] and The Verge.[15]
Search Interest
External References
[2]Reddit – Ryan Block Tries to Leave Comcast
[3]Reddit – Comcast wont let this customer quit
[4]Reddit – Guy attempts to discontinue Comcast service
[5]Reddit – Comcast customer service
[6]Reddit – Comcasts customer service nightmare is painful to hear
[7]Reddit – In response to going-viral recording of Ryan Block trying to cancel his Comcast service
[8]NPR– Comcast Embarassed by The Service Call
[9]Business Insider – That Nightmare Customer Service Call Is Totally Normal And Happens All The Time
[10]CNET– Could this Comcast rep be the worst service rep in the world
[11]The Washington Post – A long days journey into canceling Comcast service
[12]Mashable – Comcast Rep Stonewalls Customer in Cancellation
[13]Slate – A Former Comcast Employee
[14]BoingBoing – Listen to Comcast torture Ryan Block
[15]The Verge – Heres why your Comcast rep is yelling at you