bicker said:
That's easy to say, but if you've ever managed a high-tech technical support operation, you know that such statements are meaningless: It is that difficult.
Not if you have your process down, it's not. Developing the process can be difficult
but cable cards are not new. Cable Cards are also not a surprise.
And BTW, I design enterprise level systems for a living. If I ran an operation like these guys are I would be fired.
This is an area of their
core competency and they are supposed to be
professionals. That's why they are granted limited monopolies.
For them to not be able to perform a basic function is just unprofessional. Period.
Again, that's easy to say. Do you realize how often you spend tens of thousands of dollars training someone only to have them up and leave, taking their expertise, which you paid for, with them?
Hmm, companies like Costco that treat their employees with respect have no problem with employee retention. Again, we are talking about supposedly professional organizations run by managers and CEO's who get lots of money. No sympathy.
Trying to keep good staff in positions where they are, basically, just s--- on all day by customers, is very difficult, and it is unfair, as a backseat driver, to second-guess.
Whah whah whay - ooh, life is hard so I should get a break. What a joke! Again, Comcast has lots of upper level managers that are supposedly professionals and paid to keep handles on stuff like this.
If they want to retain people, how about training them so they can deal with customers in timely and effective manners? This would reduce call time, would reduce the amount of angry phone calls and everyone wins. Instead, like a petulant child that pouts until they get their way, they are ignoring Cable Card and trying to make the whole experience so miserable that they are hoping most people will just give up
Really, I feel sorry for the CSR's and techs - I really do. Because their own company is selling them short by not providing them the tools do to their job. They are intently being thrown to the wolves by their companies because they don't want to support cable card. This isn't some bizarre conspiracy theory, the cable co's are on record that they don't want cable card. Their (in)actions over the past six years speak louder than any protesting they (or their apologists such as yourself) do to the contrary.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
I don't think sympathy is really relevant. Things are the way they are. They frustrate you. That's clear. However, that doesn't mean that there is a way that is better for everyone. Sometimes -- no -- often, there are no easy solutions.
Well, what I find amazing is when I managed to land on a CSR that was obviously trained on the billing system, all my account problems went away in less than an hour.
When I managed to land on a tech that knew what he was doing, and he managed to connect to a tech at the head-end who knew what he was doing too, in less than an hour I had a fully functional Tivo with
no further issues.
And it's worked flawlessly since.
What's pathetic is it took me four tries and almost a month of going back and forth to get someone who could straighten out my bill, and it took me four times and almost three weeks (and several appointments where I was stood up) to get a tech that knew enough to fix the Cable Card problem.
That's a
Comcast generated problem. Not a Cable Card problem. The Cable Cards work fine
once they were configured correctly.
Technician/company ineptness
is not a bug. It's simply ineptness. That's a breakdown in process.
Why shouldn't I be frustrated with ineptness and companies that have poor process? I should just roll over and say "thank you sir, may I have another?"
This really isn't rocket science, despite your trying to blow it up into a big complicated issue. Comcast demonstrated it wasn't an insurmountable problem themselves - when I finally did get trained people, the problem was solved in less than an hour!
Absolutely none. I simply will not give you or anyone an unrebutted soap-box from which to cast reckless aspersions -- I couldn't care less whether it was TiVo or Comcast or Sears or GE or American Airlines or Joe's Coffee Shop.
pot, kettle
I could spend my time calling people names on this website too. "Whiner" and "cry-baby" come to mind. However, that's inappropriate. There is no excuse to engage in name-calling, whether your target supports one side of an argument or the other. You owe me an apology.
Nope, not at all. Your coming off as an irrational fanboy. That's not calling you a name or a personal attack - that's how I see it from where I sit. It's a label. You are free to disagree, heck you may not even like the label - but you are not free to browse the internet and not be offended. Get some thicker skin or quit posting - either way it doesn't bother me.
