An irate reader writes:
100’s of Comcast Customer Account Executives were fired last year and will
be fired this year due to their inability to meet increasingly difficult job
requirements. If you call in to get your cable fixed or have a question
regarding your bill, the phone rep must resolve your issue and try to sell a
core product – internet, phone or digital cable (if you don’t have all 3)
all within 330 seconds. Or, the rep could be fired. They have more and more
difficult job requirements including less time off the phone to work on
issues. And a sales quota that 1/2 the reps are unable to meet. New
employees make $11.50 per hour and it appears that Comcast would rather get
rid of seasoned employees who know how to do their jobs in favor of cheaper
new hires. All employees with customer contact from field techs to internet
support are also told to rush through their jobs or be replaced. Because
Comcast puts failing employees on coaching plans over a few month period,
they also fight the fired employees ability to collect unemployment.
Chances are that if you make contact for billing or service issues, you will
now get an inexperienced trainee rather than a seasoned rep. This is because
the experienced reps have been forced out the door.
Sounds like regular good old capitalsm to me, but it sure sucks to lose your job because you can’t beat the highly precise clock. Obsessive metrics do not make good customer service, kids.
Image from MidWood.net
