Comcast appears to have invested gargantuan amounts of money to advertise the vast array of services and functionality which it provides its customers under its new branding of Xfinity. Yet it seems that Comcast has neglected to advertise two of the features that its customers notice most: (1) fluctuating, inexplicable, consistently increasing bills and (2) careless, inconsistent, untrained, bordering-on-rude customer service. This winning combination should be sufficient to put this Goliath out of business. Sadly, it continues to plod forward.
I have experienced the “unadvertised features” offered by Comcast many times over the past two years. I am consistently overbilled, even if only by $5 to $20 per month. I have begun calling to address the overbillings. I frequently have to make several calls a month to customer service and the executive offices. I receive inconsistent responses. However, if I am persistent enough, I can get the incorrect billing resolved although it requires a huge time investment.
If I am consistently experiencing overbilling, it must be happening to more of the 24 million customers to whom Comcast provides this “unadvertised feature”. Think of it this way, if my overbilling pattern is an indicator of the experience of other Comcast customers, Comcast likely overbills between $120,000,000 and $480,000,000 a month! If even one tenth of those 24 million customers call to argue about the overbilling, Comcast stands to lose between $1.2 million and $4.8 million dollars per month!
Despite the frustration and sense of futility which result from the need to make frequent, repetitive bill correction calls to Comcast, I continue to make the calls. I call and call and call ad infinitum, into Xfinity even!
I also began to research Comcast on the internet. My goal was to find an individual in a position of authority at Comcast with whom I would be able to discuss my growing concerns. I naively believed that major executives of a successful corporation would want customers to be satisfied and would be distressed to learn about the incredible inefficiency, ineffectiveness, and incompetence which appeared to be the standard in the Comcast customer service division.
During my investigation, I learned that Brian Roberts, CEO of Comcast, has a salary that is over 2.5 million dollars annually. When coupled with additional benefits, Mr. Roberts earns over 31 million dollars annually. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! I realized that it was highly unlikely that Brian Roberts, CEO of Comcast, would have the time or inclination to meet with a dissatisfied customer to discuss overbillings by Comcast. It seems possible that a decrease in Comcast’s income derived from overbillings would result in a decrease in Mr. Roberts’ annual income. How could he possibly live on just the money earned from correct billings?! It would seem counterintuitive that Mr. Roberts would wish to, or could afford to, correct the overbillings.
Next I stumbled upon the name Rick Germano. Rick Germano is the Senior Vice President of Customer Operations. There is a little posting on the Comcast website that is credited to Rick Germano (http://www.comcast.com/Corporate/Customers/RickGCustCare.html?SCRedirect=true). In the posting attributed to him, Mr. Germano talks about changes in Comcast that have been introduced since Comcast committed to its customers in 2007 that it would improve. One of changes Mr. Germano discusses is the implementation of the Customer Guarantee. Item 6 on the Customer Guarantee states:
We will offer easy-to-understand packages and provide you with a clear bill.
Our packages are designed to be straightforward. A call or visit to our website makes it easy to find a package that’s right for you. We aim for the same clarity with our bills. You can view your monthly statement and service details anytime by visiting Comcast Customer Central.
http://www.comcast.com/Corporate/Customers/CustomerGuarantee.html?SCRedirect=true
Mr. Germano’s little blurb on the Comcast website, in combination with his provision of the Customer Guarantee information, made me feel confident that Rick Germano was the right person to contact at Comcast to discuss my experiences with the “unadvertised features” of consistent overbilling and incompetent customer service. Mr. Germano even included a link to e-mail him in his little blurb at Send an e-mail to Rick Germano. I was so excited! I e-mailed him immediately! “Here,” I said to myself, “is an upstanding executive who wants to provide truly excellent service to Comcast customers!”
Needless to say, my hopes were decimated. Not only did Mr. Germano not respond to my e-mail after inviting me to write to him but I have spoken to numerous staff members at the executive offices of Comcast (215)665-1700 - including Mr. Germano’s secretary, Jackie - only to be informed that Mr. Germano is not available and will not be available! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!
I truly thought that if I politely waded through the quagmire of departments of disinterested, incompetent staff that I would eventually have paid my dues and be given access to the Senior Vice President of Customer Operations, the one, the only, Mr. Rick Germano! Imagine my dejection when I learned that the Senior Vice President of Customer Operations is not, and will never be, available to speak to a customer who has suffered the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune and not received the guaranteed “easy-to-understand package” and “clear bill” from Comcast! SHAME ON YOU, Mr. Rick Germano!
I was unable to find any reference to the salary paid to Mr. Germano. I would have to assume it is less disgracefully hedonistic than Brian Roberts’ salary or someone would have written an article about it but it must be substantially more than the rank and file salaries since Rick Germano has earned a place among the cable executives whose photos are displayed at http://www.comcast.com/corporate/about/ pressroom/corporateoverview/cableexecutives/cableexecutives.html?SCRedirect=true.
Here is Rick Germano
I can only imagine the number of hours that poor Mr. Germano and his staff have to work to convince the portion of those 24 million customers that call to complain about overbillings that Comcast has a valid reason for unilaterally changing an agreed price without notice! It can’t be easy for poor Mr. Germano and his minions to convince 2.4 million customers to overpay $1.2 million to $4.8 million dollars a month. If Mr. Germano and his customer service folks can’t defend those overbillings and convince Comcast customers that they are receiving Comcastic service, poor Mr. Roberts might not be able to continue to rape (I mean reap) 31 million benefits from 24 million Comcast customers. It wouldn’t be very nice of Comcast’s customers to expect Mr. Robert’s to live with less than a princely income generated by overbillings, now would it?
I realize that there are numerous blogs and forums that exist simply to give Comcast’s mistreated, overbilled, underserved customers an arena in which to voice their rage against this Goliath and share their miseries with other victims. I want this blog to be different. I want this blog to serve as an olive branch between Comcast and its customers. I want this blog to begin the process of enabling customers to be involved in discussion with executives capable of achieving real change. I can only imagine the number of outraged customers that are desperate to speak to someone in authority at Comcast.
So, in this blog, I’ll give poor overburdened Mr. Germano (doesn’t he just look like a nice guy?) the opportunity to leave me contact information on the blog that will enable me to schedule an appointment with him by phone or in person. I’d rather speak to him than begin sharing my Comcast stories with other customers (read victims), spewing vile wrath at Comcast all over this cozy little blog, and reaching out to other resources and agencies to force Comcast to deliver on the Comcast Customer Guarantee.
Can’t wait to hear from you, Rick!
