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Cracked article 5 Nightmares You Live Working for America’s Worst Company Rocks

Here’s an article originally published on cracked.com back in 2014 with almost a million views.  It’s written by an anonymous Comcast call center employee and documents some of the reasons why Comcast is hated both externally and internally.

It’s an interesting peek behind the curtain and partially explains why Comcast is often voted one of the Worst Companies in America.

Here’s an excerpt…

…Most jobs are somewhat specialized, but even if you work in the Walmart pharmacy, you’ve probably still got a good idea of where the towels are. You may just be a server at Sonic, but you know where they store the frozen Tater Tots and E. coli bricks. Comcast isn’t like that. The different groups don’t talk to each other, because every office has been divided into “centers of excellence” that focus on sales, repair, retention, etc. — and those centers aren’t even in the same state.

And thus began the epic journey to visit each one and punch every supervisor in the dick.

“Sales is in Portland. Retention is in Minnesota and Colorado,” Todd explains. “They did that, and it changed everything. And I think that’s where the problem started. It stopped being about what’s convenient to the customer and became about what’s convenient to the company.” When Todd started in 2007, he focused on repair, but he knew enough about the whole system to be able to help you with anything. But now, everyone’s priorities are so specialized that you can’t get all the information you need without hopping between time zones. The bright-eyed young lass in Portland might wish she can help you, but that’s too bad, because you’re getting transferred halfway across the country to some random dude on the last hours of his shift and fraying strands of patience.

Read the entire article HERE

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Wikipedia Comcast Employee Relations Problems

Happy 4th of July!   Wikipedia lists a good variety of the good, bad and ugly stuff going on at Comcast over the years.   Here’s part of the Employee Relations section with some juicy stuff…

What happens after you file an emploee complaint at Comcast

Employee relations

The company is often criticized by both the media and its own staff for its less upstanding policies regarding employee relations. A 2012 Reddit post written by an anonymous Comcast call center employee eager to share their negative experiences with the public received attention from publications including The Huffington Post.[32] A 2014 investigative series published by The Verge involved interviews with 150 of Comcast’s employees. It sought to examine why the company has become so widely criticized by its customers, the media and even members of its own staff. The series claimed part of the problem is internal and that Comcast’s staff endures unreasonable corporate policies. According to the report: “customer service has been replaced by an obsession with sales; technicians are understaffed while tech support is poorly trained; and the company is hobbled by internal fragmentation.”[33] A widely read article penned by an anonymous call center employee working for Comcast appeared in November 2014 on Cracked. Titled “Five Nightmares You Live While Working For America’s Worst Company,” the article also claimed that Comcast is obsessed with sales, doesn’t train its employees properly and concluded that “the system makes good customer service impossible.”[34]

Comcast has also earned a reputation for being anti-union. According to one of the company’s training manuals, “Comcast does not feel union representation is in the best interest of its employees, customers, or shareholders”.[35] A dispute in 2004 with CWA, a labor union that represented many employees at Comcast’s offices in Beaverton, Oregon, led to allegations of management intimidating workers, requiring them to attend anti-union meetings and unwarranted disciplinary action for union members.[36] In 2011, Comcast received criticism from Writers Guild of America for its policies in regards to unions.[37]

Jump to the entire Wikipedia article HERE

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Read Others Experiences and Add Your Story Here

Did you have a bad (or good) experience reporting through the Comcast Listens Program?  Did you give up on a Comcast Solutions claim because they delayed the process for years?  Were you forced to quit or retaliated against in some other way because you came forward?

Others would love to read about them here.   Share your story below by commenting on this post.

*Comments are the opinions of the respective authors and may be fact or fictitious.

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Why the Comcast Listens and Comcast Solutions Programs are Bad for You

When you went to work for Comcast, they forced you to give up a bunch of your legal rights.   Whether you were aware at the time or not, your offer letter or employment agreement referenced how you would be bound to use the Comcast Solutions program if you are wronged by Comcast.  You also agreed to NOT file a class action lawsuit.  You gave up your right to use the court system to get your issue heard, and now you will be need to use the Comcast Listens and Comcast Solutions programs which FORCE arbitration.

This is beneficial for Comcast and not great for you.   First, Comcast gets to keep their bad behavior private and out of the court system as the details of all the Comcast arbitration suits NEVER become public.

So does Comcast’s bad behavior create a lot of Comcast Listens and Solutions cases?   In 2014 over 3000 employees used the Comcast Listens program as reported by EthicsPoint, the company that administers the Comcast Listens program. Click for the Document proof.  That’s a LOT of bad and illegal behavior that the public never hears about.

Well can’t you just share the details with the world after you are wronged?   Well NO.  As part of the settlement, you will be gagged.  All those thousands of people who had legal claims against Comcast settled in arbitration can’t talk about it.   So does Comcast continue to do the same illegal acts even after losing in arbitration?  We can’t know for sure, but these sort of forced secret out-of-court settlements have led to protecting the offenders and encouraging continued illegal activity in many other cases (as in the recent Bill O’Reilly sexual harrassment scandal where over the years Fox News aid $13 million to women who have accused Bill O’Reilly of harassment in the workplace, or the Catholic church global crisis where there was extensive covering up of incidents of sexual misconduct in the Church) Is the same thing going on here?  You can be the judge on that question.

But can’t you get out of the arbitration provision and your case heard by the court?   Probably not.  In this court brief below, an ex-Comcast employee named Robert Smith tried to get the courts to hear his 5 count case heard by the courts.  He alleged: age discrimination under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (Count 1), age discrimination under the Florida Civil Rights Act (Count 2), disability discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act (Count 3), handicap discrimination under the Florida Civil Rights Act (Count 4), and violation of the Family Medical Leave Act (Count 5).   Here’s the Article

The court ruled in favor of Comcast and forced arbitration.

The second reason why Comcast arbitration is bad for you:  The damages you get will most likely be less than what you could have received in a court or jury judgement.  Why?  This is a dirty little secret that few lawyers are willing to talk or write about publicly.  Your arbitration case will be heard by a retired judge or other professional mediation legal professional.  There are a limited number of ex-judges who hear arbitration cases and they can hear hundreds or thousands of cases over the years.  You on the other hand will probably only use an arbitration judge once.  What does that mean.   Comcast has the final say as to whether they work with an arbitration judge.  Will the judge who hears your case will be fair and impartial?  You can hope they will, but in reality you’ll never know whether you would have gotten a better result in a court trial.  There IS a likelihood that IF you prevail, the award you get won’t be as large as you’d get in court.  Why?  The judge hearing your case knows that if they award You, the plaintiff, a big judgement, they will NEVER again be selected by Comcast to hear any more Comcast arbitration cases.   Can this element be removed as a potentially influencing factor?  No.

So what can you do?  Make the best of your bad situation by subscribing to the Listens Solutions Guide email to get more valuable tips such as..

– maximizing your settlement payout
– avoiding the delays that Comcast will put you through
– how to document your claim issue prior to quitting
– tips for finding the best employment attorney
– more ways to get funding if you need it to pay for your fight

Subscribe at www.ListensSolutionsGuide.com on the pop-up that appears or by requesting through our contact form.

Wishing Justice for All – Your Advocates at the Listens Solutions Guide

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Guy Comcast Got Fired Now Suing Comcast For Violating Federal Privacy Law

Here’s a funny one… This article from techdirt.com says that Comcast got a guy fired from his job (not at Comcast) for complaining to COMCAST.  Now the guy is suing for disclosing his private information to his employer which is against the law.  Way to go Comcast…

Guy Comcast Got Fired Now Suing Comcast For Violating Federal Privacy Law
from the karma’s-a-bitch dept

In the most recent example we covered of Comcast’s ongoing efforts to convince everyone not to be Comcast customers, we noted that the fact they helped get a customer fired from his accounting job was the kind of thing he could probably sue over. That said, even I didn’t anticipate the guy accusing Comcast of violating federal law.
The plaintiff, Conal O’Rourke, claims that after a series of calls with Comcast’s customer service department, Comcast complained to his employer about him and he was fired from his job. The lawsuit filed yesterday is based on the same alleged series of events. Mr. O’Rourke claims that he did not authorize Comcast to disclose his information to anyone else, but Comcast nevertheless disclosed personally identifying information about Mr. O’Rourke, including his name, to PricewaterhouseCoopers, where Mr. O’Rourke worked. The following can be attributed to Laura Moy, staff attorney at Public Knowledge:

“If the facts in this complaint are true, they are extremely troubling. They would show that the nation’s largest cable provider exercised a complete disregard for federal privacy law.”

Read more here…

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Washington State AG ANNOUNCES $100 Million LAWSUIT AGAINST COMCAST

Is Comcast Evil?  That’s the kind of statement you can find in hundreds of places on the web.  Washington State Attorney General alleges a pattern of illegally deceiving their customers, and is going after Comcast for more than $100 million.   Let’s work together to force giant wealthy corporations and company management seeking only profits to follow the law.

HomeNewsNews ReleasesAG announces lawsuit against Comcast for more than $100 million
AG ANNOUNCES LAWSUIT AGAINST COMCAST FOR MORE THAN $100 MILLION Printer-friendly version

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Aug 1 2016
First-of-its-kind suit alleges nearly 2 million Consumer Protection Act violations; seeks refunds for more than 400,000 Washingtonians

SEATTLE — Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit today against cable television and Internet giant Comcast Corporation in King County Superior Court, alleging the company’s own documents reveal a pattern of illegally deceiving their customers to pad their bottom line by tens of millions of dollars.

The lawsuit accuses the company of more than 1.8 million violations of Washington state’s Consumer Protection Act (CPA), including misrepresenting the scope of its Service Protection Plan, charging customers improper service call fees and improper credit screening practices.

The lawsuit also accuses Comcast of violating the CPA to all of its nearly 1.2 million Washington subscribers due to its deceptive “Comcast Guarantee.”

The lawsuit is the first of its kind in the nation — though the Service Protection Plan is a nationwide program and many of the improper practices are used in all of Comcast’s markets. The Attorney General’s Office brought these issues to Comcast over a year ago, but the company didn’t begin to make changes until recently — on the verge of this litigation.

“This case is a classic example of a big corporation deceiving its customers for financial gain,” Ferguson said. “I won’t allow Comcast to continue to put profits above customers — and the law.” …

Continued on the Washington State Office of the Attorney General Website

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Comcast Listens and then fires you

Comcast Listens and then fires you

In this website post on glassdoor.com a Sales Supervisor in Albuquerque, NM reviews their experience while working at Comcast and reportedly got fired for using the Comcast Listens program.  (Comcast has a non-retaliation policy so this person should seek help if claims are valid)

In summary they do not recommend working at Comcast, have a negative outlook on the future, and disapproves of the CEO.   An excerpt…

Pros
I wish I could provide a pro, but the paycheck is not even aligned with expectations set by the recruiters.

Cons
Lack of leadership, hostile environment, condescending managers. No availability of management. Misrepresentation of expectations with pay and schedule by recruiter and managers. When asked for advice or brought up concerns all human resources and the director can say is “Hang in there” – Directed by my local recruiter to file a Comcast Listens report regarding my concerns and I was let go the next day. If a company asks for feedback from its own employees then why does the employee have to be let go?…     Read More Here