NYT reports on Comcast's blogger outreach

Remember Frank Eliason, the Comcast corporate representative who, back in April, intervened in my cable saga (which was, we later learned, caused by Comcast stealing our cable), and shortly thereafter was written up in the Philadelphia Inquirer for his wide-ranging blog outreach efforts?

Well, on Saturday, he was on the front page of the New York Times. There was even a photo. Here's an excerpt from the article:

From a sparse desk dominated by two computer screens in the new Comcast Center here [in Philadelphia], Mr. Eliason uses readily available online tools to monitor public comments on blogs, message boards and social networks for any mention of Comcast, the nation’s largest cable company. When he sees a complaint ... he contacts the source to try to defuse the problem.

“When you’re having a two-way conversation, you really get to clear the air,” Mr. Eliason said. ...

The company was ranked at the very bottom of the most recent American Customer Satisfaction Index, which tracks consumer opinions of more than 200 companies. Hundreds of customers have filed grievances on a site called ComcastMustDie.com.

Comcast says the online outreach is part of a larger effort to revamp its customer service. In just about five months, Mr. Eliason, whose job redefines customer service, has reached out to well over 1,000 customers online.

Lyza Gardner, a vice president at a Web development company in Portland, Ore., used Twitter to vent about a $183 cable bill last month. (The bill was prorated for almost two months of service.) Her comment — “very angry at Comcast” — set off Mr. Eliason’s search tool, prompting him to type out his typical reply: “Can I help?” The response caught Ms. Gardner off guard.

“It’s one thing to spit vitriol about a company when they can’t hear you,” she said in an interview. It’s another, she said, when the company replies. “I immediately backed down and softened my tone when I knew I was talking to a real person.”

Ms. Gardner's reaction is, I think, probably the most common one -- it was certainly my reaction as well. But the Times article also notes another, rather silly reaction that some folks have had to Mr. Eliason's outreach efforts: they feel like Comcast is stalking them. One customer is paraphrased as saying that he "found it all a bit creepy." He said, "The rest of [Mr. Eliason's] e-mail may as well have read, 'Big Brother is watching you.'" Another blog is quoted as declaring contemptuously, "Comcast Is Watching Us."

Frankly, this is downright asinine. If you post about something publicly, on a blog, on the Internet, you can't complain that someone is invading your privacy, or being "creepy" or Orwellian, simply by reading it and responding. That makes no sense! Your blog isn't private! People can read it! *sigh*

The more serious concern is the one hinted at here:

[One customer recalled that, after Mr. Eliason intervened,] “The reaction was a thousand times better than what I was getting by phone.”

Of course, most customers still call when they have problems If they all started blogging and commenting instead, Mr. Eliason would be quickly overwhelmed. “This is a channel, but it is not the first step” for customer concerns, he said.

That's why, as I've said before, "one shouldn't have to be a P.R. threat to get good help from a company that one pays for service." A customer should be able to get "a speedy and adequate response to any such problems that may arise, even when the customer is working through the 'normal' channels." On that front, Comcast still has a lot of improving to do.

UPDATE: The first comment on this post is by... Frank Eliason. But of course! Heh.