You have to “sing” that headline. Commmm-cast…Commmm-cast…
Honestly, I’m not really surprised. Its all about making money, right? Forget corporate responsibility or community awareness. That would be too much to ask. So, as you may know, my girlfriend and I were evacuated out of our loft in Cabbagetown because of the lovely tornado that swept through. I was over at our place on monday, checking out the aftermath. FEMA is there. Construction crews. Massive cleanup is going on. We have to sign in/sign out just to get into my building, and what do we see - Comcast vans. Good thing, it reminds me I have bills that aren’t going to stop. My bill through comcast is about $170/month for all the bells, whistles, phone, internet, HD, DVR, etc… Not to mention I had to sign over my first born and agree to call he/she Comcast. Anyway, as you can imagine, chunking out that kind of change for something you can’t use is a swift kick in the pills.
So, on Tuesday, I called Comcast to see what my options were. The call starts off on a cheery note - “Thank you for calling comcast, I’m having a wonderful day. I hope you are too.” Gee, thanks ******. Call me skeptical, but I’m this call is not going to go the way I hope. Lucky me. Yeah, I live in that building that got humped by the tornado the other night. I’m slightly displaced (staying at my girlfriend’s brother’s place in Candler Park) and not sure when I’m getting back in. At this point, I’m anticipating at least another couple weeks (the place above mine had its roof ripped off). After explaining that yes, my loft complex was the one on CNN, he finally starts to get the gist that I’m not trying to finagle Comcast out their hard earned money. Option 1 - disconnect and when I move back in and pay the reconnection fee. Really? So I just got evacuated, and then I’ll have to pay you to come back in. And I have to drop off the “equipment” or schedule a pickup. That’s convenient. I’m sure it will be one of those “between 12 and 6″ appointments. Option 2 - don’t disconnect but downgrade my service to the basic package and then “upgrade” when I’m back in. Geee, thanks. Excuse me while I knock out a cartwheel. That’s still going to cost me $110/month. I’m still paying for something I’m not ABLE to use due to an OFFICIAL EVACUATION! Option 3 - A weeks credit and do nothing. This is about as close as we got to anything of value, but it still means they are charging me.
At the end of the day, what does it really cost Comcast. We’ve got 100 or so units that are currently uninhabitable. Not to mention a building across the parking lot that is in ruins. What’s important here… couple bucks or maybe making stressful times for a handful of people a shade easier? Think how much good PR you (comcast) could get out of this - probably worth more in free press and customer loyalty than what you would make during these couple weeks of hardship. But I guess you have stock holders and bonuses tied to financial goals. But I guess you missed the newscast about the tornado.
Thanks. You just tipped the scale in DirectTV’s favor. Sayonara Comcast..