Service Firm/Organization: Comcast Corporation (Xfinity Internet Service)
Date: Thursday, August 2, 2012. Time: 04.00 PM. Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Factual Details
The absence of the Internet connection. Being the user of Xfinity Internet provided by Comcast Corporation, I experienced some difficulties with trying to get Internet access at 03.15 PM on August 2, 2012. The message on the screen informed me that access to the Internet was blocked. After rebooting the computer, the cable was not recognized by the device. It was necessary to call customer service. The customer service representative informed me that specialists would come to examine the problem the next day. On August 3, specialists did not come to solve the problem. I called customer service again and learned that the problem was solved, and it was possible to try to get Internet access.
After trying to get the connection, I observed that the cable was not recognized by the computer as earlier. The customer service representative assured me again that specialists would come in several hours. Specialists came in an hour, but they were unable to solve the issue because it was not connected with a cable or my computer, but the access was blocked by the system of the main office. It was necessary to unblock my access with the help of special ‘keys’ which were not taken by the specialists because they were incorrectly informed about the character of the problem fixed by the customer service representative in the request form.
These specialists planned to come with the required ‘keys’ to solve the problem and control the connection the next day. On August 4, the other two specialists came to solve the problem described in the wrong request form. Thus, they were also unable to restore the Internet connection. The problem was solved only the next day, on August 5, when the specialists who had come earlier could unblock the system with the help of the ‘keys’.
Comments
I was dissatisfied not with the character of specialists’ help provided, but with the factors which caused my inability to get Internet access for several days because of the customer service representative’s faults. The customer service representative’s actions in not organizing the specialists’ coming to my place after the first request and filling in the request form wrongly contributed to developing the ideas to change the Internet provider because of an inability to have the service and assistance of high quality in time.
Analysis
The provision of customer assistance by the customer service of Xfinity Internet (Comcast Corporation) is not organized properly because the representatives of the service break the main principles of service marketing. Thus, on August 2, the customer service representative informed me about the specialists’ coming the next day, but they did not come. And then two different groups of specialists came because of the staff’s fault.
These situations provoke questions about the service’s reliability. Moreover, the customer’s expectations were not met when the specialists could not solve the problem. The principle of assurance was not addressed because the request form was filled in by the staff incorrectly. It is rather difficult to speak about the company’s focus on responsiveness and empathy toward customers because the representatives of the customer service were not inclined to solve the problem quickly.
The Manager’s Future Actions
The manager of the firm should pay attention to the organization of the work according to the customers’ requests to guarantee the completion of all the customers’ requirements and provide the necessary consultations. It is important to control the work of customer service representatives to avoid frequent mistakes. It is possible to work out new request forms that are easy to fill in and use to avoid confusion.
Services Marketing Concepts/Terms
Reliability, customer’s expectations, assurance, responsiveness, empathy.