I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that a large corporation employs people whose sole jobs are to monitor the blogosphere for mention of the corporation, giving said corporation the opportunity to research consumer sentiment and get a grasp on the general attitudes of its customers -- in fact, it seems like a good business decision.
That said, corporate representatives posting actual responses to blog posts -- for the opportunity to "clear the air" or "spread the word" or "disabuse misinformed notions" or "sow the seeds of a healthy corp-customer relationship" or, most likely, "serve as cannon fodder for additional blog posts" -- seems to toe the line between concerned and creepy. I'm not sure whether to feel pleased or dirty that an enormous corporation is taking the time to review and respond to posts on a blog with 21 -- no, 20! -- subscribers, and a mere handful of additional readers daily.
I say this regarding comments to my last post regarding Comcast:
February 16, 2008 1:54:00 AM EST
Comcast Is Watching Us
5 comments:
-
If you ever need assistance with Comcast, please feel free to reach out to me!
Have a great weekend!
Frank
frank_eliason@cable.comcast.com -
February 16, 2008 5:16:00 PM EST
-
Well, hell, since I have your ear: the pricing for your high-speed Internet is ridiculous. Over $50 after taxes? Cable customers (including those, like myself, that don't need another phone and pass on the "Triple Play" bundle) should get a hefty discount that lasts beyond the initial six months. Just saying.
-
February 16, 2008 7:27:00 PM EST
-
Thank you for the feedback. I will share with our team. We are currently working on offers for existing Customers, so your feedback is helpful. If it would not be too much trouble, can you email me your account information?
-
February 16, 2008 9:44:00 PM EST
-
Josh, thank God for the New York Times to lay bare what a moron you are. I'm a Comcast customer too and often quite unhappy with them, but the fact that they actually deigned to respond to your rant makes them "Big Brother"?
You do know you're writing a blog on a thing called the Internet, right? I'd be flattered that they at least looked like they gave half a crap, even if it weren't sincere.
MATT
malcontent.biz -
July 24, 2008 9:25:00 PM EDT
-
Oh, relax, MATT. I'm reasonably sure I didn't say anything about "Big Brother," a term that could only be hyperbolically applied to any corporation. Perhaps you have me confused with "Brandon Dilbeck, 20, a student at the University of Washington"?
All I said was that the contact struck me as "toe[ing] the line between concerned and creepy," and I stand by that. My rant -- which, as with most rants you'll find here, was equal amounts petty and absurd -- was surely not designed to elicit a corporate customer care response, and rather to entertain me and CFTW's 14 other subscribers.
Between you and me, MATT -- keep this between us! -- Comcast's reaching out to disgruntled customers strikes me as wise business decision. However, this particular blog isn't the place for well-reasoned discourse. This place is reserved for cynicism and the eponymous "contempt." The Eye of Sauron was perhaps a bit much.
Further to this, screw off. -
July 24, 2008 10:52:00 PM EDT
Thank you for the feedback regarding our online bill pay option. I will be happy to share the feedback regarding the ease, or lack of ease, the bill payment option was for you. We are always striving to improve the service for our valued Customers.
Thank you for being a Comcast Customer!
Frank Eliason
Comcast Executive Offices
Frank is that really you!?
Thanks, Frank! Makes me feel all warm and cuddly inside knowing that benevolent Comcast monitors every blog in the world that mentions Comcast, assuring customers of little but the unbelievably creepy fact that Comcast monitors every blog in the world that mentions Comcast.