Stormy Times for Comcast

May 20, 2008

Most afternoons, the Internet in Sarah Chambers' office at iFractal in Philadelphia crashes and leaves her cyber-stranded without e-mail or online communication with clients. When it happened for the zillionth time a few days ago, Chambers tried something new, once her Web connection reappeared. She shot Comcast a curt public online message on the social-networking site Twitter.

Under siege for customer-service woes detailed on Comcastmustdie.com and other blogs, the Philadelphia cable giant has gone on the offensive, trawling the Internet for Comcast chatter. Eliason's assignment is specific: If someone has a Comcast problem and is talking about it online, he contacts that person and offers help.

If Eliason thinks it's an emergency that could spiral into unpleasantness, like an expletive-loaded blog bomb, he gets on the phone and cuts through the corporate red tape. But a cautionary note: Eliason's quick action and kind words don't necessarily lead to a quick fix, as Chambers discovered.

For the full April 28, 2008, article from the Seattle Times, click here.