Comcast Rebuts Criticism

Comcast has responded to a Thursday report suggesting a quarter of its Philadelphia customers are unhappy with its service.

After declining to elaborate on its criticisms at a noon-hour press conference by Mayor Nutter, the company later in the day posted a statement from LeAnn Talbot, Regional Senior Vice President, and David L Cohen, the company’s senior vice president, rebutting the report:

The key paragraph:

We appreciate some of the positive conclusions in the consultant’s report, but overall believe many of the findings are inaccurate, over-stated, or misleading, and we will deliver comprehensive proof of those facts to the City. Importantly, the consultant never contacted Comcast to solicit objective, verifiable data, resulting in conclusions that are not based on easily available and decisive data, and that are simply untrue. For example, the report suggests that 15% of respondents claim they recall receiving a busy signal when calling customer service and that 61% claim their calls were not answered in 30-seconds – our actual data, which is reported as part of FCC compliance, demonstrates that less than half a percent (0.5%) of Philadelphians received busy signals and that more than 90% of calls were answered in 30-seconds or less, both fully compliant with FCC customer service standards. Similar discrepancies can be found in virtually all aspects of the consultant’s findings and report.

They concluded: “Comcast looks forward to future discussions as we work to finalize a franchise agreement that benefits all involved and, especially, the City we call home along with our friends, families, and neighbors.” Public hearings on the city’s franchise agreement with Comcast begin on April 27.