The Thick Plottens

Yesterday I received the following comment on my Comcast Cable Co. rant:

Hello Saki, 

I apologize for the experience. I knew what you were referring to. We have a small box that you can get or a cable card. I will reach out to my contacts to verify the availability. 

Please provide the telephone number on the account if you are interested in my assistance.

Mark Casem 

Comcast Corp. 

National Customer Operations

We_Can_Help@cable.comcast.com

 

 

My initial reaction, of course, was "Okay, sure, Creepy McCreeperson, would you like my social security number, also?"

 

But then I realized yesterday was April Fool's Day, and began accusing friends (namely Mike and my Hubbin') of concocting the Comcast Hoax.  The Hubbin' suggested googling, which I did, and what I found was several stories from legitimate news sources all discussing Comcasts' new customer service team.  Still not convinced, I called (800) COM-CAST.

 

If you ever want to feel like a total asshole, call your cable company and tell them this:

 

"So, uh yeah...Bear with me here.  I have this blog, on the internet, and uh, I got mad at Comcast, so I um, you know...blogged about it...and then I got this comment on my blog, and it says to send my account phone number to this email address...and I know it's April Fool's Day and stuff, but it is a Comcast account and I was wondering if you could tell me if this is, you know, like...for reals?"

 

Right.  All the while, the Hubbin' was seated beside me, snickering away.  I was put on hold a few times - the person on the other end was probably snickering away, also.  After a few moments, she came back and said "No, this email address certainly has no affiliation with Comcast."  Curious.

 

But, it doesn't end there, kids.  We're just getting warmed up.  

 

The Hubbin' and I went back and forth on it for a while, not wanting to succumb to an identity scam, or worse, the plotted April Fool's trap of one of our friends (O' the humiliation!!).  Eventually, the desire for the tiny cable box overcame our reservation, and we tentatively fired off this email:

 

I received a comment on a post regarding comcast on my blog (www.msnbcasey.blogspot.com) and was asked to email the phone number linked to the account to this email address.  However, when I called (800) COM-CAST, I was told that they could not verify that this is a legitimate part of the comcast customer service team.

While we are intrigued by your offer to help, we are skeptical given the response we received from the comcast (800) number.  Is there any verification that you are actually a part of Comcast?

Thanks! :)

 

Before I knew it - HOLY SHIT!  They emailed me back!!!

 

Hello Casey,

We are indeed a legit team. We are a small team that works out of the corporate office in Philadelphia. If you google ComcastCares you will discover that we have helped many.

Because you have contacted us via your Comcast email address we can locate your account and contact info.

We will have one of our contacts reach out to you tomorrow.

Thanks for reaching out.

Sherri Carson

Digital Media Outreach

National Customer Operations

 

 

 

 

 

 

We emailed back and forth a few times last night.  I was hesitant to give any account information, after the (800) number assured me that it was a scam, But Sherri claimed she could pull account information since I had emailed her via a comcast.net account.

 

This morning, I scoured the internets, looking for the phone number for Comcast Headquarters.  If you ever really want to feel like a huge asshole, call a Corporate office and give them the same sob story you already told the general customer service.

 

The woman who answered the phone assured me Sherri was a legitimate employee and offered me her direct number.  Holy crap, you guys, this shit was for real!

 

Apparently, Comcast really does have people who search the web for people hatin' on Comcast and then they make it right!  

 

And so, between 5-8pm EST* on Friday, I will be the proud new owner of a sleek little cable box.

 

Well played, Comcast.  Well played.

 

 

 

*Just in case, check up on me after 8pm tomorrow, you can never be too certain with people you meet on the internets ;)