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Time Warner Cable Reads My Blog!

March 12, 2008

Last month I was at the end of my rope dealing with Time Warner Cable and I detailed my experience in a post titled, “Time Warner Cable: HELP ME!“.  Last week TWC got the service working and a couple of days later I got the billing sorted out.  Frustrated by the process I was satisfied with the result.  Today I got a call from Time Warner Cable that began, “I read your blog…” I was so shocked, Time Warner Cable reads my blog?

I explained to the TWC representative that the situation was resolved and thanked her for taking the time to read my blog post, look up my account and give me a call.  To be honest I was really excited.  The most frustrating thing dealing with on or off-shore call centers is that you feel helpless.  There are no more ’supervisors’, no real managers with power, just nice people with scripts.  I understand why they have to operate like this, but I am so excited about the fact that companies like Time Warner Cable are listening, albeit indirectly, to people like me.  Thanks Time Warner Cable!

Business Idea: There are lots of people that would be willing to pay more for various services (TV, Internet, Phone) if they could deal with a real person ~ say an account manager or a concierge.  This person would need real power, they would have to be able to make reasoned decisions (i.e. business decisions).  I would have to be able to describe my situation and they would have to be empowered to bend or break the rules for me.  Anyway, I would pay $1,000 per year for such a service (maybe even $2,500).  Think of it as a customer service ‘easy pass’ like they have for skipping security lines at airports.

Written by Alexander Muse · Filed Under Blog, Personal 

Comments

3 Responses to “Time Warner Cable Reads My Blog!”

  1. Hippy Says:
    March 12th, 2008 at 4:00 pm

    RE: Business Idea

    You know you may be on on to something big here, but I think you’re vastly underestimating the earnings potential here. For example, I know I heard from somewhere that a certain Wikipedia editor was able to charge $5000 just to alter a single entry. I’ll bet that a customs agent “empowered to bend or break the rules” could make a fortune selling a customer service ‘easy pass’ (”like they have for skipping security lines at airports”) to people who make frequent business trips to and from South America.

    The only downside I can see to your idea is that you probably have to be very careful in describing your situation when soliciting these types of services, and even more careful not to leave a paper trail when paying for them. After all, although not soliciting quite the same services discussed here look what happened to poor, misunderstood Gov. Spitzer.

    ;-)

  2. goody (richard goodwin) Says:
    March 18th, 2008 at 7:20 am

    I’ve often thought about the need for a “certified non-idiot” card/program, that gives you beyond tier 1 access to customer service/help lines. Pass some basic tests (all logic based, nothing too specific…we are after brainpower not memorization) and you get to start off with the “real” support team.

    So what do you think Alex, time to kick it off? :)

    BTW great to see you at yet another BarCamp Austin!

  3. Valerie Dennis Says:
    March 23rd, 2008 at 8:46 am

    Concierge services are long over due for middle income working class people. Although I am a Sprint Premier customer I have not been assigned an account manager. I would love to have someone who is familiar with my account so when I call to change the plan or add a new line I don’t have to go through the frustration of the outsourced group way over in who knows where and end up at a Sprint store anyhow trying to undo the mess the outsourced person made of my account. I don’t call Sprint any more. It isn’t work the trouble. I have tried several stores and end up driving out of my way to the same one each time I have to make a change to my account. Also, you can forget trying to do anything more than paying my account online.

    I did Tier 3 support for a medical software company for three years and as the customer base grew I was unable to mange the accounts well. When we hired account managers I noticed the customers took to them eagerly. They called them for everything which was not the intention but we finally managed to get the point across to the majority of them when to call their account manager and when to call customer support.

    Possibly it is time to put together a business plan and get something started. Thank you for the idea.

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