Comcast Cable Companies Knoxville Tennessee Call Center Abuse of employees Knoxville Tennessee

I worked for a outsourcing company that handled some of the calls for Comcast and have to say that the Knoxville Call Center was the biggest complaint. We had to deal with the IRATE customers that Knoxville Call Center ticked off by talking down to them, cussing them out, hanging up on them. We had to clean up the mess. We made a fraction of the pay of a Knoxville Call Center Employee and received NO benefits from Comcast. I feel no sympathy towards those call center employees. After having dealt with them while I had Comcast and satisfying the customers they angered, I feel that they are OVER PAID. The people in Sitel's Call Center dealt with all the unruly customers problems and received minimum wage with NO benefits from Comcast.

The Knoxville Call Center has earned the reputation of worst in customer service. If you feel that you dont get enough pay or benefits you really should look for another job. The attitude you conveyed in your report is similar to the attitude the customers had to deal with when calling in.

Mine will be also, but from a different perspective.

My wife works for a call center, one of many here in the south. Those that do their jobs as expected do well. Those that lack ethical standards don't do so well.

The fact of the matter is that customer service makes or breaks a company. Call center work is tedious and demanding. It dictates hiring only the most reliable people to keep the system chugging along, thus hopefully keeping customers happy. Customers fled in drives when call centers were moved overseas, so a return should be most welcome, but you'd be surprised at the quality of workers these days. Some Americans need to wake the heck up.

Let's address "Storm's" list of complaints.

1.) Free cable offered to employees by Comcast does not include free pay-per-view movies, and if you fail to pay for one after watching it, then you are subject to disconnect like any other customer.

2.) Benefits paid to most all workers these days are not what they were in the past. A movement to have employees pay more of their health care costs has been the trend for at least five years now.

3.) Using "flex time" or "paid time off" as it is coined can be used for unforeseen circumstances where one has to be out, but it also has to be approved by supervisors. It is not something you demand. It can be requested, and either approved or not approved. People that abuse the policy, and routinely use it as a means to cover up for being tardy or for simply calling in sick at the last minute, will eventually run into problems. An undependable employee is no good to a company when the goal is to have people on hand to handle the calls that come in efficiently.

4.) No one is expecting people to "schedule sick days." They do expect requests in advance if one desires a day off with pay, if they desire to use the "flex time" pay to make up for the day off. People abuse or misunderstand the policy and assume that just because they have accrued flex time pay, that they can call in sick and use flex time to make up for the loss in pay. They look at patterns. They know who is abusing the policy.

5.) It's no secret that when people have overstayed their welcome with a company, that every effort will be made to have them voluntarily quit. If someone would rather be fired, then tough it out. Make them let you go. You might get unemployment, but there is a double edge to that sword. Prospective employers who discover that a candidate was fired from a job, will often find that their application will be filed away rather quickly, rather than considered.

6.) The perception that higher paid employees are pushed aside to hire new people is complete bunk. The reality of the situation is that many people who spend a few years with a company start getting lax in doing their jobs. People paid more should earn it. It makes no sense whatsoever to have a staff on hand of people who are not experienced to handle customer service issues. The goal is to have fully qualified people on staff at all times. They're willing to pay for it, but they expect to get what they pay for.

It's fine if you want to blame Comcast for your wife's circumstance at the moment, but I see it quite the opposite. Your list of complaints outline the actions of an employee that became too uncomfortable with her job, and failed to maintain standards expected of her.

Are you sure that's accurate? In other words what your saying is if your supervisor is expecting you to arrive at work at 9AM, you can show up 9:30 or 10AM, say "flex time", and all is forgiven? I've never heard of such a thing.

I would think a responsible employee would speak to their supervisor in advance of using flex time to ensure that there are no issues with management, or at least do so as a courtesy to your employer.

To be honest, the other benefits they offer call center employees in this job market seem pretty reasonable. I think it's commendable that they didn't ship the whole call center operation to India, like many other corporations are doing.

Bottom line, if you feel working at Comcast is a rip-off, go find a better job.