Did Comcast arrange to have a fed-up customer fired from his job?
Could complaining to Comcast about your service end up costing you your job?聽That's what former Comcast customer Conal O鈥橰ourke says happened to him.
The California financial specialist told Ars Technica that his experience with the cable and Internet giant's customer service , noting billing disputes and extra fees.聽
It鈥檚 fair to say that, since then, their relationship has tanked. Mr. O鈥橰ourke alleges that Comcast used customer service phone calls and documents that tracked misplaced charges to get him fired from his job at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, which works closely with the broadcasting and cable company. O鈥橰ourke says Comcast pressured his employer into firing him after O鈥橰ourke, who was in the middle of a protracted billing dispute with the cable company, announced his intention to go to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.聽
O鈥橰ourke told Ars that mishandlings of his account escalated over his months as a customer. At one point, he said to a Comcast representative, 鈥淵ou have sloppy accounting, you don鈥檛 take anything seriously,鈥� Ars reported.聽
After this comment and the threat to go to the oversight board, O鈥橰ourke鈥檚 lawyer says that Comcast then researched him to determine where he worked. Comcast, for their part, says it was O鈥橰ourke who told the company that he worked for PWC. A says that Comcast is a 鈥渕ajor client of PWC鈥檚, worth upwards of $30 million a year.鈥� 聽
鈥淗e claimed that he never used PWC鈥檚 name, and I believe him,鈥� O'Rourke's lawyer, Maureen Ryan, says of her client. Ms. Ryan noted that PWC was providing consulting services to, not auditing, Comcast 鈥� the structure of the companies鈥� working relationship, then, would give her client little leverage if he mentioned his company鈥檚 name.
For nearly three years, O鈥橰ourke worked as a senior associate learning consultant at PWC and, in , said he was responsible for planning and delivering learning and development curriculum. Before starting at PWC in January 2012, he worked at Accenture for nearly two decades.
In an Oct. 2 letter, Ms. Ryan noted that O鈥橰ourke seeks $100,312.50, his job with PWC restored, and a full retraction and apology. The request remains open until next Tuesday. Ars reports that O鈥橰ourke has since opened an account with AT&T.聽
PWC responded to an interview request with a statement that 鈥渢he firm terminated [O鈥橰ourke鈥檚] employment after an internal investigation concluded that Mr. O鈥橰ourke violated PWC鈥檚 ethical standards and practices, applicable to all of our people. The firm has explicit policies regarding employee conduct, we train our people in those policies, and we enforce them. Mr. O鈥橰ourke鈥檚 violation of these policies was the sole reason for his termination."
In late September, Comcast鈥檚 president and CEO said that the company has made 鈥渟ignificant changes and investments in customer service,鈥� citing new tools in call centers for better employee performance. But in the same statement, Neil Smit acknowledged that 鈥�.鈥澛�
鈥淚n fact,鈥� he wrote, 鈥渋t may take a few years before we can honestly say that a great customer experience is something we鈥檙e known for. But that is our goal and our number one priority鈥nd that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e going to do.鈥� 聽A representative from Comcast did not return requests for comment.聽
Videos of calls to Comcast (dubbed 鈥�,鈥� 鈥溾�� and 鈥溾��) have circulated online over the past few years, with users complaining of poor customer service.
