A few days ago I called Comcast to report a problem with my cable TV service. As usual, I got locked into an endless loop of “Press 1 for…” on the phone and every time I got to the part where it said “Hold for an account representative”, the automated system took me right back to the main menu to start all over again…

Frustrated after a half-dozen attempts at this, I decided I’d tweet about it…just maybe that would get Comcast’s attention. Within 15 minutes I got a tweet back from @ComcastWill whom I then sent a direct message to regarding my problem and my inability to get to a human being on their customer service line. He said he’d have someone call me. A little while later my phone rings.

It was from the corporate office. And, much to my surprise and delight, it was @ComcastWill himself! We chatted. He set up a service call for today. Again, much to my surprise, the technician showed up not just on time but a little early. He walked in and took one look and said “I know exactly what’s wrong. He replaced our converter boxes and we were good to go. And he was a genuinely friendly guy to boot!

A few minutes after he left I got an automated call from Comcast asking me to take a 2-minute survey about my service call. Being ready to give a glowing report, I punched 1. Then got a voice saying there was an error and the call ended. Too bad. This might have been a good review for you.

So, THANKS Twitter and thanks @ComcastWill for being on Twitter, for responding to my distress call, and for getting the job done right. Now, maybe you can work on getting that automated customer service phone system fixed so they are just as responsive and productive.