Customer says Comcast dispute got him fired

Conal O'Rourke says PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he worked as an accountant, terminated him after he complained to Comcast -- a company client -- about his service.

[@blackflagofdeathgamester9685]

When a person or company contacts an employer to complain about an employee, then they are in effect proactively trying to get that individual fired. He claimed to Comcast customer service that their billing practices were, at the very least, unethical, and Comcast retaliated by trying to have the man fired. That right there implies that Comcast knows that their billing practices are unethical, if not criminal.

[@miastrong151]

It's a real low to go after a customer's job. What a bunch of lowlifes.

[@billytheweasel]

agree BFOD G

[@EmilyXiong1999]

This is what happens when you have but a handful of players in any given industry. We kid ourselves and claim that we have a Free Market economy. This is impossible without the corrective forces of competition. Without competition there is no drive to innovate or lower prices. Why improve your products and services when you're the only game in town? The problem is seriously compounded when those products or services are existentially crucial.

[@billytheweasel]

Yep, the Telecommunications Act from Clitnot, a "Democrat" allowed the concentration of ownership and thereby cemented this lack of competition. People swallow BS too easily.

[@EmilyXiong1999]

billytheweasel - It's often difficult to understand the consequences of policies. Even if the intentions are good, the results may be disastrous. This is not to excuse any policy maker from the poor decisions that they've made. It seems that the founders of the nation were intelligent enough to design a system where no one can do too much or be too efficient.

[@PetyBetty]

Comcast sucks, they are not number one, the are the only one available in most areas

[@billytheweasel]

they are a monopoly in my area for cable/internet. i blame the best Republican President ever; Bill Clinton, Telecommunications Act

[@WizardOfWor]

Thank goodness that neither Comcast or Time Warner aren't in my area!

[@bennychan723able]

Love Comcast

[@carolkotcheck6065]

billytheweasel Why do people think Clinton was dreamy, he blew up our countries safety net, triggering the slight HOMELESS crisis and plunging good citizens who paid into the system, allowing American families to starve. Yet,... oh,sure.

[@cuzzin86]

Don’t let Comcast, Fios and others hold you hostage! Get Sling tv, Hulu or KZbin tv! It’s cheaper and it removes the monopoly chains from your wrists.

[@JustAnotherJD]

This guy fills out the accountant stereotype from Parks & Recreation to a T!

[@joellensmith291]

Comcast bills everyone wrong

[@siennavenezia792]

Be careful, you might get fired or sued.

[@nohopeequalsnofear3242]

right... no one should take it seriously. comcast is a monopoly and acts like it. he should never have mentioned what his job is or who he works for.... why are you paying for cable???? is this this WRONG think??? will i get arrested??? will i get fired????? now im scared..... very scared🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

[@kalijasin]

@Jo ellen smith, and throttles their internet, restricts access to their internet, charges extra for channels that should be part of the standard package, wrongly charges for OTA via their cable lines, wrongly encrypts OTA across their cable lines, blames customers for issues they caused and/or created, does NOT make it a priority to help the disabled and veterans, etc.

[@cryptopioneer6755]

I think we all need to boycott Comcast until they lower their prices. They are making us pay a rental for a used cable box. Jeez

[@robertfinley681]

Honestly, just get service elsewhere. There is not a monopoly by Comcast, and they are a business providing cable. Use the competition and tell them why you're leaving when you call.

[@funny1226]

MY EXPERIENCE AS A FORMER COMCAST EMPLOYEE: CANCELLING COMCAST. I used to work for them and I was always instructed not to give any credit any way possible. I was taught that ignoring requests would lead to customers giving up but not all of course. It still resulted in the majority giving up which saved the Roberts family millions. You need to get BRIAN Roberts address and take your issue to him directly. In my experience we were taught to deceive the customer when it came to any financial compensation and I can tell you as a Comcast customer I've been through the same hell I was trained to put people through. The best day of my life was when I was laid off although my wife worked there too and she was laid off so we had to try to reapply within the company. I was told straight out that I had participated in union activity and therefor was not renirable. Well yes I did sign an agreement to vote for the union because employees in my opinion were treated horribly. Threats for performance if in 4.5 minutes you didn't review all services, the bill, resolve the technical issue and most importantly you had to sell service. This was my experience and what standard I was held to and to top that if you didn't sell you were penalized in you pay. Comcast is only out for your money and has no interest in helping you with substandard service that I was told was blamed on the customers infrastructure as a means to save the company money. I was told this by leadership and threatened when I stood up for the customer and that was my experience. You should know as customers. I've also been charged for a high speed internet that I don't get and never will according to the techs who've been to my apartment. The company conceded to me that they would give me a $400.00 credit but would never be able to fix my issue. Of course I took what I could get but thank God Fios is now in my complex because as soon as my fraudulent contract is over I am gone.

[@blackmooncultx9552]

This comment needs more recognition

[@imperialraiden8259]

For me it's the opposite. If a customer complains enough we will offer credit, but my department only does up to 100 dollars a month per customer. Hell, I've felt bad for some customers who had shitty customer service and I credit them. To me, and my supervisors and team, we do actually care about the customer. As corny as it sounds, we think of customers as we would like to be treated...or how we would like another service company to treat our family. From what I've seen, though, it depends on the area. Some areas, the customer service doesn't care about the customer. You treat them right they treat you right. I've had a customer pull my truck out of the mud with their Jeep! And it was a customer who I had helped a week before! Lol. I think its up to us and the newer generation to start treating everyone like human beings. And I'm talking in general , not just in comcast.

[@jordanphilipperris]

Theses days it's gotten so bad that people can get fired for wishing someone a Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays...

[@JM-ft5ip]

He has the personality of an accountant. Fell asleep.

[@nightowl5475]

I was thinking the same thing too.

[@jenniferwellman5311]

The problem with Comcast is that it is a monopoly and customers don’t like it because we really don’t have a choice based on where we live and what cable service we can use. That’s pretty much what it is in a nutshell.

[@MysLed]

Shouldn't they tell him what color his house was? He knows what color his house is and if the point was that they were trying to prove they had been ţo his home for the scheduled appointment, shouldn't they have answered that question themselves?

[@ericafinley5758]

They contacted his job bc the lady was spiteful

[@Brandon_Polen]

Thank you for letting me know that sir.

[@darkthorn1377]

I don't believe this guy for a second. I worked in call centers for years and I got people like him all the time. It's common that people that are in a position of power drop their titles in a customer service conversation and they use it as intimidation which is usually followed at some point by a threat that they will use their power to get the rep fired. I would love to hear the recording. I'm sure PWH already has and that's why they made their decision.

[@gintokisan1637]

Comcast billed me improperly too. When I went to the local office to ask the reasons for my bill being double the rate, I was told to refer to a commercial about a temporary price of 50% expiring and to GTFO. Except my 50% had already expired before then and now it was 4x the original sign-up rate. So I cancelled and then got a call offering me to join for 50% off with some free cable TV. They said it was some kind of simple error that they made to charge me more, as if the hours of conversation with the rep were not enough time to figure it out. I declined and after I quit and asked the rep if everything on my bill and account was finalized, I was told yes, everything is paid for. Then got bills in the mail several times for ~20$ for.... "Adjustments"--no explanations ever given.

[@gyaniadmi2347]

He got fired for complaining about bill, what world r we living in?

[@justinburkhart7090]

No, not even remotely close to accurate.

[@drussell710]

Wrong, you apparently didn't watch the whole video or understand what you were watching.

[@trailerwager8850]

The one being created by elitists, dude

[@SpencerFcp]

Kind of a weird situation.. He works for a company that has Comcast as a client. So Comcast likely already had a relationship with him and his employer. He then mentioned that during his phone call, which absolutely IS an ethical violation. It puts Comcast in an uncomfortable position where they are dealing with a complainant that directly affects their company. Absolutely a position of leverage, and there was no reason to bring it up during the call. I doubt Comcast requested he be fired, but they were absolutely correct in telling his employer(the firm they hired) that one of their employees was behaving as such. I think a warning would have been fair, but I didn't hear the phone call. That's like calling in somewhere and saying "I work at the hospital your mother is at". Not a direct threat, and you may not even mean anything negative by it, but it can result in a different decision being made for you.

[@cherylmoneiry8302]

Comcast is evil. I have a friend who worked there, and they falsky arrested my friend.

[@ssddsquare]

He fault, because he go against corporate. You can only go complain if you are rich. Poor people like me can eat cake.

[@jpace4revolution]

How is it Comcast fault that he violated his company policies?

[@nohopeequalsnofear3242]

Slimeball The Goblin ...right... but how would comcast know where he works? how is this not in news more?

[@lifelovelationshipspodcast1012]

Comcast has to be stopped

[@paularlos4931]

i think there is another reason why he got fired, he might be telling the truth, but i think it is very shallow for comcast to take it personally and got him fired on his job. Comcast is a huge company and caters thousands of customers then i think giving him attention and messing his job is just inappropriate and just a waste of time.

[@cutthroattruthnews4766]

Comcast fuckin sucks

[@GoSleep_LLC]

Workplace mobbing. They did it to my you bf at NBC Universal where they try to sabotage you and make you look bad. Same job place different field where I got blacklisted before I met my bf. He got security job after. I was in & out of film Industry.

[@JM-ft5ip]

Not defending Comcast in the slightest, but I'm doubting that this man is being completely honest. How would Comcast even know where he worked? He obviously bit off more than he bargained for by going "accountant" on Comcast, and likely bragging about his position at his company in the process.

[@blackmooncultx9552]

This situation right here is utter bull. THIS RIGHT HERE IS EXACTLY WHAT CANCEL CULTURE IS; HURTING THE AVERAGE JOE BY BLACK-BALLING THEIR NAME FROM THEIR JOB FIELDS

[@DarrelMac1469]

he had a complaint with his internet service provider and then he got let go from his job at price-water-house because of ethics issue ... wow

[@justinburkhart7090]

Look into it....soooo far from reality...cmon

[@kalijasin]

The apology was BS.

[@dondean517]

Knowing the color of some ones house is not proof that you were there. Bueller, Bueller, Anyone? Google maps streetview affords this.

[@suzycreamcheesez4371]

where I live it's the only game in town

[@RayvenTheNight]

Jesus ... there are way to many comments trashing the people in this for simply how they look and talk.... wtf is wrong with yall?

[@IMTWalrus01]

He didn’t get fired for “complaining about his cable bill”. Aside from the fact that companies the size of PWC don’t fire people because they complained about their cable bills, according to his own account he got fired because he not only tried to use PWC’s name as a threat in a dispute over his personal cable bill, he started trying to use as some kind of threat or leverage privileged accounting information he only knows due to a business relationship between his employer and their client the cable company as part of an argument over a personal bill with a customer service person at his personal cable company. Comcast is a terrible company - but this one is NOT on them. It was a CLEAR ethics violation as an accountant and he deserved to be fired.

[@nohopeequalsnofear3242]

again.... why on earth are you paying for cable?????youtube is free and waaaay better

[@Wee-Snaw]

Comcast also provides internet. The interviewer stated in the beginning that he used it for his internet. DO you think the internet is FREE and just appears out of nowhere?

[@johnborges7969]

* How funny is this? Accountants in ANY state, are NEVER held accountable for a tax return that has errors that they made, contingent it was signed by the tax payer. Accountants, EAs and DVM, Doctors of Veterinary Medicine are not held responsible for basically anything. You can't sue a DVM because pets are considered property, like a roll of toilet paper or a mailbox. This guy has the worst possible luck. Sure an accounting firm can fire their employees, but CPAs, EAs have a blank check to make mistakes on their work...as again does the DVMs of the world. For anyone reading this far...YOU, as the TAX PAYER, are the pilot of the plane...in the cockpit we have the CPAs, their firm, or EAs who are the 'tax preparer' and if they make a catastrophic error, YOU, as the passenger are responsible, NEVER the pilot or co pilot...that's the glory of the legislation written to herd the sheep and make sure the herder (IRS) can send the sheep....easily to the slaughter....PWC - you all are too pretentious for your own good....

[@thesnare100]

Usually you are stuck with Comcast OR whatever for broadband whatever broadband ISP you have in your area, whether it be Comcast, Charter, Fios, etc. If it's the only one you can get in your area they can afford to be crappy since you have no other choices. Other countries have something called local loop unbundling which gives you a choice of different providers, the US doesn't. Though it does FORCE the broadband companies to lease their lines to other competitors.

[@theblueraven716]

Horrible Interview..Why have it to begin with. You ask him a question, then you answer it for him...smh.

[@nohopeequalsnofear3242]

cut your cable bill, save lots of money

[@penguincommunity6218]

I support Comcast on this one. Even his own recounting of the events is terrible.

[@raul1899]

The number of times she blinks, the most disturbing of all.

[@Dr.ZoidbergPhD]

Probably just nervous. Most people aren't expecting to be on TV

[@mycharmedunicorn8715]

Comcast and their service sucks. They are currently charging me for a $70 service call that was supposed to be free because I can’t maintain a internet connection for more than an hour just being on Facebook or KZbin. The technician even confirmed no charge because he changed the cable plug at the wall and did some wire fix and said it was Comcast hardware that was the problem.

[@PrayingToTheAlien]

Boy I feel sorry for this segment producer!

[@gunnerseven7724]

And this is why I have never used that shitty company and I never will.

[@Diamondgee80]

So your house is brown then....?

[@bherb1204]

Jesus fuck. For real. If you’re giving someone shit over the EXACT color of your house when they are simply trying to identify you... YOU ARE THE ASSHOLE.

[@Dronebertios_World]

Story is all over the place. Says Uhhh about a million times. There is something he isn't owning up to. Probably the ethics violation in question.

[@raidwipe]

Fuck me, he clearly just looks nervous being on TV. Innocent until proven guilty, unless you live in a shithole country where workers rights don't exist like the US

[@ODSTOninersIxTwO]

cuz net neut is gone i cant see the video only hear the sound

[@billyr2749]

Lawyer .....male or female ?

[@peterpowers4851]

Billy R Thank you, that is the question that was on my mind!!!

[@definity5260]

Clearly a female. Upgrade your glasses

[@BroskiRIP]

Definity a post-op Trans-sexual woman would be my guess.

[@ionia23]

I guarantee you, if this guy's calls to customer service were made a matter of public record, public opinion would sway against him immediately. The guy made a huge mistake namedropping his own employer. That was a stupid way to try and bully a call center agent.

[@LandRunProductions]

In other news, scumbags are scumbags.

[@nonyabusiness3859]

My speculation is that he was mad and went full queen mode on Comcast using his employer as a leverage and a threat. There’s some things you just don’t do. I’m curious was he said to them. Sometimes contacting the State and filing a complaint is a lot more effective.

[@ViralWatchMedia]

not trying to be rude but is his attorney a drag queen?

[@ChaseJohnston]

When did Oprah start working for CNN?

[@jopestv1063]

+Chase Johnston good one! 10 stars

[@balticorchid]

May Comcast and anyone who works on their behalf in the Customer Rententions Department rot in hell. I am in a nightmare of service and billing issues that span years. I'm simply asking them to address what has happened since December 2018. They fail at every turn. They are misinformed, lie, condescending, take hours, copious calls, billing errors, fights for minimal credits and cannot effectively resolve complaints or service issues on a mass scale. Only their monopolies and enormous funding of lobbying efforts allow this to occur. I look forward to Google shutting them down someday, once and for all.

[@ThatsMrMoronToYou]

But...but...corporations are people.

[@dandman2798]

+ThatsMrMoronToYou And just like people sometimes they can be assholes

[@miastrong151]

Soulless and sociopathic corporations are not people. Soulless and sociopathic persons probably aren't even people. Where do we draw the line?

[@billytheweasel]

people can go to jail if they kill someone. and $ is not free speech, it's political bribery.

[@dtruque]

It's hard to make a judgement given the limited info, but even with the guy's own testimonial it seems that he did reveal information about Comcast's accounting to the customer support person (which by the way could be an outsourced service). That is grounds for termination given his company policy and even if he didn't quite violate it, PwC may judge this event to be a red flag and terminate him anyways, why take the risk? Getting reinstated? After going on TV and making a fool out of himself? More lack of common sense and character flaw to justify his termination! Comcast did the right thing by whistle-blowing on him; they had no obligation to do it, but they did it, and that is not wrong. He clearly pissed off the attendant enough as to motivate him/her to figure out how to screw him over! A lawsuit for that wouldn't stick, what would stick is a lawsuit of PwC against this guy for violating his confidentiality agreement; he should be great he simply got fired quietly. In conclusion to this rant, it's his fault and he only smeared shit all over himself by going on TV. Good luck.

[@miastrong151]

All of them should have been fired and not the customer. It's just another example of the sad and sick world that we live in. It's not okay just to piss him off for months, they have to go after his job. It's not like he works for them, he just wants to help other customers and make their experience better, and then they have to turn around and do something sick. Imagine if it was you. By the way, Comcast knows about these problems, they would just rather intimidate people than do anything about it. It's much easier for them to do that than admit that they have a problem. Heaven forbid they actually take accountability and fix some shit.

[@69putana]

You tried to throw your weight around, boasted that you worked for PWC, and it backfired. Wah, wahhhh.

[@americanna]

Just FYI, according to that guys LinkedIn, he's an HR specialist. Comcast or no comcast, I'm sure someone from HR portraying themselves as a CPA from the firm is grounds to be fired.

[@miastrong151]

It doesn't mean that he's not an accountant.

[@americanna]

No. There's the possibility he is. In my experience, about half of the HR/scheduling personnel are former auditors. But the preponderance of the evidence leads me to believe he's not a CPA.

[@americanna]

Take for instance his claims about the pcaob. He seemed to be making the argument that Comcast should be audited by the pcaob. Only one problem with that: the pcaob audits audit firms of public companies, not the public companies themselves.

[@miastrong151]

Where do you get the impression that he is arguing that Comcast should be audited?

[@americanna]

at 3:15 he talks about Comcast having overstated revenues and at 3:30 he talks about reporting the issue to the pcaob.

[@bennychan723able]

I love Comcast!!!!

[@2002films]

How's your job at Comcast ?

[@justinburkhart7090]

@@2002films hahahah you sound so dumb....have fun watching fake news on CNN...hahahahaahhahha

[@skylermontgomery9675]

what is that on the left? A man or woo-man?

[@misunderstoodpersons7975]

Oh man that’s messed up; got the dude fired for complaining about his cable bill? And shady practices?

[@justinburkhart7090]

No, not even close to the truth....look into it....

[@siennavenezia792]

Maureen, you need a haircut.

[@muthaluva]

Sienna Venezia and you need a passport oh that's right your not welcome in the US. good luck with your 2.50 an hour job😂

[@samuelgoldman7812]

Boycott Comcast

[@Shark-fj2sz]

This seems wrong, but let's first hear this guy's language that he used with the Comcast representative before we judge, because I have the feeling that his language was as ridiculous as the comcast people calling his employer.

[@sheriethomas9931]

I am glad his wife stepped in to answer for him. He is fucking hopeless.

[@Geno2733]

Have you ever stopped to think that the reason he's not giving many specifics, is because he's trying to mount a court case against both companies?

[@bottomsupbass]

You're cuter than Christmas!

[@justinburkhart7090]

Is the lawyer a man?

[@bobbycone2]

They probably fired this guy because they could no longer handle having conversations with him. Makes you want to scream waiting for him to spit out a thought.

[@sun_buddy]

take your meds and you'll be able to deal with it

[@yan314j]

A

[@MadHouseProductionsD]

"So you don't want something that works?" "No I guess I don't want something that "works." This is like trying to talk to Trump about common interests.

[@nohopeequalsnofear3242]

this is weird watching cnn

[@AviationNut]

Is that a man with long hair or a woman?. By the voice it sounds like a woman, but by the face and neck it looks like a transvestite.

[@bunnyfish714]

22 people work for comcast [thumbs down votes]

[@justinburkhart7090]

Hahahhaha ok snowflake

[@kodakwhite870]

We ( Comcast) own you. Open wide and take it. Don’t like it move somewhere else. We OWN all of you. From customer service to techs and upper management. We don’t give 2 💩’s about your feelings. Take it or leave. We are the number one service provider in the country. Go somewhere else we will replace you by another customer tomorrow. We hate you as much as you hate us. Your a number. Stop complaining and leave. Thank you

[@KKelly-ng1ni]

So why won't Comcast allow people to cancel their service if they have so many other customers? Why waste so much time trying to retain people who don't want their service anymore?

[@cotillion]

CNN lol, #fakenews