That now-famous [Block] call with the retention specialist is something I have seen in my old job hundreds of times. We locked down the ability for most customer service reps to disconnect accounts. We queue the calls for customers looking to disconnect to a retention team who are authorized to give more deeply discounted products to keep subscribers.

The name of the game is RGUs (revenue generating units). Even if the subscriber disconnects cable, maybe we can keep them on internet or voice. A script pops up on the screen, and then another one comes up, then another one, every single one you’re eligible for. "Is it too expensive? You don’t use it? Maybe I can downgrade you to something if you’re only home once a week. Or maybe I can upgrade you. What if I gave you all the channels for a year and you’re still only playing $90?"

It’s not savvy in 2014 to do that — assume people are so stupid that if you rephrase the question in three ways maybe they’ll answer differently. That’s really the only approach they have.

-Billing systems manager, 2008-2013, Georgia

"[The rep who spoke to Block] was placed on leave, pending investigation. His desk is still set up, which means he still works for us. Yes, he is a good salesperson."

[The rep who spoke to Block] was placed on leave, pending investigation. His desk is still set up, which means he still works for us. Yes, he is a good salesperson. I mean if you don’t have stellar numbers, you get fired. One of the issues with [the recorded call] is he actually did his job, just went WAY overboard with it. According to our retention handbook, he did not violate any of the things that can end your employment.

-Retention supervisor, 2012-present, Colorado

Eighty percent [of our training] was sales training. From time to time they would pull us from the phones for in-depth training on how to sell. [They told us] to say how much better Comcast is than the rest of the competition. "Why would anyone leave us?"

I would be frustrated because I would tell them we need customer service training as much as sales training, but it came from Philly [Comcast’s headquarters] so that’s what we had to deal with. [Managers] would listen to the call, even have secret shoppers call in. If we didn’t ask [customers] to get more products we would be spoken to. Eventually, selling became part of tech support and billing.

There would be such frustration from tech support. We would tell our supervisors that our customers are upset. Why would you sell them something? They would say, ‘If the customer is upset, then don’t attempt to sell.’ That was fine, but sales became more and more of what we were graded on. A lot of reps were so worried because the management put too much stress on sales. And tech support reps just aren’t sales oriented.

-Tech support, 2003-2013, California

There were incentives for making sales. The last months that I worked there, there was a constant push to ensure that at the end of every call you make an offer for a new service, or premium channel, or whatever.

I think there was a honest emphasis on customer service. The rule of thumb was "first call resolution" which translates to: "Make sure the customer doesn’t have to call again to fix the problem." In practice, it was difficult to achieve. I believe we didn’t have enough tools to guarantee first call resolution. There was almost no offline time to work. So you didn’t have time to do follow-up checks on their services, or whether the technician arrived at the scheduled appointment, etc.

-Customer service, 2008-2009, Mexico

"A 90-year-old woman called to add phone to her account and my boss told me afterwards, 'she was probably senile… but you should have upgraded her cable.'"

We were coached on three things mainly: explaining their self-service options, showing empathy, and the number one was pitching products and services. We were coached that, regardless of [the customer] wanting to cancel, or being declined after a pitch, we had to offer at least three rebuttals.

-Video repair, April -July 2014, Illinois

I just had coaching today and it was brought up that I’m not using the new opening. Now when we open a call, we are supposed to push for an account number so that we have them authenticated on the call to make changes, and then offer something on every call. Tech support does not have to authenticate for the call to assist in troubleshooting, so it’s squarely to be able to make sure we can push a sale. I got docked pretty hard for that on my quality, so it’s now definitely being pushed harder than it has been in the past.

-Tech support, 2013-present, Utah

Sometimes if I knew the customer was scared of their technology, I would spend 40 minutes or longer on the phone trying to help them, because it’s good customer service. A good average call time is between 360 and 480 seconds. Imagine how much a 40 minute call affects your metrics. Your manager will sit there and listen to your call and pick it apart for things you should not have done.

We communicated using IM on the floor. Occasionally on a long call (or any call that was chosen to be monitored by a manager), I would get a pop up message asking me why I have been on the phone so long, or that the customer has two lines of business and why haven’t I pitched an offer to them.

-Customer service, 2010-2011, Pennsylvania

I was there for almost seven years. The last four years or so, everything went downhill. It all began with the "integration" of sales department into our customer service department. They told us we would never [have to] become sales representatives. [The sales department was] just there to help us grow. Well, that was a big fat lie. We slowly became sales. We were given quotas. We were at one point told if it’s not a sale, direct them to the 800 number.

-Customer service, 2007-2013, California

I remember thinking and asking my co-workers, ‘If the company has a sales department, why do we have to make two sales a day?’ One day I asked my manager about this. He said it’s revenue, but eventually they lowered the quota [to] one sale a day. It still was hard to keep up.

-Customer service (video), 2011-2013, New Jersey

The pay was great and everything else about the job was a nightmare. I remember when a 90-year-old woman called to add phone to her account and my boss told me afterwards, "She was probably senile… but you should have upgraded her cable. I don’t think you are going to be sitting in this seat for very long."

-Sales, 2011-2014, Massachusetts



"Most people live in permanent fear, checking their numbers after every call. I decided to quit before I shot myself in the head out of desperation."

Although we were the sales department, the calls were what they called "dirty." Every time you called Comcast, hit Spanish, then sales, you should hit one of us. But that wasn’t always the case; many times the calls were just randomly thrown to any agent regardless of what the customer chose, because at that precise moment who they asked for was not available. At least that’s what we were told, though it never seemed like that; more like everything was just done randomly without order.

Then comes Xfinity Home [security system]. We are to sell as many as we can, but there’s just not a market for it in the Spanish community. There really isn’t. But they keep pushing it to the point they’re just about to implement it as a multiplier. In other words, our commission will depend on it.

You can only fail one scorecard. Then you’re fired. Most people live in permanent fear, checking their numbers after every call. I decided to quit before I shot myself in the head out of desperation.

-Sales, February 2014 to July 2014, Florida

Lead photo by Michael Shane for The Verge.