CABLog - A blog devoted to the cable industry!
A colleague of mine suggested recently that I should publish a blog. She mentioned that I combine my writing ability with my experience and industry knowledge. But most importantly she recommended that I include a liberal dose of my sense of humor!
And so the first issue of CABLog will deal with humorous cable industry stories! Please note these are true stories! I'm just including a few here, and will probably do more in the future. I welcome any input, humorous or otherwise!
1. But I Paid My Cable Bill! : The customer was upset because his cable apparently was not working. He protested to the customer service rep that he had actually visited the cable office to pay his bill in cash and in person. The rep did some due diligence and found no technical reason why the man's service should not be working.
"You're totally correct, sir." She said. "We show that you did pay your bill."
"Then why did you cut me off?" he asked. "Both you and the electric company were threatening to disconnect me. I didn't pay the electric company, but I did pay you."
2. Upgrades - The marketing guy was outlining the training and incentive program he wanted to use to convince customer service reps to sell both cable and HBO. (This was back in the days when all there was to sell was cable and HBO. Imagine that!)
The General Manager listened intently and then asked, "Why would you want to sell both services to all new customers. We'll have nobody left to upgrade!"
3. Alarm - Here’s the scene: heavy budget negotiations at a corporate office between operations and marketing. The operations folks had been wielding a large ax, cutting marketing budgets substantially.
Just then an electronic device gave out a familiar beep.
"Do you have another meeting to attend?" asked the head of operations.
"No, that was a signal that you've cut too much from marketing!" deadpanned the marketing guy.
Update - Since I first published this blog, I've heard another, courtesy of Chip James:
I was working in the cable industry in programming, but had some problems with my cable at home (Cable Atlanta). In order to be there to let the guy in, I had to book a Saturday appointment so as to not miss work (back in the all day appointments). Day came and went, no one showed and I was stuck at home all day. Called, got no answer.
On Monday I called and got thru to customer service and explained what happened not too happily. The CSR explained to me "We do not do service calls on Saturday!"
But, I said, I scheduled an appointment for Saturday.
"Oh," she replied, "we do that for the convenience of our customers.
Stay tuned, more to come
Again, my thanks to Chip James of James & Co. (212-414-0200)
Got a better one? Send it to me at mike@roimarketingagency.com
So that's it for the first issue. The next issue will feature a more serious tone. Stay tuned.