Please note: this conversation starts about 10 minutes in -- by this point my wife and I are both completely flustered by the oppressiveness of the rep.

So! Last week my wife called to disconnect our service with Comcast after we switched to another provider (Astound). We were transferred to cancellations (aka "customer retention").

The representative (name redacted) continued aggressively repeating his questions, despite the answers given, to the point where my wife became so visibly upset she handed me the phone. Overhearing the conversation, I knew this would not be very fun.

What I did not know is how oppressive this conversation would be. Within just a few minutes the representative had gotten so condescending and unhelpful I felt compelled to record the speakerphone conversation on my other phone.

This recording picks up roughly 10 minutes into the call, whereby she and I have already played along and given a myriad of reasons and explanations as to why we are canceling (which is why I simply stopped answering the rep's repeated question -- it was clear the only sufficient answer was "Okay, please don't disconnect our service after all.").

Please forgive the echoing and ratcheting sound, I was screwing together some speaker wires in an empty living room!

Updates:
7/15 - Comcast has issued an apology: http://corporate.comcast.com/comcast-voices/comcast-statement-regarding-customer-service-call
7/16 - I have continued to reiterate publicly that I do not want Comcast to terminate the rep, and that I believe the call itself belies a deeper, systemic dysfunction:
https://twitter.com/ryan/status/489576392250519552
https://twitter.com/ryan/status/489576399636676609
https://twitter.com/ryan/status/489576406301413376

Comcastic service disconnection (recording starts 10 mins into call)

Buoyed by the success of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google, companies of all sizes are fundamentally rethinking how they do business. They are creating vibrant ecosystems, and in the process, reaping big rewards. In the tradition of The Long Tail, The Age of the Platform demonstrates how the world of business today is vastly different from that of even ten years ago. Today the most successful companies are operating under an entirely different business model–-one predicated on collaboration, rapid development, emerging technologies, and externally driven innovation. The Age of the Platform introduces and describes a critical new business model, one essential to survive in today’s increasingly fragmented and dynamic economy.


The Age of the Platform - Sample

I sit down with the Rush drummer to take a few questions. 

Neil Peart Interview, Part III

Here's a three-minute sample to the audiobook of Message Not Received: Why Business Communication Is Broken and How to Fix It.

Audiobook Sample: Message Not Received

Message Not Received by Phil Simon on Audible:
http://www.audible.com/pd?asin=B00XP5KAOI&source_code=AUDORWS0618159DY0

Get this audiobook for free when you try Audible:
http://www.audible.com/offers/30free?asin=B00XP5KAOI&source_code=AUDORWS0618159DY0

Summary:

George Bernard Shaw once famously said, "The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place."

Although he died in 1950, Shaw's words live on, especially in the business world. Far too many executives, salespeople, consultants, and even rank-and-file employees suck at communicating. Some think that they're speaking and writing effectively when they drop ostensibly sophisticated terms like paradigm shift, synergy, net-net, form factor, and optics. Others think that they're being clever.

No doubt that you know the type. Maybe you're even one of them and don't realize it. These are the folks who regularly rely upon obscure acronyms, technobabble, jargon, and buzzwords when plain English would suffice just fine. They constantly invent new tech-laden words, bastardize others, and turn nouns into verbs. They ignore their audiences, oblivious to the context of their words. In other words, they talk without speaking.

If bad business communication is a disease, the prevalence of hackneyed and utterly meaningless terms is just one of its major causes. Aside from using confusing language, many corporate folks depend almost exclusively on a single communications vehicle: email. In the process, they actively resist new, powerful, and truly collaborative tools specifically designed to make people work and communicate better.

What's the net effect of this near-pervasive failure to effectively communicate while at work? The precise monetary figure is impossible to quantify. At the same time, though, it cannot be overstated. At a minimum, communication breakdowns are directly responsible for myriad inefficiencies, duplicate efforts, ineffectual campaigns, project failures, largely avoidable gaffes, internal political squabbles, and forgone business opportunities. 

Buy on Audible

Message Not Received by Phil Simon, Narrated by Jonathan Yen

Recorded Live in Lille, France
From H NATURAL SELECTION
(Leonard Cohen)

Famous Blue Raincoat (Lille, Leonard Cohen)

Recorded Live in Aachen, Germany
(Kate Bush)

Cloudbusting (Aachen, Kate Bush)

Recorded Live in Paris, France
(Carole King)

Way Over Yonder (Paris, Carole King)

Lion Heart - Emily Wolfe

I appear on this podcast to discuss Message Not Received and how I handle the email deluge.

Works for Me

Here's How You Really Get Better At Email

Phil Simon is a frequent keynote speaker, recognized technology authority, and college professor-for-hire. He is the award-winning author of ten books, most recently Slack For Dummies and Zoom For Dummies. He consults organizations on matters related to communications, strategy, data, and technology. His contributions have appeared in The Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, and many other sites.

The Age of the Platform - Sample

PhilSimon

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