Comcast has issued an apology following claims that it got one of its customers fired from his job.
The case of Conal O’Rourke has been a hot topic this week, after Conal claimed that after complaining about a number of billing issues with the cable company, they persuaded his employer PriceWaterhouseCoopers to fire him.
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The Consumerist reported that “Conal’s employer explained that the reason for the dismissal was an e-mail from Comcast that summarized conversations between Conal and Comcast employees.” PWC would later acknowledge that Conal’s position in the company had been terminated, though did not offer specifics as to the reasoning behind his dismissal. Now Comcast has thrown their hat into the ring, apologizing for the poor service Conal received (which saw him being charged for set-top boxes that had yet to be activated, along with his bill being increased by $20 for no reported reason) from the company, though refusing to acknowledge that an email sent from them to PWC was behind his firing.
A statement from Comcast senior vice president Charlie Herrin, which is titled “A Public Apology to Conal O’Rourke,” reads: “What happened with Mr. O’Rourke’s service is completely unacceptable. Despite our attempts to address Mr. O’Rourke’s issues, we simply dropped the ball and did not make things right. Mr. O’Rourke deserves another apology from us and we’re making this one publicly. We also want to clarify that nobody at Comcast asked for him to be fired.
“We’re also determined to get to the bottom of exactly what happened with his service, figure out what went wrong at every point along the way, and fix any underlying issues. I’m a few weeks into a new role at Comcast which is entirely focused on what we can do to make the customer experience better. We need to make sure that every interaction is excellent … from the moment a customer orders a new service, to the installation, to the way we communicate with them, to how we respond to any issues.
“We’re holding ourselves accountable and we are working hard to make real improvements across the board. While it will take us some time, we can and will do better than this.”
However, Conal is not accepting the apology, with his attorney sending the Consumerist a message that brands the move a “public relations strategy” rather than “a public apology.” According to the attorney’s statement, Comcast made “defamatory statements” about Conal to his employer, and that they will be further investigating the matter.
