Comcast more than pleases

Service pays.

Comcast has shocked the financial world by announcing a 22 percent jump in earnings for its third quarter.

At a time when just about every other industry in reeling with economic  shortfalls and dwindling business, Comcast saw net income of $944 million, or 33 cents per share, for the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with $771 million (26 cents per share) in the year-ago quarter. Sales also rose, hitting $8.8 billion, up from $8.5 billion in 2008’s third quarter.

Here’s the telling info. TV subscribers actually declined, down to 23.7 million from 24.4 million a year ago. But the loss was more than offset by gains in Internet and voice, two services that Comcast has marketed heavily, especially as part of its Triple-Play service.

The Internet has become the new TV and the new phone company delivery system. It will become even more so in the future.

For me, Comcast’s broadband phone service has been crystal clear, loaded with features and cheaper than what I used to pay AT&T and Ma Bell.

But despite that and the screaming fast Internet they give me (up to 16 Mbps), from based on my personal experience, I think Comcast’s success stems from good service.

I’ve been a Triple Play subscriber for more than a year now. My service has been solid and spectacular. When a cable box went bad a few weeks ago (my only significant disruption in a year), one call got me not one but two visits by knowledgeable service techs and three calls from a customer service rep to make sure I was satisfied. When I tweeted my issue on Twitter, two Comcast service reps almost instantly responded. Obviously, they even monitor social networks for customer complaints.

After the TV set top box was replaced and my service was back to normal, I was offered a free premium channel subscription for three months just for the inconvenience of having a box go bad.

I had to pinch myself. This was so far removed from the Comcast of the late 90’s.

I still get e-mail from people who are very emotional in their dislike of the company. I expect this post will bring some more.

But as one who has written lots of past criticism of Comcast, I would not be doing my job now if I didn’t also praise them for doing a good job.

And from my perspective, they have been doing a great job… at least in my neighborhood.