Comcast communicated by blog

A Washington student got a bit of a shock when he received an email from internet service provider Comcast about comments he had made on his blog.

Brandon Dilbeck, a student at the University of Washington, writes a blog and used it to complain about the service he was getting from Comcast. Shortly afterwards he got an email message from Comcast apologizing for the problems and suggesting he might look at a guide it had posted on its web site.

“It feels like nobody ever really reads my blog,” he told the New York Times.

“Nobody has left a comment in months.”

But he said he found the email to be a little creepy.

“The rest of his e-mail may as well have read, ‘Big Brother is watching you,’ ”

Comcast is now monitoring blogs as a way of improving its image among customers. The company was ranked at the bottom of the most recent American Customer Satisfaction Index, which tracks consumer opinions of more than 200 companies.

Frank Eliason, digital care manager at Comcast, says it’s a new way of communicating with customers and should get problems resolved faster.

“When you’re having a two-way conversation, you really get to clear the air,” he said.

Lyza Gardner, a vice president at a Web development company in Portland used Twitter to complain about the company and was surprised to be contacted directly.

“It’s one thing to spit vitriol about a company when they can’t hear you,” she said.

“I immediately backed down and softened my tone when I knew I was talking to a real person.”