Comcast Names Exec in Charge of Making Customers Less Ragey

Type the words “Comcast sucks” into Google, and 1.17 million results arrive immediately on your screen. The company has almost always had a  problem with the public perception of its customer service — partly because nobody will ever, ever love their cable company — but in this, the year of the Time Warner merger, that perception has gotten way way way out of hand.

So the company is hiring a guy to fix all that.

Comcast on Friday announced that 15-year company vet Charlie Herrin will become the senior vice president of customer service for Comcast Cable.

In this new role, Charlie will partner with leaders across all business units, including customer service, technical operations, sales, marketing, training and development, and product innovation to reimagine the customer experience and ensure that we are delighting our customers at each touch point,” Neil Smit, Comcast Cable’s president, wrote in a blog post.

Boiled down to English, it means Herrin — who previously led the design team behind the X1 cable box — has license to go all over the company, figure out where the weak spots are (customer-service-wise), kick the tires and keep on kicking them until customers stop screaming.

“Transformation isn’t going to happen overnight,” Smit wrote. “In fact, it may take a few years before we can honestly say that a great customer experience is something we’re known for. But that is our goal and our number one priority … and that’s what we are going to do. ”

Trust us, Comcast, lots of people will be paying attention.