That Lady with The Hammer

[CancelMyService]

So apparently the thread over at CS got TOO HOT and became rife with fratchery, so let's discuss it here.

IMO (which I admit is biased since I work for the company in question), people are excusing absolutely outrageous behavior because of the company that was targeted. News flash people, Comcast is the largest cable company in the US, and the law of averages pretty much demands not every customer is going to be all sunshine and gumdrops. And yes, sometimes some real world class clusterfucks occur that can be the fault of either side.

NONE OF THAT is reason for someone to attack an office with a hammer in an obviously premeditated attack. People could have been hurt, and property was damaged. I don't care how bad your cable company fucks up, at the end of the day it's only TV.

Now because it was Comcast, and the lady was 75, not only was she given a slap on the wrist (no one half her age would have got off with just paying damages), she's being hailed as a modern day hero because she TOOK ON THE SYSTEM~! She lived the dream of fighting back against a large company, and now everyone who's ever had a grudge against their cable company looks at this lady like a patron saint.

I hope no one who works face to face with the public ever has to confront someone who decides destroying company property is acceptable behavior.

I'm sure there's going to be some people even here who think this was somehow justified, and if so I wonder would you think it was appropriate if someone came into your store/office/place of business and trashed the place?

[Boozy]

I was the one who posted the link over at CS. I thought it was just a silly story about a cranky customer and a lack of corporate backbone. I didn't think it would become so heated.

I had no idea that Comcast was so despised! We don't have them here in Canada (although we despise our own cable and telecommunications giants). You rarely see members at CS standing up for a physically destructive customer. I was intrigued that so many people were on her side.

Comcast must be one hell of an evil corporate empire.

With that said, what was this woman thinking? Is this how she solves all her problems? Is there no other way of asserting yourself without going bat-shit crazy with a hammer? This is immature and uncivilized behaviour, regardless of Comcast's wrongs.

The only reason she received an apology and the only reason that the media is supporting her is because Comcast is the greater evil. And I would not consider that a win if I were her.

[CancelMyService]

Also, her husband should be charged as an accessory. He knew what she was going to do and didn't stop it (probably because he knows what a loon she is and didn't want the claw end in *his* forhead).

This seems like the perfect storm of suck: a crazy old bat with old people entitlement issues has a legitimately unpleasant experience and the only solution they see is a hammer spree.

It also can't be stressed enough how serious people take their TV. Both myself and coworkers of mine have had people threaten to come down and beat our asses because some of their channels didn't work or the tech was late. Before, I used to laugh it off, but there's a payment office attached to my call center so now I'll have to wonder "does this idiot think hammer lady is a hero".

[rahmota]

Actually I am one of those who doesnt see what she did as all that wrong. The company screwed her over. they have a history of it and if the government wont real them in and bring them under control then it is up o the people to do so.

And as someone who is self-employed I make sure that any clients/customers I get a dealt with properly and appropriately and not in the abusive and evil manners that comcast does their customers.

They are the ones who brought it on and are quite lucky all she did was take the hammer to their office equipment. Some people would have reacted rather more violently, which I'll agree would be a bit excessive. But a slight bit of civil disobedience/disturbance to get the point across to the corporate jerkwads that dont care about anythign but the bottom line is never a bad thing.

I actually found it quite humourous to read that and could imagine my own dear old gams doing something similar.

[Greenday]

Whether Comcast treated her like crap or not, she is definitely a stupid woman who was out of control and DESERVED to be arrested. I mean, if you see this as ok, what's wrong with me going to my neighbor's room and destroying all his stuff, just because I don't like him? Apparently nothing. Maybe I should go to a cigarette owner's home, and blow it up, because after all, the nasty cigarette owner's killed one of my grandfathers and tried to kill my other one. Should I blow up my old high school for never doing anything about the harassment that occurred there?

Come on, there is absolutely no reasonable way to rationalize her criminal behavior.

[rahmota]

Yes she broke the law. Yes she shoudl be arressted and yes she got the punishment she deserved. A slap on the wrist. Which is a lot more than what a lot of corporations get for their criminal activities and behaviors that should get them punished severely.

And as your actions are person versus person they are all wrong and not in the sae class or category as this woman defending herself against an evil uncaring faceless corporation that sucks people dry and treats them like numbers and abuses them.

Comcast deserves to be punished in anyway shape and for that their victims feel like.

Going after another person just because you dont like them is not right and that person has every right to defend themselves.

People have rights companies and most especially corporations do not have rights.

[Boozy]

People have rights companies and most especially corporations do not have rights.

Oh, come on now. I'm about as anti-corporate as you can get, but even I can see the danger in not granting ANY rights to businesses.

If a corporation's property is not protected by law, anarchy would ensue. What would stop someone from shoplifting? Or embezzling? Or blowing up a store because you don't like their return policy?

There are thousands of things people do every day to fight the encroachment of corporations into their lives and communities - through political activism, organized boycotts, and public education.

Taking a bloody hammer to some equipment is not civil disobedience, its a temper tantrum.

[AFPheonix]

Actually I am one of those who doesnt see what she did as all that wrong. The company screwed her over. they have a history of it and if the government wont real them in and bring them under control then it is up o the people to do so.


THAT particular employee did her wrong? Sorry, but no. There are better routes to go through than to scare the ever loving shit out of some poor grunt who most likely had never touched her file before.
And for the record, we have comcast, although we don't watch tv, we use it only for internet, and it's been fine. So there.

[Greenday]

Actually, of the situations I gave, only ONE is person vs. person. Me attacking my old school for letting me go through all that harassment is not me vs. another person. It'd be against the school system for not caring about that sort of stuff. Substitute the owner's house for a factory and it's me vs. a business. To physically attack someone or something because you don't like them is childish in the most extreme way.

[rahmota]

*sigh* A company has a moral and ethical responsibility to its customers and clients to treat them with respect, honor, and dignity. Too many corporations do not do this and as such should be punished for it.

Now I will agree that there are certain legal protections a company can have. but they are not rights in the same way a real living breathing person does. And actually i think that the current laws do not go far enough in controlling the behavior of companies and corporations. Heck some corporations have abused their customers and society enough that I would love to see them nationalized and run by the government in the national interest. There should be price controls, maximum wages for CEOS, size limits on companies, and punish any company that takes jobs from america to the tune of a million dollars fines per job lost among a good deal other things that would be highly beneficial. basically outlaw capitalism as we know it and replace it with somethign better for humanity as a whole.

Boozy:through political activism, organized boycotts, and public education.
And sad to say the corporations still win thanks to the laws and social perceptions being skewed and biased towards the corporations and greed and capitalism being good thigns. And besides activism at the point of a rifle (or this case hammer) can be effective if done properly.

AFP: That partiular personal employee unknown if they themselves did her wrong but getting hold of the only person she could was what she could do as she couldnt get ahold of the person responsible for wronging her. The CEOS and a lot of the decision makers who place the policies to screw over the common person all go run and hide to stay away from the peons and the great unwased masses of commoners. And besides which it was just company property which they are a big enough company they could have just eaten the cost of things. (Which BTW companies should not be legally allowed to pass along their costs to the customer in situations like that. ) I have been told, read and heard about a lot ofthe things comcast does. Like making a schedule to come and install something and then not holding to that schedule. For example if they say they are goign to be out to install they should be required to give a firm window of no more than 3 hours duration and if they fail to show then the installation is free and if the company does not give it to the person then he person should be able to go to a government office and file a complaint and the company gets fined and the installation is forced to be free. Of course if the company can proove they were there then it doesnt apply. But the burden of proof is on the companies not the individual.

Greenday: She did not attackthem because she did not like them she attacked their offices because they had dishonored her, disrespected her and did not treat her with the dignity she deserved They did not provide the services they agreed upon, they did not respond to her attempts to communicate with them and she did what she felt was an effective way of getting the attention of a large uncaring unfeeling company that only cared about how much money the customer could bring to them and not how much service they could provide. And Greenday sometimes violence is a valid option. Especially if all other options have been exhausted.

[Greenday]

Violence can be a valid option depending on the situation, and this is not one of them. The only thing she managed to accomplish was to make an ass out of herself.

My high school promised a "safe, learning environment". That's the biggest load of crap I've heard in my life. That's one hell of a bigger obligation to me than Comcast has to its customers.

[powerboy]

Yes, she done wrong. But I am glad that someone, finally had what it took to stand up to the big corps.

[AFPheonix]

AFP: That partiular personal employee unknown if they themselves did her wrong but getting hold of the only person she could was what she could do as she couldnt get ahold of the person responsible for wronging her.

So that validates her to take it out on those employees, who may or may not have had anything to do with the problem? NO! Of course not! For all we know, there was a scheduling glitch that caused her appointment to get skipped. She made the right call when she went down there the first time, but she then royally screwed up when she allowed the receptionist to sit her out on a bench for 2 hours.
The correct answer here, and the one that would have gotten the message across just as well to the manager of that facility and wouldn't have landed her stupid ass in jail was to stand in front of the receptionist's desk and vulture and pester until a manager got his butt out there to answer and make amends. If that still didn't cut it, the next correct answer would be to keep going down there, shower them with phone calls, complain up the line to district and make a general pest of herself until they made it right and possibly more than right.

Now, I'm not saying that it is right that she would have to do any of this. If her branch of Comcast had any sense of good customer service, this would have been a non-issue. But her going batshit crazy was not right either, and as everyone knows, wrong + wrong /= right.

[AFPheonix]

Yes, she done wrong. But I am glad that someone, finally had what it took to stand up to the big corps.

She didn't "stand up to the big corps". She scared some poor office girl and made an ass out of herself.
Trust busting is standing up to the big corps. Creating a huge viral marketing campaign is standing up to the big corps. smacking one workstation around with a hammer? Not so much.

[CancelMyService]

That's one thing I don't get, everyone who's on this woman's side usually has some sort of variation on "SHE SURE SHOWED COMCAST WHAT FOR!!"

Do you really think for a second this will change Comcast's views on anything? If they make any changes, it'd probably to make the offices less customer friendly to protect the staff from tool-wielding wackos. Hell, the local office near me already has their people behind glass like overnight gas station attendants.

[rahmota]

Well all it shows is that Comcast ignored th lesson's they need to learn. if they are pssing off their customers to the point they are coming in with a hammer then maybe they should do something more useful about it?

But doing something useful and ethical would require them to spend money and corporate america doesnt care about anythign but making money and the bottom line. they dont truely care about customer service or ethics or morals or proper behavior. heck if theycould get away with it they would steal and sell their employee's kidney and sell it on the black market.

All I'm saying is that comcast screwed her over. She didnt harm any person. she didnt harm any individual. She didnt do anythign except damage some corporate property and get some needed bad publicity for comcast. She didnt harm any people. She didnt hurt an individual just a company so that doent count as it isnt a person. I dont see what the big deal is and why people are making her out to be some kind of dangerous unstable evil villan or whacko nutjob. She sounds like someone who tried to work within the sstem,the system failed her so she thought outside the box and tried to get something moving through some aggressive negotiations. Maybe if more customers rebelled against unfair and opressive misteatment by evil coroporations like comcast does their customers then some corporate reforms will finally occur.

AFP:to stand in front of the receptionist's desk and vulture and pester until a manager got his butt out there to answer and make amends. If that still didn't cut it, the next correct answer would be to keep going down there, shower them with phone calls, complain up the line to district and make a general pest of herself until they made it right and possibly more than right.

Do you reall think that would have worked? Look on Sucky customers and see what you guys say about people who do that. How negative and evil you call people who act in that manner. She would have been just as reviled and just as regarded as an evil whacko nutjob just not hammer wielding if she had done that. Heck the way many corporations woked standing in front of the receptionist miht have gotten her arressted and thrown out just as much as if she had smacked the place around with a hammer. This old lady was damned if she did and damed if she didnt. I'm just glad she decided to take some kind of action instead of passively getting screwed over by the company.

[ArenaBoy]

Plain and simple there are better ways of dealing with a problem. This woman just went ape and bat shit all at once. You want to no longer deal with a company that gives you problems you just don't buy from them. I don't shop at Wal-mart but if I read about a nut case who goes nuts on a Wal-mart I'll laugh at the nut case; not go "YEAH! STICK IT TO THE MAN!!!!"

I had a few problems with Comcast a few months ago. Want to know what my roommates and I did? We mulled over the other options and then canceled our service to Comcast. We didn't raise a fuss and it took us all of 20 minutes to do it.

It makes a lot of people look silly when they are in support of a woman who went crazy and scared an employee who doesn't even set the rules for Comcast. People are taking their TV way to seriously on this issue.

[AFPheonix]

AFP:
Do you reall think that would have worked? Look on Sucky customers and see what you guys say about people who do that. How negative and evil you call people who act in that manner. She would have been just as reviled and just as regarded as an evil whacko nutjob just not hammer wielding if she had done that. Heck the way many corporations woked standing in front of the receptionist miht have gotten her arressted and thrown out just as much as if she had smacked the place around with a hammer. This old lady was damned if she did and damed if she didnt. I'm just glad she decided to take some kind of action instead of passively getting screwed over by the company.

How often do those OPs end where our "spineless" manager gives in and gives the lady what she wants?
It works, all right.
And I have NEVER condemned someone for vulturing if we screwed up. in fact, if I find that we made a goof, I make it so the person doesn't HAVE to vulture. That's what good customer service is about.

[Greenday]

Do you reall think that would have worked? Look on Sucky customers and see what you guys say about people who do that.

I can't say I can recall ever seeing a story where they made someone wait 2 hours just to respond to them.

[rahmota]

AFP: Not often enough one could rely upon it.

*shrug* Oh well anyhow. We see a difference on this. I didnt see what the big deal was. She didnt hurt anyone and as for the compnay not getting their message I sincerely doubt they havent heard about this by now..... I see this as a humourous funnny little harmless event where a person got fed up with bad mistreatment and gave back to a company what they gave out and then some a bit.

Arena: Its not just about TV but the principle of the thing. I think this shows more of how people view companies and corporate america in a negative light due to their actions and attitudes.

Greenday: No you're right usually the people on Customerssuck are better than that person. Which is actually further evidence on the side of the little old lady from hammerville.

[flybye023]

I disagree that there was no harm done. There is emotional and mental pain when someone is abusive like that. I worked in a call center for one of the "evil" big 4 car manufacturers. This guy called in one time because his brakes weren't working right and the repair shop was having trouble finding the issue. This man's response was to start threatening to walk into one of our businesses with a shotgun and start firing.

Now, logically, I knew that he very probably would not be able to find me. Chances are, he wouldn't follow through with his threat. That did not, however, prevent my mind from giving me a nightmare that night that he showed up at my home with a gun and proceed to make good on his threat.

You can bet that the woman or man who was at the desk when this crazy old lady showed up with a hammer is having some sort of stress/shock reaction that will take weeks, if not months to get over.

And, for the record, we also have Comcast and have never had a problem with them. In fact, last month we had issues with not being able to connect to the internet and the guys came out TWICE in one week, the phone reps were patient and knowledgeable and we actually got the issue resolved in short order.

[CancelMyService]

So the moral of the story is that it's ok to destroy property if the company is hated enough. That's basically what I'm getting from this.

I find it hard to believe that this was the only option this woman had, just like I find it hard to believe anyone would have supported her actions if it was some mom and pop cable company instead of Comcast.

[rahmota]

Cancel:I find it hard to believe anyone would have supported her actions if it was some mom and pop cable company instead of Comcast

True enough on that. Since it was a large national corporation its a different ball game than if it was a decent mom and pop small business.

Once a company reaches a certain size it ceases to be decent and caring and concerned about their customers and providing real actual "customer care" and only concerned about keeping their profits growing adn their CEO's bonus by any means necessary. Look at Wallyworld for the biggest example of that.

Flybye: I guess its different for different people. Some people have a better ability to deal with issues like that. *shrug* I sincerely doubt the office worker was that upset since she didnt care enough about the old lady to bring her in from the heat for two hours.

[AFPheonix]

That's from the old lady's side. The reporter was not thorough enough to go ask the people at the office what the hell happened there.
Besides the fact that the lady already proved herself crazy enough to bring a hammer to the office and start busting things up, I don't think I'd put it past her to have a skewed view on the amount of time she spent at the office previously.

[DesignFox]

That old lady was wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

I don't care WHO you think you are, you do NOT go into a place of business and start slamming a hammer around!

There is absolutely, utterly, no excuse for that.

Not for nothing, what half-wit sits around for 2 hours, anyway? If someone told me to wait outside and a manager would be with me momentarily, I would indeed wait. But after 10 or 15 mins went by, I'd be a pest and go inside and ask where this manager was hiding! I would NOT sit around and stew for 2 freakin' hours!

If I was so angry that all I wanted to do was bust up the place...you know what I would do? I would go home, cool off, and then call back! That's what any decent person would do! Cool off and not take out their anger on some innocent person behind the counter! I don't care what anyone says, if you are standing behind a desk and some crazy-ass mofo starts swinging a hammer around your office, YOU are going to feel threatened. YOU are going to be scared that maybe that hammer weilding nutjob isn't going to be satisfied with the destruction of your workspace...

I MIGHT add that Comcast may have pissed off a lot of customers, but they also have a vast majority of customers who they have PLEASED with their service. For those who are unhappy with Comcast there are TWO, count them TWO satellite providers that you can call to set up service with. There is also the new Verizon service. I don't want to hear anything about the "evil" Comcast that no one has any choice but to endure...if they piss you off so much, get your damn TV service elsewhere. It's TV for Christ's sake!

This woman swung a hammer over TV service!!! TV!!!! Think about the ridiculousness of this! This is not a fight over food or shelter or some other NECESSITY for SURVIVAL. This is about stupid fucking TV service. This is NOT something that anyone should be swinging a hammer about.

:mad:

/rant

[rahmota]

*shrug* Yeah it is just TV. You are right. And if people do have an option (something many corporations try to limit people having as much as they can) they should take it and not go postal as the term goes on someone. I'm just of the bent that big corporations do more harm to humanity than they do good and anythign that harms them is funny and they deserved it. So thats one reason I took the old lady's side in this. If it had been a small business or a mom and pop I would probably have been less likely to do so. I'll be honest that I'm prejudiced against big corporations and view any, ANY, actions they take in a cynical and suspicious manner.

All big corporations care about is making their profits and kleeping the CEO and upper management their big bonus checks and their fatcat wealthy salaries. If they tread on a few laws or screw over a percentage of their customers big deal. They know they have a product that people want and if there are few options people will have to bend over and take it or do without. And seriously how many people in modern america are goign to do without anything? America has turned into a bunch of lazy, greedy, hedonistic, comfort hogs for the most part, all out to get theirs and to hell with anyone else. But thats a rant for another thread.

A small business, especially one whose owners are local and live in the community they serve are more likely to actually do business in an honest and ethical way and care about their customers thanks to them having more to loose if they dont. At least thats the way I hav experienced things and the way I run my own "business"

As for this specific instance it wasnt a fight, it wasnt anything big deal. It probably shouldnt have made the national news if it wasnt for the way the news media like to blo everything out of proportion and invent drama when there isnt any or there is but its a minor problem. Heck I've seen the big three network news vans in my hometown over stupid stuff before that we're (the local citizens) going must be a slow news day in cincinnati. Yeah the reporter dropped the ball in not going to the office and doing enough research. Or maybe he did and the end result wouldnt have sold the story as much as "old lady screwed over by big corporation gains revenge". Again the media manipulating things to sell ther story. But then again ranting about the media is another thread itself as well.

I'm sorry if anyone got bent about me disagreeing with them about this. How this issue ever became a national big deal issue is just one that makes me shake my head. You are right there is enough drama out there for real that people shouldnt be adding to it but they do and it makes the cynics and bitter peopel laugh.

[DesignFox]

I'd also like to point out that just because the customer says the company did something doesn't mean that's what really happened. Don't forget the sheer number of crazies we all deal with on a day to day basis who SAID we did X, but in reality we did Y..or who flipped out because we followed a policy...or who flipped out because we didn't do what they wanted us to do... or because we said 'no'...or because we solved their problem but it wasn't the way they wanted it solved....or because we were out of stock of something...etc, etc.

I've learned through retail that you can't trust the customer all the time.

Just because the company is a big one, it doesn't automatically stick them in the wrong. I would be more inclined to sympathize with someone if they didn't take a hammer to the office...but then, I guess their story wouldn't make headlines.

And yes, that is a problem in and of itself.

[Rubystars]

I was amused by the title of this thread. We're so used to, as service workers, referring to customers as "Lady" or "Gentleman" that even in situations where it does not apply, we still use it.

[rahmota]

Just because the company is a big one, it doesn't automatically stick them in the wrong.

No it doesnt. It also doesnt automatically make them saints either. Yeah the lady could have gotten more people's sympathy without the hammer, but I still find it funny. Just my bitter cynical attitude about corporate america.