JedFonner.com

Apparently this has been going on for a while, but I just discovered it. Comcast is apparently experimenting with different ways to improve their god-awful customer service. And one of those ways is by reaching out to people via Twitter. It’s pretty amazing, that given their track record, they are being so innovative.

This guy Frank in Philly manages the comcastcares Twitter account and he must monitor all uses of the term “Comcast” on Twitter (probably via a Summize search). When I recently twittered about a Comcast problem, I got a reply from comcastcares asking if he could help! I was floored.

After a little more digging, it turns out this is legit. If you checkout the comcastcares Twitter page, you’ll see tons of conversations going on between Frank and people out there with Comcast problems. He provides advice and suggestions and will even escalate your issues if you ask for his help. But maybe most importantly, he makes people feel like they’re actually being heard (by a real human!) and he provides some much needed moral-support to the legions of frustrated Comcast users.

I am definitely no fan of Comcast (previous rants here and here), but comcastcares/Frank has scored some major brownie points with me. Just the fact Comcast is doing this makes me think that maybe, just maybe, there’s hope for Comcast after all.

Am I still going to switch to FIOS as soon as it’s available? You betcha. But when that day comes, I’ll be a little sad to say goodbye to my new Twitter buddy.

I think this represents a brilliant new avenue for companies to build customer loyalty and improve customer service. Most Twitter-ers are part of the techno-elite and are very likely to be early adopters of hot new technologies. In other words, Twitter users are probably exactly the type of customer you really want to keep happy. These are the people that influence the buying habits of others and can make or break a new cool gadget or service.

There has never before been a tool like Twitter (or FriendFeed or whatever) that allows companies to reach out to their most valuable customers to make sure they have a good experience with their products. Let’s just hope more companies are smart enough to figure that out.

If you like Twitter and you like LOLCats, check out Lol.ianloic.com which lets you create a LOLCat feed from any RSS source, most notably Twitter.

Here’s my Twitter LOLCat feed: http://lol.ianloic.com/twitter/jedfonner.

If Twitter isn’t your thing, take a look the LOLcat feed for CNN or the BBC.
Here’s a particularly funny example from CNN:

Nicole has finished uploading the pictures from our European vacation to her cool SmugMug site at http://owings-fonner.smugmug.com/Travel. She put up a lot more than I did here. So to see even more pictures from our vacation, head to Nicole’s SmugMug page.

I’ve also finished adding descriptions of what we did in each city, so if your curious what we did and what we thought of the places we visited, check out my European vacation pages again.

UPDATE 07/26: According to a Wall Street Journal article, the collapse of a “private oil-marketing firm” (aka speculator) may have helped drive down prices 14% over 10 days. Seems pretty strong evidence that oil speculators are driving up prices.

Once again, MSNBC and Olbermann wade through the partisan political BS and unveil some very eye-opening information. In the video below, Olbermann explains why the Republican party’s plan to just drill for more oil will never lead to lower prices. One real way to lower gas prices is to close the “Enron Loophole” and stop insider speculation on energy commodities which is driving up the price of a barrel of gas.

To quote the Huffington Post:

The so-called Enron loophole put limits on the ability of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to prevent speculative trading in energy and commodity markets. It’s interesting to note that since the Enron loophole went into effect in 2000, the price of crude has risen by nearly 500 percent.

Take a look at this extremely interesting report from MSNBC:

This is pretty damaging information against McCain and I’m surprised this hasn’t become a bigger issue in the media given the current price for a gallon of gas. I would hope that whoever becomes president will finally realize the need to help individual people is greater than the need to serve the oil companies. Although given the behavior of our current president, I’m not holding my breath.

The Stop Oil Speculators website has been setup to pressure Congress to close the Enron Loophole. Or just go straight to the Take Action webpage to send a letter to your Congressional representatives and encourage them to fix the Enron Loophole.

Where’s my air-powered car when I need it?

Nicole and I went to Europe for 24 days and visited London, Venice, Cinque Terra, Rome, Athens, and two Greek islands, Naxos and Santorini.

Use the links below or the click the Photos tab above to see the pictures from each location:

• London
• Venice
• Cinque Terra
• Rome
• Athens
• Naxos
• Santorini