agustina prigoshin

Last Thursday, we South Floridians got doused with non-stop rain. Personally, I loved it (there’s nothing better than the storms that build when warm and cool air collide). By Friday morning, I was flooded into my building and couldn’t leave. Worst than that, my cable and Internet were down, leaving me with no choice but to find some non-Internet-dependent task to get done on my computer.

Luckily, I was able to connect with the outside world via Twitter on my phone.

After complaining about Comcasts’ services being down on Twitter, @ComcastBill replied apologizing for my situation and offering to help. (I started following him after he showed his sense of humor by saying that he actually can’t help Cowboys fans – nothing makes me happier than someone who wants to connect/help and actually takes the time to read my short bio).

I told @ComcastBill the city I live in, but that wasn’t enough information for him to figure out what the problem was. He requested my detailed address via Direct Message. Now, here’s where I was slightly torn. I knew that he wouldn’t be able to help me unless I gave him more information, but how did I know he was a legitimate Comcast representative? Just because his Twitter handle had “Comcast” in it doesn’t guarantee he is who he says he is.

I’m more than sure he works for Comcast, but with all the fraud and robberies going on, I’m just not willing to take the risk of randomly handing out my address to anyone, especially online.

I gave @ComcastBill the city I live in, but that’s as far I was willing to go. Being that my city was all over the news for being under water, I assumed the reason for my being disconnected and didn’t stress about it too much.

However, this got me thinking about how useful certain companies, like Comcast, may find Social Media. When customer service requires personal customer information, how efficient could their help be if people don’t trust the medium being used?

UPDATE: I just showed @ComcastBill this post and he said that customers can always look at @ComcastCares‘ to see a list of legitimate Comcast employees. While the list (at the bottom left of the screen) is cut off, this definitely helps establish just a little more trust in the people behind these accounts.

I would still highly advise people to think twice before giving out any personal information unless you’re 100% sure you’re speaking to the right person.