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.