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Businesses

Comcast Confessions 234

An anonymous reader writes: We heard a couple weeks ago about an incredibly pushy Comcast customer service representative who turned a quick cancellation into an ordeal you wouldn't wish on your enemies. To try and find out what could cause such behavior, The Verge reached out to Comcast employees, hoping a few of them would explain training practices and management directives. They got more than they bargained for — over 100 employees responded, and they painted a picture of a corporation overrun by the neverending quest for greater profit. From the article: 'These employees told us the same stories over and over again: customer service has been replaced by an obsession with sales, technicians are understaffed and tech support is poorly trained, and the massive company is hobbled by internal fragmentation. ... Brian Van Horn, a billing specialist who worked at Comcast for 10 years, says the sales pitch gradually got more aggressive. "They were starting off with, 'just ask," he says. "Then instead of 'just ask,' it was 'just ask again,' then 'engage the customer in a conversation,' then 'overcome their objections.'" He was even pressured to pitch new services to a customer who was 55 days late on her bill, he says.'

Comment Re:Hm. I wonder if the sintering can take a punch? (Score 2) 71

I was seriously wondering that myself since titanium is difficult to deal with despite the fact that aerospace engineers would like to use it for a large number of parts, so I did a quick Google and I found this:

"Tests by EOS customers have compared the properties of laser-sintered titanium parts to those of cast or wrought titanium parts, and found that the DMLS parts can have significantly better mechanical properties. Typically, titanium parts made with DMLS have an ultimate tensile strength of 1,200Mpa + 30Mpa (175ksi + 4ksi), comparable to or stronger than conventionally manufactured titanium components"

Now, that should be taken with a grain of salt since it was provided by a company that does Direct Metal Laser Sintering, but it certainly sounds damn good.

Just be careful, you have to use low oxygen contents in the powder itself and argon to work in since it is HIGHLY reactive in its molten state.

I'm sure it is hysterically expensive right now, but has huge potential since traditional titanium work is both hard on machines/tool and requires lots of cooling.

Very, very cool.

Comment Re:Anybody else think posting AC should be abolish (Score 1) 107

Because it's a pain to do so. It helps cut down on the DB anonymous posting. You can quickly discern if they're schills, flametards, et cetera.

I agree, I post on occasion as AC when I'm on another device, and like I said, I never had any problem with people posting AC until the past few years when people seem to be using it to simply spam /. with total garbage, or hatred, et cetera.

Comment Re:Anybody else think posting AC should be abolish (Score 0) 107

Wow, I guess the guys who built /. who thought AC should stand for "Anonymous Coward" didn't know that "Desler" knows best and that and AC and a registered user are exactly the same thing. Wonder why they bothered with creating the AC system? Idiots. Really. I mean, they should have just asked you obviously.

Ignoring the rest of the stupidity of what you posted, maybe you could come to realize that the difference between AC and a registered user is that registered users can develop a reputation for their behavior; i.e., a user that posts stupid things like

Man up and give us all your personal details or STFU

can become known for being an ignorant hothead.

They're called "Anonymous Coward" for a reason.

Comment Anybody else think posting AC should be abolished? (Score -1, Offtopic) 107

I've never had a problem with it until the past few years when it has been ritually abused by idiots who can't be bothered to create shill accounts (God knows there's enough of those...) to spout hatred and ugliness.

I'm no sub-continent apologist by any means, but all this anti-India crap is just ridiculous.

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