Comcast: ‘It Bothers Us’ That We're Rated The Worst Company In America

Comcast has long battled complaints that its customer service record is, to be charitable, terrible.

So it probably shouldn't be a surprise to learn on Tuesday, the Consumerist rated Comcast the worst company in America, beating out agricultural giant Monsanto by three percentage points.

As you might expect, questions about the company's customer service performance came up during a Senate hearing examining the proposed Comcast merger with Time Warner Cable.

In response to a question, Comcast Executive Vice President David Cohen admitted that Comcast could do a better job on customer service.

"It bothers us we have so much trouble delivering high quality of service to customers on a regular basis," Cohen said. "Sometimes, we need a kick in the butt."

But not everyone at Comcast apparently feels the same way. In a recent interview, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts argued the problem isn't a reflection of its poor customer service. The problem, he asserts, is that the size of its customer base makes even a small percentage of complaints seem like a never ending cascade of unhappy customers.

"What unfortunately happens is we have about … 350 million interactions with consumers a year, between phone calls and truck calls. It may be over 400 million and that doesn't count any online interactions which I think is over a billion. You get one-tenth of one-percent bad experience, that's a lot of people – unacceptable. We have to be the best service provider or in the end, this company won't be what I want it to be."

So, if we follow this argument to its logical conclusion...then a larger Comcast customer base would result in even more screwed customers?