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Tech Blogger Tries To Cancel Comcast Service, Hilarity Ensues

• tedchs 12y ago
  The only thing you say at this point is "I request you to close my account effective immediately. Is my account closed yet?". Anything else you say (e.g. "You're the reason I'm leaving" or even "I'm moving to Mars") will be used as conversational leverage against you. Other than that, have fun with it. I got a manipulative rep when I canceled Sirius and told her I already threw away the radio when she tried to extend the contract. She was not prepared for that. :)
• 97s 12y ago
  I went through a situation similar to this with Dell about 8 years ago. The guy told me he had no supervisor and that I had to deal with him. I promptly recorded the call, called back and left a message of the call. The same fellow then called me back and said I was rude and let me speak to his supervisor. There is no way I would have spent this amount of time with this person. I would have gotten his name or recorded him refusing to give it to me and called back and promptly went straight to a supervisor and got this issue solved. Companies that have this kind of policy and are ok with these types of employees talking to customers like this quickly loose all their customers to competition as soon as their competition catches up in technology.
  • adamc 12y ago
    Comcast is a monopoly in many markets so you are limited in how you might give your business to other providers.
• KerrickStaley 12y ago
  I couldn't cancel my Comcast service via phone because the automatic system hung up on me (I tried again the next day). I just stopped paying (removed my credit card from the system), and after calling me multiple times about the outstanding charges, they eventually figured out that I wanted to cancel. They still tried to bill me for the time between when I attempted to cancel and when the service was actually disconnected, even though I explained I was unwilling to pay this amount. Ultimately, they transferred the bill to a debt collection agency, and unfortunately I failed to dispute within 30 days (was traveling), so I ended up having to pay it.
• VLM 12y ago
  Its a corrupt market. Their job is to lie to you, your job has to be to lie right back. "I'm moving to (insert name of city owned by competitor)"
  • 8ig8 12y ago
    >"I'm moving to (insert name of city owned by competitor)" Unfortunately, that's becoming harder and harder to do... http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comcast-Time_Warner_Cable_merger http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comcast-Time_Warner_Cable_mer...
    • nodata 12y ago
      "I'm moving to Berlin"
    • penguat 12y ago
      Antarctica is surely always an option..?
    • gerbal 12y ago
      I told TimeWarner I was moving to Manitoba to get them to stop hastleing me to move my service to my new address.
  • deleted 12y ago
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  • CalRobert 12y ago
    Very true. I truthfully told Sprint I was moving to Ireland and they let me cancel with no ETF.
  • edmccard 12y ago
    >Their job is to lie to you, your job has to be to lie right back. I usually use some variation on "I'm moving in with my girlfriend, and she already has <type of service I'm cancelling>"
  • Cthulhu_ 12y ago
    Alternatively, call, say you want to cancel, and if they give you shit just claim firmly you are unhappy with the service representative and hang up. With any luck they were recorded / reviewed. Just move on to the next guy. Of course, usually these numbers are paid, so you pay a small fortune just to get to call someone that will do his job.
• dqmdm2 12y ago
  There's a reason he can guarantee competitors can't offer their speed...Corruption.
• wfjackson 12y ago
  Can't he do a chargeback on his credit card for the bill and then send the credit card folks a recording of this? Gyms are typically known for making it extremely hard to cancel, like requiring you to snail mail a notice and even then acting as if they never got it.
  • scrabble 12y ago
    I did a stop payment on a gym years ago and they never contacted me, so that seemed to take care of it. They had refused to cancel me just through talking to them so I felt vindicated. My wife just recently canceled a gym membership, and actually got no hassle. No written letter needed, nothing. Just a comment about how they were sorry she was leaving and hope to see you again one day. It was perfect customer service.
    • Kliment 12y ago
      Would you be okay with naming and shaming the evil gym and/or at least naming the nonevil gym?
      • scrabble 12y ago
        Non-evil gym was Goodlife Fitness, which is everywhere in Canada. They used to be a hassle to leave, but doesn't seem to be the case any more.
  • personZ 12y ago
    Chargebacks are no different than simply ceasing to send in payments for a service: It sounds pat, but can haunt you years later when massive penalties and interest appear on your credit report.
    • chatmasta 12y ago
      Source please? Every time I've filed a chargeback on my credit card (American Express), they have been completely transparent with the status of it. When I submit the chargeback, I'm credited the amount of it. If I lose it, I also lose that credit, and I owe the amount of the chargeback. Are you saying that comcast will negatively affect your credit score because you submit a chargeback to them after they failed to cancel your service?
• morganvachon 12y ago
  I've had Comcast service more than once, and I'm with them now. In the past, I left them for AT&T DSL because the price/speed ratio was sensible enough to make it worth switching. When I called Comcast to cancel service, I didn't run into anything like this. The rep did try to convince me to stay, but after I explained that I didn't need 12Mbps (the max Comcast offered at that time in my area) they capitulated and canceled the service. It was maybe a three minute conversation at most. I ended up going back to Comcast a few years ago, when they advertised 25Mbps for the price I was paying for 6Mbps on DSL, so it made sense to go back. Now I wonder, if I were to try to cancel today, would I get the same hassle as this guy? I'm betting so; they are probably trying to retain as many customers as possible leading up to the upcoming merger.
• gst 12y ago
  I've heard multiple times now that it's hard to cancel contracts at various providers, but I don't really see how this is an issue. If the official way (according to the contract) to cancel a contract is a phone call, what difference does it make if the remote party accepts this cancellation? Just state that you are cancelling the contract, make sure to get a recording (if legal in your jurisdiction) and chargeback all unauthorized future credit card charges.
  • chatmasta 12y ago
    Yeah, of course this guy didn't have to put up with a phone call like this. Comcast has bad service, but I highly doubt this is the norm. He could have hung up and called again, no problem. But he stayed on the phone because after ten minutes, he was already drooling thinking about sending this recording to his buddies at Techcrunch. So yeah, maybe he's a bit needlessly overdramatic about this, but personally I'm thankful for the entertainment.
    • personZ 12y ago
      The guy who he was talking to works for Comcast, is pursuing Comcast goals (which aggressively punishes agents who don't have high enough retention rates), and is recorded and often monitored by Comcast. The Comcast agent clearly has a list of complaints/responses that they use to try to defuse all complaints -- not that they've actually solved your problem, but rather that they made you think the call was no longer worth it and just give up trying to cancel. Their entire job as retention agents is to waste enough of your time, and try to press enough buttons, that you give up. The whole "I am waiting for the system to complete the process, so listen to my arguments while we wait" nonsense, for instance. Credit card companies do the same thing for activations, using the "waiting for the system to finish" to pitch insurance and other unwanted products. This is a problem. This is a major problem. This is why so many services allow you to sign up in seconds online, but require long, drawn out waste-of-time phone calls to cancel. To force you through this gauntlet, making most just forget about it. Cynically claiming that this guy manufactured this situation betrays logic of this situation. He dealt with what is a profound problem that most customers deal with.
• SimeVidas 12y ago
  OMG is Comcast brainwashing their staff? This guy sounds like some Scientology nut.
  • cliveowen 12y ago
    Exactly, I can't believe they pay to be like that. They surely might train you to try and retain unsatisfied customers, but that employee looks like a bit too dedicated to the mission.
  • tinco 12y ago
    No, this guy works in the cancellations department, to which you are connected when you indicate that you want to cancel your service. That means it is his sole job to convince persons to not cancel the service. He also receives a bonus for every phone call he makes that does not result in a cancellation. For you it's 15 minutes of time wasted, for him it means 15 minutes of hard work that came very close to paying off.
    • Rapzid 12y ago
      Or losing his job if he hasn't rescued enough accounts. Call centres are soul destroying places to work.
    • malka 12y ago
      I wonder how long I could manage to get that guy to stick on the phone... I love being an asshole.
      • mikeash 12y ago
        There must be a business opportunity here. Connect people who hate dealing with this stuff to people like you who love being an asshole. They get their service canceled without dealing with crap on the phone, you get to play the bad guy, everybody wins.
        • VLM 12y ago
          Its called being a lawyer. Its more about form letters sent via registered mail and filing legal injunctions than talking on the phone. A decade or so ago, I came within days of needing one merely to disconnect a DSL line. Once the cost of fighting the collections agency and the cost of the hit to your credit record exceed the minimal cost of hiring the lawyer, its a pretty obvious move. Not kidding around at all, although its probably a better topic for a law blog than HN. The main problem they're likely to have is authentication. Helping people is fun. Helping people who like having fun by disconnecting other people (-ex's, etc) is a problem and you need to authenticate them cheaply.
• teekert 12y ago
  Here in the Netherlands the situation got significantly better after a famous comedian (Youp van 't Hek) went completely public with the misery that ensued after calling t-mobile to get a problem fixed with his sons iPhone. (http://www.nrcnext.nl/blog/2010/10/25/youp-vant-hek-brengt-t-mobile-imagoschade-toe/ http://www.nrcnext.nl/blog/2010/10/25/youp-vant-hek-brengt-t...) T-mobile found themselves suddenly completely on the defensive in various TV-shows. They apologized profusely. It was very funny, things really got better.
  • Nelkins 12y ago
    Is there an English translation of this floating around somewhere? I'm curious to know the specifics of the exchange.
    • teekert 12y ago
      I can't find it if there is any. I'd Google "Youp van 't hek tmobile" and use Google translate, sorry.
• deleted 12y ago
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  • Liesmith 12y ago
    It does point to the soundcloud recording.
    • deleted 12y ago
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• wil421 12y ago
  I've cancelled Comcast a few times before when ATT had a better deal and it was never this bad. They usually try to give me a better deal but sorry I've made my decision thats why I am calling, if you gave me a better rate to begin with I might not be leaving. With Comcast you can usually just hang up and call again if you get an employee with an attitude. This method works with tech support too, hang up and try again if you get someone who just wants to keep reseting your router or doesn't have any idea.
  • alphagenerator 12y ago
    I called Comcast trying to sign up for their top-tier service when I was working from home. The guy on the other side kept asking me what on earth I'd need the top tier service for and kept asking me questions. Then he scheduled the visit for the tech on the wrong date. Every time I deal with Comcast, it's a hassle. I can't believe I got interrogated when I signed up for service. Worst customer service ever.
    • nickdoesdesign 12y ago
      Chances are they were getting better commission on a lower tier. Or some internal contest to see who can sign up more people on a certain plan.
  • interpol_p 12y ago
    > With Comcast you can usually just hang up and call again if you get an employee with an attitude. I'm guessing that this tactic might actually make the nice employees look bad. The employees with an attitude will have better customer retention metrics; then the nice customer service reps risk losing their jobs or also developing an attitude.
    • mikeash 12y ago
      Even if that's true, Comcast's bad metrics aren't our responsibility.
      • 12y ago
• multiplier 12y ago
  Proof that Comcast really does care! I'm switching to Comcast.
• deleted 12y ago
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• bshimmin 12y ago
  I'm amazed at how calm he remains during this. I would've called the guy - regardless of whether he's "just doing his job" - every name under the sun and probably threatened to pay him a visit in person... That said, I guess if I were recording it to share on the Internet later, I might've been able to control myself slightly more than usual.
  • ekianjo 12y ago
    Yeah, this is actually amazing. I don't think I would have lasted more than 2 minutes answering the same question over and over again.
    • icebraining 12y ago
      Just because they ask it doesn't mean you have to answer; I'd just say "I'm not continuing this conversation until you inform me you've canceled the service", then put the phone on speaker and do something else until he came around.
      • ceejayoz 12y ago
        "The customer declined to continue with the cancellation process."
        • icebraining 12y ago
          Can they cut you off? In the call centers I know, they need the supervisors' permission to hang up on someone.
          • rickyc091 12y ago
            What usually happens to me is that they'll put me on hold, and after five minutes, I'll get disconnected.
    • danielweber 12y ago
      He wasn't answering the question over and over; he was refusing to answer the question. Which is, of course, his right. And maybe it would turn out that the rep would refuse to recognize his answer. And there is some social value in there occasionally being a crank who refuses to play by the rules just to expose them for the silliness there is. But realize he wasn't trying to get through this call easily. He was trying to make a point.
• dbg31415 12y ago
  It's too bad that cancer can't be taken away from all the kids who don't deserve it and given to this sales rep.
  • penguat 12y ago
    He's just trying to make an honest, if annoying buck. He seems particularly dedicated, but then perhaps he's on a warning, or new.
• martingordon 12y ago
  I just cancelled my Time Warner Internet a few minutes ago (switched to FiOS). The call took all of 8 minutes and the rep didn't put up a fight at all. I joked that it might actually be worth continuing to pay $50/month to avoid the hassle of canceling, so this left me pleasantly surprised.
  • danielweber 12y ago
    Once I moved and realized I forgot to turn off my phone and DSL. The company did it in minutes over the cell phone. I was surprised, and a little worried, by how easy it was.
    • lilsunnybee 12y ago
      Cancellation isn't always a nightmare, even for companies with bad practices. But it's luck of the draw, and your luck can run out at any time, at least while government continues to stall on adequate consumer protections.
• cmdrfred 12y ago
  I want to sign up for Comcast just to cancel now.
  • dm2 12y ago
    "Am I being Punked?" Haha.
• ascotan 12y ago
  Comcast/Xfinity is the most dishonest company that i've ever been a customer with. We signed up during a promotional deal and when the deal ended I got a bill for 2x+ what i normally pay. I called customer service and they explained that the roll-over from the promotional service into the new service was billed at the start of the month and the last bill from the promotion was at the end of the month. The net effect was a double billing. When we called comcast to disconnect we got the same run around as to why we are disconnecting. It wasn't nearly as bad as this call however. Honestly, the worst company ever. I will never do business with them again.
• kevando 12y ago
  Honestly, I would still take this conversation over a frustrating service call with someone who doesn't understand what I'm saying.
• lucaspiller 12y ago
  Any ideas why he actually wants to cancel? If it's for a lower price surely Comcast would match that? I've done that with mobile operators here in the UK, phoning up to switch to PAYG because of a new deal that comes up then the "retentions" agent offering me the same deal on a contract for half the price. Edit: My point is although it is none of their business why he wants to cancel, it's probably less effort, and helps them out by saying "The customer service is poor" than declining and arguing with the agent who is just trying to do his job (and probably getting paid $10/hour).
  • DevX101 12y ago
    I see the Comcast agent has found the HN thread :)
  • epi16 12y ago
    Poor customer service? That would be enough for me, in the purely hypothetical scenario where I had a choice other than "no internet", "hook up an antenna to steal internet from the Starbucks down the street", or "Comcast".
  • sigkill 12y ago
    Firstly, Comcast has no business why he wants to cancel. He might want to cancel because he landed a tails on a coin flip on a Tuesday, and it shouldn't matter. Secondly, with such strongly hostile customer service representatives the more you speak that's more ammo you're giving them to argue without cancelling the contract. If you say, 'customer service is poor' there's a high chance that CSR going to pull up records saying that "You called us X times with Y and Z complaints and we have responded to them within 48 hours. That's well within our metrics" or some bs like that. Talking to hostile CSRs is akin to talking to the cops - don't speak more than you have to.
  • sp332 12y ago
    Last week my wife called to disconnect our service with Comcast after we switched to another provider (Astound).... she and I have already played along and given a myriad of reasons and explanations... which is why I simply stopped answering the rep's repeated question https://soundcloud.com/ryan-block-10/comcastic-service https://soundcloud.com/ryan-block-10/comcastic-service
• pestaa 12y ago
  I'm only halfway through but this is driving me crazy. I'm actually feeling extremely furious. This is why I hate to pick up the phone to talk to companies and instead want automated systems where I can fill out forms and get my job done under 3 minutes, no questions asked.
• higherpurpose 12y ago
  He should've said he wanted to go to Google Fiber. I know that makes Comcast furious.
• jrockway 12y ago
  Step one: write letter saying you want to cancel your service. Step two: send the letter via certified mail to the company whose service you're cancelling, cc'd to your state attorney general's office. Step three: there is no step 3.
  • grecy 12y ago
    How does one cc a letter?
    • dragonwriter 12y ago
      cc stands for "carbon copy", which was a mechanism for hard copy letters.
      • grecy 12y ago
        I thought the point of "cc" on an email was to prove you've sent something to someone. How can you achieve the same with a letter? I can obviously just write the same letter twice and send it to two different places, but neither will know the other was also sent the same thing.
        • dragonwriter 12y ago
          > I thought the point of "cc" on an email was to prove you've sent something to someone. It doesn't prove anything, but it does provide notice. > How can you achieve the same with a letter? On a letter, you can acheive the same thing that cc: <email address> does on an email by putting cc: <recipient name> on the bottom of the letter, after the signature line, and then making identical copies of the letter and setting to both the addressee and the other recipient named in the cc: notation. Which is the practice that inspired the use in email.
          • daigoba66 12y ago
            This is a fascinating thread. I wonder if formal letter writing is still taught in grade school?
• zerohp 12y ago
  There's only one easy way to cancel service with a company like Comcast. You have to lie and tell them you're moving to a city that they don't serve. They don't transfer you to customer retention and you'll be off the phone in a few minutes.
  • oneandoneis2 12y ago
    I usually cover all bases by claiming I'm emigrating and leaving the country - only way to be sure :)
    • deleted 12y ago
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    • jerf 12y ago
      "Well, do you serve the International Space Station? No? Then I will not be able to use your service."
    • hyperliner 12y ago
      "I an in the Navy, and will be in a submarine for the next two years"
      • farmdawgnation 12y ago
        Just don't get caught lying on a recording about being a military member. That's a felony. ;)
        • meritt 12y ago
          No, it's not. I assume you're incorrectly referring to the Stolen Valor Act (of 2013, as the earlier one was struck down for violating the First Amendment). That law specifically handles cases in which someone claims they are a recipient of an award related to combat AND does so with the intent to receive money, property or a tangible benefit. Simply lying about military service to a Comcast Support Technician is not a crime.
• gk1 12y ago
  I'm moving in two weeks into a building where Comcast is the only option for internet. ... Yikes.
• oldmanjay 12y ago
  the only correct response to any sort of intrusive question by a customer service representative is "thank you for your time. transfer me to your supervisor"
  • ceejayoz 12y ago
    "I don't have a supervisor" is a surprisingly common response.
    • oldmanjay 12y ago
      oh they all do. they all do.
      • ceejayoz 12y ago
        Clearly, but "you're lying" doesn't get you any further.
    • 67726e 12y ago
      So call their bluff. Unless you're dealing with the support for some small/fly-by-night company, phone support is going to have someone overseeing them. If they absolutely refuse to connect you, hang up and get a new agent and ask to speak to the supervisor from there. Make sure to provide the supervisor with the calling agents details.
      • coder23 12y ago
        All of them have a supervisor or superiors of some sort. But in some companies they do not touch the phone, they overseer the process. I can tell you from personal experience that if the customer support doesn't solve the problem then there isn't a next "level" of support called the supervisor, but only more formal options to communicate remain; think complaint department, mail, lawyers.
        • deleted 12y ago
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• SippinLean 12y ago
  Wow, reminds me of the guy trying to cancel his AOL account: http://consumerist.com/2006/06/13/the-best-thing-we-have-ever-posted-reader-tries-to-cancel-aol/ http://consumerist.com/2006/06/13/the-best-thing-we-have-eve...
  • dubfan 12y ago
    I used to work in consumer service at Nintendo. On the very first day of training, the instructor made us listen to this call as a example of worst practices.
  • steveax 12y ago
    Indeed. I think this must be karmic payback for how onerous the "process" of canceling an AOL account used to be.
  • ben1040 12y ago
    Yeah, the first thing I thought was "AOL employee gets the AOL treatment."
• pistle 12y ago
  Aaaaah! Get meta!!! We can all appreciate the value of having this recording be available as a learning opportunity for consumers. If you have the sense to know you are being strung along, become the questioner and outflank the rep every time. Them: "I'm just trying to understand..." You: "I find Comcast's customer service to be poor. Let's see if you can help with that. Can you tell me if you are empowered to quickly cancel my service without probing any further?" Them: doesn't matter if they do anything but answer your question You if "yes": "Let's cancel and ask no more questions then." You if anything else: "I need to talk to someone who is able to execute my request. I'd like to talk to your supervisor." You will be put on hold and forced to wait. You do not ratchet down the intensity of your demands unless you know that your request is in motion. You mostly continue to treat the call as being with one entity (it is). If the next person makes any inquiries/reasons, etc. You: "I am not answering any further questions. I am cancelling the service. Are YOU empowered to execute this process without further probing?" Leave them only with yes/no answers directly related to them executing the action you want. Any words you provide other than repetition of the action or requests to escalate will be used against you. If not, keep asking for supervisors. Poor level 1 is just doing their soul-crushing job. Every middle manager is desperately trying to not do that any more. Until they have so many people trying to jump over level 1 will you ever need to waste time in level 2. I've only once had to go to level 3. Does Comcast hire from the list of people with restraining orders on them? Sounds like some guy trying to not get dumped.
  • viraptor 12y ago
    > If you have the sense to know you are being strung along, become the questioner and outflank the rep every time. Seems similar to the anti-callcentre flowchart: http://egbg.home.xs4all.nl/counterscript.html http://egbg.home.xs4all.nl/counterscript.html I've yet to use it, but it's bookmarked for some fun day...
  • gammadistribut 12y ago
    Is your goal to sound like a robot?
    • pistle 12y ago
• aerovistae 12y ago
  Almost seems like you're talking to a robot, don't you think?
• kstenerud 12y ago
  I only had a little bit of difficulty canceling my comcast service. After I figured out what the customer service guy was doing, it went a little like this: - I don't owe you an explanation. - I'm in a hurry. Cancel my service now. - I have your name. I will call back to complain about you. - If another bill comes, I will not pay. If you send a collection agency and it affects my credit rating, I'll take you to court. - You have 30 seconds to comply.
  • kabdib 12y ago
    At some companies, reps are trained to trigger on phrases like "talk to my lawyer", "i'll see you in court" and "i'm going to sue you" and transfer you IMMEDIATELY to a legal department. I learned this the hard way with a car moving company; from that point on, my account was tagged with a "transfer to legal" and I couldn't even talk to a rep. YMMV, but mentioning legal action is one way to get yourself into limbo.
• deleted 12y ago
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• Sarkie 12y ago
  I had an issue like this with Three in the UK, everyone in the office who was listening for 25 minutes of my lunch to the conversation. -Hi, I'd like to cancel. -Cool, we are upgrading your account so you don't need to. -Umm, just cancel it please. -Today only, you get 5GB for free -I don't care, I want to cancel. -Why? -Because I don't need your service anymore. -But what about the free data!? -I don't need you, I am moving country. -What country and when? Do you want another month before you leave? -I am leaving tomorrow. -But what about the free 5gb? -If I say yes to the free 5gb, then what happens? -Well we can't make more than 1 change to your account in a day, so you can't cancel if you accept our upgrade. -Then just cancel. -Ok putting your through to the right department line goes dead Next attempt, they take my number in case line goes dead, it does, they ring back, after one ring, line goes dead. Third attempt, they cancel it.
  • clockwerx 12y ago
    I begin to suspect going nuclear is the only option. "Hi, I'd like to cancel my service" "But what about X?" "Ombudsman and or Lawyers. Cancel. You have been instructed, the next time I say this will be in court/writing/etc".
    • kabdib 12y ago
      They'll just transfer you to legal. Worst case, they tag your account and do this every time you call, and you're in limbo for months. Ugh.
      • chris_wot 12y ago
        That's not how it works. They won't transfer you to a lawyer: those are damned expensive. In Australia, if you threaten to go to an ombudsman, companies tend to listen. Ombudsman cases are very expensive.
        • kabdib 12y ago
          You don't get a lawyer, you get the legal department. Big difference :-)
• Nursie 12y ago
  I've had lots of trouble with ISPs before. About a decade ago Bulldog Broadband were the first to offer 8Mb service in London, and at a reasonable price, and they oversold so massively their staff couldn't cope. After a month of no service I called to cancel, and after 45 minutes on hold I gave up. I tried again. And again. Eventually I got through to someone who processed the cancellation. I got an email saying "To confirm your intended cancellation, send an email to cancellation-confirmation@..." That address didn't exist. The next month they started to charge me for a service I wasn't getting. I had a different ISP by this point. I called and got the money back. They took it again the next month. I called and got the money back. The third month I got a letter saying I hadn't paid for three months, so they took three months money from my card. This time I called and got the money back and demanded they remove me from their systems. Eventually someone said OK. Six months later I got a demand for 9 months service charges. I called and told them to stuff it. Another six months later they started demanding even more money and making threats. That's when I started the official (UK) complaints procedure. You start by writing a long email setting out your demands, end it by saying "This will also be sent by registered mail, and you have 30 days to resolve this until I report you to the communications ombudsman" The first response I got to that was a letter saying "We understand you'd like to cancel your service?" So I sent another letter, stating my demands and that no, there had never been a service to cancel, and by the way this is being sent by registered post and you have 18 days before I contact the ombudsman. I think by the third letter it had been resolved, almost 18 months since I first tried to cancel the account. I had to move house shortly after that though, and I've worried since then that one day they're going to turn around and say "hold on, this guy owes us for ten years of broadband! Let's ruin his credit rating!"
  • MichaelApproved 12y ago
    I don't understand why you put up with them charging you so many times. After the second fraudulent charge, I'd just deal with my credit card company directly. Call them up and have the charges reversed. You get your money back and they get punished by their card company for the fraudulent charge. If more people did this, instead of waiting on hold for hours to fight with customer service for your own money back, the ISP would likely lose their merchant account for their fraudulent activity. Edit: one other note when cancelling, make sure to take down the date, time and operator name & number during your interactions and note what was said. When I've had trouble with managing accounts, referencing that information strengthened my case dramatically. I have a Google Doc that I keep for all these notes. While I'm on hold, I open up the doc and get it ready. Be clear that you're taking notes and they'll take the conversation more seriously too.
• michaelfeathers 12y ago
  This being HN no one likes to talk about regulatory solutions, but the silence on this one is startling. Wasn't there a day in the US when companies would be fined for this sort of business practice? Why can't we go there today? Is it simply the triumph of free-market orthodoxy and a tacit acceptance that to be a consumer today one must subject oneself to this sort of rapaciousness?
  • wallawe 12y ago
    I think you're missing the point all together. The only reason a company can behave this way and retain the number of customers who would have otherwise moved elsewhere is because there isn't a free-market. The companies are run as oligopolies. It is government intervention and protection that has caused this problem in the first place which is what most people don't realize.
    • michaelfeathers 12y ago
      Nope, I get it. What I'm saying is that a backdrop of consumer protection legislation can deal with the reality of this situation (which, sadly, doesn't look like it is going to be fixed any time soon), without being intrusive when the market is allowed to work. A company that presents only the choice of paying for service one doesn't want or being put into collections and having one's credit destroyed should be fined until it corrects its behavior or goes out of business.
    • warfangle 12y ago
      (edited for source) There is no such thing as a free market: it is an idealistic theoretical construct. And even if it were real, it would only be efficient if P=NP[0]. 0. http://arxiv.org/abs/1002.2284 http://arxiv.org/abs/1002.2284
      • pestilence123 12y ago
        That is complete nonsense. What's "efficient" supposed to mean, and how does it matter? Do you realize that markets are just people engaging in exchanges and agreements? What do you think you can calculate about people's behaviour?
• DanBlake 12y ago
  Does anyone who works in Comcast know what the incentive is for keeping someone from disconnecting? Maybe there is a bonus involved for the employee with the least amount of disconnections per phone calls received?
  • Nursie 12y ago
    If you're so obnoxious that they go away, they might not call back to cancel again for a few days, and maybe that means you can charge them for an extra month. Or maybe they just give up all together. Customer retention strategy for assholes basically :)
    • rcthompson 12y ago
      That's the incentive for the company. The incentive for the rep, presumably, is that they get paid a commission based on how many cancellations they prevent.
  • tesq 12y ago
    Don't be in the bottom 25th percentile for cancellations if you want to have a job next month, so you better use these shady retention techniques management pushes.
• fardoche 12y ago
  Cue Comcast statement to the effect of "This behavior is not company-approved, and the service representative will be reprimanded" in 3, 2, 1...
• denisdl 12y ago
  There is a new law here in Brazil since last week [1]: a customer has the right to cancel any subscription of phone, cable TV or internet contracts without talking to a representative, by automatic system. Just press some keys on the phone or fill a form in the company's website and it's done, with confirmation code and fully cancelled in two business days. If the customer really wants to talk to a representative to cancel the services, the cancellation must be effective immediately. [1] https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=pt&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=pt-BR&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fg1.globo.com%2Feconomia%2Fseu-dinheiro%2Fnoticia%2F2014%2F07%2Fcomeca-valer-regra-que-facilita-cancelar-o-servico-de-telefonia.html&edit-text= https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=pt&tl=en&js=y&prev...
  • boobsbr 12y ago
    What a pain it was to cancel a Telemar landline and Velox DSL subscription. I had to report them to Anatel. It was the only way to get it cancelled.
• sergiotapia 12y ago
  I feel like taking a shower after listening to this call. Is this what it's like most of the time in the US when dealing with service representatives?
  • shiftpgdn 12y ago
    Yes.
    • mikeash 12y ago
      No. 99.9% of the time, the people you get on the phone are courteous and helpful. Comcast is notorious for poor service precisely because it is not the norm. Sanity check: if this happened to everybody all the time, why would it be making the rounds on the internet? Anything that is newsworthy is rare by definition.
      • ascotan 12y ago
        Although Comcast is notorious for having terrible customer service, this is NOT the only fee-for-service business that deals with disconnects like this that I have dealt with. It seems to be a trend now to harangue customers when they want to terminate service contracts. I wouldn't be surprised if certain companies pay retention bonuses if they can keep a 'disconnect call' from actually disconnecting.
        • mikeash 12y ago
          Attempting to retain departing customers is fairly standard. Hassling them to anywhere near this extent is not.
      • lilsunnybee 12y ago
        Maybe 9 out of 10 calls to customer service are hassle free for me. In addition to which company, the type of issue you are trying to resolve also matters greatly, for example calls concerning payments/billing and cancellation are much more likely to be contentious. One kind of customer service problem is low-level abuse, for which a particular rep is likely mostly responsible, usually passive-aggressive behavior like putting calls on hold then disconnecting, endless call-transferring, etc. rather than outright lies or verbal abuse. The other kind which is more subtle involves higher-level systemic dysfunction and neglect: using call centers or neutered in-house support following very strict scripts / with limited means to resolve all but the most basic issues, active support issues / tickets needing attention yet ignored and unresolved for months at a time, per-call wait times of half an hour or longer, fully-automated systems not even giving the option to speak to a live representative. Occasionally some of the more outrageous instances of problems of the first kind are deemed newsworthy and given media attention, especially when caught on tape. Problems of the second kind rarely get any sort of media attention at all, no matter how severe. Companies will suffer customer-service-specific reputation damage for systemic problems (Google for example), but never make headlines for it. Large companies can also be quite savvy when it comes to pr and the media. Higher tier customers, top-plan-holders often have their support issues promoted internally and expedited to an amazing extent, creating plenty of good publicity to drown out any perceptible, notable criticism.
• wbracken 12y ago
  Had the exact same experience with Clear.com (which I think has since been acquired) a few years back: http://www.bird-dog.co/blog/2012/11/05/clear-com-makes-it-impossible-to-cancel-your-account http://www.bird-dog.co/blog/2012/11/05/clear-com-makes-it-im...
• rakeshagrawal 12y ago
  I had an experience similar to this last week. And I was trying to cancel my business account SO I COULD OPEN ANOTHER ACCOUNT TO REPLACE IT. Comcast is so bad at service provisioning and customer service, I'm thinking that it's actually their superpower.
• jrodl3r 12y ago
  So damn fun fighting w/ media mercenaries to cancel/get out of service/contracts - add these dummies to the "Ass-Clown Bin" w/ Airliners, Politicians, Anti-Vacciners, etc.
• deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
• jason_slack 12y ago
  I'm in the Bay Area. I recently switched from a Comcast business circuit down to a residential circuit. The Comcast Loyalty Rep was fierce. Insisting I owed them 60 days notice, even though I was in a month to month contract. Told me he had to have me sign paperwork to cancel that was going to take up to a week to e-mail to me. I put up a fight, insisted on a supervisor, whom conveniently was in a Chicago office for another week. So what did I do? I called 3 other times in a row, got 3 different people, asked to speak to a supervisor. Each said I would have a call back within 24 - 48 business hours. I did. They called. I explained all about the paperwork and supervisor out of town and it was literally all made up. All of it. EDIT: My better side is resisting not calling out the guy who gave me the hassle by posting his name and e-mail. EDIT 2: I forgot to mention that the rep tried to tell me that the "Terms Of Service" I signed the contract with wasn't valid anymore because it was to old. I asked well I didn't get any new paperwork to agree to the new Terms Of Service. His reply was that paying my bill every month was agreement enough, I didn't need to be told about changes. Doesn't make any sense.
  • delbel 12y ago
    One way to guarantee a reason to get a supervisor is to state "Because of the security nature of this call I am unable to reveal that information."
    • jason_slack 12y ago
      That is an interesting idea!
  • jcastro 12y ago
    Out of curiosity why switch back to residential? I've been generally happy with their business service in both MI and FL. Seems like normally you don't have to deal with most of the BS that residential people do.
    • jason_slack 12y ago
      1. They raised my business circuit from $69/mo to $99/mo for 20/5. 2. They raised the cost of statics, from 5 for $9.99 to 5 $19.99. 3. They sent me a letter saying that there has been a billing mistake for the last 6 years, I have been being under billed for my service. 4. They raised the monthly modem cost to $9.95/mo and you have to use their modem as a business customer. So I went down to a residential 50/10, no contract, provided my own modem for $44.95 a month.
• eliteraspberrie 12y ago
  This is common in Canada too. I've learned to cancel services in writing, by fax and registered mail. You save yourself a big headache.
  • aianus 12y ago
    Who still owns any of a fax machine, envelopes, or stamps?
  • lstamour 12y ago
    Some companies now have online chat services. I've learned the hard way to prefer those and send myself a copy of the chat by email. You can even escalate to a manager using chat now. Specifically referring to Rogers, there's also an Office of the President (which can be hit or miss but will at least answer your question, with a vague or otherwise reply), an ombudsman for Rogers (sometimes helps, sometimes not). Ultimately the organization that seems to help the most, if you know it exists, is the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services Inc. (CCTS), "an independent organization dedicated to working with consumers and service providers to resolve complaints about telephone and internet services." "The CCTS handles complaints about most telecommunications services provided to individuals and small businesses, including home phone, wireless, Internet, and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services." More at: http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/info_sht/t1049.htm http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/info_sht/t1049.htm Interestingly enough, the CCTS as an industry group is paid based on the # of complaints. So carriers both have an incentive to create better support mechanisms and to never hint that the organization exists. But once you know ... it's a fourth option after the first three tries at contacting a telco. And this is why we can still survive in Canada with a company that provides what seems like a third of Canada with cable TV, internet, wireless service and home phone ... but hey, at least we don't have to buy all that from Ma Bell like we used to! (If you want to see what AT&T would look like if it weren't split up, just look at the molasses that is Bell Canada... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Canada http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Canada )
• nodata 12y ago
  Do both parties have to agree to a cancellation? Does anyone know?
• borplk 12y ago
  Is the Comcast guy going to get a fabulous raise because of his efforts? I just can't imagine how a regular employee would be this pushy if there's minimal personal gains in it for him.
  • stonemetal 12y ago
    More like continued employment. Why have a customer retention agent on the payroll if they retain few or no customers?
• spodek 12y ago
  We're an entrepreneurial community and here is a case of demand. Why not meet the demand to cut off internet services? One idea: create a phone service where I call a third-party (you, the entrepreneur) that connects me to the best number to cancel my service. The third party determines if recording the call is legal and records if so, posting the recording online, along with metadata: date, duration, agent name, locale, etc. If recording call is not legal, still post metadata, or also get all parties' permission to record. Possibly create script through trial and error to counter their script. Can compile data on agents and supervisors names, can follow up with complaints for agents or supervisors to customer service, etc. Can file complaints with elected representatives, FCC, etc... stuff individuals don't have time for but want to. Another idea: create a web site that takes subscriber information and mails effective letter, registered if necessary, to best address for service provider, using language to set up legal case if necessary. In both cases, the company could, over time, compile statistics on each service provider's difficulties, giving some accountability. It could also discover their weaknesses and overcome what individuals might not be able to. You can probably think of many other ways to attack the problem and satisfy the unmet need. Might not make huge money, but could create great visibility for the entrepreneur. Then again, it might make huge money too, since so many companies play hardball retaining customers.
  • pistle 12y ago
    Ooooh. Like the parking spot auction app? Comcast sets up a company to handle cancellations and charges fees for it. Then, they make their cancellation procedure so arduous that people pay to leave. Then, they sell a subscription to the service. It's like win-win-win!
  • dbg31415 12y ago
    Along this line, I'd love it if there was a service that would go around and remove you from all the shit websites out there. Like this, but something that wouldn't eat up days of my time to do it. * HOW TO: Remove yourself from ALL background check websites. Thanks to LawyerCT. : technology || http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/j1mit/how_to_remove_yourself_from_all_background_check/ http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/j1mit/how_to_rem...
  • 12y ago
• cloudwalking 12y ago
  I cancelled my Comcast on Friday. It was incredibly easy. I didn't have to stay on hold, and they even offered to mail a postage-paid box for me to return my modem. I was pleasantly surprised.
• daphneokeefe 12y ago
  I thought it was really weird last week when I called to cancel my Comcast internet service and it was so easy! I only have internet, no TV or phone, and when the "teaser" rate expired, they wanted $85 per month. No way, ppl. I have plenty of alternatives in SF, fortunately. They only made one feeble attempt to offer me a better rate. They even sent me a shipping box to return their router in, for free. I was really confused by this experience, but maybe this explains it.
• mindcrime 12y ago
  Now I almost want to call Comcast and try to cancel service, even though I don't have any Comcast service. Better yet, somebody should write a bot using voice recognition, TTS, and a state-machine, and have it call and mess with these people.
• ErikRogneby 12y ago
  I wonder if you stalled and wasted time and waffled back and forth like a window shopper if at some point they have to drop you or take a hit to their call performance metrics?
• rcthompson 12y ago
  This reminds me of that study a few months ago about how customer satisfaction has no correlation or possibly a slight negative with profitability. I guess I see why now. One example link to a new story covering the result: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-12-17/proof-that-it-pays-to-be-americas-most-hated-companies http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-12-17/proof-that-i...
• bigB 12y ago
  Im in Australia, and have been with about 12 ISP's over the years and have never had this sort of problem. Not that our Telcos are without problems, they are often horrible to deal with when requiring support. One thing we have which may be a deterrent for this behavior is the Telecommunication Ombudsman (TIO) which is basically a government watchdog for the Telcos. Every formal complaint to the TIO results in a fee charged to the Telco even if they are not at fault, and if they are proven to be at fault the cost is much greater. I would think that Comcast would think twice about this sort of behavior if it was going to result in a governmental fine in every case.
• dkrich 12y ago
  I thoroughly dislike Comcast and would go to great effort to avoid their service. That said, as funny as this is, this to me is more of a failing on a personal level than by Comcast as a whole. He seems more angry at the caller because he's losing the argument and not getting any concessions and just wants some sort of response or willingness to hear what he's saying. I sincerely believe that by the midpoint of that recording he was no longer interested in keeping the customer, he just wanted to win a point in the argument to protect his ego. Interestingly, these are the last people you want handling sales/customer retention calls because they don't empathize with the customer or see the situation from their point of view at all. They're more worried about their appearance than the ultimate business goal, which is increasing sales. I'm pretty certain that he would be reprimanded for this behavior.
  • elicash 12y ago
    Having worked in Customer Service (at a different company) on the phones, I see very little chance that this isn't the way his entire office is run. Most likely they weekly have their phone calls listened to by supervisors and evaluated, as well as constant tracking to see who has the most cancelations -- with serious consequences for those cancelations. Could be just an individual, too. Or something in between. I just doubt that.
  • DanBC 12y ago
    > I'm pretty certain that he would be reprimanded for this behavior. I reckon he'd retain more people and thus get better bonuses, and not reprimands.
  • VLM 12y ago
    "I'm pretty certain that he would be reprimanded for this behavior." I could not disagree more. That makes the huge assumption that the retention department is measured and paid by metrics like "increasing sales". I am almost 100% certain that would not be the case. The longer you keep a quitting customer on the phone the less likely they are to leave, the more likely they are to give up hope and keep paying. Awesome job. The company pays the retention rep to read arguments from a script to a quitting customer, and the rep read all of them, awesome. Lets say we get $150/month from this customer and it costs us $8/hr for this customer's monthly hour long call to argue and lie to the customer. The company is not seeing a financial problem here. At $5/day revenue even if all the rep does is slow down the customer by one pro-rated day, as long as the rep spends less than 30 minutes per call the company is still making a "profit". More typically if you just lie to the customer and get on average half a billing period out of them, thats an awesome profit. You get what you measure and select for. "because they don't empathize with the customer" Why would a monopoly provider want to do that? It doesn't even make sense. Like hiring a police chief based on how well he empathizes with the crooks, or promoting a military officer based on how sympathetic he is to the other side, or appointing a religious leader based on how strongly he believes in the opposition's point of view.
• zabraxias 12y ago
  I am not proud of this but I "canceled" my Comcast service by moving to another country. The only step required was to remove the auto-withdrawal on their website. They probably tried to contact me and threatened to kill my service for no payments etc but that's a mail problem for the next resident to deal with.
• eldude 12y ago
  This is hilarious. Sadly, this employee probably got a promotion internally for being absurdly fantastic at his job. It sounds like a South Park episode, "Ohhhh, that's too baaaaaaaaaahhhhd."
• dminor 12y ago
  Those of us who are sticking with Comcast also have the pleasure of going through this script once a year, just to get Comcast's best pricing. Of course, we get to shortcut out of it by agreeing to stay.
• Shivetya 12y ago
  for all the evils people dump on Comcast they are far far better than any home security company I have dealt with or heard of from others. Comcast at least in the metro Atlanta area has been really easy to deal with. When I cancelled phone service I simply told them I was going cell only. When I wanted to use my own modem their tech helped me setup mine and told me where to return theirs. When I returned their modem to the local service center all I got was smiles. So yeah I am pretty sure you can get miserable or similar service from them but I have always found going in with good attitude makes the process dead simple and swift.
• ArtDev 12y ago
  Too funny.. "your doing an incredibly good job of making your company seem worse". I have been through this with Comcast.
• eyeareque 12y ago
  I called and cancelled my service with them this morning. The Comcast rep started to ask why, but I simply said I want to cancel my service. She said, "OK, we are sad to see you go, I'll begin work on doing the disconnection now..." It was pretty painless. I guess it all depends on who you get on the other side of the phone.
• malkia 12y ago
  An "automated" service that talks for you: "I want to cancel my service!" "I want to cancel my service!" "I want to cancel my service!"
• cameraman 12y ago
  Three words to follow up with: Class Action Lawsuit http://www.millslawfirm.com/classaction.html http://www.millslawfirm.com/classaction.html
• hallett 12y ago
  This exact same thing happened to me with comcast. So glad this is getting publicity omg
• rdl 12y ago
  Can you just send a certified or registered letter demanding that service be terminated, with correct authentication information, and then skip this process? Maybe on a law firm's letterhead? (OTOH, I love fucking with these people on the phone. "Why are you canceling service?" "Because God told me the Internet is evil; Because I decided meth|guns|tinfoil|etc. would be better use of my money; Because a court demands I not have contact with the Internet for the next 3 years as a term of my release.")
• namin 12y ago
  How I cancelled my phone plan in <1 minute. Me: I would like to cancel my plan. Rep: Why? Me: I am leaving the country. Rep: Congratulations! Your plan is cancelled. Best wishes. Me: Thank you!