7 ms·

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'

• 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.
        • pbhjpbhj 12y ago
          It rather depend where you are. [Yes the assumption here is North America / USA, not sure on Comcast's reach?] In the UK under Seamen’s and Soldiers’ False Characters Act 1906 Section 1, due to a technicality (excision of restricting terms) any [im]personation of HM Forces' seamen or soldiers is illegal.¹ It's been superseded by the Fraud Act 2006 which is more strict in needing a fraud to be committed viz "he false representation is made dishonestly and with the intention of making a gain". 1 - http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Edw7/6/5#commentary-c578537 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Edw7/6/5#commentary-c578... 2 - http://lawcommission.justice.gov.uk/docs/lc308_Statute_Law_Repeals_18.pdf http://lawcommission.justice.gov.uk/docs/lc308_Statute_Law_R... at page 39 (PDF page 43)
          • nnnnni 12y ago
            Getting rid of Comcast would definitely be "making a gain". Ugh.
        • farmdawgnation 12y ago
          That is the act that I was referring to, and I wasn't aware it was struck down. To the best of my recollection it was specifically targeted at people who lied about service for some personal gain. (However negligible that gain may be.) Seems I was wrong, though it is kind of hilarious that got 4 downvotes. It was an honest mistake.
• lotsofmangos 12y ago
  I've done something similar with phone contracts. I usually tell them that I am going to live in the woods for a year and do some coppicing.
• woogle 12y ago
  What is terrible is you have to LIE. I understand the OP POV. He has the right to disconnects without justify himself. This is a privacy matter. The operator acting is barely legal.
  • forgottenpass 12y ago
    The operator acting is barely legal. Still technically legal, bad faith business dealings? For better or worse (worse imo) this is just how businesses currently operate by default. It's "just business" when you're perpetrating it, and the sky is falling when it happens to you. For a handful of reasons, the powerful (read: monied) are spared the brunt of the ugly end. Comcast is a regional monopoly that sells service to a lot of poor people. Welcome to the retention department.
  • thearn4 12y ago
    I agree, I hate the idea of normalizing this kind of behavior.
• netnichols 12y ago
  Nice idea, so long as you're in the US where you don't really have an 'official' location... I tried to do this once in Berlin to cancel a gym membership outside of the contractual limits. They required showing an official 'de-registration' from the city of Berlin. I was moving within the city at the time, so instead of telling the city I was moving, I instead told the city I was leaving and then a few weeks later reregistered with my new address. Unfortunately I wasn't aware that this would reset the amount of uninterrupted time spent in Germany which is needed for getting a permanent residency. D'oh!
  • vonmoltke 12y ago
    Why is a gym allowed to demand such documentation in the first place?
    • freehunter 12y ago
      I was with Anytime Fitness until I moved, and I could only get out of my contract by sending them a copy of my new driver's license. I was willing to pay the ETF, but they demanded I show them my license in-person to get out, when I was hundreds of miles away. Finally I cancelled the card they were charging, let them sweat for a bit, then called and said "offer me some other way and you will get your money". They then let me email them. But yeah, if I didn't have proof that I moved, I would have been stuck in the contract forever.
      • pavel_lishin 12y ago
        Isn't that fairly risky? What if they had passed the account to collections?
        • freehunter 12y ago
          I had a record showing that I had tried to be reasonable, so if anyone reasonable was willing to talk to me, they could see that. But the reason I didn't just cancel the card and leave it at that is exactly that reason. After a month of them trying to bill me on a cancelled card, I called them and offered to pay the ETF PLUS the late fee if they would just let me email them proof that I had moved. It was still cheaper than flying back just to show them my drivers license.
• verisimilitude 12y ago
  Accidentally downvoted you, meant to upvote... sorry about that. Anyhow: I was actually moving, told Comcast so, and I was indeed off the phone in a few minutes. "I wonder what everyone's concern about Comcast is anyway," I wondered. Then, a few days later, the "follow-up" calls began. It got to the point that I had to block the Comcast number just to get some peace.
  • maxerickson 12y ago
    It often works to ask to be put on their courtesy do not call list. Systematically, they don't actually want to spend effort on people that don't want to talk to them and the 'courtesy do not call list' line says 'stop calling me' without inviting an argument. It's probably more effective if you don't mind talking over their initial spiel.
    • seanflyon 12y ago
      I believe they could also be fined up to $16,000 if you put your number on the "do not call" registry and ask them not to call you again. http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0108-national-do-not-call-registry http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0108-national-do-not-ca...
      • maxerickson 12y ago
        I know I'll never follow up on that so I'm more focused on convincing the operator to give up on me with a minimum amount of grief and fuss (on both sides).
• adamkittelson 12y ago
  Comcast doesn't serve Madison, WI in case anyone needs a city for this.
• tombrossman 12y ago
  The easiest way to cancel services with shit companies like this is by mail. Spend a few minutes typing a letter, pay the small extra fee for proof of delivery, and you are done. Your post office probably has an automated self-serve kiosk where you can do this in under 5 minutes. Time is money, don't allow a company to spend your time like this. Sure, you should be able to cancel on the phone with no hassle but that is a pipe dream. This is one instance where the old-school method still works best. I've done this with Verizon & Sprint when I lived in the States and was even able to cancel without penalty (they raised SMS a few cents each time) and not deal with their retentions people. Now it is my preferred method for anything that takes over 10 minutes on the phone. Even if they are on the line, 10 minutes is a hard cutoff and I hang up, type a short letter, and mail it. It's low-tech but very effective. And for anyone else with Comcast, here's the fine print that Ryan should have read to save all this aggravation. Scroll down to section 9 b (1): https://www.comcast.com/Corporate/Customers/Policies/SubscriberAgreement.html https://www.comcast.com/Corporate/Customers/Policies/Subscri...
  • gamerdonkey 12y ago
    Maybe Ryan read down to 9 b (3): "you may terminate this Agreement for any reason at any time by notifying Comcast in one of three ways: [...] (3) call our customer service line during normal business hours"
  • saamm 12y ago
    I'm going to be canceling Comcast around the end of the month. You're telling me I can just send a letter to my local service center and say, "Peace out!"?
    • mikeryan 12y ago
      Assuming you have Comcast equipment if a local service center is accessible it might be worth your time to walk in and drop the equipment off when you cancel. There can be a long tail on these if you have to send back equipment. The folks working the counter at these places also don't have a "retention specialist" they kick you to. I have to say I canceled Comcast for a few months between houses my experience was pretty painless, I called in and they in-fact even sent pre-paid shipping boxes to return my modem and cable box. Heck considering the profile this call is getting I'm guessing their "retention specialists" are going to be pretty light touch for a while.
• ripter 12y ago
  I just hang up and call again. You'll eventually get someone who doesn't care and will just disconnect you. I once had a Comcast agent claim that he needed my father's death certificate to cancel my service! (No it was not under his name, it was always under my name.)
  • swombat 12y ago
    I once had a Comcast agent claim that he needed my father's death certificate to cancel my service! Wtf, really? That is simply unconscionable. Are these even people on the end of the line? What kind of worthless piece of shit asks someone for their father's death certificate to cancel a cable service?
  • pavel_lishin 12y ago
    That's the instant that you tell them to escalate to their supervisor.
• spossy 12y ago
  Yep top tip, always say it's because I'm moving country, only way not to get passed to the customer retention department and it's usually processed immediately with no hassle.
• dminor 12y ago
  Or just tell them that Frontier offered you a free pony if you switch. Pretty sure that's not in the script ;)
• pseudonym 12y ago
  I typically have the best results by being rude. "I'd like to cancel my service." "But why w-" "I'd like to cancel my service." "Buy we co-" "I'd like to cancel my service." It's not something I particularly like to trot out, but if I have to spend more than 5 minutes on the phone for something like this, it's what I tend to trot out, and I don't have to repeat myself (and interrupt them) more than two or three times for them to get the point.
  • Crito 12y ago
    I've had similar experience while dealing with Comcast installation techs. The installation tech insisted that he needed to use my computer to complete the installation. My computer (running Debian, so using it was out of the question anyway) was sitting right in front of both of us. I told him that he didn't need to use it (which is true) and he insisted that he did. Then I told him that I did not have a computer. We could both see it, but only by insisting that I did not have a computer was I able to get him to complete the installation without using it (he made a short phonecall, and that was it).
  • thatthatis 12y ago
    "Cancel my service" "Can you cancel my service?" "I won't be answering any of your questions, just cancel my service". "Cancel my service or transfer me to someone who can" The use of worlds like "Please" and "I'd like to" just tells them that you'll indulge their scripts and tactics. It's not rude to steamroll a system intentionally designed to make it hard to cancel.
    • ShabbyDoo 12y ago
      I learned that panhandlers, at least in Chicago, interpret polite negative responses as opportunity and will continue to bother me. So, I have taken to saying flatly, "Not happening." It's not so rude or demeaning that I inadvertently pick a fight, but it's blunt enough to let them know that they're just wasting their time with me.
      • netnichols 12y ago
• e15ctr0n 12y ago
  I just stand in line at their customer service center, say I'm closing my account and return the cable box. It's over in a few minutes.