211–220 of 263 posts
If you tell them you want to cancel in person, and bring all your equipment with you, the reps aren't going to argue with you much.
There is of course still the time cost to wait in line (15-20 minutes on a weekend IME) but at least it saves in frustration in them trying to get you to change your mind.
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I had to call to cancel my AT&T account recently. The conversation was pretty short: I just told the rep that I was moving in with a roommate that already had service set up so I didn't need to transfer my own service (only about ~20% a lie). The frustrating and insulting part was that I spent a really long time on hold before I was connected with the rep and every few minutes while I was on hold an automated message…
> (only about ~20% a lie) Why are commenters here a bit apologetic about lying to customer service reps? The latter have no right to know anything about your life, you want the service cancelled and that's it, any information you may choose to provide is purely so they can service you better. Tell them you're moving to Andromeda to set up an ice cream shop for all I care, I won't hold it against you.
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My worst was with Megapath (i.e. Speakeasy after it was bought up and they destroyed all that was ever good with it). I filled out their web form to cancel and... nothing happened. Someone apparently called me at an odd hour without warning, but there was no message and no callback number so I couldn't figure out why. They just kept billing me. Then I called up and asked to cancel on the phone and they told me you ca…
I had a similar experience with MegaPath. One day my DSL went down and never came back up. I called support, no answer. 2 days later still no answer. I canceled my serice on their website and called Century Link for service. Months go by, and I start getting mail (physical and email) from "Global Capacity" telling me that my account for DSL service is overdue and my service will be suspended if I don't pay. At first…
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I'm sick of comcast and its hidden fees. Their promotion last for one year and they never inform the customer (conveniently) soon after it expires. The bill keeps piling up and when you call them one day to cancel, they feed you some bs on downgrading to a basic package or even reducing your current internet speed. I had AT&T U-verses before switching to comcast and AT&T are no saints either. Is there a company that'…
I'm confused... I've signed up for promo plans from Comcast before, and made a note in my calendar it is expiring. Never had a problem with pushing for another promo when it is about to expire. If there is, then I'll reduce my service or switch providers (if I need to), but there is never any surprise that a promo is for a specific duration and when that ends I'll be paying the full price. What DOES get me is their c…
The second-worst experience I had with cancelling a service was with Comcast. Briefly: called up, told operator I wanted to cancel, they put me through to a special sales team attempting to keep me, eventually I pushed it through. The real magic happens during the conversation with the sales rep; he asks why I want to cancel, I explain that the cost is high relative to the quality. He offers me more cost effective pa…
My worst was with Megapath (i.e. Speakeasy after it was bought up and they destroyed all that was ever good with it). I filled out their web form to cancel and... nothing happened. Someone apparently called me at an odd hour without warning, but there was no message and no callback number so I couldn't figure out why. They just kept billing me. Then I called up and asked to cancel on the phone and they told me you ca…
Unfortunately some people do abuse it - there was one guy who admitted on DSLreports forums that he uses his credit card to buy all items off ebay. And if he doesn't get it in 2-3 days he does a chargeback - even if he gets the item later. Which, I'm under the impression that when that happens Paypal may yank the funds from the seller's account. I don't agree with it - but I understand why.
My experience with Paypal disputes on the other hand...
The second-worst experience I had with cancelling a service was with Comcast. Briefly: called up, told operator I wanted to cancel, they put me through to a special sales team attempting to keep me, eventually I pushed it through. The real magic happens during the conversation with the sales rep; he asks why I want to cancel, I explain that the cost is high relative to the quality. He offers me more cost effective pa…
Just keep repeating you want to cancel; don't give any reasons.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
My worst was with Megapath (i.e. Speakeasy after it was bought up and they destroyed all that was ever good with it). I filled out their web form to cancel and... nothing happened. Someone apparently called me at an odd hour without warning, but there was no message and no callback number so I couldn't figure out why. They just kept billing me. Then I called up and asked to cancel on the phone and they told me you ca…
I had a similar experience with MegaPath. One day my DSL went down and never came back up. I called support, no answer. 2 days later still no answer. I canceled my serice on their website and called Century Link for service. Months go by, and I start getting mail (physical and email) from "Global Capacity" telling me that my account for DSL service is overdue and my service will be suspended if I don't pay. At first…
You might be able to do the same with Global Capacity, but I think the majority of these rules apply specifically to debt collection agencies.
Sitting on hold isn't so bad when it's free and you can focus on reading Hacker News or whatever easily while you wait.
Hey HN, I was moving to Thailand ~6 months ago and I had to cancel my Comcast. Cancelling took way too long and was surprisingly frustrating. From talking with other people it seemed like the cancellation process was really frustrating for other people too, so we made this. My partner Eli (HN username: EliPollak) and I really want your feedback more than anything. We’re planning to expand into fixing other processes…
Whenever I go to a new health care provider (or even, often, a health care provider that I have an existing relationship with), I have to fill out those silly medical history forms, and I'm like, "Dude, shouldn't you know all this stuff already?"
It would be nice to be able to say, "Hey, here's the doctor's office where I have an upcoming appointment. Find out what mundane paperwork they expect me to fill out, and fill it out for me." (Many offices now put the forms online so you can download them and fill them out ahead of time.)
Granted, it really only works if I can enter the info once and have you save it and regurgitate it as needed, and then that gets into tricky territory because you're storing sensitive health-related information. But it really would be a valuable service.