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Tech Blogger Tries To Cancel Comcast Service, Hilarity Ensues

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Re: Tech Blogger Tries To Cancel Comcast Service, Hilarity Ensues

#111

Post by adrianb »

lotsofmangos wrote: post #60
gst wrote: post #6

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 a…

what difference does it make if the remote party accepts this cancellation? The continuation of provided service, followed by a bill in the mail. make sure to get a recording (if legal in your jurisdiction) And how exactly do you prove that it is a recording of a conversation with Comcast if their lawyers decide to dispute it?

I believe a more formal way to do it would be by registered mail. In Europe at least. Mail gets a timestamp that is trusted.

Re: Tech Blogger Tries To Cancel Comcast Service, Hilarity Ensues

#112

Post by michaelfeathers »

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?

Re: Tech Blogger Tries To Cancel Comcast Service, Hilarity Ensues

#113

Post by brown9-2 »

gst wrote: post #6

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 a…

This plan seems to assume that there is a low or zero cost with the hassle of having to deal with those future billings.

Re: Tech Blogger Tries To Cancel Comcast Service, Hilarity Ensues

#114

Post by mcherm »

ceejayoz wrote: post #62
personZ wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your credit card company is not an arbiter of contracts. They are nothing more than a payment method, and the only reason they have any process whatsoever is to try to maintain relations with the vendors who they also deal with. If you have a contract with a vendor, decide that you don't like the product any more and decide to cancel through a chargeback, that has literally zero influence on the status of the contrac…

I'd always figured that one of the conditions of being able to accept a particular type of card was accepting their judgement in chargeback situations. Huh. This recording would make a pretty effective "I dispute the debt" piece of evidence, regardless.

But evidence doesn't matter!

Really!

If Comcast sues you for payment then you go to court (or more likely to an arbiter chosen by Comcast since that's what you agreed to in your contract) where evidence matters.

But instead of that, Comcast simply reports you to the credit bureaus for non-payment. The law gives them immunity for doing so -- even if they submitted intentionally false information for malicious reasons, you can't sue them for libel. And you credit score affects your ability to function in US society: it is used for all granting of credit, for deciding whether to allow you to open a checking account, for deciding whether to hire you at a job -- it is so significant that you are forced to care. You can open a dispute of facts with the credit reporting agencies, but be prepared to spend large amounts of time doing so.

Re: Tech Blogger Tries To Cancel Comcast Service, Hilarity Ensues

#115

Post by farmdawgnation »

hyperliner wrote: post #94
oneandoneis2 wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I usually cover all bases by claiming I'm emigrating and leaving the country - only way to be sure :)

"I an in the Navy, and will be in a submarine for the next two years"

Just don't get caught lying on a recording about being a military member. That's a felony. ;)

Re: Tech Blogger Tries To Cancel Comcast Service, Hilarity Ensues

#116

Post by clockwerx »

Sarkie wrote: post #106

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 a…

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".

Re: Tech Blogger Tries To Cancel Comcast Service, Hilarity Ensues

#119

Post by Nursie »

DanBlake wrote: post #117

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?

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 :)

Re: Tech Blogger Tries To Cancel Comcast Service, Hilarity Ensues

#120

Post by denisdl »

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...

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