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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

#181

Post by dbg31415 »

spodek wrote: post #174

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, loc…

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_rem...

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

#182

Post by daphneokeefe »

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.

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

#183

Post by jonathanhefner »

fpgeek wrote: post #14
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…

And then they'll eventually send your account to collections, where it will be an even bigger pain to straighten out. Something similar happened to me with AT&T (now Comcast, I believe) in Chicago. I was moving away so I canceled service, returned my equipment in person and even got a receipt! But someone forgot to log something somewhere, so they kept sending me bills. For months, I kept calling and (foolishly) beli…

Also chiming in: same thing happened to me, but they sent my account to collections without notifying me first.

When I was on the phone with the collections agent, I was very polite and told her I knew she was just doing her job. I then got her to admit that this sort of thing happens all the time with AT&T, and that a lot of her phone calls go the same way.

Since then I've suspected that AT&T's practices go beyond mere incompetence and into abusive territory.

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

#184

Post by stonemetal »

borplk wrote: post #173

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.

More like continued employment. Why have a customer retention agent on the payroll if they retain few or no customers?

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

#185

Post by rcthompson »

Nursie wrote: post #119
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 :)

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.

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

#186

Post by steveax »

SippinLean wrote: post #73

Wow, reminds me of the guy trying to cancel his AOL account: http://consumerist.com/2006/06/13/the-best-thing-we-have-eve...

Indeed. I think this must be karmic payback for how onerous the "process" of canceling an AOL account used to be.

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

#187

Post by ipsin »

saamm wrote: post #169
tombrossman wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

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!"?

Don't forget to include a few particulars:

* Who you are

* Where you are receiving service

* Your account number

* What date this cancellation is effective on

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

#188

Post by mikeash »

wallawe wrote: post #132
michaelfeathers wrote: post #112

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?

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.

You seem to be arguing that government intervention is what caused this mess, so more government intervention is not the answer.

The trouble is that "government intervention" is such a general term that the statement is useless. It's barely one step better than "doing things caused this problem in the first place, so doing things is not the solution to it."

There's good government intervention and bad government intervention. That bad government intervention caused the problem doesn't mean that good government intervention can't help.

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

#189

Post by mindcrime »

ceejayoz wrote: post #84
oldmanjay wrote: post #72

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"

"I don't have a supervisor" is a surprisingly common response.

"So you're telling me that I'm speaking to the CEO of $COMPANY"??

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

#190

Post by rcthompson »

mikeash wrote: post #135
interpol_p wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

Even if that's true, Comcast's bad metrics aren't our responsibility.

The point is that this tactic would be selecting against the nice reps in the long run. Of course, I can't think of any other tactic that wouldn't do so.
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