Tech Blogger Tries To Cancel Comcast Service, Hilarity Ensues • Hacker News Board

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

#271

Post by lilsunnybee » Tue, Jul 15, 2014, 5:47 PM UTC

interpol_p wrote: post #67

wil421 wrote: post #24

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 agai…

> 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.

It really depends on how intelligently companies run their retention metrics. Rather than measuring if a customer was retained for that phone call, it makes much more sense to measure which customers are retained after a month or so. Of course the first metric is easier to run; also large corporations "competing" in highly uncompetitive markets (internet, health insurance, etc.) have little incentive to provide any sort of reasonable, adequate customer service to begin with.

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

#272

Post by saraid216 » Tue, Jul 15, 2014, 5:47 PM UTC

chris_wot wrote: post #145

duiker101 wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This guys have it rough. I used to call them a lot and I can't recall a single instance where I saw someone raising their voice had a better outcome. The only had a more stressful call. The operator pushes it a lot but consider this: he is probably paid like shit and he probably get commission on how many customers he can retain. Maybe if he loses too many he can even lose his job. Knowing this and knowing that their…

Get. A. Better. Job.

Put your money where your mouth is. Go to these people. Teach them how to get better jobs.

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

#273

Post by warfangle » Tue, Jul 15, 2014, 5:48 PM UTC

dllthomas wrote: post #241

warfangle wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My edit cited the paper in question, where the author shows how to use markets to solve NP-complete problems. Either markets are weak-form efficient and P=NP, or markets are not weak-form efficient and P≠NP.

Ah. Cute, but doesn't look like something that can actually be applied to the real world.

Kind of like theoretical free markets.

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

#274

Post by tesq » Tue, Jul 15, 2014, 5:53 PM UTC

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?

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.

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

#275

Post by maxerickson » Tue, Jul 15, 2014, 5:57 PM UTC

seanflyon wrote: post #250

maxerickson wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

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-ca...

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).

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

#276

Post by dllthomas » Tue, Jul 15, 2014, 6:00 PM UTC

warfangle wrote: post #273

dllthomas wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah. Cute, but doesn't look like something that can actually be applied to the real world.

Kind of like theoretical free markets.

Snarky.

The difference is that you can have a model that is not precise and which still makes useful predictions. You can't have a proof that's not precise and still proves P=NP.

Note that it is not "the existence of free markets" that is assumed and breaks things, but the existence of free markets with a particular formulation of a particular property. As strictly defined there, weak-form efficiency also allows seems to allow FTL communication.

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

#277

Post by ripter » Tue, Jul 15, 2014, 6:10 PM UTC

zerohp wrote: post #57

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.

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.)

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

#278

Post by aganders3 » Tue, Jul 15, 2014, 6:12 PM UTC

renata wrote: post #256

MichaelApproved wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Additionally, if you're in a one-party state, recording the call can never hurt.

Usually they are recording the call anyway (or reserving the right to). A robot normally mentions it at the beginning of the call. I'm no lawyer, but maybe this is enough to give you permission to record your own copy?

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

#279

Post by grecy » Tue, Jul 15, 2014, 6:19 PM UTC

dragonwriter wrote: post #232

grecy wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does one cc a letter?

cc stands for "carbon copy", which was a mechanism for hard copy letters.

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.

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

#280

Post by dubfan » Tue, Jul 15, 2014, 6:20 PM UTC

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...

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.