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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

#121

Post by 67726e »

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 call their bluff. Unless you're dealing with the support for some small/fly-by-night company, phone support is going to have someone overseeing them. If they absolutely refuse to connect you, hang up and get a new agent and ask to speak to the supervisor from there. Make sure to provide the supervisor with the calling agents details.

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

#122

Post by tfinniga »

duiker101 wrote: post #87
bshimmin wrote: post #30

I'm amazed at how calm he remains during this. I would've called the guy - regardless of whether he's "just doing his job" - every name under the sun and probably threatened to pay him a visit in person... That said, I guess if I were recording it to share on the Internet later, I might've been able to control myself slightly more than usual.

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…

That is a bit like worrying about the innocents working on the deathstar.

They know what kind of job it is. They do it anyway.

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

#124

Post by meritt »

farmdawgnation wrote: post #115
hyperliner wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"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. ;)

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.

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

#125

Post by sp332 »

lucaspiller wrote: post #40

Any ideas why he actually wants to cancel? If it's for a lower price surely Comcast would match that? I've done that with mobile operators here in the UK, phoning up to switch to PAYG because of a new deal that comes up then the "retentions" agent offering me the same deal on a contract for half the price. Edit: My point is although it is none of their business why he wants to cancel, it's probably less effort, and h…

Last week my wife called to disconnect our service with Comcast after we switched to another provider (Astound).... she and I have already played along and given a myriad of reasons and explanations... which is why I simply stopped answering the rep's repeated question https://soundcloud.com/ryan-block-10/comcastic-service

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

#127

Post by danielweber »

scott_s wrote: post #110
danielweber wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He wasn't answering the question over and over; he was refusing to answer the question. Which is, of course, his right. And maybe it would turn out that the rep would refuse to recognize his answer. And there is some social value in there occasionally being a crank who refuses to play by the rules just to expose them for the silliness there is. But realize he wasn't trying to get through this call easily. He was tryi…

I don't think that's fair to the caller. He was polite, and was clear in what he wanted. Had the Comcast agent said "Okay, I understand that you don't want to tell me that, let's move on" the call would have moved on and not ended up on the internet. He wanted his service cancelled, and did not want to engage in a conversation about it. How else could the caller have possibly handled it? Also, the caller was not a "c…

How else could the caller have possibly handled it?

This is obvious: by answering the question. I'll repeat that he was under no obligation to answer that question.

My mother-in-law does the same thing this guy does: stands her ground and refuses to answer any questions. It's completely her right to engage in that manner, but she neither asks for nor gets any sympathy for how long she has to stay on the phone with people.

Maximally demanding all your rights all the time is usually not coincident with smooth interactions with other human beings.

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

#129

Post by e98cuenc »

squeaky-clean wrote: post #99
chatmasta wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was able to cancel my account with comcast, just two weeks ago, in under twenty minutes. Are you saying that if he had hung up, and called again, he would have faced an equally long phone call? My point is that he did not have to put up with this. Obviously there are going to be some bad apples amongst the thousands of comcast customer service employees. He could have hung up on this guy, called back, and gotten a…

Under twenty minutes is short? Seems like this blogger got it taken care of in 8:14, and that was still frustratingly long for all of us to listen to.

He states that he started to record after ten minutes, so he only succeeded after ~18 minutes.

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

#130

Post by adamkittelson »

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.

Comcast doesn't serve Madison, WI in case anyone needs a city for this.
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