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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

#261

Post by VLM »

mikeash wrote: post #138
malka wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder how long I could manage to get that guy to stick on the phone... I love being an asshole.

There must be a business opportunity here. Connect people who hate dealing with this stuff to people like you who love being an asshole. They get their service canceled without dealing with crap on the phone, you get to play the bad guy, everybody wins.

Its called being a lawyer. Its more about form letters sent via registered mail and filing legal injunctions than talking on the phone.

A decade or so ago, I came within days of needing one merely to disconnect a DSL line.

Once the cost of fighting the collections agency and the cost of the hit to your credit record exceed the minimal cost of hiring the lawyer, its a pretty obvious move.

Not kidding around at all, although its probably a better topic for a law blog than HN.

The main problem they're likely to have is authentication. Helping people is fun. Helping people who like having fun by disconnecting other people (-ex's, etc) is a problem and you need to authenticate them cheaply.

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

#262

Post by wil421 »

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.

As a customer I don't care. I just want what I've called for. Comcast is the single worst customer service I've ever dealt with.

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

#263

Post by lilsunnybee »

danielweber wrote: post #83
martingordon wrote: post #33

I just cancelled my Time Warner Internet a few minutes ago (switched to FiOS). The call took all of 8 minutes and the rep didn't put up a fight at all. I joked that it might actually be worth continuing to pay $50/month to avoid the hassle of canceling, so this left me pleasantly surprised.

Once I moved and realized I forgot to turn off my phone and DSL. The company did it in minutes over the cell phone. I was surprised, and a little worried, by how easy it was.

Cancellation isn't always a nightmare, even for companies with bad practices. But it's luck of the draw, and your luck can run out at any time, at least while government continues to stall on adequate consumer protections.

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

#264

Post by kstrauser »

wfjackson wrote: post #4

Can't he do a chargeback on his credit card for the bill and then send the credit card folks a recording of this? Gyms are typically known for making it extremely hard to cancel, like requiring you to snail mail a notice and even then acting as if they never got it.

Chargeback? First lesson in dealing with known-awful companies: don't ever let them set you up on automatic payments. Even if they make it convenient. Even if they discount your bill a couple of dollars.

It's much easier to cancel service or dispute a bill when they don't have the ability to pull money out of your checking account without your explicit monthly approval.

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

#266

Post by saraid216 »

TelmoMenezes wrote: post #205
warfangle wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(edited for source) There is no such thing as a free market: it is an idealistic theoretical construct. And even if it were real, it would only be efficient if P=NP[0]. 0. http://arxiv.org/abs/1002.2284

Bitcoin is a free market. The theoretical limits on efficiency also apply to regulated markets. The question worth asking is, which one is more efficient?

A currency is not a market.

Unless the only thing that can be bought is Bitcoin. With Bitcoin. In which case, yes. You're right. It is a free market. And completely pointless.

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

#267

Post by Kliment »

scrabble wrote: post #12
wfjackson wrote: post #4

Can't he do a chargeback on his credit card for the bill and then send the credit card folks a recording of this? Gyms are typically known for making it extremely hard to cancel, like requiring you to snail mail a notice and even then acting as if they never got it.

I did a stop payment on a gym years ago and they never contacted me, so that seemed to take care of it. They had refused to cancel me just through talking to them so I felt vindicated. My wife just recently canceled a gym membership, and actually got no hassle. No written letter needed, nothing. Just a comment about how they were sorry she was leaving and hope to see you again one day. It was perfect customer service…

Would you be okay with naming and shaming the evil gym and/or at least naming the nonevil gym?

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

#268

Post by seanflyon »

warfangle wrote: post #164
wallawe wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

(edited for source) There is no such thing as a free market: it is an idealistic theoretical construct. And even if it were real, it would only be efficient if P=NP[0]. 0. http://arxiv.org/abs/1002.2284

NP problems are still solvable, so if the problem of finding an efficient solution is NP then that means that it can be efficient.

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

#269

Post by freehunter »

vonmoltke wrote: post #180
netnichols wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nice idea, so long as you're in the US where you don't really have an 'official' location... I tried to do this once in Berlin to cancel a gym membership outside of the contractual limits. They required showing an official 'de-registration' from the city of Berlin. I was moving within the city at the time, so instead of telling the city I was moving, I instead told the city I was leaving and then a few weeks later re…

Why is a gym allowed to demand such documentation in the first place?

I was with Anytime Fitness until I moved, and I could only get out of my contract by sending them a copy of my new driver's license. I was willing to pay the ETF, but they demanded I show them my license in-person to get out, when I was hundreds of miles away. Finally I cancelled the card they were charging, let them sweat for a bit, then called and said "offer me some other way and you will get your money". They then let me email them.

But yeah, if I didn't have proof that I moved, I would have been stuck in the contract forever.

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

#270

Post by mikeryan »

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!"?

Assuming you have Comcast equipment if a local service center is accessible it might be worth your time to walk in and drop the equipment off when you cancel. There can be a long tail on these if you have to send back equipment. The folks working the counter at these places also don't have a "retention specialist" they kick you to.

I have to say I canceled Comcast for a few months between houses my experience was pretty painless, I called in and they in-fact even sent pre-paid shipping boxes to return my modem and cable box.

Heck considering the profile this call is getting I'm guessing their "retention specialists" are going to be pretty light touch for a while.

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