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Re:Tech Blogger Tries To Cancel Comcast Service, Hilarity En... by lucaspiller on Tuesday July 15, 2014 @08:42AM (#8036051)
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 helps them out by saying "The customer service is poor" than declining and arguing with the agent who is just trying to do his job (and probably getting paid $10/hour).

Re:Tech Blogger Tries To Cancel Comcast Service, Hilarity En... by sigkill on Tuesday July 15, 2014 @09:25AM (#8036234)
Firstly, Comcast has no business why he wants to cancel. He might want to cancel because he landed a tails on a coin flip on a Tuesday, and it shouldn't matter.

Secondly, with such strongly hostile customer service representatives the more you speak that's more ammo you're giving them to argue without cancelling the contract. If you say, 'customer service is poor' there's a high chance that CSR going to pull up records saying that "You called us X times with Y and Z complaints and we have responded to them within 48 hours. That's well within our metrics" or some bs like that.

Talking to hostile CSRs is akin to talking to the cops - don't speak more than you have to.

Re:Tech Blogger Tries To Cancel Comcast Service, Hilarity En... by DevX101 on Tuesday July 15, 2014 @08:51AM (#8036083)
I see the Comcast agent has found the HN thread :)
Re:Tech Blogger Tries To Cancel Comcast Service, Hilarity En... by thanatropism on Tuesday July 15, 2014 @10:20AM (#8036553)
It's a common ruse in Brazil to call cancellation in order to get to the retentions guy and bargain a better deal too.

I can't do this anymore because I have a small, few-channels package and 14-inch analog TV, and cheaper internet packages are bundled with HDTV cable plans. But thanks to anti-bundling laws (and a general sentiment that makes even McDonald's sell their toys independently of lunch boxes), internet-only packages are not unrealistically expensive.

Re:Tech Blogger Tries To Cancel Comcast Service, Hilarity En... by sp332 on Tuesday July 15, 2014 @09:51AM (#8036385)
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 En... by epi16 on Tuesday July 15, 2014 @09:09AM (#8036174)
Poor customer service? That would be enough for me, in the purely hypothetical scenario where I had a choice other than "no internet", "hook up an antenna to steal internet from the Starbucks down the street", or "Comcast".
Re:Tech Blogger Tries To Cancel Comcast Service, Hilarity En... by chris_wot on Tuesday July 15, 2014 @10:27AM (#8036589)
He said he told the rep in the first 10 minutes, which is not recorded. It's also irrelevant.
Re:Tech Blogger Tries To Cancel Comcast Service, Hilarity En... by mikeash on Tuesday July 15, 2014 @10:11AM (#8036508)
It doesn't help them out by saying "The customer service is poor." They know their customer service is poor. Comcast is legendary for having poor service. They are one of the most hated companies in the US and consistently have the lowest customer satisfaction ratings among ISPs. They're not blind and deaf, and they're well aware of where they stand. That they haven't improved means they're either unable to, or (IMO more likely) they've determined that good customer service isn't important to their bottom line.