I just got off the phone with a Comcast rep regarding the cancellation of our TV service. We want to keep their cable Internet service but couldn’t justify paying the price for television cable when we barely use it. Comcast is rated pretty poorly (or at least bottom tier) in customer satisfaction (Consumer Reports) and I fully know why based on my phone call with their rep.
My initial dial-in was met by the typical phone tree. Probably to filter out the customers who have technical problems or want to cancel their service, versus the people who are brand spanking new customers looking to open accounts. It didn’t surprise me to hear that the call center was experiencing unexpected volume and I should call back between 2-5pm. Because…Well you know – lots of people cancel cable 7 days before the Super Bowl.
I waited maybe 4 seconds before a rep picked up my line.
From there I explained what I wanted and I had to verify my account info. Once that was done, the rep asked me for my account info. I paused. Then she said “oh wait, nevermind.”
At this point I was expecting a bit of a sell – some promotion to entice me to stay on. Honestly, I would of been all ears. When we lived in Buffalo I was aiming to do the same with our cable service there but the rep I spoke to worked out a nice package that was almost a la carte – only the channels I wanted plus Internet below $100/month. Well I never got that. Instead I was informed that in order to cancel cable service you’re charged a $10 fee because a service technician has to come out to your property. I asked if I could just bring the equipment back to an office location and the rep said no, the technician has to “disconnect” it. I’m going to assume Mr. Technician is going to get on a ladder and climb up a pole or else I’m going to be pissed that I just got nickeled and dimed.
Moving along…The rep now asked if I would like the technician to collect the equipment for me. I asked the rep how much? She said it was part of the cancellation fee. What! Why bother asking me then if you’re sending a tech out in the 1st place? Mind you, I’m still a customer! On top of that, instead of charging me $57 plus tax for Internet only service, I’m paying $62 plus tax for downgraded Internet (12 mbps vs 16 mbps download) ! To retain the current speed would run me $75 plus tax a month for Internet only. With taxes and fees I’m probably looking at $70/month!
Unfortunately Fios is still unavailable in our neighborhood. And it’s not like we live in the sticks either. But it looks like they’re only charging $55/month plus tax for Internet only which I’m guessing is better than Comcast.
I should say that the customer service rep that helped me was nice. She didn’t get mad when I asked to be transferred to someone else to help regarding their pricing.
when we moved into our current home, we decided to try comcast. since it’s a historic neighborhood, we didn’t want the direct tv statellite dish to impede our neighbors’ views. after several VERY FRUSTRATING calls with Comcast, we decided that we were not going to be giving them our money. Their customer service is beyond awful.
As I suspected, all the technician did was see if we were currently still getting service, then called someone – said we were all set, and left. We still have service coming in so either they never turned it off and we’re still getting billed or we’re getting cable for free.