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Canceling Cable Is a Hellish Ordeal, Exhibit A

You want to know how a company earns (and I mean really earns) the title of most hated company in America? Well, this is a start. Canceling one’s cable services is a nightmare, and most everyone...
Canceling Cable Is a Hellish Ordeal, Exhibit A
Written by Josh Wolford
  • You want to know how a company earns (and I mean really earns) the title of most hated company in America?

    Well, this is a start.

    Canceling one’s cable services is a nightmare, and most everyone who’s ever tried is all too familiar with the ‘customer retention agent’ and their incessant attempts to keep you hooked.

    “So! Last week my wife called to disconnect our service with Comcast after we switched to another provider (Astound). We were transferred to cancellations (aka ‘customer retention’),” says Ryan Block, the former editor of Engadget.

    “The representative (name redacted) continued aggressively repeating his questions, despite the answers given, to the point where my wife became so visibly upset she handed me the phone. Overhearing the conversation, I knew this would not be very fun.”

    Nope. No fun at all. The conversation picks up when Block takes over the phone – and that’s when he started recording (for his own quality assurance, I suppose). What proceeds is eight minutes of bullshit – even more intense bullshit than most of us deal with when talking to the cable company.

    It’s the worst breakup I’ve ever heard. Can you say clingy?

    Block tweeted that he was, in fact, able to get his service disconnected.

    And a Comcast rep reportedly told VICE’s Sam Gustin that…

    “We’re investigating this situation and certainly want to apologize to the customer. This isn’t how our customer service representatives are trained to operate.”

    This does sound like a pretty extreme case, but Comcast is most certainly blowing smoke when it says that its minions aren’t trained to pester you into submission.

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