Breaking up is hard to do… with Comcast

By Martie Hevia | Blue Beach Song™

Breaking up with Comcast is very hard to do, especially over the phone.

Ryan Block, former Engadget editor-in-charge and current AOL employee, attempted to cancel his Comcast service by phone, unfortunately, he got stuck with a customer service representative from hell. After ten difficult minutes, he decided to record the exasperating 20-minute conversation.

This recording shows not only how frustrating dealing with some customer service reps can be — something most of us have experienced — but also what super-human patience and restraint Mr. Block displayed.

Shame on Comcast. Bravo to Mr. Block.

From Ryan Block, the customer/caller:

Please note: this conversation starts about 10 minutes in — by this point my wife and I are both completely flustered by the oppressiveness of the rep.

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”).

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.

What I did not know is how oppressive this conversation would be. Within just a few minutes the representative had gotten so condescending and unhelpful I felt compelled to record the speakerphone conversation on my other phone.

This recording picks up roughly 10 minutes into the call, whereby she and I have already played along and given a myriad of reasons and explanations as to why we are canceling (which is why I simply stopped answering the rep’s repeated question — it was clear the only sufficient answer was “Okay, please don’t disconnect our service after all.”).

Please forgive the echoing and ratcheting sound, I was screwing together some speaker wires in an empty living room!

Martie Hevia (c) 2014 | All Rights Reserved