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Telecom Rep From Hell

Retention agent sounds like he's actually pretty decent at his job. Problem is Comcast training him to be like that is disgusting.
 
yowch. the guy on the other end of the phone is probably thinking he's doing a good thing.
 
We called TWC several times trying to get our bill reduced, threatening to leave. No dice. We get DirectTV and a DSL installed, and call back to ask where to return the equipment. We got nothing like this. But we did get 3 calls later in the week with deals to re-connect with them. We laughed.

This dude should have answered "annoying, stubborn retention service agents." There's a legitimate laundry list of reasons to leave, just pick one. It takes two to tango.
 
Whenever I've had to cancel some service like this (where you know the reps, regardless of what the PR talking head says, are trained to never let you go), I just say that while the bills for the house are in my name, it was where my mother-in-law (use whatever close relative you like) lived while coping with _______ (whatever affliction you like). Now that she's passed away, we're trying to get the house ready to sell while dealing with final arrangements.

100% success rate. Calls never drag out and some have even offered to remove names from marketing lists. And yeah, it's fucked up that in a consumer-driven market, you have to stoop to shit like that.

I also highly recommend just asking to be put through to the retention department. Do it up front and it tells them you mean business.
 
I cancelled DirecTV last year when moving because my current place won't allow it. When I explained my situation it was a very quick and simple call, as was everything with them. I still get like 2 mailings a week asking me to come back, including the occasional handwritten card. I will go back to them eventually when I can, and I'm dreading the call to cancel Comcast.
 
awaken said:
We called TWC several times trying to get our bill reduced, threatening to leave. No dice. We get DirectTV and a DSL installed, and call back to ask where to return the equipment. We got nothing like this. But we did get 3 calls later in the week with deals to re-connect with them. We laughed.

This dude should have answered "annoying, stubborn retention service agents." There's a legitimate laundry list of reasons to leave, just pick one. It takes two to tango.
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I called TWC because my bill went up $40 due to end of a promotion. Guy I talked to got it down $40 from the old cost, $80 bucks from the new one. Took me about 10 minutes.
 
I couldn't listen to that whole call. It was painful.

Agree that the guy was probably doing as instructed...but annoying as hell
 
Spot the Wonder said:
I called TWC because my bill went up $40 due to end of a promotion. Guy I talked to got it down $40 from the old cost, $80 bucks from the new one. Took me about 10 minutes.
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Exactly. We wanted the same. We were willing to stay, and called twice to negotiate down. They offered nothing meaningful (like $5 off). Maybe it was because my wife called and they treat women differently? Maybe they thought we were bluffing? I don't know, but they had their chances to keep us (and yes, we did ask for "customer retention"). We were astounded at their unwillingness to negotiate in our case. :noidea: Regardless, we are very happy with DirectTV and DSL is adequate.
 
Comcast's response:

"We are very embarrassed by the way our employee spoke with Mr. Block and are contacting him to personally apologize," the company said in a statement. "The way in which our representative communicated with him is unacceptable and not consistent with how we train our customer service representatives. We are investigating this situation and will take quick action. While the overwhelming majority of our employees work very hard to do the right thing every day, we are using this very unfortunate experience to reinforce how important it is to always treat our customers with the utmost respect."

http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2014/07/15/331681041/comcast-embarrassed-by-the-service-call-making-internet-rounds
 
this line is part of the awful truth

ke John Herrman over at The Awl, I can hardly imagine what horrible, punitive incentive structure Comcast has put in place for its employees that might inspire this sort of interaction. There's something almost heartbreaking in the moment the rep finally gives up.
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Appears as though, Ryan Block, the 'customer' in this phone call, is a leading tech dude(former editor of Engadget and founder of gdgt) that has a somewhat dubious history of using similar tactics against other tech giants. Keep in mind that Comcast is currently in merger talks.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_Block
 
i mean it's pretty clear he's like goading the dude a bit; extremely few regular customers would be that patient with a CSR
 
I recently cancelled Comcast and had zero problems.

I've also found it easier to cancel cable if you show up to their location in person w/ all of your boxes and wires. They're less likely to harass.
 
My new place is already set up for DirecTV and one of the selling points is that I can finally sever my relationship with Comcast.
 
Verizon offered a weirdly sweet deal, so I cancelled comcast. I told the rep the deal I was getting, and he said "that's not possible. You must be mistaken." Lol
 
CHillDeac said:
Appears as though, Ryan Block, the 'customer' in this phone call, is a leading tech dude(former editor of Engadget and founder of gdgt) that has a somewhat dubious history of using similar tactics against other tech giants. Keep in mind that Comcast is currently in merger talks.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_Block
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So he used some kind of telepathy to force the CSR to be an idiot?
 
Explanation
http://www.theverge.com/2014/7/16/5909591/here-s-why-your-comcast-rep-is-yelling-at-you

"The customer service rep is trapped in an impossible position, in which any cancellation, even one he can't control, will reflect poorly on his performance."
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A Reddit commentor who is a former Comcast employee of 9 years lays out the pay structure, which basically amounts to...

the incentive structure is really about punishment. Reps start out the month with a full commission, but every canceled product deducts from that amount. Once reps fall below a certain threshold, they get no commission at all. That means a rep could get all the way to the second-to-last day of the pay period only to have a customer cancel four products. Suddenly the rep is below her goal, losing $800 to $1,000 off her paycheck.
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Comcast’s retention reps are paid a low hourly wage supplemented by a monthly commission that depends on how many customers they are able to drag back into the fold.
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It’d be nice to think that Comcast will change its policies so that reps are actually encouraged to do what’s best for the customer. Unfortunately, massive companies that don’t face much competition tend to treat their customers poorly and their employees worse — which is why Block’s call is the perfect argument against Comcast’s looming merger with Time Warner Cable.
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