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Ask HN: Comcast just told me it takes 90 days to cancel account

16 points by ehutch79 ↗ HN
We've switched to another provider, and we're trying to cancel our comcast account.

When I called up they told me that it takes 90 days to disconnect us, even if we return all the equipment. During which they'll be billing us. I know if we decided not to pay our bill, it'd be shutoff in seconds. So that's total BS.

Does anyone know how to get ahold of someone that can actually terminate our account?

15 comments

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smcguirk
Luxury! Took them (I believe) 6 months and they kept billing us and also sent new equipment. Never again.
Someone
Read the agreement you signed. I don't have the faintest idea whether it is anything like what you signed, but https://www.xfinity.com/Corporate/Customers/Policies/Subscri... states:

"Termination by You. Unless you have signed a minimum term addendum, you may terminate this Agreement for any reason at any time by notifying Comcast in one of three ways: (1) send a written notice to the postal address of your local Comcast business office; (2) send an electronic notice to the e-mail address specified on www.comcast.com; or (3) call our customer service line during normal business hours. Prior to affecting such termination, or any other change to your account, Comcast may undertake actions to verify your identity and confirm your election. Subject to applicable law or the terms of any agreements with governmental authorities, all applicable fees and charges for the Service(s) will accrue until this Agreement has terminated, the Service(s) have been disconnected, and all XFINITY Equipment has been returned"

Seems fairly clear to me, except for the "Prior to affecting such termination, or any other change to your account, Comcast may undertake actions to verify your identity and confirm your election" part. I guess a weasel could easily take 90 days to do so.

jh37
I've always emailed ecare@comcast.com with any issues/changes/etc. with my Comcast. Provide them with with all the account info and a phone number. Someone has always called me back within 24hrs that had the authority to make changes or cancel. Hope that helps.
chatmasta
A few years ago I had an issue with Comcast where they were clearly in the wrong. I sent an email threatening to go public to We_Can_Help@cable.comcast.com and someone from their "executive relations team" sorted it out quickly.

Fuck Comcast.

space_ghost
I switched to AT&T's gigabit fiber last year and had no issue getting my Time Warner cable service cancelled. One phone call and the service was immediately disconnected, and they mailed me a refund check for the remainder of that month's service.
esw
I had the same experience with Verizon. I told them that I loved Fios, but I was moving to an area without service. They didn't give me any grief.
existencebox
They tried to do this to me when I bought a house. It was a hot market, so naturally the transaction went start to finish in <2 weeks, and I wasn't even sure at the end of week 1

I was furious at the thought of paying for a service where I wasn't even living (To add insult to injury they threatened to fine me if I cancelled anyway), so I simply kept calling and escalating. They'd assign me a ticket, and if they EVER slipped their 48 hour SLAs, I'd call again and escalate again. (document everything) Luckily for me their ticket handling was so shoddy a higher manager eventually saw the churn on the tracker and handled me himself, he seemed both competent and sympathetic to the BS I had to put up with and both cancelled and credited my account.

To answer your core question with a ramble: in this situation the squeaky wheel really does get the grease. I'm sorry you have to go through their shit, "not comcast" was frankly a large motivator in choosing my house where I did.

balabaster
When I was working for a large US telco, we were required by law (at that time), if we were told by the customer that if they were being deployed overseas with the armed forces that service would be cancelled immediately at the customer's request without further proof of military subscription or deployment being required. This was quite a while back so I cannot speak to whether or not this is still the case. You may want to do some digging first, but it might be an angle to abuse the system to get what you want. Obviously IANAL etc.
ElijahLynn
Obviously unethical too...
balabaster
By "too", obviously you mean "equally as unethical as the telco illegally preventing you from disconnecting service to gouge you for money they wouldn't otherwise be able to get from you"?

I was merely suggesting a solution to a problem. The question of who is more (un)ethical, the customer or the telco is for someone else to argue.

Given that I've worked on the inside of two major U.S. telcos, and seen the lengths they've gone to to rip customers off, I have zero problem discussing any and all loopholes to their fraudulent behaviour. They're as unethical as they come.

gnicholas
I've found Comcast to be fairly responsive when I inform the agent I'm speaking to that I will be filing a complaint with the FCC. Always ask for the name of your agent when mentioning this, for additional motivation.
ElijahLynn
I do this every time I call Comcast:

1. What is your operator ID and/or first name and last initial?

2. Can I please speak with your manager?

They either fix the issue or get the manager on the phone.

Manger gets on phone and usually resolves issue. If not then I repeat step #2.

ElijahLynn
Also, whenever calling anyone like this I have been programmed to keep a specific call log with timestamps and who I have talked with. Makes it much easier when speaking with management later on.
jpindar
I know it shouldn't be necessary in this modern age, but every time I've gone in person to one of Comcast's many local offices, they've solved my problem immediately.