You probably have your own fair share of cable-provider horror stories. But former Comcast customer Ryan Block’s may very well take the cake.

Block, the former editor of the tech site Engadget and a product developer at AOL, recently shared his story/living nightmare on Twitter. Block’s wife, the writer Veronica Belmont, called Comcast to cancel the current service because the household was switching to Astound. Belmont was transferred to the “cancellations” line and handed the phone over to her husband. That’s when the terrorizing began, and Block decided to record the conversation and post it to SoundCloud

Per Block’s explanation:

“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.’).”

The call starts like this:

Block: We’d like to disconnect please.

Comcast rep: Why is it that you don’t want the faster speed? Help me understand why you don’t want faster internet.

Block: Help me understand why you can’t disconnect us.

Comcast rep: Because my job is to have a conversation with you about keeping your service, about finding out why it is that you’re looking to cancel the service.

Block: I don’t understand …

Comcast rep: If you don’t want to talk to me, you can definitely go into the Comcast store and disconnect your service there.

And it goes on for another seven more excruciating minutes.

But, seriously, listen for yourself. The Comcast representative’s utter determination to keep Block with the provider comes off as both unhelpful and disdainful; it’s like the worst part of every conversation I’ve had with cable provider stitched together into some cruel eight-minute sound bite. At one point, an exasperated Block even wonders aloud if the whole thing is a joke.

Since the recording has spread, Comcast released a statement on behalf of the employee, who remains unnamed.

“We are very embarrassed by the way our employee spoke with Mr. Block and are contacting him to personally apologize. 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.”

Sure, Comcast. We’re sure you do.

https://www.yahoo.com/tech/this-may-be-the-worst-customer-service-call-in-history-91851980684.html

Apparently Comcast bases it's employee evaluations in this position of getting the customer not to cancel- that is why the employee tried to get them to cancel through the store.

As bad as the employee was to the customer you can bet that management treats its employees far worse.

They must be incentive based too, because they are extremely aggressive.  We just had this situation 2 weeks ago, with AT&T.   Kept getting calls from them with increasing aggressiveness, pressuring a reconnection.  The final call - had to be their top closer - would not let me say no or get off the phone.  I persisted in explaining their bad business model and how they could improve and retain me as a customer, but that was not an objection she was trained to overcome.   Overall, it was very very bizarre.   So it sounds like these companies are using these hired guns to make cancellation such a hassle that you'll just stick with them. Interesting psychological tactic.

Apparently Comcast bases it's employee evaluations in this position of getting the customer not to cancel--that is why the employee tried to get them to cancel through the store.  As bad as the employee was to the customer
you can bet that management treats its employees far worse.

Excepting the people who are naturally cruel or insensitive jerks, the job would only be considered by the financially desperate.

I'm sure it's a grimly stressful one for the employees, who themselves can easily identify with the calling customer's issues of household budget and expense priorities.  The likely low success of the most humane employees will undoubtedly have more & more of their calls monitored, and their "evaluations" put on shorter & shorter cycles by management, until they're fired for "low production" or somesuch.

They must be incentive based too, because they are extremely aggressive. [....] So it sounds like these companies are using these hired guns to make cancellation such a hassle that you'll just stick with them.

The typical job-title for the "hired guns" is "retention agent".  Appearing under the self-contradictory--if not outright fraudulent--employment category "customer service".

Interesting psychological tactic.

The psychology is arguably more interesting in reverse: The presumption by management that slavish attention by the employees to following a "retention" script (and other per-call standards) ought to override sensible decisions made--before making their phone calls--by their own customers about their personal issues of budgets or unsatisfactory-service.

The primary Central Florida daily newspaper prints a disproportionate number of employment ads for "retention agents", evidence of the region's economy, whose tourism-service sector is notorious for paying low wages.  An excellent example of corporatizing profits, while socializing costs in the form of relatively widespread use of "public assistance", i.e.: taxpayer-funded programs to support the resident poor, because their wages aren't adequate to live on--even if fortunate enough to be employed "full-time".

Perfect jobs for psychopaths.

Getting paid for being a bully.  

Her 57-year-old husband passed away this summer, a victim of cancer. But Maria Raybould says T-Mobile UK wouldn’t stop sending his cellphone bills and late payment alerts to her home.

So she visited a local store with his ashes in hand.

The Wales widow told a local news outlet that her late husband, David, had been paying £26 ($40) a month to T-Mobile UK (a differently owned and operated company from T-Mobile in the United States) for a contract plan. Since the charges were being directly debited from his bank account, Raybould’s son went in person to close his father’s line a day after he died, thinking it would be “one less thing for us to worry about.”

“They told [my son] he would have to bring in David’s death certificate,” Raybould explained to WalesOnline. “He went back with the death certificate, and they told him they would send a copy of it to head office.”

But the account wasn’t closed, and the bills and texts from T-Mobile continued to come.

Raybould went to the retail location herself several times to try to clear things up, again bringing the death certificate and plenty more proof of her husband’s passing.

“I’ve been up to the shop with the death certificate, with a letter from the crematorium, the funeral bills — even his ashes. I took in everything I could,” she said.

After she brought in her husband’s ashes, the staff assured Raybould that the contract would be stopped. But the notices kept coming.

T-Mobile last sent a letter, addressed to David Raybould, on Nov. 8. It was a bill for £129.48 ($203) with an attached threat of tacked-on cancellation charges and further debt collection measures.

A T-Mobile UK spokesperson told WalesOnline that, after a delay, the matter with Raybould’s family has now been settled. The account has been canceled, the balance cleared, and the company is writing Raybould to apologize.

But this type of customer service, which led the widow to claim, “It was easier for us to bury him” than it was to sort out his cellphone contract, is unfortunately not a shock to anyone who’s been following the recent Comcast saga here in the States.

As a part of our Comcast customer service fail roundup, we spoke to a horrified ex-patron who claimed she was told her late husband would have to disconnect their service himself.

“I called to cancel my Comcast service. It turned out to be in my deceased husband’s name. I told them he was recently deceased. I was told I could not cancel the service; only my husband could!”

The first two representatives the woman spoke with reiterated the same, much to her disgust. But the matter was eventually resolved when she brought a death certificate to her local Comcast office.

“I never used Comcast again,” she told Yahoo Tech.

We get it. A brawl like that, during such a fragile time, would keep just about anyone from wanting to use Comcast ever again. And though Raybould, the widow fighting with T-Mobile in the UK, didn’t say as much, we’d have to think that she’ll strongly consider taking all of her telecommunications business elsewhere, too. If she hasn’t already done so, that is.

https://www.yahoo.com/tech/widow-brings-husbands-ashes-to-t-mobile-store-when-102899759919.html