[Discuss] tools for dealing with cable company customer service

[tmetro+blu at gmail.com (Tom Metro)]

Edward Ned Harvey (blu) wrote:
> I can't demand anything.  As I described in another post, they ripped
> out half of my TV channels in the middle of a 2yr contract, told me
> if I cancel my service I'll be hit with a $425 early termination fee,
> argued with me pointlessly for hours, and eventually I caved...

The recent Comcast customer service call recored by Ryan Block and
carried widely by the media[1] has uncovered a potential tool in the
customer's favor. Some of the follow-up articles on that story looked
into the incentive structure[2] used with those Comcast employees and
found they are dinged not only when people drop service, but for
customers who call back again within 30-days due to an issue not being
resolved. (Every rep that talked to you in the 30-day window gets dinged
each time you call back.) They also get dinged for calls that exceed a
certain length of time.

1.
http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/07/comcast-memo-on-viral-cancelation-call-it-was-painful-to-listen-to/
2.
http://www.reddit.com/r/television/comments/2arg1k/comcasts_customer_service_nightmare_is_painful_to/ciy33bx?context=3


Ars Taechnica wrote up a guide on leveraging these incentives to your
advantage:
http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/07/a-guide-to-winning-the-customer-service-cancellation-phone-battle/


Armed with this, a consumer can state at the start of the call what it
is they want to accomplish (service discontinuation, rate reduction,
whatever), and then inform the rep that you intend to keep them on the
line as long as possible and that you will call repeatedly until the
issue is resolved in your favor. The rep can then decide whether they
want to call your bluff, or take the ding on the lost business to
resolve the matter quickly, or take the multiple hits for unresolved
issues and long calls.

Likely Verizon has some of these same incentives in place.

The bottom line is that it can pay to be persistent with these
companies. It may even be economical to outsource your call to a service
like Task Rabbit. With hundreds of dollars in savings at stake, it'll
likely cost less to hire someone to spend several hours talking to the
cable company on your behalf.

 -Tom

-- 
Tom Metro
The Perl Shop, Newton, MA, USA
"Predictable On-demand Perl Consulting."
http://www.theperlshop.com/