Can You Cancel Comcast Move and Get the Deal Again

Comcast, my cable company, has an abrasive habit of unexpectedly raising my pecker for cable internet service. When I moved to the Washington, DC, expanse in 2013, I signed up for Comcast'due south Xfinity broadband service at an introductory rate of $41.99 per month. In Jan, the price went up to $57.99. So, in May, my nib went up again — to $74.95. That was almost double the rate I had signed upwardly for.

Economists phone call this strategy price discrimination. Basic economic science suggests that companies tin increase their profits if they charge unlike customers different amounts.

Starting out with a low introductory charge per unit and then gradually raising prices helps Comcast become every bit much money as possible out of each customer. As a long-time Comcast customer, I knew that if I called and threatened to cancel, the cable behemothic would likely offer me a disbelieve.

Only I wanted to know more. How exactly does this process work? And what should customers exercise to get the biggest discount? Earlier this year, I talked to ii quondam Comcast customer service reps who have seen how the system works from the within. Hither'south what they told me.

Pretend you're canceling your service

You lot might exist tempted to just be honest and inquire for a discount. But that probably won't work.

Cablevision networks are extremely expensive to build. But once the equipment is in the basis, the cost of providing service to i customer is very low. Almost all of your monthly cable neb goes straight to your cable company'south bottom line.

That means that your cable company is going to be willing to give you a hefty discount to proceed your subscription — but but if they really call back yous're going to abolish otherwise. If they think you're just bluffing, then they have no reason to offering yous a discount.

"It pays to play hardball," a former Comcast rep told me in May. He worked at an Oregon Comcast call centre from 2002 to 2009. "Threatening to cancel volition get y'all further than outright request for a discount."

And then just say "I'd like to cancel my service please." Y'all'll nigh certainly be transferred to a "retention specialist" whose job it is to change your mind.

401(1000) 2012

Be polite but firm

People in Comcast's "retention" department are rewarded based on their success at getting you to keep your service without giving y'all a big disbelieve. So they're going to do their best to get you to change your mind for free.

"Everything was very commission-based," according to Adam Reinardy, who worked in a Comcast phone call middle in Minnesota until 2008. "You lost committee if you gave deals. If you retained a customer without giving them whatever sort of deal, you got commission on information technology."

So the person y'all talk to may try to persuade you with something other than a price interruption. The representative might merits that they have rules against giving customers back-to-back discounts, or claim that giving likewise many discounts to 1 customer would be unfair to other customers. Just if you hold out, their melody is likely to change.

"Existence super firm merely not angry about it and just continuing to toe the line until somewhen they pause is the way to do it," Reinardy told me in May. "They will try to avoid giving yous a deal as much as possible until they realize nothing else is going to piece of work."

Know exactly what you desire

After talking to these experts, I put their advice to the test. When I chosen Comcast, a representative asked if I was having trouble with video streaming. When I said I was, he offered to give me a free upgrade to Comcast'due south "Boom" tier instead of a discount. When I withal wasn't satisfied, he offered me a $10 discount, so a $15 one. I accustomed that deal.

So information technology'south good to game out in advance what kind of concessions you're interested in. If you only desire to pay less money, then make information technology articulate that you're just interested in that and are not interested in faster service, premium channels, or other perks. And have a clear thought of how large of a discount yous're looking for.

In making that decision, it'due south a expert idea to figure out how much culling services — similar DSL Internet or satellite TV — actually cost. That will assistance yous figure out how big of a disbelieve to ask for. And it will also brand you audio more convincing when y'all insist that you really would like to abolish.

Steven Depolo

Don't inquire to talk to a managing director

"Demanding to speak with a managing director won't exercise y'all whatsoever favors," my Oregon source told me. "If anything, a manager volition exist more than curt than an acquaintance. Why? They don't have to worry about the metrics, for one thing, and you're interrupting the work they're supposed to be doing."

If y'all don't get a good outcome, try again afterward

My Oregon source also said that the size of the discount available "depends on multiple factors, one of which is only the temperament of the associate you're speaking with."

"Retention associates can only let a certain number of customers to receive discounts," he told me. "They'll become dinged by management if they resort to this method too often. Depending on where a given associate is on their metrics, they might play tough or they might be a total pushover."

Then if you wind up in a collision with a particular representative, politely end the phone call and try again a few days later. Yous might get someone who has more than flexibility to offering yous a discount.

Of course, you shouldn't overdo this. The visitor does keep records of by calls, so if you call for a discount five times in one calendar week they're going to figure out you're not serious about canceling. Simply if you don't get a good response from the first person you talk to, it doesn't injure to try a second or third time.

(Dave Winer)

Does this apply to other cable providers?

I've been focusing on Comcast because I'thou a Comcast customer and both of my sources worked in that location. But about of the advice should apply to other cable companies too.

Before I became a Comcast customer, I lived in St. Louis, which is Lease territory. Charter refused to annotate for this story, but a source tells me that Charter pursues the same basic strategy: customers who asked to downgrade or disconnect their service would be transferred to the retention section, where they would exist offered special discounts.

A Cox spokesman said in an emailed statement that Cox "offers promotional pricing with both existing and new customers to aid with retention."A representative from Fourth dimension Warner didn't reply to a request for comment.

Farther reading

• Comcast and Fourth dimension Warner are America's biggest cable companies — and the to the lowest degree popular
• Google is trying to shame Comcast into running its network better
• Comcast is destroying the principle that makes a competitive cyberspace possible

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Source: https://www.vox.com/2014/6/5/5780348/comcast