Slog

News & Arts

Line Out

Music & Nightlife

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Higher Than Average Call Volume

Posted by Sam Machkovech on Tue, Jan 13, 2009 at 2:12 PM

"Thank you for choosing Comcast. For English, press 1."

*thunk*

"To cancel or remove services from your existing account, press 4."

*thunk*

"We are experiencing higher than average call volume. Your call will be answered in — FIFTEEN — to — TWENTY-SIX — minutes."

Guess I'm not the only one hitting up Comcast's retention department today.

Share via

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Newsvine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • del.icio.us
  • Email
 

Comments (20) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment
1
Their automated call back system works great though.
Posted by Bryan on January 13, 2009 at 2:19 PM
2
Psst. The reps get paid a little extra for every caller they can retain. If it's one a those teevee packages, people are getting reps to offer good discounts, free premium channels added, etc. Mention your friends tell ya DishTV is good. Go for it.
Posted by tomasyalba on January 13, 2009 at 2:19 PM
3
What happened today? Why's everyone cancelling Comcast? (I mean, aside from the obvious reasons...)
Posted by Uncle Vinny on January 13, 2009 at 2:20 PM
4
I spent half an hour trying to get Qwest to cancel my DSL this morning - it's not just them.

I'm thinking of filing a Telco complaint that appears on their official log at the WA State Attorney General's office - it's the only thing they understand ... you can do it on the web.
Posted by Will in Seattle on January 13, 2009 at 2:21 PM
5
why does your phone make a 'thud' sound? mine makes a 'beep' sound when i press number 4.
Posted by Ewe Adork on January 13, 2009 at 2:21 PM
6
One time it didn't give me an option to get a call back, after being on hold for an hour and 40 minutes I gave up, they lost a customer for life :D
Posted by watchout5 on January 13, 2009 at 2:23 PM
7
@3: For me, it's the usual every-six-months Comcast Dance, in which a promo rate ends, your bill goes up, and you do what @2 recommends to get your bill back down to something less than... lemme see here... $108/mo.

In terms of a long cancellation hold time, I can only assume broke people have decided en masse that Real Housewives of Orange County isn't worth $50+ a month anymore.
Posted by Sam M. on January 13, 2009 at 2:24 PM
8
And WTF is up with Dish Network and KOMO? Talk about a bitchy breakup. That said, I will be kinda sad if they haven't patched things up by the time Lost starts.
Posted by kid icarus on January 13, 2009 at 2:27 PM
9
What on EARTH is that blue thing he's got nesting on his head? Gheezuz some one tell him.
Posted by Sargon Bighorn on January 13, 2009 at 2:30 PM
10
It was crappy last week too. But I did eventually get my internet-only bill down. Consumerist.com has some good insight on how to do it.
Posted by snakes on January 13, 2009 at 2:31 PM
11
If you pick "I want to sign up for Comcast" you get a person on the line immediately -- corporations have fully staffed call centers with people twittering all day long waiting for a call.

If you pick "I want to cancel Comcast" they have one guy in India who thinks "cancel" means "double my bill" so you have to wait no matter what.

I've gotten around the wait by choosing an option that makes it sound like I want to give them money (like "change your service"). Sometimes it works, sometimes they just forward you to the line for that guy in India.
Posted by bah on January 13, 2009 at 2:41 PM
12
i friggin hate that guy in india. i think his name is philip.
Posted by bo on January 13, 2009 at 2:59 PM
13
I had Comcast when I first bought my house, but it was so bad I switched to DirecTV and Verizon. Yes, they are not the greatest either, but still less trouble than Comcast.
Posted by Rob on January 13, 2009 at 3:00 PM
14
@11 bad advice. They'll just transfer your ass to the cancellation people anyways.
Posted by The CHZA on January 13, 2009 at 3:09 PM
15
I would give anything for Comcast. After moving to a building where Broadstripe was the ONLY option - and they SUCK ASS - I would really LOVE to have Comcast again. I pay $80 per month for digital cable that looks like reception from rabbit ears. When I complained I was told it would be three weeks before a technician could show up at my home. Of course when that happens, I have to take an entire day off work just to wait on their sorry asses to show up.
Posted by I HATE BROADSTRIPE on January 13, 2009 at 3:28 PM
16
I get fairly good service with Clear (nee ClearWire).

And you're right by the space needle -- their wimax tower.
Posted by Wimax 12 on January 13, 2009 at 3:30 PM
17
Comcast has done alright by me - helpful on the phone when there's an internet issue, not being unresponsive to other questions, etc.

And they just doubled their cable DL speed - 16 megabits/sec over here. Not bad.

Lord knows my constantly enlarging penis needs the bandwidth.
Posted by W. Kellogg on January 13, 2009 at 4:34 PM
18
@14 is right - it's what they did to me.

@17 for the really funny CAN-SPAM win.
Posted by Will in Seattle on January 13, 2009 at 5:24 PM
19
@9: Did you see the Gonzaga poster in the background? That's right, brother: he's in Spokane! And here in Spokane, we are nothing if not fashion forward!
Posted by TVDinner on January 13, 2009 at 6:23 PM
20
just remember when you finally do get to the end of that 30 minute wait that it's not the poor customer service rep's fault.
Posted by patrokles on January 14, 2009 at 12:17 PM

Add a comment

 

All contents © Index Newspapers, LLC
1535 11th Ave (Third Floor), Seattle, WA 98122
Contact Info | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use