Writer Veronica Belmont and her husband, AOL product manager and former tech journalist Ryan Block, called Comcast customer service last week to request to have their Comcast account disconnected. The couple was planning to change to another Internet and cable provider when they moved to another home.
However, the customer service representative that picked up their call just simply did not want to let the couple get out of their Comcast service.
Belmont was the one on the phone when the conversation with representative started. Upon being informed of the couple's request to discontinue their Comcast service as the couple had moved and switched to Astound, the representative began to ask why the couple was switching providers, offering a better deal.
"No, thank you, we've already switched, I just need to turn off the service in the old place," Belmont responded, but the representative proved to be relentless. The conversation went back and forth on the matter for a good five minutes, with the representative showing no signs of letting go of his insistence to have the couple keep their Comcast account connected.
By then, Belmont had become so upset that she handed over the phone to Block, who continued the conversation with the representative. The representative's persistence, however, did not skip a beat in insisting that the couple keep their Comcast service.
"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," wrote Block on his Soundcloud page, where the mentioned recording has been uploaded.
The recording begins about 10 minutes into the call, at which point the couple have become completely flustered by the representative's insistence.
"Being that we are the number one-provider of Internet and TV service in the entire country, why is it that you aren't wanting to have the number-one Internet service, number-one TV service available?" asks the representative. "I'm just trying to figure out what it is about Comcast service that you aren't liking, that you aren't wanting to keep. What is it about that service?"
The representative only backs off when Block says that he will stop talking and just wait for the service's cancellation to be processed, to which the representative finally rescinds and ends the conversation.
A representative from Comcast said that the company is investigating the situation and will be sending an apology to Belmont and Block.
"This isn't how our customer service representatives are trained to operate," the company added.
