Author Topic: Internet cable company fails to disconnect my service  (Read 1795 times)

birdman2003

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Internet cable company fails to disconnect my service
« on: April 22, 2019, 12:46:27 PM »
Moving/selling our home, so called internet cable service provider on 4/15 to request a service disconnect on 4/19.  My last bill statement was through 4/22 so I expected a slight refund of the couple days I over paid.  They said they needed 7 days notice to disconnect (such BS), so disconnect would happen on 4/22 (today).  The phone rep also said she would mail a box to my address by 4/18 so I could return their modem (yes, I deserve a facepunch for renting a cable modem).

Today (4/22) I call the company to let them know that I didn't receive the box for returning the modem, and asked where I could mail it myself.  Phone rep said she didn't show any disconnect schedule on my account, and I argued that no, that is what I called last week on 4/15 to request.  She schedules a disconnect for 4/29 and tells me to take my modem to a UPS store and have them handle it for me for free.

I'm not going to pay $20 for another week of service so after work today I'm just going to drive to their local office and drop it off in person.  Account closed!

ketchup

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Re: Internet cable company fails to disconnect my service
« Reply #1 on: April 22, 2019, 07:25:55 PM »
If it's Comcast, disconnect requests don't show up in their system right away and if you're billed for more service, you'll eventually get another bill with a credit back for it.  It's super dumb. 

At work, we didn't actually see any of that happen until two full billing cycles after cancellation (and accounting kept paying the bill), when it eventually worked itself out (and now we have a hilariously large credit on our account).  Luckily we're retaining copper Comcast for a single fax line (switched our main internet/PRI lines to fiber), so we'll work down our credit over the course of a year or two.

I cancelled Comcast service at home a few years back (switched to a local ISP with gigabit) and many months later got a check in the mail for something like 72 cents since I cancelled on the next to last day of our billing cycle.  Dumb.

birdman2003

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Re: Internet cable company fails to disconnect my service
« Reply #2 on: April 23, 2019, 06:57:18 AM »
Interesting - glad you have that fax line to use up the credit!
Yeah, my provider was Mediacom, and their people at the office in town were pleasant and helpful when I stopped by yesterday.  I didn't realize they had an office in the town where I work or else I would have just gone there in the first place.

soccerluvof4

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Re: Internet cable company fails to disconnect my service
« Reply #3 on: April 30, 2019, 04:30:33 AM »
These cable companies just seem to get worse and worse . Spectrum bought Roadrunner out by us so we went from bad to worse. They have been in my back yard 2 or 3 times with this big machine to repair/run a new cable over the last 3-4 months. The box is still wide open and they tore up my yard and said they would come back to fix and never have. Service sucks.  Seems to me if somebody would get it right they would make a fortune in this business. I dont get it.

PoutineLover

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Re: Internet cable company fails to disconnect my service
« Reply #4 on: April 30, 2019, 08:30:57 AM »
I called to cancel my internet mid-billing cycle, and sent back the modem in their prepaid envelope. I then got billed for the next full month, even though I was supposed to get a credit for the unused portion of my last month. They told me I would get the credit on the next bill for both the new bill and the credit, and I would just have to wait. On the next bill, it said there was a credit, but there was no cheque, and no credit on my credit card. I called again and they said they would mail the cheque.. we are now at 2 months after cancelling service. They finally mail it a couple weeks later, with a typo in my name so I can't auto deposit it, and I have to go to the bank, which tells me to get it reissued with the right spelling. Fuck that. I go to my other bank, which does deposit it.
Finally, 3 months after cancelling service I'm done with the whole thing. At least 5 long calls with awful service reps who give me the runaround every time. I suspect they do this so that most people won't bother and never get their refunds. I made a complaint to the consumer protection agency, but who knows if that will go anywhere. All that to say, it was fucking bullshit and internet companies are the scum of the earth.

ketchup

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Re: Internet cable company fails to disconnect my service
« Reply #5 on: April 30, 2019, 08:32:47 AM »
These cable companies just seem to get worse and worse . Spectrum bought Roadrunner out by us so we went from bad to worse. They have been in my back yard 2 or 3 times with this big machine to repair/run a new cable over the last 3-4 months. The box is still wide open and they tore up my yard and said they would come back to fix and never have. Service sucks.  Seems to me if somebody would get it right they would make a fortune in this business. I dont get it.
You can thank regional monopolies for that.  They don't have to be good since there isn't real competition.  Where I used to live, a fiber ISP was able to move in to create more competition (which was great), but only because they were 100% fiber optic and not "cable" (Comcast already had exclusivity) or "phone" (AT&T already had exclusivity).  It's gross.

pecunia

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Re: Internet cable company fails to disconnect my service
« Reply #6 on: June 08, 2019, 03:34:34 PM »
I don't think the regulators of these cable companies are on the side of Joe Public any more either.  Remember that "net neutrality" thing a short time back?

You are best off when you get an internet that is run by your local government.  These cooperative type services seem to always give better value than the big monolithic companies.  Those companies are hard to deal with too.  Higher price and poorer service.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!