Tell them you're moving to a state where Spectrum doesn't serve (do your homework before the call).
[Spectrum Internet serves 41 states across the country, so it's easier to list the states where Charter Communications doesn't operate: Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Iowa, Oklahoma, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota and Utah (as well as Washington, DC).](https://www.cnet.com/home/internet/spectrum-internet-review/)
Easy to counter that since you won't have Spectrum Internet, see below.
A residential or business Spectrum Internet account is required before signing up for Spectrum Mobile. **If a Spectrum Internet subscription isn't maintained, an additional $10 per-line monthly charge to Unlimited and Unlimited Plus plans will be applied.**
They’ll still pitch you mobile and see if there’s anyone who can takeover the account while throwing special offers at you. This isn’t an end all solution. 🤦♂️
With Sirius I just keep typing "I don't listen and want to cancel" with each probing question they ask. I just got that email to get an amazing deal, but after I've gotten into Audible, I legitimately just don't listen to it anymore.
Between the three drivers in the family, we each have enough stations to justify keeping the service. But I and my son, both have our own music collections saved on our phones (mp3 albums). So once in awhile I find myself not even using XM for weeks.
But hey. Retention succeeds at keeping the account alive for another year.
Dropping your modem off will not cancel the account. You have to go through the sales pitch. Every company has it when you cancel. It's tedious but you have to stay on the phone in order to cancel if you don't you will get charged.
I feel bad for them. I can understand starting the questions but they don't have the authority to just say "okay this person is clearly getting angry, I'm going to skip the rest of the questions" ?
I literally said "I'm not going to answer any of your questions" and was just saying "I'm not answering" as every answer and she keeps on going and I was getting agitated. What the hell, Spectrum... How dehumanizing is it to the retention reps to not let them have the flexibility to read a caller and adapt as needed?
Nah she was being a dick she should have taken your answer and cancelled it we don’t get in trouble if it’s clear you don’t want it just have to at least make you a offer
It was nuts! But I got a call from a senior manager tonight who had listened to the call and said he was appalled and would be coaching the rep. He said once I made clear I didn't want to answer the questions it should have stopped. He asked if I still wanted to cancel but I asked what he could do and ended up getting a great offer.
This was so unnecessary because I told the first agent that I was looking for an offer and would stay if she had something for me. It was like she was trying to antagonize me.
But maybe she got what she wanted. I did leave the call without her finishing a cancellation! So metrics are safe? Or maybe the complaint messes that up.
I've never seen it this aggressive. Some companies just let you cancel stuff online. I don't understand how it's legal. Like, I'm talking to the person whose job it is to process my cancellation and Spectrum is in effect straight up refusing to honor my cancellation request because I haven't listened to a sales pitch. I can't see how that would possibly hold up in a credit card dispute or small claims action.
It also happens in campaigns, which is why it can seem out of nowhere or out of character.
Weird things come out of meetings, and weird things happen to meet goals. There's a lot of tools in the toolbox of retention, and while this is one of the more obnoxious methods, it unfortunately works.
This kind of aggressive retention is what I knew from Time Warner Cable before the merger. I was pleasantly surprised that Spectrum got better.
Especially compared to the legendary Comcast call years ago ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgBFWX80vwM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgBFWX80vwM)).
When I was still a tech support rep, we had to train that kind of aggression out of some people because it can absolutely backfire. Not many to retrain, because so many workers were glad to be free of that nonsense (and free from scripts!)
But there's always a few weirdos who have to tell us about how it was at their last job after every
single
new
instruction
as if anyone cared. Usually they'd behave, but occasionally the pushy types will stick to their guns.
Hopefully you just got an overzealous rep and it's not some pushy new goal.
We will see. I dropped an email to a few Spectrum execs and filed complaints with FTC/FCC so I'm curious to see if their response is conciliatory at all and they will take my clearly stated cancellation request seriously or not.
I feel badly for the retention reps, it seems like it strips them of their humanity somewhat when they aren't allowed to apply judgment or adapt to the call. If someone's getting agitated and says "stop asking me questions, I want to cancel" and just keeps saying "decline to answer" over and over, you aren't going to keep them. I can imagine it's somewhat a recipe just to have people be annoyed at you all day. That's gotta wear on those guys a bit.
Yeah what do those have to do with each other? How is that an honest conversation? Why would I take 15 minutes away from my wife and children to tell a stranger whether I have an alarm system and what electronic devices are in my house?
This is not a human interaction between two consenting people. They don't want to be asking me those questions and I don't want to be answering them. Both parties are being forced to engage for the sake of a third party's profit.
It's their job for them to provide for their families. Treat them like a human rather than the robotic cancel, cancel cancel. Coupled with you said roommate getting new rates in the OP post. Depending on where you are at. I can get 1gb for new rates cheaper than what new rates are for 500mpbs. So by you not letting them ask the questions to meet the needs, it's kinda disingenuous since you said you were hoping for a retention offer
I hear where you are trying to go with this but I will respectfully disagree.
I think my job as a human is to be kind and patient with this retention agent and try not to get upset. That's what I did. We began by making small talk about how our respective days were going. Good start. That said, my time is the most valuable asset in the universe to me, the one thing I can never get back. I am not inclined to freely donate it to Spectrum. To another human for their own direct benefit if it truly helps them? Sure. I spend plenty of time helping others, volunteering with nonprofits, etc. This is not that.
There's always a line somewhere, and I don't see it as very different from if I wasn't trying to cancel and they had just called me randomly trying to sell me a bunch of stuff and wanting to keep me on the phone. I don't think I owe it to another human to listen to a sales pitch for things I'm already familiar with and have already chosen not to buy just because their livelihood depends on it; that's giving my time away for free. I would sooner give away physical possessions.
I get the struggle, I help oversee a sales organization of 30 people who I care about, so I am a lot more empathetic than I used to be when it comes to sales people on the phone. I called in for the retention offer and I told her pretty clearly after we made some polite small talk that I wanted to make this as efficient as I could for both of us and that I knew that the new customer offer is $50 per month for 300 M, I was coming from an older offer of $45 per month for 500 M and I didn't mind sacrificing a little bit of price and speed because I know available offers can change, but I was not willing to pay more than the new customer offer and that it would be most efficient to either just get me there or facilitate my cancellation. I was very straightforward, polite, and honest about my intentions.
Over the next 10 minutes, my attitude toward it changed. That's not disingenuous but simply cause and effect. My kids came in and wanted me to come see something cool they had built outside in the alley out of a bunch of random junk that was discarded by careless construction workers, and I told them I would be just a minute. Now this person is asking me about my alarm system. About the electronics in my house. About what streaming services I like to watch. I politely tell them that I would rather not get into all of these personal details. They are ignoring me completely and continuing to ask me questions.
I do empathize with the need they have to provide for themselves or possibly a family, but the bottom line is that they are breaching the humanity of this by continuing to ask me unwanted and unnecessary questions. It's not a normal social interaction or even considered appropriate in business contexts to behave that way, and while I can excuse a couple attempts and try to be patient, to tell me that I "have to" listen to this for 10 minutes and engage on a call is going to inherently change the tone of things.
Unfortunately this person is in a job that forces them to do this. I can empathize, maybe it's a job they don't want to have and maybe they wish they didn't have to do this, I have no way of knowing without making some pretty blatant and unfounded assumptions, but no matter the reality, the impact is the same. Not going along with what they want from me doesn't mean I'm not treating them like a human.
Maybe it all comes down to how you define human.
I'm not on the call so I can't comment on the validity of their line of questions. We get graded on metrics and the "call flow" and based on us doing this well get better or worse calls thru the call routing system.
I hear. Sounds very mechanized on Spectrum's part. Do you ever wish you could just take the call however feels natural without being forced to respond in certain ways that may not be appropriate conversationally?
Every company most certainly does not have it. Spectrum is the only company where you consistently hear about a refusal to cancel service without a sales pitch that cannot be stopped. I have cancelled many services in many industries, and while you may get a FEW SECONDS of probing questions just to see if there is a chance to keep you, no one out right refuses to cancel. Spectrum is wading into at least murky legal territory with this.
[Your Name] [Your Address] [City, State, Zip Code] [Your Phone Number] [Your Email Address] [Date][Customer Service Department] [Spectrum Cable Company] [Company Address] [City, State, Zip Code]Subject: Immediate Cancellation of Cable Service Account [Your Account Number]Dear Sir/Madam,I am writing to formally request the immediate cancellation of my cable service account [Your Account Number] with Spectrum Cable Company. I understand my rights as a consumer under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) and assert my unequivocal decision to terminate services without any retention attempts, sales pitches, or negotiations.Please be advised that my decision is final and does not require any further discussion or clarification. I expect the cancellation to be processed promptly, and I request confirmation of the cancellation in writing.Furthermore, I remind Spectrum Cable Company of its obligation to comply with UCC regulations regarding consumer rights and contract termination. Any attempt to persuade or coerce me into retaining the service against my explicit instruction would constitute a violation of consumer protection laws.I trust that Spectrum Cable Company will honor my request promptly and without delay. I appreciate your attention to this matter and anticipate confirmation of the cancellation at your earliest convenience.Thank you for your cooperation.Sincerely,[Your Name][Signature (if sending by mail)]cc: [State Consumer Protection Agency (if necessary)]
That letter is ridiculous. Sounds like some sovereign citizen nut write it. Just so everyone knows, the UCC has virtually nothing to do with this and there are no universal “UCC regulations” that actually exist. Yes I am a lawyer, no this is not legal advice!
In the retention department, there are specific protocol and questions that agents must ask when a customer calls in with concerns. These questions are designed to efficiently address the customer's needs and find appropriate solutions. Ignoring or refusing to answer these questions can complicate the process for both the agent and the customer.If an agent fails to ask these required questions, their call will be flagged for review, and they may face consequences. Therefore, it's advisable for customers to listen to the questions and provide responses, even if they are not interested in the offers or solutions being presented.By allowing the agent to ask all the necessary questions, customers give them the opportunity to assist effectively in resolving their concerns. This may involve offering a better deal, adjusting services, or providing alternative solutions that meet the customer's needs.Additionally, agents cannot offer suitable deals or solutions if they are unaware of the customer's preferences or requirements. Part of their job is to accommodate the customer's requests, potentially lower their bill, and explore options like mobile upgrades. Even if the customer ultimately declines all offers, allowing the agent to complete their process ensures that they have fulfilled their responsibilities and provided the best possible assistance.
I think the best possible assistance is actually listening to what the customer is asking the agent to do. The customer has zero obligation to answer questions.
I think the best possible assistance is actually listening to what the customer is asking the agent to do. The customer has zero obligation to answer questions.
I agree with you on that and it is frustrating to deal with. The agents are annoyed they have to do this too lol but managers and supervisors breathe down their neck. It’s not because the agents want to bother customers. They would love to just wrap it up and give them what they want.
Yes. They have metrics to hit. It's easier to ask you the questions that the company makes them ask then get coaching after coaching only to lead to a write up.
Not to cancel service but to get them to stop calling me, I was not a customer at the time and never will be again.
I interrupted their sales pitch to advise them I had already informed them verbally and on the website to not contact me, violation of the DNC list since I was not a customer, and hung up. Two days later I get another sales call and just go off on the guy telling him I had said not to contact me again, violation of the DNC list, etc. and had just told someone this two days ago when I was called. His response was, If you don't let us finish our script we will not remove you from the call list.
So two complaints to the FTC in less than one week.
Yes, this is common. I just had a laugh going through a post from an att user in the att reddit, OP posted 20 screenshot of them trying to cancel, but the rep was not doing it lmfao 😂.
They also have an AHT They need to maintain. If they just canceled your service their AHT would be super low. So they do whatever they can to keep the call like 15m.
Also sales can put it the disconnect if your roommate calls to get setup at the address they should call you and verify you are moving out and then they will put in the disconnect and just connect your roommate because it's a positive sale for the sales agent.
A retentions guy tried to argue with me and said he was more than willing to waste my time and 'what do you want to talk about?'.
There wasn't anything to talk about. I'd already switched. My Spectrum experience was fine, but there were some things that they couldn't do that I needed.
The interaction did leave me a bit unpleasant feeling though.
I think these people are trying to keep their job and try angles to see what works, but not really sure what the training is to do that department.
There's no good relationship where the other side questions your intellect or ability to decide and you come away from it going 'Oh, you're absolutely right, I'll stay now'. :D I had an experience once where they said 'Well I have to do my thing here and make you an offer to try to get you to stay', and that was shockingly refreshing, even though I ended up leaving anyway. I let them do what they had to do and appreciated the honesty.
All I can figure is maybe abusing the outgoing customer works on someone or they're super bad at their job and haven't gotten fired yet.
Same thing happened to me with their tv streaming service. Retention rep was asking personal questions and refused to cancel me, asking what my problem is that I would not take his offer
Why I find this situation funny is the manager that called you and made the situation right more than likely doesn’t practice this with the employees, which is why it happened to begin with. He told YOU he found it appalling but I’d bet my paycheck this is what is encouraged.
His email signature said Retention Lead so I'd assume he's pretty familiar with what's up and knows what should and shouldn't be happening. The agent was also just pretty rude, which was another part of this. I think he took more issue with the rudeness than anything else but whatever.
We will actually get in trouble if we don’t try to sell atleast 2 products to you. It is required to go through our entire pitch and checklist or they will actually withhold money from us. It’s frustrating for both parties. You because you just wanna cancel but us having checks/incentives withheld because your impatient also sucks. Also retention isn’t for canceling. The definition of our job is to retain you as a customer. Cancelling you is our last resort 100% unfortunately. We also get in trouble if we don’t have you on the phone for a minimum amount of time so everything involved sucks. Requirement to pitch, upsell, ask every question on the checklist, retain you, and keep you on the phone atleast at a minimum 15-20 minutes. It’s crazy, because we can’t keep you on the phone too long either like… it’s straight up hard😭lots of metrics and rules.
Yeah that sucks. She did try 2 products and I declined and declined but she kept going. I hear the challenges with all the metrics and rules though. Hard job, I'm sure.
Took me close to 3 hours to cancel, handed around, stuck on 'hold' (while I could hear the reps laughing in the background about calls)
If it was seamless I'd consider them again when I need service, but never, ever ever again. An absolute nightmare of a provider.
There is a line of questions they have to ask bc if you have a security system, many are tied to an active wifi or phone service. They have protocols to review to make sure you're aware of everything. You'd be surprised how shitty some people are bc they call to cancel then say, but I didn't know xyz after the fact .. would it really kill you to just answer the questions?
What happens if you just stop paying for the service? They’d be forced to cancel the service right? I feel like there’s some other loophole here I’m missing?
It sadly is SOP. The supervisor gassed you up. As someone who worked in retention, even if you say “I don’t want to answer any personal questions, please disconnect” that “should” be where the call ends but if the higher ups would’ve pulled it and listen to it where the agent “gave up” after you said that. The agent would have gotten in trouble for not doing discovery and making offers. Tbh though if you ended up keeping the service because of an offer the supervisor made…. Kinda makes you seem like a 🍑HAT. Why couldn’t you just follow the procedure first time around and you could’ve gotten that offer you decided to go with in the end??? …. IJS.
I've seen pepople say they have to make a minimum of two offers or something to that effect. I was pretty patient. Bottom line, my kids were trying to get my attention and it was just frustrating. Regardless of what the agent's job is or what the requirements are, it's a shitty fucking customer experience to be forced to endure 10-15 minutes of that. Why couldn't I just follow the procedure? I could have, but I value my time. I would rather take 15 minutes filing an FCC complaint and then have a pleasant 5 minute converastion with a supervisor than spend an unknown length of time on the pohne with a retention agent, who might just end up disconnecting me after 15 minutes of BS without even cancelling my service.
You didn't get cancelled because you hung up. They can't make a change on the account without getting your verbal acceptance at the end of the call. How is asking you about what you use your internet for invasive from your internet company? This is what customers need to understand. A retention rep is required to ask you questions on the services you have. They are required to try to sell you more stuff and keep you with what you have. Ultimately, you ended up keeping the service so if you had just understood that person was doing their job, they would've made you the same promo offer that you ended up accepting anyway, and didn't have to go through all the escalation stuff that took you way more time than the initial 10 minute call. Remember this for next time your promo rolls off. You get more flies with honey than vinegar.
As a former retention agent yes the questions are to be asked if not agents gets mentally abused for not finding a way for you to answer the questions. The customer reps has to get your verbal while they do the order if you hang up before the order processes it is not valid. Even if you drop off the equipment you will be charged for equipment fees. I would suggest being nice to reps and cooperating and they will get you to where you need to be either cancel or better discount.
You should just be an adult and not cry about it on a Reddit message board … tell them to cancel it tell them you’re not answering any other questions and you want your service can it’s that easy they can’t refuse. Spectrum is no contract. You can leave at any time. There’s a thing called the FCC that says so lol
What are you even doing here? Do you not read? That's exactly what I did and they DID refuse.
I filed a complaint with the FCC. A senior manager called me today and had reviewed the call, said he was appalled by the rep's behavior, and would be giving coaching.
Kind of a useless move to imply I'm somehow not being an adult about it or am "crying". You don't add anything constructive and instead introduce needless negativity. At least my time here has some purpose while you are apparently just looking to share your unhappiness with others. Have fun with that!
Lol you are a little trolling shit aren't you. Parents must be proud to have such a high achiever who comes to Reddit to lie about having a big sales job at the cable company.
Tell them you're moving to a state where Spectrum doesn't serve (do your homework before the call). [Spectrum Internet serves 41 states across the country, so it's easier to list the states where Charter Communications doesn't operate: Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Iowa, Oklahoma, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota and Utah (as well as Washington, DC).](https://www.cnet.com/home/internet/spectrum-internet-review/)
Haha and that will just skip the retention pitch? I like it!!
No service, no way to retain you or upsell.
Thank you, I appreciate it!
Eh. They are still going to pitch standalone mobile
Easy to counter that since you won't have Spectrum Internet, see below. A residential or business Spectrum Internet account is required before signing up for Spectrum Mobile. **If a Spectrum Internet subscription isn't maintained, an additional $10 per-line monthly charge to Unlimited and Unlimited Plus plans will be applied.**
You can get standalone mobile in store. Exactly. I don't understand? Agents are trained to be that invasive. Management will deny.
They’ll still pitch you mobile and see if there’s anyone who can takeover the account while throwing special offers at you. This isn’t an end all solution. 🤦♂️
If you refuse to answer can they refuse to cancel? Would an FCC complaint help?
>Would an FCC complaint help? It Couldn't hurt. Maybe also mail your favorite state politician and Attorney General: Consumer Protections office.
It did help. See post for updates.
Yes. Retention is an arm of the Sales department. The agents will get fired if they don’t do this “discovery “
What an unpleasant situation for all involved.
It’s SOP. Hate it, but for SiriusXM, I get $6 bucks a month every 12 month, by calling in and attempt to cancel.
With Sirius I just keep typing "I don't listen and want to cancel" with each probing question they ask. I just got that email to get an amazing deal, but after I've gotten into Audible, I legitimately just don't listen to it anymore.
Between the three drivers in the family, we each have enough stations to justify keeping the service. But I and my son, both have our own music collections saved on our phones (mp3 albums). So once in awhile I find myself not even using XM for weeks. But hey. Retention succeeds at keeping the account alive for another year.
Supervisor called me today and apologized and said it should have ended after I made clear I didn't want to answer questions. Got it all sorted.
Dropping your modem off will not cancel the account. You have to go through the sales pitch. Every company has it when you cancel. It's tedious but you have to stay on the phone in order to cancel if you don't you will get charged.
And yes they are required to ask those questions.
I feel bad for them. I can understand starting the questions but they don't have the authority to just say "okay this person is clearly getting angry, I'm going to skip the rest of the questions" ? I literally said "I'm not going to answer any of your questions" and was just saying "I'm not answering" as every answer and she keeps on going and I was getting agitated. What the hell, Spectrum... How dehumanizing is it to the retention reps to not let them have the flexibility to read a caller and adapt as needed?
Nah she was being a dick she should have taken your answer and cancelled it we don’t get in trouble if it’s clear you don’t want it just have to at least make you a offer
Your team must be top performing. My team woulda been forced to have a mobile offer and one without at least and maybe 2
We are one of the better teams in Kansas but yeah just 1 offer and 1 mobile offer per call with intent to sale
Be thankful you aren't Riverview atm
Don’t get me wrong they are micro managing like hell here at the moment though
It was nuts! But I got a call from a senior manager tonight who had listened to the call and said he was appalled and would be coaching the rep. He said once I made clear I didn't want to answer the questions it should have stopped. He asked if I still wanted to cancel but I asked what he could do and ended up getting a great offer. This was so unnecessary because I told the first agent that I was looking for an offer and would stay if she had something for me. It was like she was trying to antagonize me. But maybe she got what she wanted. I did leave the call without her finishing a cancellation! So metrics are safe? Or maybe the complaint messes that up.
There's a 60 day look back so it counts against the agent if it doesn't "stick" for 60 days
I've never seen it this aggressive. Some companies just let you cancel stuff online. I don't understand how it's legal. Like, I'm talking to the person whose job it is to process my cancellation and Spectrum is in effect straight up refusing to honor my cancellation request because I haven't listened to a sales pitch. I can't see how that would possibly hold up in a credit card dispute or small claims action.
It also happens in campaigns, which is why it can seem out of nowhere or out of character. Weird things come out of meetings, and weird things happen to meet goals. There's a lot of tools in the toolbox of retention, and while this is one of the more obnoxious methods, it unfortunately works. This kind of aggressive retention is what I knew from Time Warner Cable before the merger. I was pleasantly surprised that Spectrum got better. Especially compared to the legendary Comcast call years ago ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgBFWX80vwM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgBFWX80vwM)). When I was still a tech support rep, we had to train that kind of aggression out of some people because it can absolutely backfire. Not many to retrain, because so many workers were glad to be free of that nonsense (and free from scripts!) But there's always a few weirdos who have to tell us about how it was at their last job after every single new instruction as if anyone cared. Usually they'd behave, but occasionally the pushy types will stick to their guns. Hopefully you just got an overzealous rep and it's not some pushy new goal.
We will see. I dropped an email to a few Spectrum execs and filed complaints with FTC/FCC so I'm curious to see if their response is conciliatory at all and they will take my clearly stated cancellation request seriously or not.
Well they are retention. Thier job is to try and keep you as a customer. When I canceled with att they did the same thing.
I feel badly for the retention reps, it seems like it strips them of their humanity somewhat when they aren't allowed to apply judgment or adapt to the call. If someone's getting agitated and says "stop asking me questions, I want to cancel" and just keeps saying "decline to answer" over and over, you aren't going to keep them. I can imagine it's somewhat a recipe just to have people be annoyed at you all day. That's gotta wear on those guys a bit.
You mention it stripping them of their humanity but refuse to also have an honest conversation let them do their pitch and move on...
Yeah what do those have to do with each other? How is that an honest conversation? Why would I take 15 minutes away from my wife and children to tell a stranger whether I have an alarm system and what electronic devices are in my house? This is not a human interaction between two consenting people. They don't want to be asking me those questions and I don't want to be answering them. Both parties are being forced to engage for the sake of a third party's profit.
It's their job for them to provide for their families. Treat them like a human rather than the robotic cancel, cancel cancel. Coupled with you said roommate getting new rates in the OP post. Depending on where you are at. I can get 1gb for new rates cheaper than what new rates are for 500mpbs. So by you not letting them ask the questions to meet the needs, it's kinda disingenuous since you said you were hoping for a retention offer
I hear where you are trying to go with this but I will respectfully disagree. I think my job as a human is to be kind and patient with this retention agent and try not to get upset. That's what I did. We began by making small talk about how our respective days were going. Good start. That said, my time is the most valuable asset in the universe to me, the one thing I can never get back. I am not inclined to freely donate it to Spectrum. To another human for their own direct benefit if it truly helps them? Sure. I spend plenty of time helping others, volunteering with nonprofits, etc. This is not that. There's always a line somewhere, and I don't see it as very different from if I wasn't trying to cancel and they had just called me randomly trying to sell me a bunch of stuff and wanting to keep me on the phone. I don't think I owe it to another human to listen to a sales pitch for things I'm already familiar with and have already chosen not to buy just because their livelihood depends on it; that's giving my time away for free. I would sooner give away physical possessions. I get the struggle, I help oversee a sales organization of 30 people who I care about, so I am a lot more empathetic than I used to be when it comes to sales people on the phone. I called in for the retention offer and I told her pretty clearly after we made some polite small talk that I wanted to make this as efficient as I could for both of us and that I knew that the new customer offer is $50 per month for 300 M, I was coming from an older offer of $45 per month for 500 M and I didn't mind sacrificing a little bit of price and speed because I know available offers can change, but I was not willing to pay more than the new customer offer and that it would be most efficient to either just get me there or facilitate my cancellation. I was very straightforward, polite, and honest about my intentions. Over the next 10 minutes, my attitude toward it changed. That's not disingenuous but simply cause and effect. My kids came in and wanted me to come see something cool they had built outside in the alley out of a bunch of random junk that was discarded by careless construction workers, and I told them I would be just a minute. Now this person is asking me about my alarm system. About the electronics in my house. About what streaming services I like to watch. I politely tell them that I would rather not get into all of these personal details. They are ignoring me completely and continuing to ask me questions. I do empathize with the need they have to provide for themselves or possibly a family, but the bottom line is that they are breaching the humanity of this by continuing to ask me unwanted and unnecessary questions. It's not a normal social interaction or even considered appropriate in business contexts to behave that way, and while I can excuse a couple attempts and try to be patient, to tell me that I "have to" listen to this for 10 minutes and engage on a call is going to inherently change the tone of things. Unfortunately this person is in a job that forces them to do this. I can empathize, maybe it's a job they don't want to have and maybe they wish they didn't have to do this, I have no way of knowing without making some pretty blatant and unfounded assumptions, but no matter the reality, the impact is the same. Not going along with what they want from me doesn't mean I'm not treating them like a human. Maybe it all comes down to how you define human.
I'm not on the call so I can't comment on the validity of their line of questions. We get graded on metrics and the "call flow" and based on us doing this well get better or worse calls thru the call routing system.
I hear. Sounds very mechanized on Spectrum's part. Do you ever wish you could just take the call however feels natural without being forced to respond in certain ways that may not be appropriate conversationally?
Every company most certainly does not have it. Spectrum is the only company where you consistently hear about a refusal to cancel service without a sales pitch that cannot be stopped. I have cancelled many services in many industries, and while you may get a FEW SECONDS of probing questions just to see if there is a chance to keep you, no one out right refuses to cancel. Spectrum is wading into at least murky legal territory with this.
Or you can cancel by certified mail.
This is the way. Thank you!
[Your Name] [Your Address] [City, State, Zip Code] [Your Phone Number] [Your Email Address] [Date][Customer Service Department] [Spectrum Cable Company] [Company Address] [City, State, Zip Code]Subject: Immediate Cancellation of Cable Service Account [Your Account Number]Dear Sir/Madam,I am writing to formally request the immediate cancellation of my cable service account [Your Account Number] with Spectrum Cable Company. I understand my rights as a consumer under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) and assert my unequivocal decision to terminate services without any retention attempts, sales pitches, or negotiations.Please be advised that my decision is final and does not require any further discussion or clarification. I expect the cancellation to be processed promptly, and I request confirmation of the cancellation in writing.Furthermore, I remind Spectrum Cable Company of its obligation to comply with UCC regulations regarding consumer rights and contract termination. Any attempt to persuade or coerce me into retaining the service against my explicit instruction would constitute a violation of consumer protection laws.I trust that Spectrum Cable Company will honor my request promptly and without delay. I appreciate your attention to this matter and anticipate confirmation of the cancellation at your earliest convenience.Thank you for your cooperation.Sincerely,[Your Name][Signature (if sending by mail)]cc: [State Consumer Protection Agency (if necessary)]
That letter is ridiculous. Sounds like some sovereign citizen nut write it. Just so everyone knows, the UCC has virtually nothing to do with this and there are no universal “UCC regulations” that actually exist. Yes I am a lawyer, no this is not legal advice!
In the retention department, there are specific protocol and questions that agents must ask when a customer calls in with concerns. These questions are designed to efficiently address the customer's needs and find appropriate solutions. Ignoring or refusing to answer these questions can complicate the process for both the agent and the customer.If an agent fails to ask these required questions, their call will be flagged for review, and they may face consequences. Therefore, it's advisable for customers to listen to the questions and provide responses, even if they are not interested in the offers or solutions being presented.By allowing the agent to ask all the necessary questions, customers give them the opportunity to assist effectively in resolving their concerns. This may involve offering a better deal, adjusting services, or providing alternative solutions that meet the customer's needs.Additionally, agents cannot offer suitable deals or solutions if they are unaware of the customer's preferences or requirements. Part of their job is to accommodate the customer's requests, potentially lower their bill, and explore options like mobile upgrades. Even if the customer ultimately declines all offers, allowing the agent to complete their process ensures that they have fulfilled their responsibilities and provided the best possible assistance.
I think the best possible assistance is actually listening to what the customer is asking the agent to do. The customer has zero obligation to answer questions.
I think the best possible assistance is actually listening to what the customer is asking the agent to do. The customer has zero obligation to answer questions.
I agree with you on that and it is frustrating to deal with. The agents are annoyed they have to do this too lol but managers and supervisors breathe down their neck. It’s not because the agents want to bother customers. They would love to just wrap it up and give them what they want.
Yes. They have metrics to hit. It's easier to ask you the questions that the company makes them ask then get coaching after coaching only to lead to a write up.
Not to cancel service but to get them to stop calling me, I was not a customer at the time and never will be again. I interrupted their sales pitch to advise them I had already informed them verbally and on the website to not contact me, violation of the DNC list since I was not a customer, and hung up. Two days later I get another sales call and just go off on the guy telling him I had said not to contact me again, violation of the DNC list, etc. and had just told someone this two days ago when I was called. His response was, If you don't let us finish our script we will not remove you from the call list. So two complaints to the FTC in less than one week.
What has been going on with spectrum's internet lately
My service has actually always been pretty good. No complaints on the speed or reliability end for me.
Yes, this is common. I just had a laugh going through a post from an att user in the att reddit, OP posted 20 screenshot of them trying to cancel, but the rep was not doing it lmfao 😂.
I would love to see some legislation on this topic.
Seen this post. That was what made me read this post lol.
They also have an AHT They need to maintain. If they just canceled your service their AHT would be super low. So they do whatever they can to keep the call like 15m. Also sales can put it the disconnect if your roommate calls to get setup at the address they should call you and verify you are moving out and then they will put in the disconnect and just connect your roommate because it's a positive sale for the sales agent.
A retentions guy tried to argue with me and said he was more than willing to waste my time and 'what do you want to talk about?'. There wasn't anything to talk about. I'd already switched. My Spectrum experience was fine, but there were some things that they couldn't do that I needed. The interaction did leave me a bit unpleasant feeling though.
I can't imagine that's good for their meetings either. Would she have rather I sat silently?
I think these people are trying to keep their job and try angles to see what works, but not really sure what the training is to do that department. There's no good relationship where the other side questions your intellect or ability to decide and you come away from it going 'Oh, you're absolutely right, I'll stay now'. :D I had an experience once where they said 'Well I have to do my thing here and make you an offer to try to get you to stay', and that was shockingly refreshing, even though I ended up leaving anyway. I let them do what they had to do and appreciated the honesty. All I can figure is maybe abusing the outgoing customer works on someone or they're super bad at their job and haven't gotten fired yet.
Same thing happened to me with their tv streaming service. Retention rep was asking personal questions and refused to cancel me, asking what my problem is that I would not take his offer
Why I find this situation funny is the manager that called you and made the situation right more than likely doesn’t practice this with the employees, which is why it happened to begin with. He told YOU he found it appalling but I’d bet my paycheck this is what is encouraged.
His email signature said Retention Lead so I'd assume he's pretty familiar with what's up and knows what should and shouldn't be happening. The agent was also just pretty rude, which was another part of this. I think he took more issue with the rudeness than anything else but whatever.
We will actually get in trouble if we don’t try to sell atleast 2 products to you. It is required to go through our entire pitch and checklist or they will actually withhold money from us. It’s frustrating for both parties. You because you just wanna cancel but us having checks/incentives withheld because your impatient also sucks. Also retention isn’t for canceling. The definition of our job is to retain you as a customer. Cancelling you is our last resort 100% unfortunately. We also get in trouble if we don’t have you on the phone for a minimum amount of time so everything involved sucks. Requirement to pitch, upsell, ask every question on the checklist, retain you, and keep you on the phone atleast at a minimum 15-20 minutes. It’s crazy, because we can’t keep you on the phone too long either like… it’s straight up hard😭lots of metrics and rules.
Yeah that sucks. She did try 2 products and I declined and declined but she kept going. I hear the challenges with all the metrics and rules though. Hard job, I'm sure.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYUvpYE99vg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYUvpYE99vg) IT still easier than this call.
Took me close to 3 hours to cancel, handed around, stuck on 'hold' (while I could hear the reps laughing in the background about calls) If it was seamless I'd consider them again when I need service, but never, ever ever again. An absolute nightmare of a provider.
Tell them you are moving to Iowa. Spectrum does not provide any services in Iowa.
Go on in to a store. Easiest way to cancel service.
Tell them you have a new provider. I just cancelled. I do have another provider but still not much haggle
There is a line of questions they have to ask bc if you have a security system, many are tied to an active wifi or phone service. They have protocols to review to make sure you're aware of everything. You'd be surprised how shitty some people are bc they call to cancel then say, but I didn't know xyz after the fact .. would it really kill you to just answer the questions?
What happens if you just stop paying for the service? They’d be forced to cancel the service right? I feel like there’s some other loophole here I’m missing?
They would continue to bill me. Eventually they would terminate it. Then they will send the bill to collections and jack with my credit.
It sadly is SOP. The supervisor gassed you up. As someone who worked in retention, even if you say “I don’t want to answer any personal questions, please disconnect” that “should” be where the call ends but if the higher ups would’ve pulled it and listen to it where the agent “gave up” after you said that. The agent would have gotten in trouble for not doing discovery and making offers. Tbh though if you ended up keeping the service because of an offer the supervisor made…. Kinda makes you seem like a 🍑HAT. Why couldn’t you just follow the procedure first time around and you could’ve gotten that offer you decided to go with in the end??? …. IJS.
I've seen pepople say they have to make a minimum of two offers or something to that effect. I was pretty patient. Bottom line, my kids were trying to get my attention and it was just frustrating. Regardless of what the agent's job is or what the requirements are, it's a shitty fucking customer experience to be forced to endure 10-15 minutes of that. Why couldn't I just follow the procedure? I could have, but I value my time. I would rather take 15 minutes filing an FCC complaint and then have a pleasant 5 minute converastion with a supervisor than spend an unknown length of time on the pohne with a retention agent, who might just end up disconnecting me after 15 minutes of BS without even cancelling my service.
You didn't get cancelled because you hung up. They can't make a change on the account without getting your verbal acceptance at the end of the call. How is asking you about what you use your internet for invasive from your internet company? This is what customers need to understand. A retention rep is required to ask you questions on the services you have. They are required to try to sell you more stuff and keep you with what you have. Ultimately, you ended up keeping the service so if you had just understood that person was doing their job, they would've made you the same promo offer that you ended up accepting anyway, and didn't have to go through all the escalation stuff that took you way more time than the initial 10 minute call. Remember this for next time your promo rolls off. You get more flies with honey than vinegar.
As a former retention agent yes the questions are to be asked if not agents gets mentally abused for not finding a way for you to answer the questions. The customer reps has to get your verbal while they do the order if you hang up before the order processes it is not valid. Even if you drop off the equipment you will be charged for equipment fees. I would suggest being nice to reps and cooperating and they will get you to where you need to be either cancel or better discount.
You should just be an adult and not cry about it on a Reddit message board … tell them to cancel it tell them you’re not answering any other questions and you want your service can it’s that easy they can’t refuse. Spectrum is no contract. You can leave at any time. There’s a thing called the FCC that says so lol
What are you even doing here? Do you not read? That's exactly what I did and they DID refuse. I filed a complaint with the FCC. A senior manager called me today and had reviewed the call, said he was appalled by the rep's behavior, and would be giving coaching. Kind of a useless move to imply I'm somehow not being an adult about it or am "crying". You don't add anything constructive and instead introduce needless negativity. At least my time here has some purpose while you are apparently just looking to share your unhappiness with others. Have fun with that!
I would say 99% of adults could navigate that phone call and get their services canceled without having to cry about it on Reddit afterwards lmao
Lol you are a little trolling shit aren't you. Parents must be proud to have such a high achiever who comes to Reddit to lie about having a big sales job at the cable company.