Visiting the Armpit of Customer Service

We have been trying to cut back on expenses in order to save money, and after much resistance on my part, I realized that the cable TV needed to go. It just plain costs too much, and when we really took inventory of what we watched on cable, we realized that we absolutely never watched more than about 10 cable channels. Anything that we really wanted to get was readily available through various internet video sites like Hulu.com, Sling.com, and the network sites. In a real pinch, bittorrent would come to the rescue and help us get the programs we want to watch. Since we have a TiVo HD, and it has a built-in over the air HD tuner, all we needed to do was get an antenna that would pick up the HD local stations over the air from Seattle. I researched it and we purchased an amplified directional TV antenna that does an excellent job of picking up all of the important Seattle stations. My brother Brek came over last Saturday to help install the antenna and run the wire through the attic and down the wall to get a nice, professional-looking installation and everything works perfectly. The next step was to call up Comcast and cancel TV service.

This is where it gets annoying. I called their 1.800.COMCAST number in order to cancel just my TV service and keep cable internet service. They have you navigate a small phone tree to get to the cancelation line, which puts you in a hold queue. The computer cheerfully announced that the hold time was currently "greater than one hour," which is ridiculous, of course. However, I was committed to getting rid of cable TV right then, so I put my phone on speaker and listened to the horrendous smooth jazz junk that they play to encourage people to give up and hang up. Despite my bleeding ears, I endured until someone finally answered my call one hour and thirty-five minutes later. She promptly tried to get me to keep my service, offering inadequate discounts (which would expire in a few months, of course) and the option of keeping just basic cable, yada yada yada. She warned me that by canceling my TV service, I would no longer get the multiservice discount, and thus my cable internet would be more expensive. I knew all of this already, and I fended off her attempts to retain me as a customer. I soldiered on and canceled cable TV complete, while keeping cable internet service. The lady informed me that I would need to pull the cable cards out of my TiVo and return them to their office. I agreed to do so.

This is where the Armpit of Customer Service comes in. The closest Comcast office to our house was completely out of my way, so I decided to go to the only other Comcast office anywhere close in Auburn (since it is kind of close to my office). I had to go there during my lunch time, even though I knew that would mean a long line. I just didn't realize that the line would be so smelly or that the office would be so bleak and depressing. There were three ancient 17-inch CRT televisions on the wall showing ESPN and a couple of other basic cable channels behind the customer service people and one newer 46-inch plasma HDTV on the wall, showing last night's episode of American Idol. The plasma TV was the only thing in the office that didn't look run-down and poorly maintained. I figure it is only a matter of time, though. The whole place smelled like an old person's mobile home. Everyone there was resigned to their fate of being stuck in Comcast's armpit until we could get through the line. I listened to several people picking up self-install kits, or returning equipment, or swapping out equipment. One person was laying down a huge wad of cash to pay for her very overdue bill in order to get her TV service turned back on. In short, it was a lot like the DMV, only more depressing and soul-crushing. I was happy to finally get to the counter, turn in my cable cards, and then get the heck out of there. The whole experience was just plain Comcastic!

In summary, the bill before canceling cable TV service: $125 per month. The bill after canceling TV service, but retaining cable internet: $57 per month. That is more than 50% less per month. I think that savings is totally worth it. And the intarwebz will soon be sending a whole lot more bits my way since the final episodes of Battlestar Galactica are set to air in the coming weeks.