back to article Startup promises to cancel your hated Comcast subscription for you for just $5

Free marketeers would be proud; a startup in the US has just started up to deal with one of the toughest and most frustrating corporate trials – cancelling a Comcast subscription. Airpaper, which appears to be a two-man San Francisco upstart, will take up the torturous process of navigating the corporate ins and outs of …

  1. chivo243 Silver badge
    Headmaster

    Two Guys from Frisco

    or two guys that frisk you?

  2. Christian Berger

    Actually half of the company I work for...

    ...acts as an intermediate between companies who want their employees to have cell phones, and cell phone companies. So instead of having to talk to the cell phone companies, they talk to us.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    There's always money to be made as a middleman

    You just have to find the niche where there's demand. Bravo to these guys for finding it, and given Comcast's business practices that niche appears like it will be there for a long time to come.

  4. TaabuTheCat

    Tech support escalation

    Now all they need to offer is a service that gets past mindless first-level support and escalated to someone that actually has a clue about your (insert problem here), and then transfers the call to you. THAT would be an earner.

    1. Christoph

      Re: Tech support escalation

      And call the service "Shibboleet".

      1. Terry 6 Silver badge
        Pint

        Re: Tech support escalation

        If only..........

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Keep it up Comcast. I happen to know some pistol packing grandmas and great-grandmas that are close to snapping.

  6. Old Used Programmer

    As I understand it, it's quite easy to quit Comcast. You tell them that you're moving to a country where they don't operate and they don't make a fuss.

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    My experience with Comcast

    I was living in the US some years ago -- when I moved out I've just called them and told I will be out of the country for years. Cancelled without problem.

    This year I am back, and my first negative experience was contracting their service -- I've asked some question to one of the (possibly foreign) chat operators, who told me that I must SIGN UP ONLINE NOW instead of going to a store, otherwise THE STORE GUYS WOULD CHARGE ME MORE and worse THEY WILL DO ANOTHER CREDIT CHECK THAT WOULD LOWER MY CREDIT RATE and he was just giving me good advice because HE WAS JUST LOOKING OUT FOR MY INTERESTS and was probably MY BEST FRIEND IN THE WHOLE WORLD. Folding to the pressure I agreed to the conditions, and then he told me that I had to go to a store anyway to pick up the modem.

    The people at the store were way more nicer and helpful. I've mentioned to the store employee that I would have the service only for an year, he told me that in order to cancel all I would need to do is bring the modem to the store, no fuss, no big deal.

    I am getting old and very suspicious of the employees that answer online questions. My suggestion: drive to one of the stores and cancel it there, if they insist too much start to make noises where there are other costumers, can't be worse than screaming at the phone. Or just lie (or not) and mention you're leaving the US.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: My experience with Comcast

      At least they dont claim to be a RELATIVE OF THE LATE CLAUDE SHANNON who left behind an unmarked box of FIFTY MILLION US DOLLAR (50'000'000 USD) and that you could have UNLIMITED MONTHLY DATA QUOTA if you just signed on the DOTTED LINE.

    2. Deadlock Victim

      Re: My experience with Comcast

      Agreed, the folks in the store are way easier to deal with and usually have better deals if you're signing up. I figured it would be the exact opposite.

  8. Nate Amsden

    easy way to cancel

    Tell them you are moving, and give them an address that isn't served by comcast territory. When I moved I did this. I was happy to remain a comcast customer but they didn't serve in my new location. I told them this, they didn't believe me and asked for the address, so I gave it, and they immediately admitted defeat and said thanks for being a customer. New cable company is municipal and serves the city I am in only. For the most part they are fine, just want more upload speed.

    Next year I plan to move to a new apartment in a different city and will be a comcast customer again. I actually look forward to it I was a pretty happy customer at the time, specifically looking forward to faster upload speeds on a business class connection, fastest I can get right now is 5mbps and that is if I sign up for a 100Mbps plan, currently on a lower plan which maxes out at about 2Mbps upload. I have a server at a local co-lo (unlimited 100Mbit on a good backbone) and like to be able to transfer data to/from it. It's painful to upload of course from my home connection today.

    Comcast business internet seems to run from 109/mo to 169mo for between 20-50mbit down and 10-15mbit up. I'd be happy with 20 down / 10 up, though may go for the bigger plan, for the extra upload.

  9. David Roberts
    Holmes

    From the comments thus far...

    .....all these guys have to do is walk into a Comcast store and give the list of cancellations to their new best friend who can share in their business success.

  10. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

    Know the script, record the answers (need to be able to insert the customer's name & number as required), initiate the call, start the recording.

  11. Graham Marsden
    Facepalm

    Didn't Douglas Adams...

    ... write an adventure game like this back in 1987...?

  12. Henry Wertz 1 Gold badge

    I've never had problems cancelling...

    I've never had problems cancelling service. It's easy:

    1) If you have any cable modems or boxes, you'll have to go in to return equipment anyway. So do it in person.

    2) If it's on the phone, let them know you want to cancel. Don't let them keep making offers if you intend to cancel, point out you expect service to be cancelled now. If they persist on yammering on about whatever, point out you will be stopping payment on any attempts to withdraw money after that so they might as well cancel now. They should cancel. I've never had to go past this point.

    3) Write down when you made this call. If they try to claim you owe more money later (beyond some fractional month's worth if you cancelled mid-month), point out the date you cancelled and stand firm, don't pay it. If they try to put a negative note on your credit, the credit agencies must correct inaccurate information if you request it, point out the date you cancelled and they are obligated to remove this. (If a company makes too many false filings to the credit agency, they get into some kind of trouble too.)

    1. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

      Re: I've never had problems cancelling...

      And at my hourly rate this would cost me more than they are charging

  13. Feldagast

    What would happen if you plugged their cable into the mains line? Would 120 to 220 volts do anything to their systems?

  14. Gritzwally Philbin

    You know.. it's absolute bullshit that it is difficult to cancel a Comcast subscription. It's fucking *easy-peasy* but involves - HORROR! - walking in to a Comcast service/sales office and *physically* returning your rented kit.

    I've cancelled service plenty of times - just return the equipment, get a receipt and ask for a print-out of the balance due, cut a check at the service desk and it's done.

    People are fucking lazy, is all.

    1. Cris E
      Happy

      It is a challenge when people want more than one thing and are unable to prioritize or make choices. They want both the discounts from annual contracts and the freedom to leave when they choose without paying the ETA. They want to be loved by everyone and not have to say No directly to someone, even someone as horrible as Comcast. The whole specter of being uncomfortable, even for a few minutes, is the problem.

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