late cancellation, overcharging, and surprise equipment charge.

I called xfinity on May 21st, 2025 to request a cancellation of my service on June 21st, 2025. I talked to an agent who confirmed that my service would be cancelled on that date.

I have my own router, so at this point my impression is that I do not need to return anything.

On July 17th, when I am no longer in the area, I get an email that xfinity has received my cancellation request. It also had instructions to return my equipment. I didn't have any equipment (that I knew of). A few days later I get a charge for the full billing period ending July 28th. 

I call to ask why I am still being billed, and they said it is because my service was only cancelled on July 17th. I asked why it was cancelled several days after I requested it. The agent said he could see that indeed I did request cancellation or the 6/21, but was unable to tell why xfinity did not actually process the cancellation on July 17th. Overall, we agree I am wrongly charged for the period from June 21st-July 28th. More than a full billing period. After several phone calls, I am able to get the proper refund. 

Then I get a surprise charge for unreturned equipment. I was not aware I had any equipment. I navigate to the xfinity webpage, and it says I have no equipment to return. I call Xfinity once again. (Why am I still talking to this company after I have attempted to cancel my service months ago? Outrageous). It turns out, Xfinity had given me a free flex box in 2020. I never asked for this, nor did I ever use it. I never even took it out of the packaging. Xfinity made no effort to communicate with me about equipment return in a timely manner, putting me in an impossible situation. They didn't even process my cancellation request until nearly a month after I had left the area. They put me in a situation in which it was physically impossible to return the mystery flex box that I had forgotten about. I never received instructions for what equipment to return, or how, until it was too late. When I communicated this to the service agent, he said "actually we did do our part at xfinity. We canceled your service the very day you called to request it." I said, "On what day do your records indicate I requested cancellation?" and he said, "July 17th." I said, "that is incorrect, I called on May 21st to request cancellation on June 21st. I know xfinity has records of this because a previous agent told me he could see them." I am being gaslit. 

I find it highly convenient that xfinity "forgot" to cancel my service until several days too late, THEN "forgot" to cancel my billing for an extra month, and "Forgot" to communicate me about returning the ridiculous flex box I never even asked for until it was too late. Is this the plan? Send out random free stuff that people don't ask for, hope they forget about it, and then charge them for not returning it? 

I am appalled at the lack of communication. If I were a conspiracy theorist, I would believe you are intentionally preying on people going through transitions such as moves, and taking advantage of them in an already stressful and hectic moment of their lives. I would think that all of these accidental slipups are intentional ways to try and squeeze more money out of us.