2 Messages
Why do reps like to hang up on customers?
Last month (July) my credit card was compromised. My credit card company quickly cancelled it and sent me a new one. I called Comcast to give them my new card number and make my current payment as soon as I realized the card had been stopped. At the end of the call the rep asked if I wanted to set my card up for Auto Payments in the future (as that's what I've always used). I said yes, and that was that. For the moment.
Fast forward to now, and I've started getting text messages that my balance is overdue. I called to figure out what's going on, and apparently when I called in July the rep never took my current balance and ONLY set up my card for future auto payments. Which doesn't make any sense - if I'm capable of paying the bill when it's due, why wouldn't I? On the call, I found out I'd been charged a late fee of $10 because Comcast/Xfinity apparently decided not to even try charging me the balance due, even though I wanted to pay it. (Well, at first the rep said I hadn't been charged a late fee, but later admitted I had). The rep I spoke with today kept talking in circles and INSISTING that I intentionally hadn't paid in July and had only set up AutoPay, which wouldn't begin until Aug. 21, when I'd already be overdue for my last bill. When he repeatedly refused to listen to me and just kept repeating his imaginary version of events (and I admit, I eventually got incredibly angry) I asked to cancel my service. He then hung up on me.
I immediately called back, and the issue was easily resolved by the next rep, who was very helpful and polite. If it weren't for him I would have found some way to cancel my account come [Edited: "Language"] or high water. Verizon and AT&T cover my area, and a couple of smaller services are looking to expand here, so I'd certainly have options. Looking online it seems like it's a common issue for reps to hang up on customers. I guess I just want to know why this is so acceptable at Comcast, as well as nickel and diming customers who've paid their bills in full for years without issue. It's pretty clear that my initial payment on the new card was intentionally not charged so Comcast could hit me with a late charge later down the line, and their reps are encouraged to defend this practice so that these fraudulent billing practices pay off.
XfinityJanelle
Official Employee
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1.5K Messages
2 years ago
@user_7b9317 Thank you for reaching out on the Xfinity Community Forums. We appreciate your feedback regarding your experience with your concern and the payments. We are happy to hear you were able to get the account squared away with another rep. Thank you for providing the feedback you have, we will be happy to pass this along.
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user_gs5dh7
1 Message
1 year ago
Reps all over - but especially in foreign call centers - hang up on customers when there is a problem they do not want to deal with. A big reason they do this is that they *can* do this without any repercussions. Generally, the call center software provides the agent a way to stop the call *without* asking for the user's consent. So this means they can hang up on you. If challenged, the agent just says they got "disconnected".
Until call center software evolves to either prevent or punish such agent behaviors, there is no reason for them to stop.
Sometimes, when I can tell that an agent does not like a problem, I will caution the agent that I will formally complain about them if they disconnect me. This caution tends to stop "disconnections", though it does seem socially weird to have to do this. But it tends to work.
USA based call centers can hang up too, but it is fairly rare. It has only happened to me maybe one. But in foreign call centers, it is very, very frequent.
On the other hand, life in a foreign call center can be very difficult, so given all the calls they take, they don't have much concern about getting rid of a call they don't want to deal with, if they can get away with it without punishment.
Sigh.
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