[wdb]

Originally Posted by 3798j

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As someone who retired from a "major cable provider" I can't begin to tell you the number of times I've been regaled with "I threatened to cancel my service and they gave a sweet deal". I wasn't in a call center so I have no idea about its veracity. Plus it sounds like an awful lot of work, like switching credit cards all the time just to avoid interest charges.

[Llarry]

Originally Posted by wdb

As someone who retired from a "major cable provider" I can't begin to tell you the number of times I've been regaled with "I threatened to cancel my service and they gave a sweet deal". I wasn't in a call center so I have no idea about its veracity.

I lived in a rural area with no cable available, so used satellite TV (DirecTV or Dish Network) for 20+ years. Every few years, I would play the "threaten to switch" game whereupon they would lower my monthly cost. And I did switch once or twice.

[floridaorange]

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[floridaorange]

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[floridaorange]

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[vreihen16]

Originally Posted by wdb

As someone who retired from a "major cable provider" I can't begin to tell you the number of times I've been regaled with "I threatened to cancel my service and they gave a sweet deal".

Cable, phone, and services like Sirius-XM have whole customer retention departments just waiting for cancelation calls to be transferred to them. Feel free to negotiate, because their first offer isn't as low as you can get them.

I know that some people also play a game by alternating who's name the cable bill is in every few years, to get the "new" customer specials even though they haven't moved.

There's a third group who run their utility bills up until they are shut off and then have another person claim they are a new tenant and start the cycle all over again, but we won't talk about them.....

[cmyx6go]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

Cable, phone, and services like Sirius-XM have whole customer retention departments just waiting for cancelation calls to be transferred to them. Feel free to negotiate, because their first offer isn't as low as you can get them.

OMG! Did you ever try to cancel Sirius? It's like pulling teeth. What part of "My lease is up, and I get a year free with my new lease" don't they understand. I don't care how much you reduce the price. I DON'T NEED IT.... I'd get transferred to 3 or 4 different people and have to repeat over and over, I don't need it. It would take forever to finally cancel.

[kattz]

[3.0L]

Originally Posted by cmyx6go

OMG! Did you ever try to cancel Sirius? It's like pulling teeth. What part of "My lease is up, and I get a year free with my new lease" don't they understand. I don't care how much you reduce the price. I DON'T NEED IT.... I'd get transferred to 3 or 4 different people and have to repeat over and over, I don't need it. It would take forever to finally cancel.

The games service providers play seem endless.

I’m the webmaster for our RC Club; a job I inherited about 5 years ago when our webmaster became ill. Our web host is GoDaddy. Even though I had some experience running my own personal website with Dreamhost, I’ve had a steep learning curve with GoDaddy.

Several years ago our GoDaddy website was nailed with about 10,000 ads, embedded deep in the system. I finally found the vulnerable opening in our website and fixed it. Meanwhile, GoDaddy offered our site backups and extra security protection, all at additional cost. That’s in addition to the hosting and domain name fees. Here’s the hook.

All of these services are billed separately. If that’s not enough, some renew anually, some every 2 years and 1 every three years. And they all overlap, none renewing on the same date. I think this is a ploy to keep us on the hook.

So, I decided to let everything time out. How? I went into our account and turned off all automatic renewals.

So far, this working. When our website finally crashes and burns, I’ll simply notify our club members of the new, trouble-free website I already have up and running - all at a fraction of the GoDaddy costs.

My personal website has been running flawlessly on Dreamhost for 7 years - no hacks, no crashes, no spam, etc. I’ve so much trouble with GoDaddy, I sometimes suspect they let in the worms so they can justify charging for more products.

[Esteban]

Taco Tuesday.

[Esteban]

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[vreihen16]

Originally Posted by cmyx6go

OMG! Did you ever try to cancel Sirius? It's like pulling teeth. What part of "My lease is up, and I get a year free with my new lease" don't they understand.

I heard the horror stories before I called to cancel, and just told them that my company was relocating me to South Africa where they had no satellite coverage or legal franchise agreement. Sales pitch ended with the first person.

Another hard one to ditch was TiVo. They used the same strong-arm tactic, and I told them that I was being transferred to Paupa New Guinea or someplace like that with no cable or over-the-air TV. Sales pitch ended with the first person again.

IIRC, the feds recently enacted some consumer regulation where companies selling subscriptions have to offer disconnect options in the same format(s) as their subscription signups, so if they let you sign up on the web then they have to let you unsubscribe from the web and not by making you call the retention pressure sales department.....

[floridaorange]

Originally Posted by kattz

[Esteban]

I had no problem canceling Serius a couple of months ago. Told them I am canceling and told them I did not want a lower rate. That was it.

Had called every year to get the discounted price ($3-something) and then they offered me a permanent discount of $5-somethng, which I took for a couple years.

Decided I didn’t want it anymore so called to cancel for me and my wife and it was super easy. Was surprised because of all I heard about how difficult it was.

[Esteban]

Vintage L.A. smog from the 1950s. $775.00.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1412467...venir-smog-can

[Murf the Surf]

[Murf the Surf]

Originally Posted by Esteban

I had no problem canceling Serius a couple of months ago. Told them I am canceling and told them I did not want a lower rate. That was it.

Had called every year to get the discounted price ($3-something) and then they offered me a permanent discount of $5-somethng, which I took for a couple years.

Decided I didn’t want it anymore so called to cancel for me and my wife and it was super easy. Was surprised because of all I heard about how difficult it was.

It was a nightmare when we cancelled Sirius XM. Enormous pain in the ass and they keep calling me every few weeks. I've tried hanging up, telling them to stop and started calling them every name I can think of. I get snail mail from them every few weeks. Assholes.

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by Murf the Surf

It was a nightmare when we cancelled Sirius XM. Enormous pain in the ass and they keep calling me every few weeks. I've tried hanging up, telling them to stop and started calling them every name I can think of. I get snail mail from them every few weeks. Assholes.

I have not got one call but I do get emails every so often from them. Just have to unsubscribe, which I’ll do shortly.

PS - Did some looking and found out new California laws have made canceling subscriptions like Sirius as easy as it is to sign up for these kind of subscriptions.

[Esteban]

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[Buug959]

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[Buug959]

BG

[Murf the Surf]

Originally Posted by Esteban

I have not got one call but I do get emails every so often from them. Just have to unsubscribe, which I’ll do shortly.

PS - Did some looking and found out new California laws have made canceling subscriptions like Sirius as easy as it is to sign up for these kind of subscriptions.

Clearly that law isn't in force outside of California.