I received a letter from my internet provider, Comcast, that upset me. It said in part:

During a routine audit of our billing system, it has come to our attention that you are being charged the multi-product discounted price for Comcast High-Speed Internet Performance Tier. Internet service is discounted to $42.95 per month for customers who also subscribe to any level of Comcast video or phone service. The monthly price for the Comcast High Speed Internet Performance Tier for a customer without video or phone service is $59.95 per month. Modem rental is $3 per month, if applicable.

I don’t have a teevee or a landline so my monthly bill was going up. So I called up Comcast with the intention of canceling the service because my budget is tight. I was worried about having to pay the extra money for the past year of service because of mistaken billing and having to pay for early cancelation. The CS rep I spoke to first tried to sell me stuff, such as cable, and phone. I had to explain that I actually don’t own a teevee and thus cable service would be pointless. I then had to explain that we didn’t have a land line phone either and the wireless phone service she was selling me was also useless because we have a pay-as-you-go plan and we’re now averaging $5/month for our phone service. So even at additional $7/month for internet+cell phone, its not worth the extra money. Half way through the conversation I remembered the article on mind-controlling CSRs. I explained how it was unfair for comcast to penalize me for a mistake on their part and tried to get her to see things from my point of view. She agreed with me and then put me on hold to discuss an alternative solution for me because by this point I was asking her what it would cost me if I canceled my service (early termination, prorated rate for the partial month of usage, etc).
When she came back, she offered me a 12 month promotional rate of $36 for just internet service effective 3/26/08. I then asked her name and CSR number and wrote a little thank-you letter to comcast. I will send it when I see this new rate on my bill.
My letter to Comcast follows:

Dear Sir/Madam:

I am writing to state my appreciation for the excellent customer service that was provided by ****** (#___) on March 8th, 2008. Not only was she able to provide me with a solution that was financially feasible, especially in these economically trying times, but she did so in a manner that was both professional and courteous - an increasingly rare quality these days. Please give her my sincere appreciation for providing me with a service that I not only appreciate but wish to see in my all interactions with customer service representatives.

Sincerely,
Beany
A very satisfied Comcast customer.

I wonder if they’ll put me in one of their ads now. I wouldn’t mind the extra cashola.