I guess this will be deleted, but whatever, then will post elsewhere too. Yeah, it’s a bit of a rant.
I decided that I want to cancel my subscription at UPC. They have a page for that on their website, with 2 very friendly options:
1. Fill a form, and they will contact you for the cancellation. It takes only a few days.
2. Call a number, and the process will take only a few minutes.
All to avoid bureaucracy, additional costs, for maximum friendlyness. Sounds really good.
So I go with the first option. After 4 days still no call back 🙁
Never mind, let’s call them! The website has really nice English. Via phone the option does not exist 🙁 Still, gave it a try. Friendly representative picks it up, but tells me that unfortunately no English speaker colleague is available from the cancellation department, and they refuse to talk to me in German due to my broken German. Well, fair enough I guess. They promised a callback the next day. Guess who was not called by UPC the next day. It was me. It was not completely unexpected though, it was mentioned that maybe they won’t be able to call me, but in this case I should try calling them again the next day, when they will help me for sure, I should worry not. I did not worry. But I should have. I call them back, but surprise: all their English speaking colleagues are occupied again. And they refuse to cancel my subscription when asked in German. When mentioned that I can wait on the phone, the answer is “You can’t do that!”. And that was the end of the conversation.
Of course there are still options (not mentioned on the website). Going that route now with a registered mail.
Of course it raises a number of questions about the cancellation page:
1. No paperwork? In which dimension means that no paperwork?
2. It says that I’m going to learn everything about final invoice and stuff. I have not learned anything else, but the fact that UPC tries to force me to stay.
3. No additional charges. What? So far I’m down with a registered mail’s price. If it is unsuccessful, then I will be down with lawyer fees too (at least temporarily - no way that I won’t file small claims).
Funnily enough, I have spent 6+ years at UPC, and this is my first really bad experience. I was even thinking about getting back in the future, when they will have some worthwhile promotion. I guess that question is solved now though.