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Last week, Spectrum shut off ESPN right before the Florida vs. Utah game was about to kick off, angering college football fans across the nation.
Spectrum and its parent company Charter Communications are embroiled in a dispute with Disney, claiming the House of Mouse is “demanding an excessive increase” in price.
Disney and Spectrum couldn’t agree to a deal, so all ESPN channels went dark at the start of the Florida vs. Utah game tonight. That’s brutallll pic.twitter.com/yQAGrenRQ5
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) September 1, 2023
Disney, on the other hand, claimed the company has “been in ongoing negotiations with Charter Communications for some time,” but won’t approve a “new market-based agreement.”
College football fans didn’t care, they just wanted their football.
@GetSpectrum you suck.
— Corey (@Csarge31) September 1, 2023
Among those college football fans who were upset by the dispute was SEC Network anchor Peter Burns.
Burns took to Twitter, err X, after the debacle asking folks which cable provider he should use instead of Spectrum.
Crowdsourcing here:
Potentially looking for a new cable provider in the next 24 hours.
Suggestions?
— Peter Burns (@PeterBurnsESPN) September 1, 2023
Five days later, Burns revealed that he had been trying to cancel his Spectrum cable TV package, but was having some issues. After three attempts, he still was unable to cancel the service.
I tried 3 different times today, all 3 times it was well over an hour with no answer.
Sadly, I wanted to keep my @GetSpectrum internet service but not sure if I’ll even do that now.
— Peter Burns (@PeterBurnsESPN) September 6, 2023
He then proceeded to chronicle his fourth attempt with a thread on X that many, many people can certainly relate to when it comes to canceling cable.
“Needs y’all thoughts & prayers today,” he wrote.
“As some of you know, I’ve made a big decision that affects not only myself, but my entire family.
“I will attempting to cancel my cable service for the 4th time this week,” he continued.
“8 Hours on hold & I’m still 0/3.
“Praying today’s my lucky day!”
1st update:
9:05
1st Call to "downgrade service"9:20: After 15 minutes, I'm connected to rep who says that they'll need to transfer me to another department.(This is the 4th time this week this has happened)
I appreciate their consistency
I've got 98% battery
Vibes good.— Peter Burns (@PeterBurnsESPN) September 7, 2023
Why does this always happen? Do Comcast reps get extra pay based on the number of call transfers they can make?
2nd Update:
9:37AM:Coffee flowing....scheduled is cleared
I've put myself in a position to succeed todayOver last 3 attempts, I've learned you've got no shot within the 1st 30 minutes.....so I'm prepped better
We are in for a battle today.
Failure is not an option. pic.twitter.com/U0JT8S3ntS— Peter Burns (@PeterBurnsESPN) September 7, 2023
3rd Update:
9:50am:Pump fake #1!
Elevator hold music stopped...as if I was going to be connected to an actual human.....but when it clicked over...I just got a new loop of music
Luckily I didn't bite
Last 3 times this happened, my heart jumped thinking I made it
Not today. pic.twitter.com/PECeAscas5
— Peter Burns (@PeterBurnsESPN) September 7, 2023
On his fourth update at 10:13 a.m., Burns finally shared some positive news.
“WE’VE GOT HUMAN INTERACTION!!! WE’VE BROKE CONTAIN!! THIS IS HAPPENING PEOPLE!!!” he shared.
In his fifth update at 10:30 a.m., Burns wrote, “My Retention guy is super nice. Said they have over 3600 people in the cue on Friday and it’s been steady everyday. Said the average wait time was close to 90 minutes. Also, he was a Michigan State fan but ‘not anymore because they stink.'”
Thankfully for Peter Burns, the Retention guy was finally able to achieve the mission.
6th Update (Final)
10:45am:MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!
Final Box Score:
1 Hour 40 Minutes start to finish
2 Customer Service reps
3 different deals offered to keep service
5 times I doubted myself I could make it to the finish lineWe had a gameplan and trusted the process. 🏆🙏 pic.twitter.com/o9fmwGDlsw
— Peter Burns (@PeterBurnsESPN) September 7, 2023
Not everyone is so lucky. (Yes, I am looking at you Comcast.)