DemonAlcohol

I called to cancel an account today and the sales lady gave me, and i kid you not, at least 10 diffrent pitches to try to buy something else. Here's a sample:

CSR:"Thank you for calling columbia house. Can I get your address for verification?"

ME: "(tells address)"

CSR: "OK, Thank you. Would you like to change your address today?"

ME: "No thanks, I'd actually like to cancel my account"

CSR: "Oh ok, I can do that for you. Did you want to get the directors selection which is King Kong?"

ME: "No thank you"

CSR: "Well actually now it's Harry Potter. Did you want me to send out Harry Potter for you?"

ME: "No thanks"

CSR: "Ok. I see that you have $8 left in funcash. What movie would you like to buy with that?"

ME: "No movie, thank you"

CSR: "Oh, ok. Can I ask you why you are closing the Columbia House account?"

ME: "You guys don't carry movies from certain companies"

CSR: "Oh well you know we have 40,000 titles"

ME: "Um, ok"

CSR: "What movie were you looking for?"

ME: "No movie in particular"

CSR: "I'm sorry what movie did you say?"

ME: "I'm not looking for any specific movie"

CSR: "Have you seen History of Violence? It's a really good movie. It's on sale right now"

ME: "Actually I own it (not really)"

CSR: "Did you know you can get 60% off all titles after your first one?"

ME: "OMFG lady, I just want to close my account"

CSR: "Ok"

(5 second pause)

CSR: "You know as a parting gift I'm entilted to give you a free DVD after you buy one at $19.99. Would you like to take advantage of this sale?"

ME: "No"

CSR: "Ok well you have a nice day and thank you for calling columbia house."


Anyone else recieved this? Granted, this is only my second time closing an account, but this seems a bit excessive. Maybe that's the norm and everyone else has gotten used to it.

GregS

never that annoying, i usualy just cut them off and just explain my problem over and over till the stop. i had one really annyoing CSR who made me repeat myself about 5 times, i mummbled "what and idiot" to myslef and was hung up on. but usualy im on the phone with them anywhere from 5-15mins, trying to get something taken care of, the foregin CRS are sometimes harder to deal with and get something fixed

Sweet Baby James

I refuse to call to cancel because of the hard sale. You can do it online if you don't want to be bothered by annoying reps. Click onto the "Contact Us" link. When the next screen appears, choose "Membership Obligation" as the reason in the drop down box. Then just tell them that you have completed your membership obligation and you would now like to cancel your membership. They'll close your account within 48 hours with no fuss.

Legolas

I never seem to get the same CSR pitch twice whenever I call to cancel. One time I told a CSR I was cancelling because they didn't carry Fox, Buena Vista, etc. and he actually suggested I keep my account just in case they come back.

One CSR did annoy the hell of of me and kept trying to sell me things, and when that failed, she tried to sell me on non-DVD things. I guess this is the reason why you can't cancel online anymore.

Lately they haven't been throwing a fuss. Some don't even ask me why I'm cancelling.

sotra

totally agree with you! I always cancel via email and I usually also get to transfer any remaining funcash over to the one DVD club account that I always keep open.

basaro

I never have a problem cancelling over the phone, although it might make a difference that I make sure I call at the right time so I get a native english CSR. As soon as Crash arrives I will cancel and let you know how this one goes.
I just press whatever number happens to be cancel (lately I think it's been #5 from the second menu), and when I get a CSR, I say that I want to cancel because I "completed my commitment". Then they try to offer me a B1G1 as a last order, and I decline that. It's as simple as that. I'm done in about 5 minutes. Smooth as K-Y.

viking99

I've cancelled many accounts via the phone, and my experience is not much different than the OP. I've learned to accept that these people have tough jobs to do, and going through the complete script is part of that. I hope everyone realizes this is a script. "Joe" the CSR doesn't create the sales pitch on his own; he's just hitting the steps that the boss tells him to. The ones who let us off easy are technically NOT doing their jobs. Either that or call volume is high and the computer says to use script "B", or none at all, instead of the full treatment. I've found it easiest just to relax and give them pleasant responses. It's almost as if we need a DVDTalkMiser set of consumer scripts to respond to the CH script. That way, we're on equal ground and both just going through the motions. If it helps, write "less than $5 per DVD" on a piece of paper and stare at it while reciting your lines.

Legolas

^ I have yet to come across a CSR who didn't sound like he/she was reading a script.

JoN8282

my thoughts exactly, im just very pleasent and decline everything... its part of the price you pay for that $5 dvd

Glennica

I called to cancel about about a month ago, and the CSR hung up on me. Is this normal?

Knives

Just saying cancel many times, and they don't bother to finish thier speech.

leeta

I've had no problems cancelling my accounts over the phone. When they ask why I want to cancel, I just tell them it's because I've fulfilled my account. They may try to sell me one thing or make an offer, but generally that's it. I'm usually on the phone for around 5 minutes.

However, the one question they always ask in closing is whether I'm a member of BMG or yourmusic.com...

DemonAlcohol

Yea, she asked me about the BMG music and a few other ones, I couldn't remeber them all.

Since I work in retail too, I realize it's probebly part of thier job. They might also see that we are members who have opened and closed multiple accounts, so they could have a serperate script for us just so they can try as many diffrent ways to get us to keep the account.

icruise

Regarding canceling online, has anyone else had trouble doing it recently? When I tried the "contact us" method, it told me to call the 800 number and wouldn't let me send an email. When I go to the automated Membership Cancellation page and try to cancel, I get this:

I tried in a couple of different browsers. This was firefox. It's been like this for well over a week.

sotra

Haven't cancelled an account in a while, but when I do I just send them an email directly to [email protected] which inlcudes my PSN and that I would like to cancel (and to transfer funcash if I have a worthy amount). Usually within 2 days I get a reply confirming the cancellation.

lizard

I usually just tell the phone CSR that I have another account and don't need two. Don't get hassled after that but do usually get some of the script. After so many years and accounts I am used to it, like viking99 above. I always try to be polite because the CSRs have a tough job and I don't want to make it any harder.

SterlingBen

I looked for quite awhile on my account and was unable to find these options so I had to cancel by phone, also the lady on the line said there was no way to transfer fun cash to another account, how is everyone getting these things?

Sweet Baby James

I realize that you already called and cancelled, but I'll go through the steps for anyone that would rather cancel online.

1. Sign on at CH.
2. Click onto the "Help" link at the top of the page(located between the "Cart" and "Your Account" links).
3. On the next screen, click onto the "Contact Us" link located on the left hand side of the page(located just below the "About Columbia House" link and above the "Go to Returns & Exchanges" link).
4. On the next screen, choose "Membership Obligation" from the drop down box(where it says "Select the subject of your message").
5. Tell them that you have completed your membership obligation and would now like to cancel your account in the "Enter your message" box.

As far as transferring your FunCash from a cancelled account to an open one, this is completely a YMMV with the CSR. Some reps will do it while most of them won't.

basaro

I didn't have a problem cancelling by phone this time either. You just have to be polite and say "no" a few times.
Abbreviated transscript from my call:
1. Got Mark as a CSR on 2:00pm EST on Monday 4/10/06. My CSR was new at this because he stumbled through reading the scripts, and just ended up kinda summarizing them instead. He wasn't verbally articulate. This actually saved a little time because he didn't read word for word, I think he had troubles doing so
2. When asked why I was calling, I said to cancel my account, he never asked why.
3. Then comes the "hard-sell" .
4. You're now a preferred member, do you want to stay a member for special offers,etc.? "No,thanks."
5. We can suspend the mailers and automatic directors selection, would you like that? "No,thank you".
6. As a last chance you can get a B1g1 offer,do you want to do that? "No,thank you".
7. Okay, I'll cancel your account.
8. Before we go, are you a member of bmg or yourmusic.com? "Yes".
9. Okay, thanks for calling columbia house,goodbye. "Bye". (Even if you don't have one of these accounts, say so anyway, or they'll likely try to sell you on that too. They haven't been pushing multiple accounts of those types on me. Apparently one is enough for them.

I don't know what the big deal is. Took about 2-3 minutes.

SpringsGal

Speaking of cancelling, anyone lately had success in transfering funcash to another account when closing an account? Thanks.

namlook

I just tried to cancel online via their form and it wouldn't let me. It says I need to call the 800 #. Is this a new policy?

thejester

Don't select the "Cancel Membership" topic - that's why you got that message. CH changed that about a year ago (or so).

Choose the other one mentioned - "Membership Obligation". You will probably get an "auto-reply", just reply back asking for a "re-read' of your original contents.

bloozeman

Just cancelled one of my open accounts via an email... smooth painless process. I didn't ask to transfer the $4 fun cash in the account to my other open account cuz I figure I'm going to close that one two. It seems it makes more sense to try and have two unfulfilled accounts open for the next BOBO w/ free shipping offer. Much better than worrying about using $4 bucks worth of fun cash.