Comcast's customer service nightmare is painful to hear

Almost anyone that has tried to cancel cable service, wireless service, or a gym membership knows how difficult it can be to do over the phone, but a recent call to Comcast by one customer might take the cake for the worst of them all. Ryan Block, formerly of Engadget and now at AOL, called Comcast to cancel his service, but instead of politely obliging and going ahead with his request, the representative on the line insisted on taking him through a circular argument to find out the reason why he was canceling service.

Block was able to capture about eight minutes of the call and has posted the audio to his Soundcloud account for the rest of us to enjoy (or sympathize with, if you've been in that situation before). It's pretty painful to listen to, and even though it sounds like something straight out of a hidden camera TV show, Block insists that it was not a prank (he even asked the rep during the call if it was indeed a prank). Grab a cup of coffee and give a listen to the call below.

Comcast responded to the matter by telling The Hollywood Reporter that it will directly contact Block and that it is "very embarrassed by the way our employee spoke with [him]." The company says that "the way in which our representative communicated with him is unacceptable and not consistent with how we train our customer service representatives" and it is also "investigating this situation and will take quick action."

Update 7/15 12:15PM ET: Added Comcast's response.

• SourceRyan Block (Twitter)
• Related Items cable comcast call customer service