This is a really interesting documentation of “when customer service goes wrong.” We’ve done a lot of work with call centers (not, I should underline, Comcast!) and while “retention” is a common skill that is taught, I’ve never seen it approach this level of… of… well, just listen. I’m guessing there are some performance metrics that are likely driving this behavior. The rep does not sound like an inexperienced person, so he’s probably been doing this, to one degree or another, with management’s blessing, for sometime.