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Goodbye Xfinity—Cancel the Service With the Help of This Guide

Ashley Ferraro, Product
Feb 8, 2024
 • 
10
 Min Read
Manage Your Subscription Payments With Virtual Cards

Parented by the telecommunications titan Comcast, Xfinity offers TV, Internet, and telephony services. Although a household name, Xfinity may not be the perfect solution for all users, which might prompt them to end their subscriptions. 

If you want to move on from Xfinity, you can cancel the service using the guidelines provided below. You’ll also learn what you can expect after the cancellation and how to avoid overcharges by any subscription merchant.

The content in this article is current as of December 2023. Please refer to Xfinity’s official website or contact customer support for the latest information.

A photo of a person typing in the Google search bar on a laptop
Source: Benjamin Dada

How To Cancel Xfinity—Three Methods

You can cancel Xfinity services in one of the three ways described below:

By phone

Schedule a callback on Xfinity’s website.

In-store 

Visit a nearby Xfinity Store. If you’re unsure where to go, refer to Xfinity’s store locator.

By mail 

Send a letter requesting cancellation to:

Comcast Cable

ATTN: Service Change Requests

1701 JFK Blvd.

Your final bill may include a prorate and an early termination fee, depending on your account. If you’ve rented equipment from Xfinity, you’ll need to return it to an Xfinity Retail Store or UPS Store. You can do so by mailing it with a prepaid UPS label. Returning equipment is free, but failing to do so will result in equipment charges on your final bill.

After canceling, you will still be able to access your:

  • Comcast email address if you’ve logged into your account 90 days before the cancellation
  • TV shows and movies purchased through Xfinity via Xfinity Stream’s website and app
  • All Xfinity Wi-Fi Hotspots or only the featured ones if you’re not keeping Xfinity Mobile

Instead of canceling, you may be able to pause or modify your subscription in case:

  • You’re traveling or being deployed by the military
  • You’re moving to a different home
  • The original owner has passed
  • You’re having financial difficulties
  • You no longer need one of the services or think another plan would be more suitable

How To Cancel Xfinity Mobile

To discontinue Xfinity’s services without transferring to another carrier, you should contact customer support

If you’re transferring your number to a different carrier, you need to request a security PIN from Xfinity. Here’s how to do so:

  1. Log into your Xfinity Mobile account.
  2. Navigate to the Devices tab.
  3. Choose the device associated with the number you want to transfer. 
  4. Scroll down to the section Transfer your number, cancel this line.
  5. Click or tap Learn More.
  6. Select an active line so Xfinity can send you a message containing the PIN.

After providing the PIN to your new carrier, your Xfinity Mobile service will be canceled automatically. In fact, by canceling the service before your new carrier activates your number, you’ll halt the transfer request and give up your number.

If you use the Unlimited data option line, data charges will be adjusted based on where you are in the billing cycle when the cancellation occurs.

How To Cancel Xfinity TV

If you wish to cancel only your Xfinity Instant TV service, you should send a cancellation request online. It may take the company 48 hours or more to process it. 

Know that canceling Xfinity Instant TV won’t affect your Xfinity Internet service. If you want both services canceled, you should reach out to customer support.

A close-up photo of cables plugged into a TV
Source: Patrick Campanale

What You Should Know About Canceling Xfinity

While canceling Xfinity is a fairly straightforward process, some users claim to have had a hard time cutting ties with the company. For example, one customer claimed that they couldn’t cancel the service for three months even though the phone support representative assured them the cancellation was successful and the customer had sent the equipment back. Another user claimed that they weren’t called back despite scheduling a call and that they couldn’t get in touch with customer support in any other way. 

While this could have been an honest mistake or a simple miscommunication, some companies today may make the process difficult on purpose. These companies allow you to sign up effortlessly but make the cancellation process time-consuming and nerve-wracking by using manipulative web design or bombarding you with various sales pitches, among other tactics.

Although you can’t escape early termination and equipment return fees, you can avoid unexpected subscription charges by signing up with Privacy virtual cards. These cards are linked to an actual funding source, such as a debit card or bank account, but mask your financial information with different numbers at checkout, creating a protective layer around your transactions. Industry-leading virtual card providers like Privacy also give you the ability to fine-tune your cards’ settings and exercise greater control over your spending. 

Privacy Virtual Cards—Effective Protection From Overcharging

Add your bank account or debit card to Privacy and generate virtual cards to use for any purpose, be it a streaming subscription like Apple TV Plus, YouTube Premium, and Philo or an app subscription like LinkedIn Premium and Tinder Gold. Privacy Cards protect you not only from potential cybercriminals but also from merchants overcharging you, whether purposely or by accident.

Privacy offers two types of virtual cards—learn about them in the following table:

Single-Use Card Merchant-Locked Card
This card closes shortly after you complete the first transaction. This makes the card ideal for one-time purchases and shopping on unfamiliar websites that you may be wary of. This card enables repeated purchases from only one merchant. It's an excellent choice for vendors you shop from frequently and subscription services like Dropbox and NordVPN.

You can also pause or close Merchant-Locked Cards and set spending limits on them. These card settings can come in handy when you want to stop a subscription. Privacy declines charges on paused or closed cards and those exceeding the preset limit, allowing you to deal with the cancellation process without losing sleep over potential unwarranted expenses. 

A bird’s eye view photo of a person typing on a keyboard while holding a credit card
Source: cottonbro studio

Privacy—Easy To Set Up and Use

To start using Privacy, you only need to:

  1. Sign up
  2. Provide the details needed to verify your identity
  3. Link your bank account or debit card
  4. Request your virtual cards

You can choose between three pricing plans. The Personal plan, which is free for domestic transactions, includes 12 virtual cards a month, the ability to set spending limits and pause or close cards, and access to the browser extension and mobile app. 

The Privacy Browser Extension ensures fast and seamless checkouts. The extension autofills virtual card numbers for you and saves you from having to memorize or type them in manually. You can get it for Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge, as well as Safari iOS if you’re on an iPhone or iPad. The Privacy mobile app, available for Android or iOS, allows you to create and manage your virtual cards on the go.

Opt for the Pro ($10/month) or Premium ($25/month) plan if you need more cards (up to 60 a month) and features such as priority support and no foreign transaction fees.

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