Success!

It took me almost three hours on the phone to deal with canceling utilities on the MD house, but I did it! 

I started with Delmarva Power first, mainly because I thought I could cancel our electric service online. I could, right up until the end of the process when I got a message that said due to an upgrade on their website this function was not available. I called the toll-free number as advised by the message and waited on hold for more than 20 minutes. I finally spoke with Alec who took all my information and then told me my service would be discontinued on Monday. I had specified at the beginning of our conversation that I wanted it to be stopped on March 1st, not February 21, so we started all over at the beginning. When I asked for a confirmation number, he gave me his extension and said to call him if there were any problems. I'm not sure how much faith I have that we will still have electricity next week, but I'll just call Alec if there are any issues.

I had thought electric service would be easy to stop, but it took about 45 minutes. I was really dreading calling Comcast because all of my past dealings with them had been a struggle, so I called the Elkton Public Works Dept. next to ask about the water and sewer. The woman was friendly, the process had been started by the title company, and she told me I didn't need to do anything. Great! I excel at doing nothing!

Next, I called Allstate to talk about homeowner's insurance. This woman was angry and yelled at me for even considering canceling insurance. I explained to her that I wanted the cancellation to be effective March 1, and she told me to call back after closing had happened, and not a moment before. Yes, Ma'am!

I couldn't procrastinate any longer and had to suck it up and call Comcast. I ended up being pleasantly surprised after speaking to  Jimmy. There was some initial confusion because we have two different Comcast accounts, one for MD and one for NJ. I kept specifying the one in MD and gave him the address about 15 times, but once Jimmy finally had my life story and understood the situation, things were a little easier. He called me Miss Bonny throughout the conversation, but it was better than talking to a surly grouch. I asked about the possibility of mailing back the TV box and modem, and Jimmy said, "Why sure, Miss Bonny, just drop it off at a UPS Store and they'll pack it and return it to Comcast for free." Thanks, Kim in Oregon for mentioning this possibility!

I feel like my phone calls were successful, but I guess we'll know for sure if we still have electricity next week, the Allstate agent will speak with me when I call her after closing and she lets me cancel our homeowner's insurance, and the UPS store actually takes my Comcast equipment. I especially appreciated the woman at Elkton Public Works and Jimmy at Comcast. If you ever want to speak to someone friendly at Comcast, be sure to ask for Jimmy and tell him Miss Bonny sent you!