If you thought Brexit was bad...

[moonshadow]

...then you've never tried to wiggle out of a service contract with a cable company!


Sorry...



Sorry, but the Brexit thread reminds me of my former dealings with ComCast...

[Fred in Skirts]

I had a problem with the local cable company when I lived in the city. I decided to move to where I am now and told the cable company to move the service. they said they did not have facilities in the area where I was moving. So I told them to cancel the service and they told me that would come with a $250 dollar fee. I sad hell no they could add the wire and move my service or nothing. They got nothing as when I moved I stopped paying them anything at all. The folks that moved in to my old house said the cable company kept sending collectors to get the money and threatened them with court they went to the local BBB and that stopped fast. So my thoughts on the matter is don't get cable.

[SkirtsDad]

Many years ago the company I worked for used to pay my telephone bill, including the internet, as I used it for work. When I left the company the billing, which had always been in my name but just sent to the company, was all supposed to tranfer back to my address. It didn't quite go to plan. Both my internet and phone got cut off.

The phone company said they would reinstate me but it would be a new 18 month contract and it would cost me to break the contract. The internet company wanted money to reconnect me because my phone line had been cut off, even though the phone company admitted that it was their error. The internet company blamed the phone company and the phone company blamed the internet company. It was a right nightmare as neither side would talk to each other...... it was more frustrating by the fact that the phone company actually owned the internet company!!!

They had me over a barrel. I couldn't be without phone or internert for months so I had no choice but to pay up and start a new contract which would mean paying to change my phone provider. Once I had my services reconnected then I was then able to fight them and get the money back, but it took months. I changed phone company as soon as I got an assurance from them that they would let me leave without a penalty... a penalty that should never have been there in the first place.

[moonshadow]

I had a similar situation, only I was on Comcast business class. As I came to find out, whenever you contract as a business entity, many of the consumer protections that are in place for regular ordinary people do not apply. Also the contracts are more rigid, and generally have higher penalties for breaking contract.

In this matter, I had Comcast in my old shop in Pulaski. We had a basic cable TV package and internet in the shop. The TV plan was rather lousy, but I believe that was due to licensing issues with the fact that I was a business customer. (understand that most broadcast TV is intended for home viewership, playing a TV in a business runs more due to licensing issues), the internet was top notch for the area. It was $140 per month.

When we moved to Damascus and closed the shop, we still had about 16 months to go on the service agreement. The early termination fee was $2500! Normally with residential customers if you move to an area where the service isn't available, you're normally off the hook, however with this business agreement we were expected to pony up the cash.

Needless to say, we didn't have $2500, and to make matters worse, they wanted it all up front or they'd turn us over to collections. Since I operated as a sole proprietor, I couldn't even hide behind the "corporate veil"....

The following 4 months was a regular "chess game" between me and Comcast. The required I surrender the cable boxes so they could close the books and issue the final bill. There was no local office. I called back and forth to figure out what they wanted me to do with the boxes. They gave me a run around, and meanwhile they were trying to charge me an extra $200 for the boxes.

I then sent them a certified letter... hell, wait a minute, I think I've got a copy of that letter still on my hard drive....

... I do!... ahhh, a trip down memory lane....

March 23 2014

Comcast Cable Communications
PO BOX 3006
Southeastern PA 19398

c/o Credit Protection Association

To whom it may concern,

On 12/13/2013 Lxxxx Cxxxxxxxx emailed requesting disconnect forms to your company to discontinue Comcast Business Class services at XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, Pulaski VA 24301. Please be aware that no confirmation was received that this disconnection noticed was received and applied, even after the 60 day notice had elapsed.

However Lxxxxx Cxxxxxxxx does agree to pay for 60 days of service, for January and February in the amount of $288.00.

In accordance with your collection document, Lxxxx Cxxxxxxxx has 30 days to dispute charges.

This letter is in dispute to the Equipment return fee of $200. Lxxxx Cxxxxxxxx is disputing this charge because it has made three separate attempts to return the equipment unsuccessfully. The first attempt occurred when Lxxxx Cxxxxxxxx attempted to return the equipment in February 2014 at the Comcast office located in Abingdon Virginia, Lxxxx Cxxxxxxxx was advised that the Abingdon Comcast office could not accept "Business Class" equipment from Pulaski. Later in February Lxxxx Cxxxxxxxx made a second attempt and called Comcast to obtain the full balance owed on our account.

We were told by the account representative that we owed for the months of January and February, when we asked what to do about the boxes, she directed us to the comcast website. On our third attempt we visited the website, only to find out that the online return service only works if they can ship to the original service address. As Lxxxx Cxxxxxxxx has closed it's shop, we can no longer accept mail at that address.

After three good faith, albeit failed attempts to return Comcast equipment, Lxxxx Cxxxxxxxx does not feel it should be penalized into purchasing equipment that it does not want, and again has made several attempts to return. Please have Comcast send appropriate equipment return material to the address below. We will then return the equipment along with a money order in the amount of $288.00 to cover service for two months. Also Lxxxx Cxxxxxxxx request that any and all account debts be fully disclosed within 30 days of this notice so that the representatives of Lxxxx Cxxxxxxxx can begin the process of settling it's debts.

If Lxxxx Cxxxxxxxx does not receive any correspondence on this matter from Comcast, including but not limited to, instructions on what to do with the equipment, and updated and complete invoice on any and all outstanding debts of Lxxxx Cxxxxxxxx to Comcast Cable within 30 days of this notice, Lxxxx Cxxxxxxxx will consider the matter closed.

Regards,



(Name and address withheld from public site)

They sent me a shipping label, I took the boxes to a UPS store and mailed them, I paid the $288 as I agreed, they never levied the additional $200 fee, and they never said a word about the 2.5 grand either....

Jesus... it worked!

Crafted with the skill of a Brexiteer!

[Sinned]

Moon, Contact Mrs Theresa May c/o 10 Downing Street, Westminster, London, SW1A 2AA and apply for the post of Chief Brexit Negotiator. Mark the envelope "Urgent Time Limited Offer". You couldn't do any worse than the current shower!

An awesome story and calling their bluff can often work.