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A Hartville, Ohio grandmother is upset after learning she has been paying Time Warner Cable for a box she claims she returned six years earlier. Now, the 85-year old former subscriber is appealing to the cable company for a refund totaling more than $600, which represents nearly six years of rental fees. Her son called Time Warner, who at first admitted they had made a mistake, but only offered to credit Florence Nichols $100, not the $600 she spent on a box she claims she never used.
“I just could not believe it was a bargaining thing now,” said Florence’s son Randy. “Whatever happened to the part about where [Time Warner says] we made a mistake [and] we’ll make it right?”
Several weeks later, the cable company reneged on its earlier offer and refused to give Florence any credit at all. WEWS-TV in Cleveland called Time Warner, who produced an invoice they say shows the cable company installed two boxes in her home, and she was not entitled to any refund. Nichols claims she never used two boxes and was only billed for one. The cable company records claim they picked up her “second box” in 2011.
Nichols is done talking with Time Warner, and is now taking her case to the Ohio State Attorney General and the Better Business Bureau.
Nichols wonders how many other customers are paying for phantom cable equipment and for services they don’t actually receive. Cable customers are advised to scrutinize their bills carefully, paying careful attention to equipment rental charges and service fees. Time Warner generally includes the first set top box in the price of certain cable television packages. Extra boxes cost more. DVR equipment can carry an equipment charge and a separate service charge, which can really add up.
The longer you wait to protest a potential billing error, the more difficult it will be to obtain a full refund, even if the problem was the company’s fault.
[flv width=”360″ height=”290″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WEWS Cleveland Hartville woman disputes cable billing 1-20-12.mp4[/flv]
WEWS-TV in Cleveland covers the story of an 85-year old grandmother in Hartville, Ohio who is fighting Time Warner Cable for six years of fees charged for a cable box she claims she returned. (2 minutes)
“Cable customers are advised to scrutinize their bills carefully, paying careful attention to equipment rental charges and service fees. ”
Everyone should scrutinize any bill. paying careful attention for anything on it. Its abject stupidity to pay for something that you don’t have for 6 months let alone 6 years.
Time Warner San Antonio tried to this to my widowed mother in 1998. When my father passed of cancer, she turned off all premium cable services and just used basic cable on cable ready tv sets.
A couple years later I was reviewing her statements and noticed the cable box charges. I called them, told them it was turned in. Told them the date/time as I documented it. I then canceled all service immediately. Short while later, a full check was issued to her.