Cogeco red-flags addresses where its deadbeat customers live.

An Ontario cable company is refusing to hook up service for a new renter until the former tenant’s $1,500 past due balance is paid in full.

Cogeco Cable told its would-be customer it could not install his broadband, phone, and cable-TV service, even though the renter offered to provide a letter from his landlord asserting he had no relationship to the earlier tenant.

The cable operator’s “skip” policy, which flags accounts disconnected for non-payment, can make life difficult for the new renter or property owner. Cogeco’s policy is designed to stop disconnected customers from restarting service under someone else’s name.

In some cases, Cogeco has reportedly even disclosed personal details about the owner of the past due account, along with a detailed breakdown of the services and charges they incurred.

Customers who have encountered a red flag from Cogeco when attempting to sign up for service have been asked for a notarized letter, preferably from a personal attorney, disavowing any relationship to the former account-holder, along with copies of property transfer documents.

A Cogeco representative tells Stop the Cap! the potential customer was misinformed. Cogeco will not hold a new customer accountable for another customer’s past due balance.

Customers who encounter problems because of “flagged” accounts or addresses should ask to speak to a supervisor. Some supporting documentation may be required in some instances. But usually the supervisor can approve the order and help the customer set up service over the phone.

Herman Reed, 33, of Boynton Beach (Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office)

A 16-year-old boy who brought his broken iPhone to a Boynton Beach, Fla. AT&T store to have it repaired got his phone fixed and more, after the AT&T technician offered him a bi-weekly allowance and sent him sexually explicit text messages.

Herman N. Reed Jr., 33, of Boynton Beach allegedly started sexting the boy three months ago, according to police.

“Reed stated that he wanted to hug me and wished that we could date,” according to victim statement within a police report obtained by the Sun-Sentinel. Reed also said he wanted to kiss and make love to the boy, boasting that he was good at it.

Reed admitted he also invited the boy to his home for movies and pizza.

When authorities stopped Reed’s truck and arrested him, Reed confessed that some of the conversations were “very sexual” and he feared his arrest was being taped as part of the Dateline NBC feature, “To Catch a Predator,” with Chris Hansen.

Although Reed has no prior arrests, he is now charged with online solicitation and traveling to meet a minor for a sex act. He is currently out of jail on $30,000 bail.

Frontier Communications is hoping to capitalize on cable operators alienating customers with extra modem fees and the increasing cost of cable broadband with a new offer it claims is free from hidden charges and other gotcha’s.

Frontier’s “Simple Choice” offers DSL broadband at speeds up to 6Mbps for $19.99 a month with the promise of an “end to confusing Internet bills” loaded with modem rental fees, contracts, or other “plan-cuffs” that “require a law degree to understand.” Frontier also offers to double your speeds for $10 more per month.

“It gives consumers an awesome amount of flexibility and choice,” said Cecilia K. McKenney, executive vice president of administrative services at Frontier. “By offering new broadband speed tiers to residential and commercial customers and eliminating contracts and early termination fees on our residential offers, we are truly simplifying the broadband experience.”

The offer includes a three-year price lock on voice and broadband, a free wireless router, no contract and no early termination fees. There is no Internet activation fee where a free self-installation kit is available.

But despite the promises of no tricks or traps, Frontier couldn’t help themselves in the fine print accompanying the offer:

1. The offer is only available to customers subscribing to a “qualifying package of Frontier residential local service with calling features and long distance.” This means you must keep a Frontier voice landline with an added-cost long distance and feature package (eg. Caller ID, Call Waiting, voicemail, etc.) In Rochester, N.Y., a landline with qualifying features starts at $31 a month before taxes and fees.
2. A $49.99 “Internet installation fee” is payable if a self-install kit is not available.
3. A $9.99 “broadband processing fee” applies if/when you disconnect your broadband service.
4. Taxes, governmental, and “other Frontier-imposed surcharges” that go unspecified also apply.
5. Frontier does not guarantee you will actually receive 6Mbps service. Speeds will vary depending on local line conditions.

Comcast: You owe us $640 (Original image: Sentinel & Enterprise)

Comcast billed a Leominster woman $640 for cable television equipment destroyed in a major apartment fire, despite promises from the company she would not be charged.

Lakisha Nunez spent months fighting with Comcast over the equipment lost when a fire broke out at the Columbia Hotel building on Nov. 24.

Two days later, Nunez contacted Comcast to inform them of the fire and to temporarily suspend service. A representative promised she would not be held accountable for the unreturned equipment because the fire was not her fault.

One month later, the company changed its mind and refused to discuss the matter further. When the $640 bill arrived, she complained.

“I called and was told that is what (renter) insurance is for,” Nunez told the Sentinel & Enterprise.

Another representative told her the fees would be waived if she filed a “fire report” with the local Comcast office. She complied, but Comcast still refused to remove the charges.

The bill was finally waived after Leominster Mayor Dean Mazzarella’s office intervened on her behalf and reporters from the Sentinel & Enterprise also began making inquiries.

Comcast spokesman Marc Goodman quickly apologized and promised to refund $233 in fees she already paid, believing it covered her monthly service.

Stop the Cap! reminds renters that buying renter’s insurance is essential to protect your personal property (and that belonging to others) in the event of a catastrophic loss. It is inexpensive and easy to buy from any large insurance company.

Data caps protect incumbent big studio and network content creators at the expense of independent producers and others challenging conventional entertainment business models.

That was the conclusion of several writers and producers at a communications policy forum hosted by Public Knowledge, a consumer group fighting for an open Internet.

A representative from the Writers Guild of America West noted that cord-cutting paid cable TV service has become real and measurable because consumers have a robust online viewing alternative for the first time. John Vezina, the Guild’s political director, noted how Americans watch television is transitioning towards on-demand viewing.

New types of short-form programming and commissioned series for online content providers like Netflix are also changing the video entertainment model.

Welch: It is about the money.

But a digital roadblock erected by some of the nation’s largest broadband providers is interfering with that viewing shift: the data cap.

Data caps place artificial limits on how much a customer can use their Internet connection without either being shut off or finding overlimit fees attached to their monthly bill. Critics contend usage caps and consumption billing discourage online viewing — one of the most bandwidth intensive applications on the Internet. With broadband providers like Time Warner Cable, AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast also in the business of selling television packages, cord-cutting can directly impact providers’ bottom lines.

Providers have traditionally claimed that usage limits are about preserving network resources and fairness to other customers. But Time Warner Cable admits they exist as a money-making scheme.

Rachel Welch, vice president of federal legislative affairs at Time Warner Cable, says the cable company is not worried about limiting data consumption. It considers monetizing that consumption more important.

“We want our customers to buy as much of the product as possible,” Welch told PC World. “The goal of companies is to make money.”

Time Warner now offers customers a choice of unlimited service or a $5 discount if customers keep their monthly usage under 5GB, but some worry that is only a prelude to introducing expanded usage limits on a larger number of customers in the future.

For many consumers already hard-pressed by high broadband bills, worrying about exceeding a data allowance and paying even more may keep viewers from watching too much content online.

For that reason, Vezina called data caps “anti-innovation.”

“It hurts consumers [and] it hurts creators who want to get as much out to the public in as many ways” as possible, he said.

Public Knowledge has become increasingly critical of data caps in the last two years. The organization has questioned how ISP’s decide what constitutes a ‘fair’ usage limit and criticized inaccurate usage meters that could potentially trigger penalties and overlimit fees.