Sorry about your loss, but you still owe us for the equipment that melted in the fire.

An Antioch, Calif. woman on Social Security disability faced a substantial bill from AT&T for equipment lost in a recent house fire that left her with nothing but the clothes on her back, until the local media helped the company change its mind.

Her TV melted into a plastic mess, along with the box for AT&T. Now AT&T wants payment for the equipment. I have written them to inform them that everything, including the AT&T equipment, was destroyed in the fire. The company still wants to be paid for the destroyed parts. The landlord’s insurance did not cover tenant’s loss.

I want to let your readers know that if they lose their AT&T equipment due to a disaster beyond their control, they will have to pay for the equipment.

But once the San Jose Mercury News reached out to AT&T, they changed their mind.

AT&T spokesman John Britton:

“We are sorry to learn about the fire. We are glad our customer was able to get out of the burning house safely. We have adjusted the charges. Our policy is to be sensitive, listen to customers and to evaluate these claims on a case-by-case basis.”

AT&T would have dealt directly with the insurance company, if the customer kept and maintained renter’s insurance.

Most cable and phone companies maintain policies that require customers to compensate them for equipment either lost or damaged in natural disasters or fires. Problems arise most frequently when renters discover that whatever insurance a property owner maintains only covers damage or loss to the building itself. Renters need renter’s insurance to cover theft or damage to their property. The coverage is often overlooked, despite the fact it is very inexpensive.

Damaged cable television set top boxes can cost $300-500 or more each, no matter how old. Companies also routinely charge full price for damaged remote controls, cable modems, and company-supplied wireless routers.

Media attention regarding losses that were not the fault of customers often gets companies to waive fees, and some will issue blanket waivers where neighborhoods are affected by fire, flood, or tornadoes, but not always.

Insurance companies will usually handle matters directly with the cable, satellite, or phone company once the damaged equipment becomes part of an insurance claim. Some insurance policies will not cover the full replacement cost of equipment, but in such cases providers typically agree to accept the depreciated value to settle the matter.

At first, DISH Network couldn’t care less about Cincinnati-area resident Jeff Demoss’ problems.  The devastating March 2 tornadoes that ripped through Peach Grove and California, Ky., just across the Ohio border, took away Demoss’ home and all of its possessions. All that remained was a post with an electric meter and his DISH Network satellite dish.

Demoss called the satellite TV company to cancel his service. There wasn’t much point continuing to pay for satellite television when your television has blown into the next town over. At first, DISH Network representatives seemed sympathetic, promising the problem would be taken care of immediately.

That was, until DISH found out Demoss’ satellite receiver was also missing and could not be returned.

“We kept getting letters in the mail saying ‘You are going to have to return the receiver, or we will have to charge you $300 for it,'” Demoss told WCPO-TV’s consumer reporter.

And DISH did exactly that, removing $300 from the family checking account.

DISH Network has earned a mediocre C+ rating from the Better Business Bureau, and has racked up more than 13,000 complaints in the past three years, some about lost equipment fees.

Companies can charge early contract termination and lost equipment fees for customers who cancel service before their service contract ends or who do not return equipment. When tragedies like storms, fires, and floods strike, many satellite and cable companies try to bill customers accordingly, at least until they end up shamed on the evening news.

DISH quickly offered to refund the Demoss family their $300 once the Cincinnati television station got involved, and the satellite company apologized for the inconvenience.

Virtually all cable, telephone, and satellite companies will eventually relent on cancellation fees and damaged/lost equipment fees if customers tell the intransigent customer service representative or supervisor their next call will be to local media to share the story, so it pays to stand your ground.

However, as Stop the Cap! has repeatedly recommended in the past, your best protection is a renter or homeowner insurance policy, which typically covers these types of losses. Renters often assume their landlord maintains insurance on their behalf, but in fact they do not. Insurance purchased by the building owner only covers structural losses, never your personal property. Renters insurance is inexpensive and highly recommended.

[flv width=”360″ height=”290″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WCPO Cincinnati Tornado victim struggles with DISH Network 5-16-12.mp4[/flv]

WCPO-TV in Cincinnati reports on how a Kentucky man who lost his home and possessions was forced to deal with DISH Network, who withdrew $300 from the family checking account for equipment lost in a March tornado.  (3 minutes)

[flv width=”360″ height=”290″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WISH Indianapolis Verizon Safety Tips for Cell Phones 3-7-12.mp4[/flv]

Now is the time to begin preparations for annual spring storms by making sure cell phones and other wireless accessories are ready and available for home and office use in the event of an emergency. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, any basic emergency supply kit should include a fully-charged cell phone. WISH in Indianapolis talks with Verizon about how the company is responding to recent Indiana tornadoes and how it manages its network in storm-damaged regions.  (4 minutes)

Time Warner Cable is letting victims of recent devastating storms spend their time and energy worrying about rebuilding their lives and not ponder the loss of company-owned cable boxes, modems, and other equipment.

Unlike several smaller cable companies that have hounded customers for cable equipment destroyed in storms, fires, and other natural disasters, Time Warner is signaling they are waiving any lost/damaged equipment fees when tragedy strikes.

Many cable operators expect to recoup lost or damaged equipment from proceeds of insurance claims, and relentlessly bill clients for the full value of equipment that may have melted in a fire or blown blocks away in a tornado.  While homeowner and rental policies traditionally cover this equipment, few customers are in a state of mind to worry about a DVR box or cable modem, and some may have to wait weeks or months for restitution from the insurance company.

Stop the Cap! reader Kathleen is now an extended guest at a Kentucky “extended stay” motel after her house was damaged by a tornado several days ago.

“I’m an organized person and I had my emergency planning kit ready to go, calling the insurance company, the utilities, and the cable company, among others, to make sure everything was documented,” Kathleen writes. “Our DVR box and cable modem are probably sitting in a field in southern Ohio right now, as the storm completely took away our family room.”

Kathleen originally was planning to write complaining Time Warner wanted several hundred dollars for the lost equipment because that is what the first representative told her.

“But 20 minutes after that call, a supervisor called us back and profusely apologized, telling us the representative was not supposed to charge for the lost equipment because of the storm,” Kathleen says. “They got themselves a lot more loyalty from me than that equipment ever cost them because they did the right thing by me and my family.”

Kathleen tells us Time Warner has stopped all charges on her account, offered her their good wishes for a recovery, and will waive any installation costs to get her service back up and running when repairs are complete.

“Following the horrific storms of last week, Time Warner Cable immediately suspended all credit and collections work in the area,” a spokesperson tells Stop the Cap! “Time Warner Cable has not and will not charge customers for lost or damaged equipment as a result of these storms.”

“It is why I will call Time Warner back when this is all over and will stick with them because they stuck with us,” says Kathleen. “Sorry AT&T.”

[Consumer Tip from Stop the Cap!: Every renter should always have renter’s insurance, which typically will cover damaged cable equipment. It’s very affordable and protects renters from losses. Many consumers believe landlords carry insurance which will protect them in the event of a natural disaster or fire, but those insurance policies protect the landlord’s property, not renters’ possessions.]

Cox alienates their customers.

Six of the 19 ‘Most Hated Companies in America’ are big cable, satellite and phone companies.  The list, published this month by The Atlantic magazine, call out the perpetrators of bad customer service, high prices, and in the case of Time Warner Cable (#3) — Internet Overcharging.

The American Customer Satisfaction Index rates companies based on thousands of surveys. In the latest index, the most-hated companies include large banks, airlines, power and telecom companies.  Especially called out this year was Time Warner Cable, celebrating a decade of public relations blunders ranging from gouging experiments on Internet service pricing, showing pornography on children’s channels, high rates, and downright lousy service in some areas.  And with CEO Glenn Britt entertaining a return to Internet rate gouging, the company’s 59/100 score still has plenty of room to fall.

#3 — Time Warner Cable (59/100) — All of the above, plus sexually harassing a North Carolina customer.

#4 — Comcast (59/100) –Dreadful customer service and poor communications left consumers with dozens of channels gone missing, outrageous rate hikes, their phone service implicated in a Florida woman’s death, and who could forget the technician that set a customer’s house on fire. This one actually lost two score points since last year.

#5 — Charter Communications (59/100) — The usual rate increases were bad enough, but Charter also told their customers they were on the hook for cable boxes lost in fires that were not their fault, was held accountable for faulty billing practices, went bankrupt, introduced its own Internet Overcharging scheme, and worst of all — their infamous PR disaster telling tornado victims in Alabama to go and find their lost cable boxes scattered somewhere in the neighborhood.  The representative on the line will wait.

#14 — AT&T (66/100) — Limited coverage and the introduction of usage pricing for data pl    …   oh sorry, AT&T dropped the call.  All reasons why AT&T wins the ‘you suck’ award among mobile providers this year.

#17 — Cox Cable (67/100) — The home of the $480 early termination fee, Cox alienates customers like few others.  They even use spacemen to harass their customers.  Bemusingly, Cox is considered a customer service success compared with our other bad boys.

#18 — Dish Network (67/100) — Trending downwards, Dish is still giving their customers a bath in bad billing and worse customer service.  They are lovers of big ad splashes with a terrifying excess of fine print which ruins the deal, if you read it.