Comcast Equipment Rental - Getting credit for returned equipment

N

Neil V.

it's been to long since comcast's name has come up....

any advice on how to fairly settle with comcast?

i turned in a secondary box a year ago but they keep charging me $5 a month for it. I have a receipt, sort of. When their guy picked it up from me (i had left it outside) he left the pink copy instead of the yellow, or something like that. so according to them it's not 'official'. I have called them three times and talked with a 'supervisor'. apparantly they have to put out a missing equipment search, which has been done twice now. that was 3 or 4 months ago, no word back. in the meantime i keep paying them what i believe to actually owe them. what can they do if i cancel and don't pay the *bunk charges? their hours stink (or maybe mine do?) and i get mad everytime i think about it. i really need to clear this up, for sanity's sake.
:blowup:
any moral support is appreciated. i'm trying to remain poised, but part of me says give 'em the claw! like the senior
 

Wes Bucey

Prophet of Profit
it's been to long since comcast's name has come up....

any advice on how to fairly settle with comcast?

i turned in a secondary box a year ago but they keep charging me $5 a month for it. I have a receipt, sort of. When their guy picked it up from me (i had left it outside) he left the pink copy instead of the yellow, or something like that. so according to them it's not 'official'. I have called them three times and talked with a 'supervisor'. apparantly they have to put out a missing equipment search, which has been done twice now. that was 3 or 4 months ago, no word back. in the meantime i keep paying them what i believe to actually owe them. what can they do if i cancel and don't pay the *bunk charges? their hours stink (or maybe mine do?) and i get mad everytime i think about it. i really need to clear this up, for sanity's sake.

any moral support is appreciated. i'm trying to remain poised, but part of me says give 'em the claw! like the senior
FWIW:
My county has reasonable fees for filing "pro se" (by yourself, without a lawyer) suits in small claims court. (Our county's fee schedule is listed below)

Often, each county has a resource where individuals can get free or low cost legal advice on whether a claim is worth proceeding and those sources will help an individual file such a claim if one is warranted and has a chance of success.

The beauty of the process is the defendant (if it is a corporation) must usually hire an attorney to defend such a claim because most counties allow only "natural" persons to represent themselves pro se. Often, the cost of the attorney is more than the claim, so the corporation doesn't appear in its defense and the claimant may get a declaratory judgment in his favor. Collecting the judgment is another matter, but the same people who help you make the claim will show you how to collect a judgment.

(SC) - SMALL CLAIMS
$250 or less - $62.00
$251 to $1,000 - $75.00
$1,001 to $2,500 - $85.00
$2,501 to $5,000 - $132.00
$5,001 to $10,000 - $169.00

:topic:When I lived in Cook County, Illinois (Chicago) back in the 1960s, we had one character who was notorious for filing suits pro se, sometimes more than 100 per year! Back then, the top limit for small claims in Cook County was $2,500. This guy would file a separate suit for different facets of the same general case to boost the total above that limit.
(one notorious one, he sued a plumber

  1. for the fee he had paid,
  2. a second suit for damages to his house and subsequent cost to repair,
  3. a third for slander and libel because the plumber had called him a derogatory term in conversation with another customer (who signed an affidavit) plus the hapless plumber also mentioned the case in a letter to the better business bureau, calling the guy suing him a "f_ idiot" in response to the guy's complaint to the BBB.

As I recall, the plumber's attorney advised the plumber to settle out of court for an undisclosed sum.

Bottom line:
Sometimes, the little guy CAN win, but it takes effort and fortitude, and, especially, patience, because it takes a long time for a case to wind through the courts to the point where the big guy finally relents.
 

Marc

Fully vaccinated are you?
Leader
Do you believe in prayer?

On a realistic note, I have no idea what to tell you. I have been lucky as where I live I have Cincinnati Bell and Time Warner's RoadRunner. I used to have Cinti Bell's ADSL but RoadRunner had a 'Tech Worker' business account for US$60 a month for 7 MB down and 1 up. I still have Cinti Bell's old equipment. They never asked for it back, but they didn't charge me for it up front. I don't know what the deal is with RoadRunner. I think they want theirs back but I can assure you I wouldn't leave it out for a pickup if I changed services.

If you have a receipt, even if it's not the right 'copy', I would think that would suffice. I *assume* they have an office or service center somewhere. I know both Cinti Bell and RoadRunner do. If it was me I'd go to their office and start getting loud if I couldn't get things settled.

One thing to think of - If you end up in a situation where you've switched services and they're billing you for something you don't have, and you quit paying, you would be wise to check your credit report and if Comcast has put in a marker on you to submit a rebuttal to each of the 3 major credit rating companies. I've never had to do it but I know you can. I get a credit report once a year and have for a long time - I do it every January - Because they have to give you one free every year. I can't remember if you get the Fair Issac FICA score Wikipedia reference-linkFICO_score. I think it costs but I do that to. Last year I was at 810.
 

Wes Bucey

Prophet of Profit
The problem with raising heck at a branch office or service center is many times there is no employee empowered to settle your claim, so you waste all the energy to no effect.
 
N

Neil V.

Thanks for the thoughtful responses! It's important to know what our options are as consumers.

I'm happy to report the case is closed. It took a 53 minute phone call and explanation to three different levels of customer service, but in the end Comcast and I came to an agreement of a credit of $71 of the $76 I was 'requesting'. Posting here and seeing the responses helped me take action, so :thanks: again!

On a side note, and maybe I'm a reading into this, but a couple days later I received a call in the evening (from someone who did not identify themselves as a comcast employee) asking me if I'd take 5 minutes to complete a survey in regards to my experience with Comcast. I said no, it had been a long day and just hearing their name gets me worked up. After I hung up it dawned on me that Comcast probably calls their angry customers to get a feel at how much trouble they are willing to go through to rant against them (albeit on a forum, or a blog, or to neighbors, or to the better business bureau, etc.). Perhaps if I took the time to complete the survey I'd have free HBO right now. lol.
 
Top Bottom