"Help, My Comcast Bill This Month Jumped To $457!"
This is a sad evening for Consumerist, because this post is about Comcast sending a gigantic bill to an unsuspecting customer and yet we're going to side with Comcast.
Ben writes,
I signed up for Comcast High Speed Internet and Digital Cable back in August '08. I was given a 6 month promotional rate and my month bills started rolling in at $65. A couple months ago, I was still getting the bills for $65. I thought it was strange that the rate hadn't gone up, but at the time, I couldn't remember exactly how long the promotional rate was for. I was worried about it, but I was also finishing my last semester of college, so I didn't have time to call them and offer them more of my money.
I just got my bill for this month and instead of the usual $65, Comcast wants $457. Apparently my instincts were correct and Comcast didn't up my rate over 4 months ago when they should have. To correct the problem, they billed me for the last four months of stuff they missed in this month's bill. Can they do this? I have always paid my bill on time and I am willing to pay the new, higher rate on the monthly bill that I just recieved, but there is no way I can pay them almost $400 for 4 months of back billing. I am going to call and talk to them in the morning when their billing office opens. Do you have any advice for this situaiton?
Here's the deal: you owe them the money. If they'd been over billing you for four months and you'd just discovered it, you would rightly demand that they reimburse you immediately. We accept that you were too busy—the final weeks of a term can be insane as far as available time—but if you suspected they were under billing you, you could have put aside the money you thought you owed and then contacted them when you had some breathing room.
As for what you can do, we think the most straightforward solution is to pay it off as quickly as possible, even if that means having your cable/Internet cut off for the next 4-8 weeks. Of course, if you call them and luck into finding a friendly CSR, you might be able to work out a payment plan and avoid a service disruption, or possibly even a penalty.
For the rest of us, it's a good lesson that when a company screws up their side of a business agreement, it shouldn't automatically absolve you from your obligations. Contact the company and try to find out what's gone wrong—the sooner you solve the problem, the less of a headache it will ultimately turn out to be.
(Photo: adria.richards)
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This happened to me as well. When I called Comcast they said they would "take care of it" and immediately terminated our service and sent us a final bill.
It took about a week to get things turned back on. Unfortunately, Comcast is the only cable provider in our area so we pretty much just have to take it.
Also, FYI, don't bother with dealing with Comcast's twitter representatives like ComcastBonnie. All she did was send us a message with the same support phone number that's on the website.
Alternatively, you can do like some mobile phone companies do and only pay them the amount due from the last two month's and claim that's "policy".
@greyer: Good lord that sentence is awful in so many ways. Apologies in advance to the grammarians amongst us.
Not that I've ever dealt with Comcast, but had you figured out when the promotional rate was due to be up, that would have been the time to call and "negotiate" (i.e. ask to cancel your account) - you'd very likely have ended up with a maybe-not-quite-so-cheap-as-before-but-still-not-too-bad deal. But now, yeah, you owe them a fuckload of money, and you're most likely going to have to pay up or be sent to collections. :(
Still, maybe pay up and THEN say you want to cancel in a fit of histrionics. You might just swing yourself a lower rate.
But... like I say, I've never dealt with Comcast. This post is based strictly off my own (not inconsiderable) experience of such things with other companies.
Wait... that bit above was meant to say "maybe not quite so cheap as before but still cheap" - I have no idea where the last snippet disappeared to.
I side with OP. Usually if there's a billing issue it has a certain number of days to be brought to the attention of the company otherwise the customer has to eat the charges, should it not work the same way for comcast?
Furthermore, comcast isn't losing any money by giving OP the introductory rate, they just aren't making as much. Comcast needs to eat this one.
A serious attempt should be made to work out a payment plan since Comcast did make an error. If the rep says no, ask for a supervisor (nicely) and plead poverty if need be. However, the money is surely owed. If a contract is signed, failure to collect the money as scheduled does not expunge the debt.
Agree with enthreeoh.
That is a cost of doing business. I seriously doubt Comcast was actually losing money on the rate they were collecting for the months not covered by the promotion.
The promotion rates are not contracts, when Comcast shows up to install, I doubt you sign anything close to a contract for the monthly rates, since they vary so widely.
The promotions are "verbal" and based on the setup in their billing software, it should not be the customer who calls to tell they're being under-billed. It's not like they put notices for expiration dates of promotional rates on the statements. If they did, then yes, it's the consumers fault.
Some times saying stuff I like I thinking getting dsl / direct tv can make comcast more willing to make a deal.
My advice: Be the nicest person who has called this week, even during the frustrating parts of the call.
If I were in this situation, I'd start the call with "I don't know if you can help me, but there was a billing mixup...[accurate details that don't sound whiny] ...so my latest bill is more than I can afford at this moment. Is there any way I can pay some of the bill now, and clean up the balance over the next month or so? I can make a payment of $___ right this minute, I can pay $___ more by the due date on the bill, and I should be able to completely pay it off by the July [August?] due date..."
The specifics of when the bill will be paid in full are important: the CSR will need to document what you are offering to justify cutting you some slack.
The CSR has a surprising amount of latitude to accept or deny payment arrangements. Many customers with billing problems are rude, whiny and/or ignorant; they get little help. You can be the polite, honest, knowledgeable customer who gets a break...
If they'd been over billing you for four months and you'd just discovered it, you would rightly demand that they reimburse you immediately.
This may be true, but it's far easier for a company with a $31 billion budget to be flexible with these thing than it is for a student fresh out of college.
@floraposte: But only binding if a)recorded or b)witnessed by a 3rd party.
Besides, it's a promotion, not a contract.
Haven't we heard companies like Comcast say over and over that you have to catch the discrepancy within 3 months, or that they'll only fix a problem for the last 3 months?
Ben does owe some money, but I'd take a look through the Consumerist archives and see if there are articles where Comcast has played the 3 month card and see if he can't scrape a little bit off.
I disagree with the advice in this post. Comcast can't sit on it's rate hike for four months and let you forget about the fact that a promotional rate expired. If they could do this, imagine how many companies would start such nonsense. AOL back when it used to send out those free six months could just "forget" to bill you for a year after that and then send a HUGE bill for the time they were underbilling you. I would call up Comcast and say that you want the charges reversed for the months they neglected to properly bill you. I'd call what they're doing a deceptive trade practice and let them know that you think the FTC and the state Attorney General might like to know about it. Also, I'd call the BBB or some consumer protection agency and find out if this is even legal. It sounds like there SHOULD be a billing regulation about it, but you need someone with such expertise.
I had something similar happen with Charter after I renegotiated a new bundle of specials after the umpteenth promotional period expiration.
They sent me a note saying that they'd discovered that I'd been undercharged by $5 a month ... but that it would be corrected on next month's bill and that I wouldn't have to pay back the $30 I "owed."
I have to say that it would be hard to get me to pay this $457. It is not my job to verify that their billing is correct. Hell, it's hard enough figuring out the cable bill when certain things cost one price one month and another the next and somehow it all magically adds up to the same price each month.
I got tired of the game, canceled it all and got naked DSL (and a set of rabbit ears) and it is $35.83. Every month.
I had a similar thing happen on the other side of Comcast. My husband works for Comcast, and on his last paycheck they took out an additional $800 in taxes because they discovered an error they had been making all year. We had no idea there was a problem - his taxes had been the same as the year before. It was quite a shock and or course came at a really bad time. Comcast has been very cold about it, saying only that "their error has now been corrected." This didn't just happen to my husband, but to many Comcast employees and I'm very disappointed in the way they handled it. Hopefully Ben will have better luck with getting Comcast to be human.
I have to disagree... when companies over bill, they will often spew their company line about they can only refund the most recent over-billing or even the last 3 months. I think he should toss it back in their face.
I agree with the original poster. If Comcast can't automate enough to correctly bill, then I'm guessing their entire billing system is a mess.
It would be one thing if he was suddenly NOT billed for anything, but I'm not sure that I would question them continuing a promotional rate unless there was a clear end date stated on the bill itself, and even then I wouldn't question it.
Who out there marks on their calendar the date that a promotional rate will end?
@oldgraygeek: Did this with TW a few years ago, when I was severely stretched right before the promotional period ended. They forgot to change the billing, and I didn't notice. The (actually very nice) folks at TW ended up splitting the ~$300 I owed over the next 3 billing cycles, so while it was ~$100 a month on top of the monthly rate, it wasn't $300 all at once. I was able to make it work, they got their money, and I'm actually still a customer (although in the last 5 years they're really managing to make me want to switch to DTV and DSL, but that's a post in response to another story).
I have to concur with that. If I were in this lad's shoes, I'd do something like:
"I'm really sorry that I didn't keep better track of the promotional rate, but now I'm in a jam as I really just can't afford to pay this bill...is there anyway you can help me with this?"
It never hurts to be nice, and it never hurts to ask. And CSRs deal with so many fucknuts on any given day, that when you call up and act civilly with them you might just hear them fall backwards off their chair before they do whatever they can to help.
NOW I hope you're happy, "Ben". There you went and had to go make Chris feel all dirty.
@Kaisum: Agree, if Comcast F'd up they'd likely only offer the last 60 days of overbilling as a credit as the "burden is on the Consumer to watch their bill" - should be the same thing for Comcast, they only have the right to ask for the difference over the last 60 days.
@William Brinkman: Sorry, I read Chris's follow-up and agree that some companies should suck up the cost. After all, they *did* screw up. The "compromise" should've been to charge the higher rate beginning this month instead of back-billing him.
At the same time, Ben's actions are ethically questionable at best. For one, if he called Comcast and admitted it earlier (which he clearly didn't have time for), would they have given him a courtesy because of their mistake? Some companies want you so badly as a customer that if you threaten to cancel, they'll still honor the promotional rate. An attempt to lower the bill given that it was known that the promotion ended wasn't even attempted.
I've gotten overpaid for insurance. I've been given more in change than I'm owed when paying cash at a resutaraunt. It's wrong of me to pocket that money and not do anything about it. (Despite this fact, I know that millions of people do it. It doesn't make it right.)
I equate staying silent about the bill to that same behavior.
@hahamaximus: There are several limitations on verbal contracts, but they aren't as cut-and-dry as you suggest.
@patjk73: i'll agree with "payment plan" - yes, they screwed up, but yes th eOP owes them money still. talk to the CSR and explain that you are willing to pay, but can't all at once, try to work out a payment plan (maybe over the next 8 months)
@hahamaximus: ON THE NEXT EPISODE OF INTERNET LAWYER...
@hahamaximus: I'm glad your "sincere doubt" is solid enough that you can base your entire course of action on it. Conjecture FTW!
@humphrmi: Thank you for being here. Sincerely. You're wrecking people left and right with nothing more than logic and law. We "smart people" appreciate it.
@humphrmi: I never said that Congress ought to pass a law requiring that ability to pay affect contract law. I said that Comcast has the ability to be more flexible in the situation than a college student would in the opposite situation.
No mention of the law. None. I challenge you to find a mention of law.
@woogychuck: I apologize Woogychuck. She should not have done that. I would like to hear more of your experience. Shoot me an email.
Frank
frank_eliason@cable.comcast.com
Comcast
@Tamar Weinberg: I can tell you that Comcast will *not* give you a courtesy because of their mistake. I called them up because after I turned in their rental modem (I had switched to my own) they didn't bill me for Internet the next month. I asked to add the Internet so that I wouldn't be stealing it, and they happily did that, and charged me the following month for both the current month, and the month of their screwup.
@hahamaximus: they were not losing money in the sense that it costed them more to provide the service then it did to provide it, but they were losing money in the sense that the user was paying less then he agreed to. Thats like saying you weren't losing money when your employer stated he would gie you 20/hr and only gave you 15/hr. You didnt have the money to begin with, so that 5 wasnt lost, but you certainly were no getting what you were promised and could have potentially gotten the full amount, so there was a loss, even if only in opertunity cost.
The OP is in the wrong. He agreed to a 6 month promo period after which he would pay the full amount. He new that promo was over and decided to not pay the full amount, now he owes it per the contract he had to sign (or agree to online) to begin service.
That's all nice, but this is not "tit for tat". So what if companies sometimes only give you 3 months to correct an error?
First of all, Comcast has met their end of the obligation in the contract. The OP has not. The OP is the only person who actually has not fulfilled the contract. Comcast provided their services, and technically at an even lower rate than if they had billed him as he went; the OP kept use of that money, Comcast did not.
Second, when you sign up and agree to a service, that's when you have the information about billing disputes - such as the three month rule. Now, if the OP, at the initiation of service, said "In order to sign up for service, I need you to agree that any billing errors on Comcast's part must be brought to my attention within 90 days."
The OP could have done that. I highly doubt he did, or anyone does. Either way, if he did, Comcast could, and would most likely, decide not to give him service.
There is no "turnabout is fair play" in contract law. The contract is the contract. Period.
Just as you aren't let off of your credit card bill if the bill gets lost in the mail, you are not automatically off the hook for charges you owe because the company doesn't bill you the full amount.
Maybe if we want companies to treat us better and be more forthcoming, consumers need to be a little smarter and know what they're doing. When I sign up for a promotional rate, I know when it ends -- and as busy as school may be, I have trouble believing the OP didn't have 20 minutes to call Comcast..
People need to grow up. The OP owes the money. We can't expect Comcast to be on the up and up if we aren't as consumers.
@TCama: OK let's forget contract law for a moment. So we have a customer agreed to a specific set of terms for a specific length of time. Then when those terms expired, he, the customer, even remembered that his terms had expired and his price should have gone up, yet he was "too busy" to set aside the difference each month.
But wait! He's just a po' college student! The rules shouldn't apply to him! A big rich company should just let him slide on his obligations!
Sheesh.
@TCama:
He was giving you the benefit of the doubt in assuming you were making a useful point. If you're not talking about the law, then you're just talking out of your ass. After all, what the flying frak does it matter who is or is not more flexible?
@JeffMc:
It's usually stipulated in the contract somewhere and is not reciprocal. So unless Ben negotiated different terms, he's stuck.
"I was also finishing my last semester of college, so I didn't have time to call them and offer them more of my money."
Come on, dude.. Just tell the truth and admit you just didn't want to give up the discount and hope they'd never catch on. You knew they'd find out eventually and probably make you pay back what you owed, so why make up BS about not being able to find 10 or 15 minutes out of the day to call them up to fix it. Hopefully they'll work out a payment plan with you.
Because that's what you agree to in their terms of service. There's nothing in there that says it's reciprocal which means that if it goes to collections, you're screwed.
Drop your TV service, pay them off and use OTA, Hulu, Boxee & youtube/shows for all your TV watching needs. :-p
Comcast should just accept that they screwed up, figuring out how this happened in the first place and making sure it doesn't happen again would likely make up for it. Consider it a cost of doing business.