Dave is the responsible roommate — the guy who volunteers to handle all the bills and finances for his pals.

The setup worked out great for a former roomie who ordered an extra Comcast cable box without Dave’s permission, then skipped out of town, taking the box with her. Now Comcast wants blood. He writes:

Hello! I’m a long-time reader and thought you may be interested in my problems with Comcast. Maybe you know of a good customer service contact within the company that can resolve this for me. Or you may wish to inform your readers about my story.

I rent in Seattle with other roommates and I handle the bills. I opened an account with Comcast when I moved in for cable and Internet. Payments are made automatically and I am not sent a bill in the mail (there is one online, of course). I just noticed that there has been a $6.10 monthly charge on my account for an additional box since September 2008. (It is my fault for not catching this sooner, but that is not the point of this story.)

It seems that an old roommate contacted Comcast last September and got an additional box on her own, without my knowledge or consent. This roommate has been gone since April and she took the box with her. She left this house with arguments, unpaid bills, etc and is not returning my calls today.

I called Comcast twice today. Both customer service reps refused to refund any of the monthly $6.10 charges. For the ongoing fee to be removed (or to cancel my account), I will need to return the box or face a fine of $300. I have no way of contacting the old roommate, and I never gave Comcast the permission for her to modify my account.

Dave was defrauded and shouldn’t be responsible for the payment. In addition to disputing the charge with Comcast he should alert the police.

Also, he’ll probably be the first guy to tell you that if your roommates aren’t responsible enough to assume some of the bills, it’s not a great idea to cover for them by putting everything in your name.

(Photo: kimaroo)

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