The good news was that no one was killed or injured when a fire destroyed an apartment building for low-income senior citizens in Battle Creek, Michigan last week. The bad news is that the seniors’ cable provider, Comcast, can’t rule out that they’re going to charge the residents for the Kabletown-owned cable boxes that were destroyed in the fire.

Generally, cable companies will send a bill to people whose cable boxes and modems have been destroyed by natural or man-made disasters, then wait for homeowner’s or renter’s insurance to cover the balance.

The CEO of the agency that runs the housing complex told local news that Comcast had asked for $120 per destroyed box from someone. When contacted, a Comcast spokesperson said that the seniors who have just lost their homes and belongings won’t be asked to pay that bill, and the fees will probably be waived, but they can’t guarantee

We get that cable boxes aren’t cheap and are important, but maybe telecoms should wait more than a week before they start hounding their customers for the balance. Maybe.

Seniors displaced by fire could be charged for cable boxes [WMMT] (Thanks, Heidi!)
Over 50 seniors displaced by fire at Battle Creek apartment complex [WZZM] (Warning: auto-play video)

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