[News] Charter promises Internet service to family?then says it?ll cost $16,000

[StyM]

https://arstechnica.com/information-...ll-cost-16000/

When Chad Pierce and his family bought a new house this year, they made sure of one thing: that getting Internet service wouldn't be a problem.

"The first thing we did was go on [Charter] Spectrum's website and punch the address in," Pierce told Ars, recalling the day this past summer when he and his family saw the house in Newaygo, Michigan, that they'd ultimately buy.

The Charter website indicated that Internet service was available at the address. But Pierce wanted to make extra sure. "I had read articles saying the [Internet providers'] websites aren't always accurate," he noted. So he called Charter's customer service line and was told the same thing?that Internet was available.

With that assurance, Pierce and his wife made an offer on the house and closed in late August. Pierce then called Charter again to set up Internet service, and there was still no sign of any problem. Pierce set up the appointment over the phone and got an email confirmation for his installation appointment scheduled for Tuesday, September 5, between 2 and 3pm:

The email also provided Pierce with an order number, an account number, and a detailed breakdown of the initial and monthly charges. But when September 5 arrived, he was in for a big shock.

"I got a call that Tuesday 45 minutes before the appointment from a dispatcher, saying apparently the house is too far from the road," Pierce said.

Internet service wasn't readily available?and Charter wouldn't extend its network to the house unless the Pierce family paid $16,000 to cover most of the company's construction costs. The house is about 550 feet from the road, Pierce said.

"Needless to say, we were pretty devastated," Pierce said.

[screwtech02]

Rent trencher, run coax to cable drop, 1/2 day tops, and minimal cost to rent trencher.... Otherwise, they are gonna pay.....

[Sparky]

550 feet is nothing for a good coax line. RG6 will do 1000ft.

[alpha0ne]

Big business doing what big business does best, gouging every last drop of blood.

What you end up with is a user covering the labour/material costs which the telco will then own.......................... for the telco to provide a 'service' (akin to rape) on their newly acquired line

[AbortRetryFail?]

Big business doing what big business does best, gouging every last drop of blood.

What you end up with is a user covering the labour/material costs which the telco will then own.......................... for the telco to provide a 'service' (akin to rape) on their newly acquired line

Here's how it works in the States ...

Typical BigCorp Craptastic Customer Service

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Typical BigCableCo Craptastic Customer Service

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Typical Charter Craptastic Customer Service



Even Better (?) : Charter crapped on more than half of their bondholders (who got a 70% 'haircut' on the value of their notes), common stockholders were wiped-out, and $8 billion of debt magically went away in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Fast-forward 5 years --- Charter purchased Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks, becoming the nation's second-largest broadband Internet provider, behind Comcast, and the third-largest pay-TV distributor behind AT&T and Comcast. 25 million customers in 41 states.

Think they repaid that $8 billion ?