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Streaming Is Raising Prices Faster Than Cable Ever Did (www.hollywoodreporter.com)
submitted 1 day ago by [M] to c/television@piefed.social
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[–] 2 points 1 day ago (6 children)

They tried to charge me for the free digital conversion boxes they sent out when they converted their basic cable from analog to digital. That was a fun conversation with the poor box collection service that called me.

"Hold on, you are trying to collect the FREE boxes, that had NO charge on my bill, that I was expressly told were FREE. If I don't return them, you want to charge me $200 for the FREE boxes they sent me?"

"As they were sent to me for FREE, not for rent, they are mine. If you want them back I will sell them to you for $400."

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  • [–] 3 points 1 day ago (3 children)

    None of that matters. Equipment being offered for free doesn't mean it's yours and doesn't mean your not contractually obligated to return it.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 day ago (2 children)

    Without invoicing a nominal amount they forfeited ownership in my jurisdiction. They later changed to charging $1 a year for them for new customers. They also had to send the invoice with-in a year. I had them for like 7 years.

    At the change-over the government forced them to offer them for free.

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  • [–] 1 point 22 hours ago (1 child)

    Wait, your jurisdiction has a law requiring corporations charge for required equipment. Do you not see how that is anti-consumer?

    Bizzare. You got lucky. Everyone else has to pay for something the company didn't want to charge for.

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  • [–] 1 point 20 hours ago

    It's a pretty common law in many countries.

    Mailing an item to someone without a charge or an agreement of a charge means that it's their property. You can not charge people for an item delivered for free after the fact. This is to stop scammers from sending you an item for "free", then sending you a surprise huge bill a few months later. It was a pretty popular scam historically.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 day ago (1 child)

    they were 'free' as in no per-month rental fees.. for an undisclosed period of time, anyway. they certainly would have started charging monthly for them at some point. the cable company would not ever willingly send out free, no-strings-attached electronics equipment you never had to return and was yours-to-keep.

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