Contract called ‘ambiguous'
Cable company gets complaints
By Dan Coran
IHlIw Knurald
Several residents of the
Eugene area have lodged com
plaints against Croup W Cable
after experiencing difficulties
getting the local cable company
to pick up issued equipment
once they discontinued the
service.
Sharon Owens of the Eugene
Consumer Sounding Board, a
self-help legal organization,
said the contract signed by con
sumers subscribing to the cable
service does not clarify how the
company wants its converter
units returned once service is
terminated.
She said the OSH has received
complaints by subscribers who
have been fined by the cable
company despite arrangements
they made to have the company
pick up converter units.
One such Eugene resident,
who asked not to be identified,
claims she called the company
and told them to pick up her
converter unit when she discon
nected her service on Nov. 4.
Although she did not make a
specific appointment for the
representative to come by. she
said the company did not pick
up the unit until March 12
when she threatened to leave it
outside her door.
Soon thereafter, she received
a bill for $259. because the unit
was not made available at the
time of or within five days after
the disconnection of service, as
called for in her terms and con
ditions contract.
“Every time I started to get
somewhere with these people. I
ran into a brick wall," she said.
“I did make it available to them,
over and over again.”
When her case was heard in
small claims court on Oct. 28.
her fine was annulled and her
filing fees were refunded.
Owen said the CSB has
received about six calls from
people who have had problems
having their converter units
picked up. The board is present
ly referring complaints to the
state attorney general's office,
which has recently opened
three files concerning the
matter.
i --;
Th« portion of she contract
that asks subcribers to make
their converters available to the
company is ambiguous, Owen
said. She added that if the com
pany wants converter units to
be returned by the patrons, it
Croup W Cable, and its col
lection agency. Account Collec
tion Bureau, Inc., of Spr
ingfield. refused to give infor
mation concerning specific
subscribers and their account
records.
The Eugene Consumer Sounding Board has
received about six calls from people who
have had problems getting their converter
units picked up.
should specify that in the
contract.
“There have been people
damaged by the way the wor
ding is now." she said. ‘‘If they
don’t change it, more people
could be damaged by it in the
future."
Brian Sullivan, general
manager of Group W Cable, in
Eugene, said his company
would never intentionally fine a
customer who attempted to pro
mptly return a converter unit.
"Our procedure is set up to
fulfill our policy of retrieving
converter units and returning
them to service," Sullivan said.
"We will pick up a converter if
an appointment is made. It’s
nonsensical that we would ig
nore a request to pick up a
converter.
“A high percentage of people
return converter units in a time
ly fashion,” ho added. "A
subscriber might drop the unit
by our office if it’s more conve
nient for them, but we wouldn't
insist on the customer doing
this.”
Another Eugene resident,
however, claims the company
never showed up for an ap
pointment to retrieve her con
verter unit. Tamara Winters
said a worker came to pick up
her unit only after she threaten
ed to leave the it in her mailbox.
Shortly afterward she says she
received a bill for $289.
"We don’t understand it,”
she said. “I don’t know what
we’ll do at this point.”
1
L
Photo by Hobart Kara
Several Eugene residents claim Croup W Cable is fining them
for not returning converter units that they asked the company to
pick up at their homes.
As a result of the complaints
received, the CSB is advising
cable subscribers to contact the
cable company immediately
when they disconnect their ser
vice. Suscribers also should
keep a record of arrangements
made to pick up the converter
units in case a disagreement
over penalty charges should
arise. Owen said.
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