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Possible Fraud From Charter Communications

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D

differcult

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Minnesota

Possible fraud from charter communications.

Last month I came home for thanksgiving to visit my parents. My dad had told me the internet was horrible and was hoping I could help him get it fixed. I did a speed test and found he was getting around 1.5-3M (He was paying for 10M) I called charter because I was pretty sure about what was wrong. I asked what the modem had been provisioned to, they told me the modem had been provisioned to 3M for over around 35 months (that was the date on the file for when we started 3M service.) The problem I am having is for 23 months my dad has been paying for 5M and 10M service and was only able to get 3M (limited by chatrer). He wanted these speeds because he is a day trader and was hoping this would help him load pages faster.

Is this fraud? Or someother sort of civil problem?
The way I see it, he contracted for 10M service from charter. They provided 3M service. (Note: This wasn't a problem with with quality of the connection, they were limiting him to 3M, even though he was paying for 10M) I would consider this a breach of contract. Charter has offered my dad around $350 in credit to his account, this is the difference in price for the 23 months. But the way I see this, he is owed the entire amount. They breached the contract, granted he did get service, he didn't get what he contracted, if he wanted the slower rate he would have paid $20 for DSL.


I was thinking split it up 3/5 * the price of 5M * the number of months at 5M
and
3/10 * the price of 10M * the number of months at 10M


Anyone have some advice?
 


Zigner

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
differcult said:
What is the name of your state? Minnesota

Possible fraud from charter communications.

Last month I came home for thanksgiving to visit my parents. My dad had told me the internet was horrible and was hoping I could help him get it fixed. I did a speed test and found he was getting around 1.5-3M (He was paying for 10M) I called charter because I was pretty sure about what was wrong. I asked what the modem had been provisioned to, they told me the modem had been provisioned to 3M for over around 35 months (that was the date on the file for when we started 3M service.) The problem I am having is for 23 months my dad has been paying for 5M and 10M service and was only able to get 3M (limited by chatrer). He wanted these speeds because he is a day trader and was hoping this would help him load pages faster.

Is this fraud? Or someother sort of civil problem?
The way I see it, he contracted for 10M service from charter. They provided 3M service. (Note: This wasn't a problem with with quality of the connection, they were limiting him to 3M, even though he was paying for 10M) I would consider this a breach of contract. Charter has offered my dad around $350 in credit to his account, this is the difference in price for the 23 months. But the way I see this, he is owed the entire amount. They breached the contract, granted he did get service, he didn't get what he contracted, if he wanted the slower rate he would have paid $20 for DSL.


I was thinking split it up 3/5 * the price of 5M * the number of months at 5M
and
3/10 * the price of 10M * the number of months at 10M


Anyone have some advice?
Click to expand...
Your dad never, in nearly THREE YEARS complained to the ISP? I would take the $350 and the increase in speed and be on your merry way...
 
D

differcult

Junior Member
23 months...not three years. And yes he had...many times, there is a record of 28 calls, but they kept saying it was on his end in the house and such. At least 14 visits from techs to solve the problem. Keep in mind he is 66 years old and wouldn't know the difference from 3M to 10M until he saw it.


Remember, this isn't a head end problem or a line noise problem. This is a problem with charter. Two speed upgrades in 23 months, but no one bothered to change the provision on his modem to allow him to use speeds higher then 3M.
 
Zigner

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
differcult said:
23 months...not three years. And yes he had...many times, there is a record of 28 calls, but they kept saying it was on his end in the house and such. At least 14 visits from techs to solve the problem. Keep in mind he is 66 years old and wouldn't know the difference from 3M to 10M until he saw it.


Remember, this isn't a head end problem or a line noise problem. This is a problem with charter. Two speed upgrades in 23 months, but no one bothered to change the provision on his modem to allow him to use speeds higher then 3M.
Click to expand...
I'm sorry - you're right. 2 years, not 3.
The rest of my statement stands.
 
H

hehateme

Junior Member
Most ISPs do not guarantee speeds of service. The advertised speed is a "best of" scenario and in no way implies that they will receive said speed all of the time. The offer that Charter made to credit him $350 is a good will offer and in my opinion is the best offer that you will receive for this issue. It will be somewhat difficult to prove that Charter had only sent the 3MB profile to your fathers modem during the entire time (it isn't uncommon for a call center rep to misread or misinterpret technical information by stating something that may not be entirely true. If you base your entire case on what the rep told you, you may not get very far), and it will also be difficult to prove that it was done intentionally.

Also, most ISPs or cable providers do not carry or require contracts with their service. When you sign up for the service you are not bound to use it for a specific period of time and if you cancel the service you are not liable for early termination fees. What he signed would have been an end user agreement that essentially says that he agrees to Charters terms of service, not a contract guaranteeing specific speeds or services. This means that Charter was not in any contract with him to provide any amount of service, although I understand that he was billed for a higher service than what was provided which is why Charter is offering the credit for the price difference between the 2 services.

Legally, there really isn't a case of fraud... I would take the offered credit and move on.
 
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