It's not amusing submitter. What the Comcast employee did was highly illegal.

The company was an idiot, but so was the woman who decided that sending a nasty message ON A REAL CHECK was a great way to express her peevishness. I say she lived by the sword and she died by the sword.

Chariset: The company was an idiot, but so was the woman who decided that sending a nasty message ON A REAL CHECK was a great way to express her peevishness. I say she lived by the sword and she died by the sword.

You call that a nasty message?
I'm not sure how you rationalize things. How can you compare writing a letter of protest to a company that billed you 3x what they advertised, with openly distributing your personal information including your bank account and routing number?
You have a weird sense of equality.

queezyweezel: Displaying her account information was short-sighted and perhaps punitive (but perhaps just a bone-headed mistake). But she started this by committing what basically amounts to check fraud. If she wanted people respecting her personal finances, she shouldn't have turned a piece of paper that had all her account information written on it into stationary.

/not submitter, by the way

You're wrong, Chariset. The company had no right to divulge their customer's account information, period.

It's not check fraud, at all.

Chariset: The company was an idiot, but so was the woman who decided that sending a nasty message ON A REAL CHECK was a great way to express her peevishness. I say she lived by the sword and she died by the sword.

More like the r-word.

carmody: You're wrong, Chariset. The company had no right to divulge their customer's account information, period.

They're both in the wrong. Technically, Comcast's wrong is much worse, but I suspect the woman's a pain, so I can't be that offended. My parents had a few customers over the years who put complaints in the memo field -- but sending a check for "My Right Arm and Zero Dollars" is absurd.

Why, if she's on such a tight budget as she suggests, would she have comcasts service? A luxory as most would consider it.
As for the check thing. Probably sent it to a buddy thinking he would get a laugh and end there, the buddy then decided to show it to a couple friends on a message board or something and went to hell from there.
/bonehead move from the comcast employee
//Don't complain about being fat with a king sized whopper meal sitting in front of you.

You know, cable television is an optional service, it's not like she had to have it.

she's dumb.

they're rich and possibly violated the law with their actions. that makes them even dumber.

They posted her account number?

Eat it lady.

carmody: The company had no right to divulge their customer's account information, period.

She should be going after the employee that scanned the check, not the whole company. It will help both parties. She will get her money and Comcast employees will learn that sending out funny emails is strictly verboten.

I'm surprised Comcast didn't show up with a surgeon and attempt to collect on the check.

The fact that this is illegal has been quite well established in law and court cases... this one will never see a courtroom as it will be settled out of court from the word go. Most cases of this nature are regarding bad checks physically posted on a bulletin board in public view. The only interresting thing will be to see how much they, or a judge, decides posting it on the web is worth.

They should have edited out the identifying information and sent it around for the laugh. Someone was simply too stupid to think of this.

FTA:
"They're still shocked and in fear of some major identity theft attempt," said Collins, who believes his clients are still Comcast customers. "They're so geeked by this."

They're geeked, you guys. Leave them alone!

Chariset: But she started this by committing what basically amounts to check fraud.

Stop smoking crack. Writing goofy shiat on a check != check fraud.

1) She wasn't kiting (in fact, if you RTFA, she sent them two checks, one as a joke, and one written out for the actual payment).

2) It wasn't illegal borrowing.

3) It wasn't embezzlement.

4) It wasn't a bad check (since to be classified as a bad check the recipient of the check shouldn't suspect that the check wouldn't clear).

5) It's not a forgery.

6) It's not counterfeiting.

7) It's not an altered check.

8) It's not paperhanging (writing a check from a closed account).

FTA: After Comcast threatened to suspend service, Krista Cooney submitted two checks: one to cover the outstanding amount and a second offering her arm in protest.

Even though I understand her fustration it was not a great idea using a real check with her signature on it to make a statement.
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Unhappy with how much she was being charged, Cooney made out the check for "My Right Arm and Zero Dollars" and in the memo wrote for "Robbing Customers Blind."

"Some people do have a budget ya know," Cooney wrote on the payment slip accompanying her check."

Obviously, she didn't.

thisispete: You know, cable television is an optional service, it's not like she had to have it.

According to the article, she signed up for a plan that was advertised as $99 a month, and the first bill came and was $296.74

lordargent: thisispete: You know, cable television is an optional service, it's not like she had to have it.

According to the article, she signed up for a plan that was advertised as $99 a month, and the first bill came and was $296.74

Installation fees?

Plus, a plan that's $99 a month includes unnecessary shiat like HBO and Cinemax. I have basic cable and a cable modem through Comcast, and it's less than that.

Why, oh why did I somehow know this was about Comcast, even without RTFA?

Solty Dog: She should be going after the employee that scanned the check, not the whole company

It's appropriate to go after the company as a company is responsible for the actions of it's employees. If you get run over by a UPS truck, do you ask UPS to cover your medical bills or the driver? You hold the company responsible and whatever they want to do the driver, that's up to the company.

Chariset, you say live by the sword, I don't have a problem with that but revealing her information isn't a comparable response. A proper response, following the live/die thing, would be to send her a bill that says, "We fart in your general direction."

T-Luv:
They're geeked, you guys. Leave them alone!

Yeah. WTF was that?

El_Dan: Plus, a plan that's $99 a month includes unnecessary shiat like HBO and Cinemax. I have basic cable and a cable modem through Comcast, and it's less than that.

I assumed installation fees as well.

But the folks in this thread are acting like she signed up for a $296.74 per month cable plan that she couln't afford. When in reality, she's probably perfectly capable of afforging the $99 per month, but the $296.74 hit in 1 month was too much.

/I don't think I could even hit $296 a month if I signed up for all of the premium channels. Well maybe I could if I included all of the foreign channels.

/don't cable companies normally break up install fees across several bills?

kzp7 Even though I understand her fustration it was not a great idea using a real check with her signature on it to make a statement.

Obviously, since there are evidently some real NIMRODS (now EX-employees of Comcast) out there who don't understand "forbidden from disclosing personally identifiable information concerning any subscriber without permission."

Who really cares if the woman is a saint or a sinner, a comic genius or a crude idiot?

Comcast is *evil* and I hope she takes them for a million.

El_Dan: Plus, a plan that's $99 a month includes unnecessary shiat like HBO and Cinemax. I have basic cable and a cable modem through Comcast, and it's less than that.

The triple package includes Digital Cable, Internet, and Phone service for $99/mo.

That Comcast employee farked up big time.

People who work in services that are widely despised get things like this all the time. Usually, funny stuff gets passed around offices and pinned on cubicles, but in this wacky technological world they now get posted on the 'tubes. And it is highly illegal. Chances are an employee wanted others to see this funny check, but someone else who may or may not have worked at comcast might have put it on the internet. It is still Comcast's fault, and because they are worthy of the 7th circle of hell, i hope they get burned for this.

/and the horse they rode in on

geekybroad
T-Luv:
They're geeked, you guys. Leave them alone!

Yeah. WTF was that?

It means they're obsessively worried about identity theft, and that's completely understandable.

They posted her account number?

Eat it lady.

BANK account number.. when you grow up and get a checking account, you'll realize that the checks have to have a bank account number on them to be used. The checks in your little board games are fake and do not represent real life.

Comcast is gonna get boned on this one, I'll bet.

There's no way comcast would have charged her 3 times the advertised price. She must have been ordering cheap porn ppv with her husband, or watching crap-on-demand. It's her problem that she managed to rack up extra $200 in a month. And if she's so worried about her budget, maybe she should count how much she spends.

As for comcast, personally I don't think it's company's fault, it must have been some idiot who decided to show his/her friends this check, and scanned and forwarded it via email, not thinking of the consequences.

However, she'll probably still get paid, some serious money too, the judge might have to make an example out of this...

The Flexecutioner: It is still Comcast's fault

I don't deny they were at fault. Legally, what they did was inexcusable. They deserve the nice hard slap on the wrist they've got coming to them. But I have no sympathy for this idiot woman who was that careless with her financial information.

their lawyer used the phrase 'geeked'. My guess is he's 26 or 27 years old.

lordargent:
/don't cable companies normally break up install fees across several bills?

That's what they did with mine. They were forward with the amount from the begining and gave me the option to pay the lump sum on the first bill or to spread it out without interest over my first 3 bills.

Albert Lake: Unhappy with how much she was being charged, Cooney made out the check for "My Right Arm and Zero Dollars" and in the memo wrote for "Robbing Customers Blind."

"Some people do have a budget ya know," Cooney wrote on the payment slip accompanying her check."

Obviously, she didn't.

But. But. My checks make a statement everytime!

/my bank statement anyway.
//ducks.

Z1P2 2008-06-08 02:55:45 AM
The fact that this is illegal has been quite well established in law and court cases... this one will never see a courtroom as it will be settled out of court from the word go. Most cases of this nature are regarding bad checks physically posted on a bulletin board in public view. The only interresting thing will be to see how much they, or a judge, decides posting it on the web is worth.
In Pensacola Jo Patty (sp?) used to have a glass case with returned checks displayed. Called it the Wall of Shame or some such. It gave people in line something to read and the impression that they didn't want to bounce a check.

What did the courts say? I figure if you give someone a worthless check as payment, they own that piece of paper.

El_Dan: Plus, a plan that's $99 a month includes unnecessary shiat like HBO and Cinemax. I have basic cable and a cable modem through Comcast, and it's less than that.

If you would have taken the time to read the article it says that it was the comcast tipple play, phone internet and a very basic TV package for 99 bucks a month. They advertise that it is a way to save money by letting you disconnect your phone line, and if this case is like the normal way they have been running this package a large part of the 300.00 bill was a fee for keeping your old phone number something that is free with every other company that offers VOIP and may be breaking federal law by charging for it. If the woman in the article had read about the package before buying it she would have known that a number of states have either already filed or are in the process of bringing fraud charges over this package that is never 99 bucks a month that is advertised.

El_Dan: Plus, a plan that's $99 a month includes unnecessary shiat like HBO and Cinemax. I have basic cable and a cable modem through Comcast, and it's less than that.

But even then, a $197.74 install fee for cable?

Did they actually have to do wiring work, or did they charge her almost $200 to have some monkey hook up a cable box and set up a cable modem?

Cable is a Ripoff. I live in a town of approximately 63,000 people and pay 65 dollars a month for 60 channels of NON digital cable through Sudden Link Communications. that is a ripoff

If you feel that you're paying "your right arm" for cable, maybe you don't need cable that much.
Also, whatever Comcast employee who published the check needs a-firin'.

kzp7: FTA: After Comcast threatened to suspend service, Krista Cooney submitted two checks: one to cover the outstanding amount and a second offering her arm in protest.

Even though I understand her fustration it was not a great idea using a real check with her signature on it to make a statement.
">

But. But. My checks make a statement everytime!

/my bank statement anyway.
//ducks.
///fixed. agrh. stupid fark.

ral315: carmody: You're wrong, Chariset. The company had no right to divulge their customer's account information, period.

They're both in the wrong. Technically, Comcast's wrong is much worse, but I suspect the woman's a pain, so I can't be that offended. My parents had a few customers over the years who put complaints in the memo field -- but sending a check for "My Right Arm and Zero Dollars" is absurd.

Clearly Comcast should have to pay for making her financial information public, however, since a check is a legal payment instrument, shouldn't Comcast have the right to take her right arm now?

TheMega: ...when you grow up and get a checking account...

I snickered..

Oh, and add my bet to the "Comcast settles out of court for a boatload of money" column.

yasharki: As for comcast, personally I don't think it's company's fault, it must have been some idiot who decided to show his/her friends this check, and scanned and forwarded it via email, not thinking of the consequences.

In that case, since everything a "company" does is actually done by its employees, at what point does it cease to be the employees' fault and become the company's?

Or are companies never liable?

Chariset I don't deny they were at fault. Legally, what they did was inexcusable. They deserve the nice hard slap on the wrist they've got coming to them. But I have no sympathy for this idiot woman who was that careless with her financial information.

In what way was she careless? Her check was made payable to Comcast, and she sent it to Comcast.

yasharki: There's no way comcast would have charged her 3 times the advertised price. She must have been ordering cheap porn ppv with her husband, or watching crap-on-demand. It's her problem that she managed to rack up extra $200 in a month. And if she's so worried about her budget, maybe she should count how much she spends.

It's entirely possible. Security deposits on a DVR and eMTA, as well as an install fee could come to $200 easily. Do you work for Comcast by chance?

As for comcast, personally I don't think it's company's fault, it must have been some idiot who decided to show his/her friends this check, and scanned and forwarded it via email, not thinking of the consequences.

Who hired those idiots? Oh yeah, the company. They are directly responsible for their employees actions.

BarnacleBill: What did the courts say? I figure if you give someone a worthless check as payment, they own that piece of paper.

The check has personal information on it.

The company is required by law not to reveal personal information about their customers.

The check got sent out and ended up on the net.

Open and shut case, the company is going to lose a few grand.