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To Sue Or Not


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I have a question for active members of the church. Since I've moved to Idaho Falls, my internet service has been down most of the time now for over a week. The first time a tech came out, he was a younger guy, didn’t seem that adept at what he was doing, but I let him do his thing anyways. I asked him to replace the cable run for the front room TV because the picture was really bad, and it had a push on connector which is horrible if you are running internet at the same time. He didnt, and ran out the door. No signatures to approve the work or anything. The next morning the internet was down. I went to work, and came back early to open a trouble ticket yet again. I asked for a supervisor tech, they said no problem. The same young guy walks in my door. This time he had a bit of an attitude. He walks into my home office and gets his tools out. I try to mention that I wanted the cable run for the TV replaced - but he interrupts me. I politely ask him, this time to make sure that he replaces the cable in the front room. The guy throws a roll of cable into my face! and says, "you check to see if its long enough". I said, "I dont think this ... " again he interrupts me and says "everything will be ok,". I say, I think you need to leave. He refuses. I ask him 5 times to leave, the last time I tell him you better leave now or there is going to be a problem. He packs up his tools and leaves. I call up service and ask to speak to a supervisor. I get the run around. I wait for a call from them, no such thing. I call the police and open a complaint and file a report. This morning I wake up, (the day after) and still no internet. I decide to wait for a few hours after they open... no call. I call them, they don’t do anything. I decide to open the following complaints

1) Better Business Bureau

2) FCC

3) Idaho Falls Franchise

Finally, I get a call an hour later. It’s a tech that says he's coming out. He a lot more professional, does his thing, replaces some runs. Internet is up for a bit, he leaves and the internet goes down. Then I get a call from the General Manager here in Idaho Falls. Its now 2:00pm - he says he just got my voice mail from 8:00 am this morning. He doesn’t offer anything for my problems or being harassed by his employee.

What would you do? I want to sue them. Its not right that I should be treated by a tech that way.

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There are a number of routes to take (government and business organizations that are set up to handle complaints of this magnitude) that need to be exhausted first. Lawsuits are supposed to be a last resort, and part of the problems of our current legal system stem from them getting overloaded with suits that shouldn't be brought to them. In fact, keep going up the chain of that company. They should have a way to contact people above customer service.

Edited by silvermoon383
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There are a number of routes to take (government and business organizations that are set up to handle complaints of this magnitude) that need to be exhausted first. Lawsuits are supposed to be a last resort, and part of the problems of our current legal system stem from them getting overloaded with suits that shouldn't be brought to them. In fact, keep going up the chain of that company. They should have a way to contact people above customer service.

This is what I am looking for. I did call the HQ legal department, they just tranferred me to the GM in Idaho Falls. But, I will keep trying.

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Well what are you going to sue them for? This is a contract case so your only recourse is to cancel your contract with them in which case they will probably sue you. I think you need to continue to try and resolve the problem and if you can't resolve it in another week, cancel the contract and find another internet provider. Document everything meticulously so that you will be able to show the judge that you had every right to cancel it. Did you already give them some money? If so, you will, of course file a countersuit for the return of the unused portion when they sue you for breaking your contract.

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Well what are you going to sue them for? This is a contract case so your only recourse is to cancel your contract with them in which case they will probably sue you. I think you need to continue to try and resolve the problem and if you can't resolve it in another week, cancel the contract and find another internet provider. Document everything meticulously so that you will be able to show the judge that you had every right to cancel it. Did you already give them some money? If so, you will, of course file a countersuit for the return of the unused portion when they sue you for breaking your contract.

The term is month to month - no contract. The lawsuit would be for some degree of assault from the tech as well as criminal trespass. Idaho law states that if you don’t leave after three warnings, you are trespassing. Throwing a roll of cable in my face is assault in some degree or another. He was clearly upset that he had to come back out and fix is failings from the previous day. But I won’t do his work for him, even if he tries to intimidate me in my own home.

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it would be a waste of time and resources you would have a chance with the trespass, but I don't think you have anything with the cable.

cancel the internet service, it seems quite obvious they do not know what they are doing.

Edited by frankenstein
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Ive settled before on a lawsuit for assault. Although that was a sleeper hold, and this was someone throwing a roll of cable at me. Usually just takes a letter from a lawyer. That one paid for my mission. This one is where its a service company and I invite them into my home. Apparently he dosnt deny throwing a roll of cable at me, but was doing it out of fun.

Edited by Messenger
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Sadly if Idaho Falls is set up like Norfolk, VA, dropping Cable/Internet providers only leaves you without cable/internet. I have 1 choice for provider here, so if I didn't sign up with them I'm dependent upon public Wi-Fi spots, or neighbors who don't encrypt theirs.

The history if Cable Internet in Idaho is pretty bad. I had this in Rexburg, and when it was working in there, it was down at least once or twice a week. I know this sounds strange, but I can live with that. I can’t be down for a week though. Nor can I live with a tech being as rude as he was (saying it politely). There is another choice. The phone company here has DSL service at a pretty decent speed, much faster than cable - but more expensive too. There are people that I know that have it that go for two or three years without ever being down. The problem is that in my home office there are no telephone outlets; and even though I could install one myself, that’s quite a bit of work and expense for something that I rent and not own.

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If he was under 30, I would have told him I don’t allow children to speak to me that way and spanked him and then sent him home to bed without supper. Seriously, it is time for to get his supervisor on site and have (what we call in the construction world) a “come to Jesus meeting”.

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If he was under 30, I would have told him I don’t allow children to speak to me that way and spanked him and then sent him home to bed without supper. Seriously, it is time for to get his supervisor on site and have (what we call in the construction world) a “come to Jesus meeting”.

His supervisor has been out twice to fix the cable, and with only partial luck. TV is still all static. Internet is very slow. The supervisor says that there is no way they are going to give me anything for what's happened other than possibly no charge for the service since its been down. He simply says his tech was stupid for doing the things he did, but says it wasn't to harm me, it was just stupid.

I suppose you cant fix stupid. So what does that leave us with?

I did get a call back from the GM in Idaho Falls. I'm going to call him back and tell him what I require. If we cant get it worked out, then I'll be shopping for a lawyer. The FCC, BBB, and Franchise Authority complaints stay no matter what. The city is still pursuing charging the tech for criminal trespass and more. They would be smart to settle now. Once it hits the lawyers, they will be asking for over 50K. I really don't want it to go there, but if they aren't willing to work with me what else can I do?

In my mind, people should feel comfortable with inviting a service tech into their home. Once that trust is violated, I don't think that can easily be restored. I mean, if the ladies heard there was a tech out there that would throw a roll of cable in their face and ask them if it was long enough what would they do? Ask them to leave. And when he didn't, how comfortable would we men be if our wives asked the tech to leave and he did not????? For this reason I'm not sure this is something I want to let go. Nobody at the company is saying their man did anything wrong, just being stupid. I'm not so sure.

Edited by Messenger
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His supervisor has been out twice to fix the cable, and with only partial luck. TV is still all static. Internet is very slow. The supervisor says that there is no way they are going to give me anything for what's happened other than possibly no charge for the service since its been down. He simply says his tech was stupid for doing the things he did, but says it wasn't to harm me, it was just stupid.

I suppose you cant fix stupid. So what does that leave us with?

I did get a call back from the GM in Idaho Falls. I'm going to call him back and tell him what I require. If we cant get it worked out, then I'll be shopping for a lawyer. The FCC, BBB, and Franchise Authority complaints stay no matter what. The city is still pursuing charging the tech for criminal trespass and more. They would be smart to settle now. Once it hits the lawyers, they will be asking for over 50K. I really don't want it to go there, but if they aren't willing to work with me what else can I do?

In my mind, people should feel comfortable with inviting a service tech into their home. Once that trust is violated, I don't think that can easily be restored. I mean, if the ladies heard there was a tech out there that would throw a roll of cable in their face and ask them if it was long enough what would they do? Ask them to leave. And when he didn't, how comfortable would we men be if our wives asked the tech to leave and he did not????? For this reason I'm not sure this is something I want to let go. Nobody at the company is saying their man did anything wrong, just being stupid. I'm not so sure.

Then contact the PSC (Public Service Commission) in your State. Like it or not they are considered a “Utility”, and come under their control and sanction.

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Then contact the PSC (Public Service Commission) in your State. Like it or not they are considered a “Utility”, and come under their control and sanction.

Hmmm. If you are thinking of the local utility commision, they woudn't fall under that because cable companies are not regulated by the state, only recently by the FCC. But I will so a search on "Public Service Commission" for Idaho and find out.

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Hmmm. If you are thinking of the local utility commision, they woudn't fall under that because cable companies are not regulated by the state, only recently by the FCC. But I will so a search on "Public Service Commission" for Idaho and find out.

Just checking back, I was correct. Idaho Public Utility Commision: http://www.puc.state.id.us/ They dont do anything with cable TV or Internet.

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I did get a call back from the GM in Idaho Falls. I'm going to call him back and tell him what I require. If we cant get it worked out, then I'll be shopping for a lawyer. The FCC, BBB, and Franchise Authority complaints stay no matter what. The city is still pursuing charging the tech for criminal trespass and more. They would be smart to settle now. Once it hits the lawyers, they will be asking for over 50K. I really don't want it to go there, but if they aren't willing to work with me what else can I do?

What is your damages? As I understand it all you can sue for is out of pocket damages. Pain and suffering doesn't count in contract disputes.

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What is your damages? As I understand it all you can sue for is out of pocket damages. Pain and suffering doesn't count in contract disputes.

As already mentioned, trespassing for one and assault. This is not a contract - as already mentioned.

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Hmmm. If you are thinking of the local utility commision, they woudn't fall under that because cable companies are not regulated by the state, only recently by the FCC. But I will so a search on "Public Service Commission" for Idaho and find out.

They are in Georgia, I am never sure about anything West of Mississippi... ;)

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Hello Messenger...

I urge you to try and stay out of litagation if at all possible... even if you are in the right.

By time lawyers get ahold of this and spend hours in "discovery" etc etc, charging for every time they even think about your case, you'll be facing thousands of dollars of legal fees. And if you don't win, or it's a "push" you'll have to pay... Being right doesn't always work in our legal system... but the lawyers make out just fine.

GG

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Hello Messenger...

I urge you to try and stay out of litagation if at all possible... even if you are in the right.

By time lawyers get ahold of this and spend hours in "discovery" etc etc, charging for every time they even think about your case, you'll be facing thousands of dollars of legal fees. And if you don't win, or it's a "push" you'll have to pay... Being right doesn't always work in our legal system... but the lawyers make out just fine.

GG

I agree, unless they did something criminal or whatever, stay clear of lawyers. Just cancel it, cut your losses, go with soomeone else!

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IIRC President Howard W. Hunter discouraged law suits if at all possible. From the Church web site you also have this;

—forgiving debtors.

—turning the other cheek to one who smites you.

—giving your cloak to one who sues you at the law and takes your coat.

—going the second mile.

—giving to the borrower and to one who asks.

—loving your enemies.

—blessing those that curse you.

—doing good to them that hate you.

—praying for them who despitefully use you and persecute you.

I am not saying you should sue or not, but to me it seems after reading your post that in reality they are a terrible business and incompetent employees, yet I do not feel it was so sever you need to sue.

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As already mentioned, trespassing for one and assault. This is not a contract - as already mentioned.

Both of the above mentioned are criminal and you have to file charges with the police and arrests have to be made.

Again to sue in civil court you need to have monetary damages. What are your monetary damages?

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I would just go with the BBB and I would blog it, Facebook it, Tweet it, etc. A friend of mine did that and the company reacted very quickly.

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I did get a call back from the GM in Idaho Falls. I'm going to call him back and tell him what I require. If we cant get it worked out, then I'll be shopping for a lawyer. The FCC, BBB, and Franchise Authority complaints stay no matter what. The city is still pursuing charging the tech for criminal trespass and more. They would be smart to settle now. Once it hits the lawyers, they will be asking for over 50K. I really don't want it to go there, but if they aren't willing to work with me what else can I do?

You might inform the head office that you will be going on local community blogs or whatever and sharing the information of what happened to you. The threat of publicity might be enough to get them to act sooner...

I see MS suggested this as well.

For this reason I'm not sure this is something I want to let go. Nobody at the company is saying their man did anything wrong, just being stupid.
This is the issue, imo. I can imagine women on their own feeling insecure and even threatened by a serviceman in their home who refused to follow their wishes and that feeling would not just leave when the man exited the house. Edited by calmoriah
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Elder Oaks (former UT Sup Ct Chief Justice) wrote a book called The Lords Way. He was speaking only for himself, of course, but he opined that the only times when it would be appropriate for someone to sue is when (a) you are fiduciary for someone else and thus owe the duty to maximize their recovery; (b) the issue is bigger than personal injury (like civil rights), and there was one more. He suggested that the Lord's people should not be joining the "let's sue them" bunch.

On a more personal note, suing is likely to prolong the slight you feel as you will replay the distress you are now feeling many days as you work through the process. And in your case, for what? Change providers? Look up the official person legal name and call their secretary and ask what you need to do. Go without internet for a month so you don't become combative when you don't have it for an afternoon? Buy a mifi2200 card or link via a smartphone?

Litigation rarely results in what the person who brought it wants out of it..

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it could just be the cable. your place looks very old. I talked the cable guy at our complex, a person had ordered really fast interwebs, but it turns out the cable was so old (building is over 30years old) that on existing cable it was not possible. and don't get me started on qwest, and if qwest is any indication how a Idaho business runs itself, then I say you need to move to a different state.

I took a screen shot when I ordered internet and phone from qwest. Qwest was over charging me, I called and asked what was going on, got the run around, then I finally said "I have a screen shot of the promotional offer", boy howdy did everyone at qwest become my best friend in a matter of seconds.

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