MediaCom Cable - Introducing a data cap mid-contract

[SunnyD]

no

The point of the thread is that the OP wants out of his contract for reasons not at all related to the change in contract.

The change in his contract has nothing to do with the ETF if the change in contract is not the reason for leaving.

He explicitly has said he does not agree to the changes in contract terms. How is this hard to understand?

You can not arbitrarily unilaterally change the terms of a contract and expect the other party to essentially be forced into accepting the new terms without relief.

 

[ImpulsE69]

So charging the same price for less potential service in mid contract is "reasons not related at all to the change in the contract?"

Glad you're not a lawyer.

 

[rudeguy]

He explicitly has said he does not agree to the changes in contract terms. How is this hard to understand?

You can not arbitrarily unilaterally change the terms of a contract and expect the other party to essentially be forced into accepting the new terms without relief.

He also said that the data cap would not affect him. So he has no need to worry. How is that hard to understand?

 

[SunnyD]

He also said that the data cap would not affect him. So he has no need to worry. How is that hard to understand?

Spoken like a true shareholder.

I guess you're alright with going to the store and getting a product with the same sized bag, just with less product in it... for the same price. Right?

I mean you end up throwing half the product away anyway.

This is step 1.

 

[StrangerGuy]

So charging the same price for less potential service in mid contract is "reasons not related at all to the change in the contract?"

Glad you're not a lawyer.

I'm sure no self-respecting court would find the existing contract even remotely legally enforceable with the change in terms solely from one party. Hey but then again this is Amurika.

 

[Juddog]

He also said that the data cap would not affect him. So he has no need to worry. How is that hard to understand?

It doesn't matter if the data cap effects him or not.

If a company just decides to change it's contract in the middle of while they have you in another contract, if you don't agree to said contract, you have the right to either be given the same service for the remainder of the service or be given a free "out", with no ETF.

If every company could just change it's contracts willy-nilly, then it would defeat the purposes of having a contract. A contract is a legally binding decision made by both parties which is supposed to be honored by both parties. If the party that created the contract breaks the contract, then the other person is no longer held to that contract.

 

[Nuez2680]

So with this changing the terms of my contract, I don't necessarily want to cancel, but I would like to change what plan I am on. I am currently paying $55 a month for a 12Mbps connection because thats what it was when I signed up. With their new tiered plans, they offer 50Mbps connection for $40 with no contract. Should I be able to use this change to switch to another plan like that one? That plan also happens to have a cap of 999GB per month, so it should cause no issues.

 

[Fritzo]

So with this changing the terms of my contract, I don't necessarily want to cancel, but I would like to change what plan I am on. I am currently paying $55 a month for a 12Mbps connection because thats what it was when I signed up. With their new tiered plans, they offer 50Mbps connection for $40 with no contract. Should I be able to use this change to switch to another plan like that one? That plan also happens to have a cap of 999GB per month, so it should cause no issues.

I think they'd be open to that. Unless a service is run by a bunch of dicks, they don't usually mind you switching around to similar service plans.

 

[dabuddha]

Spoken like a true shareholder.

I guess you're alright with going to the store and getting a product with the same sized bag, just with less product in it... for the same price. Right?

I mean you end up throwing half the product away anyway.

This is step 1.

I guess he'll be ok with his mortgage company just arbitrarily increasing his interest rate by 1-2% lol

 

[Golgatha]

I guess he'll be ok with his mortgage company just arbitrarily increasing his interest rate by 1-2% lol

Variable rate APR...hey, he agreed to it.

And no, I'm not defending the MediaCom crooks. 250GB is easy to go over, if not now, then soon and they know it. Internet access needs to become a utility IMO. Pay for what you use. How about $50 per TB MediaCom?

 

[RedShirt]

It doesn't matter if the data cap effects him or not.

If a company just decides to change it's contract in the middle of while they have you in another contract, if you don't agree to said contract, you have the right to either be given the same service for the remainder of the service or be given a free "out", with no ETF.

If every company could just change it's contracts willy-nilly, then it would defeat the purposes of having a contract. A contract is a legally binding decision made by both parties which is supposed to be honored by both parties. If the party that created the contract breaks the contract, then the other person is no longer held to that contract.

I agree with this 100%, but they keep saying that the contract has not changed. They say I have the same service, but the way how they bill for the service has changed.

These are all pulled form correspondence with MediaCom (I have communicated via email, twitter, and phone).

The internet service is not changing. You will still be receiving the same speeds you are getting now.

If for any reason you are still wanting to cancel your service because of these changes, it must be done over the phone. We can either have a representative contact you during business hours at whatever number is best for you, or you can call in at your earliest convenience. As for the Early Termination Fee, this unfortunately will be valid as you are cancelling your service before the contract period has expired.

current customers plans do not change at all unless they call in and make the changes to it. The only thing that is being done is all residential customers are being migrated to usage based billing.

In my mind, this is a totally different product. For example, if I buy a Wireless plan with unlimited Data, it's different than a Wireless plan with 2GB of data.

Their argument to this is there is no data cap. So I can still download however much I want. The billing has changed (charging more for more data used). But again, I argue that this is a whole different product. Billing for usage vs a flat rate is a big enough change where there product is not the same (in my opinion).

They obviously think it's a big enough change where they need to notify everyone and have people accept the changes. If it's not a change in the contract, why would anyone need to accept? They say I am free to cancel if I don't accept the change, but I have to pay ETF...

I have filed a complaint both with the FCC and my state's Attorney General.

 

[Juddog]

I agree with this 100%, but they keep saying that the contract has not changed. They say I have the same service, but the way how they bill for the service has changed.

These are all pulled form correspondence with MediaCom (I have communicated via email, twitter, and phone).

In my mind, this is a totally different product. For example, if I buy a Wireless plan with unlimited Data, it's different than a Wireless plan with 2GB of data.

Their argument to this is there is no data cap. So I can still download however much I want. The billing has changed (charging more for more data used). But again, I argue that this is a whole different product. Billing for usage vs a flat rate is a big enough change where there product is not the same (in my opinion).

They obviously think it's a big enough change where they need to notify everyone and have people accept the changes. If it's not a change in the contract, why would anyone need to accept? They say I am free to cancel if I don't accept the change, but I have to pay ETF...

I have filed a complaint both with the FCC and my state's Attorney General.

Exactly - they are trying to wiggle in what they think is a grey area for the definition of "service", but the service has changed like you said.

Kudos on going to BBB / FCC / State AG; if possible encourage other people to do the same.

 

[sixone]

I have filed a complaint both with the FCC and my state's Attorney General.

That's good, but make sure they cancel your service prior to the date the change takes effect. If you pay for anything after that date, that's an overt acceptance of the change in terms.

 

[ImpulsE69]

Related...and pretty much what we thought.

http://www.businessweek.com/article...l-have-to-pay-the-cable-bill?campaign_id=yhoo

If they succeed in doing (what is already in progress) it will stifle the growth and technology changes of the internet and everything related to it in the long run.

 

[RedShirt]

I ended up posting on the official MediaCom thread:
http://mediacomcable.com/CustomerSupport/forum/index.php?topic=14732

I received a call and they have allowed me out without an ETF.

 

[dabuddha]

I ended up posting on the official MediaCom thread:
http://mediacomcable.com/CustomerSupport/forum/index.php?topic=14732

I received a call and they have allowed me out without an ETF.

Excellent! Kudos for standing up for yourself and not giving in like some people here were saying to!

 

[Engineer]

I wonder that 'IF' caps make their way into the market and metered internet becomes a reality, if compression (ala dial up day V42BIS) will make it's way to broadband internet to save on usage?

If people are charged more, they will use it less. Plain and simple. I'm sure that the companies out there selling via internet would not be pleased.

 

[SunnyD]

Related...and pretty much what we thought.

http://www.businessweek.com/article...l-have-to-pay-the-cable-bill?campaign_id=yhoo

If they succeed in doing (what is already in progress) it will stifle the growth and technology changes of the internet and everything related to it in the long run.

The only difference is that there will be one company who sees explosive growth because they "buck the trend" and become the disruptive ISP by featuring lower prices with unlimited usage.

 

[Engineer]

The only difference is that there will be one company who sees explosive growth because they "buck the trend" and become the disruptive ISP by featuring lower prices with unlimited usage.

How is that working out for TMobile and Sprint right now?

 

[jpiniero]

The only difference is that there will be one company who sees explosive growth because they "buck the trend" and become the disruptive ISP by featuring lower prices with unlimited usage.

Except you wouldn't be able to find someone dumb enough to fund it, unless you have some sort of disruptive technology to get the cost down. Google Fiber's probably the closest thing, but Internet only on the paid tier is still $70/month.

The most likely scenario if (when) cord cutting kills Big Cable is they will implode and people will use Wireless. Maybe cheap DSL that was paid off a long time ago.

I wonder that 'IF' caps make their way into the market and metered internet becomes a reality, if compression (ala dial up day V42BIS) will make it's way to broadband internet to save on usage?

Most websites (I hope?) these days use gzip, so they are already compressed.

 

[Engineer]

Except you wouldn't be able to find someone dumb enough to fund it, unless you have some sort of disruptive technology to get the cost down. Google Fiber's probably the closest thing, but Internet only on the paid tier is still $70/month.

And that will be "cheap" compared to what you'll pay on metered billing if you use any amount of bandwidth at all. It's always about more money....never about saving the consumer anything.

 

[ViRGE]

I wonder that 'IF' caps make their way into the market and metered internet becomes a reality, if compression (ala dial up day V42BIS) will make it's way to broadband internet to save on usage?

We already use compression. Virtually every host runs GZIP on their webpages, all common forms of media (H.264/MP3/JPEG/PNG) are already lossless/lossy compressed, software downloads come in self-extracting installers, etc. In fact the only thing that I can think of that's not compressed would be your email.

So compression is alive and well. It's just run at the application layer instead of the service layer these days.

 

[rudeguy]

And that will be "cheap" compared to what you'll pay on metered billing if you use any amount of bandwidth at all. It's always about more money....never about saving the consumer anything.

Any links to prove your claim?

 

[sourceninja]

I ended up posting on the official MediaCom thread:
http://mediacomcable.com/CustomerSupport/forum/index.php?topic=14732

I received a call and they have allowed me out without an ETF.

I read a bit of that thread. I love how they try to solve your complaint by telling you that your complaint is invalid and later by offering you faster service (to reach the caps faster).

I had to move to business class service myself because of caps. My wife works from home and frequently has to download 40G database files for testing purposes. Combine that with being cable free and watching mostly netflix, hulu, and amazon we frequently would hit any cap.

 

[SunnyD]

How is that working out for TMobile and Sprint right now?

Just fine for T-Mo, their subscriber numbers are up last couple quarters. Not sure about sprint, but then again I don't care.