Cable Modem Owners Often Socked With Modem Rental Fee Check your monthly bill and keep your modem receipt... Tuesday Apr 06 2010 14:14 EDT More than a few Charter users have been complaining in our forums that they're being socked with a modem rental fee, even if they own their modem. In some instances, Charter users say they've gotten the problem fixed, only to have it reappear at a later date. Being charged a rental fee for an owned modem (which we've also seen with Comcast) is usually a case of poorly trained customer service representatives and/or flaky computer systems -- not maliciousness. Users have found that if you buy a cable modem for use with your cable broadband connection -- keep your receipt: quote:
Bottom line, to protect yourself you need to get a receipt of return when the equipment is turned over. The best way to do this is to go to the local Charter office, hand it to them in person, and don't leave without getting a receipt. That's what I have done with Comcast. The way Charter has screwed up our bill 5 out of 5 months we've had service, I will be sure to do this when I buy my modem soon.
"They should be able to call in and get that resolved or they can contact my team, and we will get it resolved for them," Charter's Eric Ketzer tells Broadband Reports. Ketzer runs Charter's Social Media Communications team, and can often help users break through bureaucratic support gridlock. You can hit him up on Twitter if you're having repeated problems with modem rental fees. Users can also use our Charter direct forum, where users get private support directly from Charter. |
 fiberguy2My views are my own.
Premium Member
join:2005-05-20 |
Simple solultion.Very simple... They, the operators, should be able to go to their vendors and verify the MAC in question against the ones they purchased. I'm SURE that the vendor kept a record of the MACs purchased. If they can't validate it, they remove the charge - simple. I dunno, this just seems to be too easy for them to do.
Further, they could grab a list of MACs from their own database; they do have them you know, and see for themselves if it's theirs or not, but they don't, and won't. They could also run a query against their own MACs against those being charged rental fees and if they don't have the MAC on file and there is a charge, the query should remove it.. again, all too easy.
Nope, instead, they'd rather just piss off a few customers and make THEM do the work instead of being responsible and doing it themselves.
If it were me, I'd simply get out of the modem rental business and have the customer purchase their own modems. | |
|  |  Gbcue
Premium Member
join:2001-09-30
Santa Rosa, CA |
Gbcue
Premium Member
2010-Apr-6 3:13 pm
Re: Simple solultion.said by fiberguy2:If it were me, I'd simply get out of the modem rental business and have the customer purchase their own modems. And lose out on the millions of dollars? | |
| | |  baineschile2600 ways to live
Premium Member
join:2008-05-10
Sterling Heights, MI |
Re: Simple solultion.Its really not as profitable as you may think. The cost per modem, having to switch them out, and then losing ones that arent returned (or paid for) really cut into the profitability. | |
| | | | fiberguy2My views are my own.
Premium Member
join:2005-05-20 |
Re: Simple solultion... exactly.. For every modem out there especially in the first year, every time a truck is rolled, that modem is a loss. When ever the modem is installed for free, (which is usually always now a days) it's already upping the cost per modem. When ever there is a trouble call, it's a loss.. etc etc. I do believe that they make money, not lose, in the greater picture, but really, probably not worth it. Modem rentals, if you ask me, are more of a convenience thing to the customer. Remote controls for cable boxes, now THAT is where the money is!  | |
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|  dvd536as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium Member
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ |
to fiberguy2
said by fiberguy2:Very simple... They, the operators, should be able to go to their vendors and verify the MAC in question against the ones they purchased. I'm SURE that the vendor kept a record of the MACs purchased. If they can't validate it, they remove the charge - simple. I dunno, this just seems to be too easy for them to do. However this *is* charter we're talking about here. | |
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to fiberguy2
said by fiberguy2:If it were me, I'd simply get out of the modem rental business and have the customer purchase their own modems. Or at the very least, include the modem into the price for the service. Many consider the equipment rentals "hidden fees" anyway. I would love to see all boxes, mtas, and modems absorbed into the price. Just me dreaming, mind you. $99 triple play sounds better in a commercial than $104. | |
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1 recommendation |
Bobcat79
Premium Member
2010-Apr-6 2:23 pm
Not maliciousnessquote:
...usually a case of poorly trained customer service representatives and/or flaky computer systems -- not maliciousness.
Unless, of course, the mistake is made by Verizon, in which case it's part of their Master Plan. | |
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1 edit |
Re: Not maliciousnessThere was a Verizon employee who told the New York Times Verizon has known about that $1.99 bogus fee for years and intentionally doesn't fix it.
Do you have a Charter employee saying the same thing about modem rental fee mistakes? I'll gladly change the sentence for you once you find one. | |
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del ftl
Anon
2010-Apr-6 2:27 pm
Comcast has problem tooComcast has this perpetual issue with somehow claiming customer owned modems are theirs and sending customers to collections unless they produce a receipt. Often this is from a modem that's 5+ years old where the customer no longer has records of purchase.
All this trouble with poor customer service because some checkbox in comcast's system says rented modem when it's not.
I had an issue where comcast sent me to collections over a modem that was theirs that I was using on an active account and had been for 7 years. Yes that means they sent a modem in for collections that was correctly provisioned and used by the same customer. And ok, sometimes things happen. But in my case I called comcast who initially said they couldn't help me because it was up to the collection agency now. Finally after hours on the phone and some effort I got it cleared up. Then 6 weeks later, it got sent to collections again. Called comcast, same runaround, tons of effort, finally fixed. 8 weeks later it got sent to collections again. And a whole other round of dealing with it. It's been a couple years now but I still have a sour taste in my mouth.
All this for a modem used by a customer for years correctly provisioned and rented on an active non-delinquent account. Literally mind blowing. | |
| |  SteveLV702
Premium Member
join:2004-04-22
Las Vegas, NV |
Re: Comcast has problem tooHence reason why I have a program called "Paperless" that scan and stores ALL my Receipts... | |
| | fiberguy2My views are my own.
Premium Member
join:2005-05-20 |
to del ftl
"Being charged a rental fee for an owned modem (which we've also seen with Comcast) is usually a case of..."
That was addressed in Karl's original post as well.
There is also another easy way to fix this issue... all modems, company owned even, should have a max rental-life that they charge on it before it's considered 'purchased'.. meaning, that if the modem has been rented out for, say, 3 years, then that modem is/should no longer be considered available for "collections"..
Modems are SO dirt cheap these days anyway, and cable operators obviously buy them at a MUCH lower cost than retail.. I figure it takes 10 months or less of rental to just break even. I believe they should even be able to make profit on them as well since they carry the expense of purchasing them as well, but there has to be a limit in my opinion. Simply put, I just think they should get out of the modem rental business, just sell them, and make their profit at the time of sale. | |
| | |  EGThe wings of love
Premium Member
join:2006-11-18
Union, NJ |
EG
Premium Member
2010-Apr-6 3:44 pm
Re: Comcast has problem toosaid by fiberguy2:I just think they should get out of the modem rental business, just sell them, and make their profit at the time of sale. Then they wouldn't have to support them ? I think that some subscribers like the idea of their ISP supporting them. | |
| | | | fiberguy2My views are my own.
Premium Member
join:2005-05-20 |
Re: Comcast has problem tooNo.. they wouldn't have to support them. I have a Linksys cable modem, and when I need support, I call linksys, not my ISP - in this case, would be Mediacom for that account. The telephone companies don't seem to have this problem with modems - they simply sell them to the customer, for the large part, and they're pretty much done. They still honor the warranty, etc. But, the modems are really a sale to the customer. They're also cheap enough that the customer can afford to replace it on their own if they have to. Also, it's not a HUGE deal either.. it's not like the cable or phone companies won't give you one and bill you for it on your next bill either. It's funny... if you think the subscriber likes the idea of their ISP supporting it, do you think the customer feels the same way about cable converters for their TVs?  | |
| | | | |  PhoenixDownFIOS is Awesome
Premium Member
join:2003-06-08
Fresh Meadows, NY |
Re: Comcast has problem tooI rent my cable modem from TimeWarner and it seems whenever I have an issue their first response is to replace the modem.
I must have had 3 dozens modems replaced. One or two went bad but the rest were repeated dispatched on a PLANT issue (not even a line drop or modem issue).
That's 90% of the issue and the reason for so many truck rolls right there if you ask me. | |
| | | | | EGThe wings of love
Premium Member
join:2006-11-18
Union, NJ |
to fiberguy2
Yes. | |
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|  SLD
Premium Member
join:2002-04-17
San Francisco, CA |
to del ftl
Weird - I've just had the opposite experience. I finally got around to buying my own, and I noticed that after activating it, my bill shows a partial charge for modem fee - indicating that they've removed the fee from my account. I still haven't returned the rented modem to them. | |
| | |  runnoft
Premium Member
join:2003-10-14
Nags Head, NC |
runnoft
Premium Member
2010-Apr-8 12:07 pm
Re: Comcast has problem toosaid by SLD:Weird - I've just had the opposite experience. I finally got around to buying my own, and I noticed that after activating it, my bill shows a partial charge for modem fee - indicating that they've removed the fee from my account. I still haven't returned the rented modem to them. This happened with me as well with Comcast, when I bought a DOCSIS 3.0 to replace the DOCSIS 2.0 modem I was leasing from them. This was several months ago, and they stopped and have not resumed billing me for the leased modem. I suspect they don't really care if we return the old leased modems, because they're not going to use them again by giving them out to another customer in any event. For now, I'm keeping mine as a backup, but if they start billing me or contact me and ask for it, I will return it. I recommend you either return it to a local Comcast office and get a return receipt, or hold on to it for now; I wouldn't toss it or sell it on eBay. | |
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Flibbetigibb to del ftl
Anon
2010-Apr-6 3:42 pm
to del ftl
Sue them. Go to your local small claims court and get a judgement. They're 100% in the wrong and harassing you illegally. | |
| |  Anonymous_Anonymous
Premium Member
join:2004-06-21
127.0.0.1 |
to del ftl
said by del ftl :
Comcast has this perpetual issue with somehow claiming customer owned modems are theirs and sending customers to collections unless they produce a receipt. Often this is from a modem that's 5+ years old where the customer no longer has records of purchase.
All this trouble with poor customer service because some checkbox in comcast's system says rented modem when it's not.
I had an issue where comcast sent me to collections over a modem that was theirs that I was using on an active account and had been for 7 years. Yes that means they sent a modem in for collections that was correctly provisioned and used by the same customer. And ok, sometimes things happen. But in my case I called comcast who initially said they couldn't help me because it was up to the collection agency now. Finally after hours on the phone and some effort I got it cleared up. Then 6 weeks later, it got sent to collections again. Called comcast, same runaround, tons of effort, finally fixed. 8 weeks later it got sent to collections again. And a whole other round of dealing with it. It's been a couple years now but I still have a sour taste in my mouth.
All this for a modem used by a customer for years correctly provisioned and rented on an active non-delinquent account. Literally mind blowing.
why not just sue them | |
| |  syslock
Premium Member
join:2007-02-03
La La Land |
to del ftl
Here is the reason why customers with their own modems
end up having to fight with Comcast.
Every time Comcast changes billing areas around (Merging Corps)
they NEVER check the field in the oracle DB that flags the modem
Comcast or Customer owned.
This messes up rate codes when data is merged.
All modems rate codes are added to the new corp number with rental rate codes as well.
The merge never checks the data to see if the modem is a customer modem or not.
You get the rental fee no matter what when data is merged.
Their own employees have told them over and over about this
thu many many corp merges.... they never listen.
Save your receipt when you buy your own modem because sooner or later, the boxfile
data will be corrupted after a corp merge. The billing system shows it as a rental
modem so it must be true for boxfile.
The warehouse will go in and set the flag as a Comcast modem when they do inventory if
they see the rental fee on there.
You will need to show your paperwork to the billing CSRs in order to get the entire mess fixed!
Very bad data handling all around messes this up and it
ends up falling on the customers hands to show that
they really did buy their modem. | |
| | |  dathing
join:2002-01-09
Sykesville, MD |
Re: Comcast has problem too...exactly what happened to me when Comcast bought Adelphia. It repeated several times again over the years. | |
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Flibbetigibb
Anon
2010-Apr-6 2:46 pm
Hardly a new problemCharter never charged me a rental fee, but when I dropped them a year or so back, I started getting nastygrams and robo-calls threatening to wreck my credit if I didn't "return my rented modem"--which I'd never actually rented, I owned my own the entire time I used their service. No amount of using actual logic ("Why do i owe you a modem when all my bills say, 'customer-owned modem'?") would budge their idiot bureaucracy, either at the corporate level or the total morons in the local office. It took a few months of aggrivation and repeated calls/emails (including to Eric Ketzer) before they knocked it off. | |
| amungus
Premium Member
join:2004-11-26
America |
amungus
Premium Member
2010-Apr-6 3:36 pm
suckIf this (billing/ownership issue) happened to me, I'd demand either a free month of service for their mistake, or flat out cancel and MAYBE consider coming back after going down to the office with my modem and keeping all documentation of signing back up for service, especially anything that said the modem was mine...
These customers should not take this crap, period.
Agree with previous poster - have them PROVE it's theirs via MAC address. If they lost track of their own inventory, too bad. Otherwise, correct the problem and help people... maybe even give 'em a credit anyway, for good measure... a free on-demand movie at the very least would be a good gesture.
I can say if Cox ever tried such BS, I wouldn't have any of it.
They did make one very minor mistake once regarding my modem but it was fixed with one quick call. Bought a new modem, they activated, but a month later, my internet just stopped. They had somehow kept the old modem in the system as well... oops. No billing issues though. I was not upset, in fact I laughed a little, as did the rep on the phone... it was a goof, and it was easily fixed with no drama. | |
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Comcast (Docsis 3)I had this problem in the past with Comcast and now that I've bought a DOCSIS 3 modem... I'm a little worried.
But this time I plan on keeping a copy of my proof of purchase and bought it through Amazon.com (sold by them too, not 3rd party). | |
|  morboComplete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000 |
morbo
Member
2010-Apr-6 4:09 pm
Charter did this with meI discovered this problem a while back, and called Charter to complain about the issue. They wanted me to provide proof. Just drive to their local office with receipt, etc. and they would remove the charges.
I said no way--they could send a tech to my house to verify if they wanted, but I wasn't about to go out of my way for them for sloppy record keeping.
They refunded the charges. | |
| |  chaudSerious Business
join:2004-07-09
Huntsville, AL |
chaud
Member
2010-Apr-6 5:11 pm
Re: Charter did this with meI posted in the forum with this problem and got it fixed the same day! | |
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 Tel
join:2001-10-12
Mauldin, SC |
Tel
Member
2010-Apr-6 4:44 pm
It's Charter, what did you expect?If it's anything like the local Charter, then it's because they're idiots. I went to their office no less than 8 times over a 2 year period with my receipt in hand showing where I had turned in the modem and they still kept billing me for it. An attorney friend finally wrote a nasty letter to them and they stopped billing me. | |
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Nothing new here.  I was jerked around by Adelphia several years ago regarding a cable modem that I had returned. When I signed up for broadband service Adelphia provided the modem. A year later Adelphia notified all customers that they would charge $5.00 per month for the modem, so I purchased my own modem and returned their modem. A year later I found a $5.00 Charge for modem rental. The only way I was able to resolve the issue was to FAX Adelphia a copy of my receipt for the modem from Best Buy and the receipt that I received when I returned the modem to Adelphia. A cable company can determine where the modem was purchased from the MAC Address. Certain MAC Address ranges were sold through retail channels and others were sold to cable companies to rent. I have found that the best way to prevent confusion is to keep the box that the modem came packed in and place all receipts and documentation in it. It is a lot easier to find the box that the modem was packed in than to find a pile of papers somewhere in your home. | |
|  Sr Tech
Premium Member
join:2003-01-19
Meriden, CT |
Sr Tech
Premium Member
2010-Apr-6 5:17 pm
Here are my thoughts why companies play these games.All companies play games, or accidentally change your service and so on. To this day I think these types of things are done on purpose so they can try to sell you something else. As every time I call customer service to have a problem fixed they always try to sell me something else after wards. | |
| |  DaveDudeNo Fear
join:1999-09-01
New Jersey |
Re: Here are my thoughts why companies play these games.Comcast does this immediately , i called support about cablecard issues, and the 'operator' wanted to sell me something, before fixing my issue. I immediately said to her, "do you want me to cancel service?". I was passed on to support right after that ? | |
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ComcastThis happened to me with Comcast as well. I had purchased my modem through RR before Comcast took over, but then I noticed I was being charged $3 a month for a modem rental fee awhile after Comcast got here. After numerous calls to customer service and visits to the local office absolutely nothing was done about it. I finally went to the BBB and that's when Comcast finally took me seriously. They removed the charge but they have never refunded the near 6 months of rental fees that I had already paid. | |
|  kapilThe Kapil
join:2000-04-26
Chicago, IL |
kapil
Member
2010-Apr-6 6:33 pm
Comcastic!I have three Comcast accounts - all with an owned modem. One of them just started billing for a rental model last month...another one has been getting billed for well over a year now. Comcast doesn't care. | |
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This happened to me!Wow! So ironic. Just recently, I found out Charter was charging me for renting a modem even though I already owned one. However, I called them up and they got rid of the charge and refunded me. | |
| ebubman
join:2002-01-17
Mechanicsburg, PA |
got my ownon comcast. got my own modem several years ago. it took 3-4 billing cycles until they would accept that i had my own hardware vs comcast issue. 'tis important to always get a return receipt for any equipment you take back. | |
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Remember those RCA modems?You know, the ones with the cold-solder joints. I've a client that has one, gotta be 6-7 years old. Still works. Recommended to her several times to buy a newer model, they are faster, more reliable. Even showed her the flaw (just bumped the unit, it shutdown, restarted). Her billing shows the monthly rental fee...I figure she's paid $168 so far on the modem alone | |
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JamesDang
Anon
2010-Apr-8 8:48 pm
Charter over pricedTell me about it, charter is Over Priced. I was shock what the price is when my 6 month promo is over, from $90 to $150. I had to cancelled. That was the last time I will ever get Cable or Directv.
HDTV is free. | |
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flaky cpu systemscome on! If you can't even find a proper adjective you shouldn't be writing tech articles! | |
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I was jerked around by Adelphia several years ago regarding a cable modem that I had returned. When I signed up for broadband service Adelphia provided the modem. A year later Adelphia notified all customers that they would charge $5.00 per month for the modem, so I purchased my own modem and returned their modem. A year later I found a $5.00 Charge for modem rental. The only way I was able to resolve the issue was to FAX Adelphia a copy of my receipt for the modem from Best Buy and the receipt that I received when I returned the modem to Adelphia.
