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When Cable Companies Break -Your- Cable Modem?
Steve asks: "I've suffered ongoing problems with my cable access for several months which my cable company has not resolved. Yesterday I discovered that the cause of the problem was probably due to a remote software update applied to my cable modem by the cable company 2 months ago. Their solution is to give me a new rental modem. This is fine, except that I *own* the current modem which is now broken and can not be sold on. The cable company are unwilling to offer compensation. According to my contract, the company can only modify equipment which they own. The question: have they broken the UK's Computer Misuse Act? Should they be liable for damages caused?"
This may sound overly simple, but complain.
Pick up the phone and dial their support department and calmly ask for a manager. As soon as you get them ask them their name and direct phone number then tell them your 'issue' - cause no-one has a problem when dialing support departments.
Point out that what they've done is equivalent to stepping into your house with a hammer and hitting your modem with it until it broke.
NEVER get angry or upset, if the person you're speaking to can't help you, simply ask for the next higher manager. Again keep a note of names and phone numbers, NEVER accept a phone back, it hardly ever happens.
Persistence is the key word here and try to keep in mind that the first people you speak to simply don't have the power within that company to offer you what you want, simply move up the ladder till you get to the person you need.
Eventually you'll be wasting the time of someone important enough to say 'We'll send you a new modem'.
Good luck - talking to the Citizen's Advice Bureau if you still don't get satisfaction may help.
The Guardian operates a few of these columns, and they usually seem to get pretty decent results, so it might be worth a shot.
"Democracy is three wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner."
Check your License Agreement before you do anything. This should be common sense. Cable internet providers rely on little configuration text files in the modem to throttle bandwidth and so on. They probably have a section in your license agreement that allows them to upload information to the cable modem. You probably cannot use their service without agreeing to this. Whether or not you own the modem is irrelevant here. You use their service, you play by their rules.
Read your manual. I had the exact same thing happen with my connection. Power cycling the modem was no use, and doing so would just cause it to lock up trying to download an update and getting stuck. After going through the manual, I discovered the factory reset option. This cleared all the bad gremlins, and the latest update downloaded and installed fine. You have read the manual, right? If that's no help, I guess renting is the way to go.
Interested in open source engine management for your Subaru?
Small claims court is the way forward. It should cost you between 30 and 120GBP, but I'm sure you could claim that back.
Send them a letter and invoice (not email) saying that they have 14 days to pay or you will start legal procedures. It may be worth sending them a polite letter first asking for payment before threatening them. Do explain to them that you believe them to be in breach of the Computer Misuse act. Don't forget to quote the year.
IANAL
You don't always even have to write the letters to them.
I was having serious problems a few years back with a machine shipped:
* Untested
* Configured in a way that _couldn't_ work
* Dead components
* Missing software from the bundle
and with support not returning my calls or mails.
So, bit of digging, I found the address of their local Trading Standards office and their chairman. I mailed him, copying support, giving that data, outlining the history of the problem and explaining that Trading Standards and all computer magazines whose awards and reviews they quoted in their ads would be contacted within 48 hours if I didn't get a satisfactory resolution.
I got support talking to me in 2-3 hours as I recall and a solution in about 3 days. The simple threat of bad PR was enough to get action.
Greg
(Inside a nuclear plant)
Aaaarrrggh! Run! The canary has mutated!