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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?"
That siad, if you do go to court remember one simple fact that makes their behavior look questionable: THEY broke something of YOURS, and now are making YOU pay THEM for the replacement they're LENDING you. If they broke your modem on purpose, this would be extortion; but I doubt they did that.
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
.. would be proving that the update is what damaged/rendered your modem unusable. I think that the whole process would be more trouble then it is worth. Not to say that you most likely do not have a legitimate complaint, it would probably be too time consuming/expensive for you to pursue.
Also consider who sould be testing the modem. If it is tha cable company, do you think they will admit to actually destroying the modem. *ha*
I predict that in the near future we're going to see lots of stories like this. This really demonstrates the problems and dangers which come from companies remotely 'auto-updating' customers products, particularly with out the customer's consent, or even knowledge.
Microsoft Windows has ever increasing types of 'auto-update' features, particularly with the advent of Windows XP. I'm not that familiar with XP, so I'll refrain from commenting on exactly how prevalent it is with XP, but its certainly going to be a big point that large companies will be making soon.
You'll notice too, how the introduction is always in small steps, not from "1. Nothing, 2. We own and admin your computer", but gradual steps, allowing customers to slowly warm to the idea that a faceless company somewhere has the 'right' to install and update whatever the hell they want to.
Given Microsoft and Other's track history, would you really trust them to admin your computer? When one service pack breaks another, does it make you wonder? TrustWorthy Computing! Please, spare me the jokes, Microsoft.
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.
try perhaps writing "Letters to the Editor" (or some sort of consumer rights type column) to a few local computer magazines. They will generally contact the company in question, get their side of the story, and oh-by-the-way your dirty laundry is going to be in the next issue, so whatcha gonna do about it?
Bad PR is pretty good grease..
You may also have some industry body you can complain with as well. In Oz, that's the dept Fair Trading, Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman, ACCC, etc. Even if they can't do anything for you, registering the complaint gives them stats they can use later on if the problem gets bad enough.
Opportunity knocks. Karma hunts you down.
Purchasing a cable modem is a pretty cost-effective thing to do. I did it myself...got one for $50 after a rebate. With the $10/mo I save on my cable bill, it'll pay for itself in 5 months, and from there on out it's just like pure profit. An upgrade 6 months or a year down the road will have already been paid for.
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?
I'm working under the assumption that their errant software update did not physically damage the cable modem, it just put in some updated software that renders it unusable.
I suggest contacting the manufacturer of the cable modem; there may be a combination of some "reset" step and some kind of firmware update that would overwrite whatever badness the cable company (accidentally, I assume) put on there, and get it going again.
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?"
Yes and yes assuming that you can prove it.
Of course the big question is why can't you simply patch it to the prior version?
Firstly, IANAL
Secondly - resolving the problem. Have you talked to the modem manufacturer? They may send you a fix for free. Sending you a software fix will cost them nothing, and will generate goodwill, so it's in their interests to do this.
Third - The computer misuse act is probably completely inappropriate here. I believe it's a criminal law intended for dealing with malicious damage. Threatening them with it for negligence makes you look like a moron. Breach of contract and negligent damage are more suitable terms.
I'd suggest sending a letter, by recorded delivery, explaining that you owned the modem, that a rental modem will not be adequate, and state precicely what you want them to do. Don't threaten legal action, at least not directly. Everyone does that. It makes people sound like stuck up little twits.
If all else fails, I would suggest that you consider ADSL, and tell the cable company that you are doing so. This will cost at least give you the satisfaction of knowing that you have deprived them od revenue.
..does your contract with your provider state that you can use your own modem with their service? If it does, then they need to rectify the matter. If not, you may not have much recourse.
I know that Time Warner wouldn't let my old boss use his own equipment for a business account (and were were a shop with such equipment and knowledge) and force him to use their rental modem. They generally do this to ensure that they can cap the modems if need be.
As someone else suggested, contact the mfg of the modem and let them know what happened. See if they can provide an update that will undo what the cable provider pushed and close the door on allowing them to do it again in the future.
And, as always, document every conversation you have with the cable company.
Cruising the internet on my TI-99/4A @ a whopping 300 baud!
I haven't had many problems with my cable ISP in 2.5 years, but I have had a few. In each case, they own the problem, soup to nuts. All I have to do is pretend that I'm rebooting the Windows PC that the modem isn't really connect to whenever they ask, and figure out what they're *really* asking for, and make sure I comply.
Own your own modem, and whenever there's a problem, it's finger-pointing time. Is the problem in their system or your modem? No doubt even if it's really in their system, and some of their people know it, the guy on the other end of the phone won't, and will blame it on your modem.
In the face of life's inevitable problems, renting is simpler, though a few bucks more expensive. The rental fee didn't used to be there, and I figure it was their way of jacking the rates up without a rate increase. I have no doubt that sometime in the next year there'll be some sort of 'service fee' for non-rental modems and we'll all be at parity, again.
Unfortunately all the rebates I've seen in my area are for new subscribers, only.
I'd really rather have DSL with its more enlightened/less restrictive Terms Of Service.
The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
My cable is underground....at least the ones in my neighborhood. I suppose a surge coming down the cable or the power line (also underground) and fry it. Doesn't matter for me....I just call them up and they bring me a new modem! I have only had two since I have been on a cable modem. The first one I had was a old legacy cable modem. The one I have now is the docsis cable modem (Moto). I have had zero problems with the modem itself since switching to the docsis one. The legacy one was a true piece of crap. The one I have now is great. I even found a web page that points me to the IP (192.168.100.1 I think) of the modem on my side when the cable end takes a crap. I can restart the damn thing without having to crawl under my desk and yank a power cord.
Gorkman
Not true.
Any company can put anything it wants it the usage agreement, but that doesn't make it law. Some things are unenforceable, and I'm pretty much those disclaimers are. Just try to imagine an electric company with an agreement that says that they're not responsible if they don't install the wires correctly in your house and it catches fire.
Im sure I'm going to get modded down and flamed for this... but I have one question.
If you own the modem, why was your modem accepting software updates?
I mean, the cable company sends out software updates for their own hardware only.
If you bought your modem, yours does not fall under that catagory.
Why did you allow it to accept this update?
I'm willing to bet that the cable company has in your contract somewhere a clause that states they will not support your hardware at all.
If it works, great. If not, its not their problem. And rightfully so.
So from the sounds of it, your modem that you bought had a major flaw in it, in that it should not have been listening to the cable companys update commands.
Why is this the cable companys fault?
Sounds to me like someone taking a 110vac lamp and plugging it in a 220vac outlet, having it blow up, then wanting to sue the power company for not making things magically work.
If this was the cable companys hardware and they broke it themselfs, it would be a totally different story.
But your connecting an unsupported forien device that the cable company even tells you out right isnt supported nor garenteed to even work at all, into their network.
This isnt a telephone device.. you buy an analog modem and the FCC garentees it will work with the phone network. you buy an electrical device and its UL listed to garentee it will work with the power grid.
You rent a cable modem because they garentee it works with their service. you failed to do this part, and are trying to blame someone else.
Either you didnt research enough into if that modem would work correctly in the first place, or did not configure it correctly (Which is what it sounds like).
How anyone can believe this is anything other than user-error is beyond me.
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?"
Yes, one of their employees, not the company, has almost certainly broken Section 1 of the UK Computer Misuse Act 1990, which states:
(1) A person is guilty of an offence if--
(a) he causes a computer to perform any function with intent to secure access to any program or data held in any computer;
(b) the access he intends to secure is unauthorised; and
(c) he knows at the time when he causes the computer to perform the function that that is the case.
UK Computer Misuse Act 1990
It almost certainly hinges on the final clause, that they knew this access was not authorised. It seems resonable to assume they do know about their responsibilities under the Computer Misuse Act, so I suggest you try to get then to admit it.