Canadian Cable Company Shames Non-Paying Customers Publicly On Facebook (hothardware.com)

MojoKid writes: If you've ever been late on paying a bill, it's unlikely that you ever thought that you were running the risk of being publicly shamed about your shortcomings. However, for a few unfortunate individuals, one Canadian cable TV provider doesn't see things quite the same way. Recently, Senga Services, which is located in Canada's Northwest Territories, decided to begin posting the names of customers that had overdue payments to its Facebook page. The initiative was spearheaded by company employee Jennifer Simons, who felt so strongly about her right to expose late bill payers, that she debated with those on a Facebook community page who thought she was in the wrong in doing so. Simons claims that public shaming has proven to be the most successful method of getting customers to pay up. Exposing someone's name and amount owed might be a gross breach of ethics, but Simons claims that it's not illegal. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada urged the company to pull the post outing these tardy customers, and the company has since obliged. The Privacy Commissioner is now mulling whether this issue is worth investigating further.

Comments

Wrong?

[Anonymous Coward]

Am I the only one who thinks it's wrong to shame people as a form of punishment?

Re:Wrong?

[JustOK]

You should be embarrassed for even thinking such a thing. Shame on you.

Re: Wrong?

[Anonymous Coward]

I'd go one step further...breach of contract. She disclosed client information to the public. That could get her fired, sued, and possibly arrested. Keep in mind the stories of hacked data that has been posted to the public....

Re: Wrong?

[whopis]

Actually, failing to pay on time is probably a condition covered in the contract and therefor not a breach of contract. My guess is that they have clauses that allow them to charge late fees and interest on past due balances. There is likely an upper limit on how long that continues before it is a breach of contract, but I am certain there is a time period where the contract would still be in effect. And it sounds like she posted everyone who was late on bills.

Re:Wrong?

[KGIII]

Back home, in the village (maybe 1000 people that live in the village proper and year-round), there's a small store that's slightly more than a convenience store but less than a supermarket or the likes. It's a single floor, single room, affair with a potbelly stove where the old men eat donuts and drink coffee before going off to do what they do. They're joined there, in the morning, by the occasional woman and lots of men who work their trade jobs but stop in for a cup of Joe and a Sinker before going off to their trade jobs.

The men, they gossip and prattle on like old women while, of course, thinking it is the ladies that gossip most. They stop in, often times, in the afternoon as well. Usually, it's later in the day when they come in off the ice from fishing or they stop there as it is a registered game station and they'll get their deer weighed and tagged. They keep a running total on the old chalk board that keeps count of the pounds taken and the number of "points." They have one for moose and bear and those too are tallied at the end of each season with a couple of side bets and maybe an official(ish) award handed out to the youngest child to get a buck that year or similar things.

At this store, perhaps your quintessential store in such a place - I think many places have them, there's two counters. One is for food ordering where you can order hot and cold foods made in the "deli." They also have a variety of deli meats and cheeses in a display and a scale to weigh those products out. The counter, set aside for checking out and purchasing cigarettes and the porno magazines (as well as quick access for those getting gasoline) sits near the door and is not yet so modernized as to be out of place.

Predominately, behind that checkout counter, is a board that displays any one of a few things. Affixed to that board, with old-style thumbtacks, are checks from a variety of customers. On these checks, facing frontwards, is a stamp that says Insufficient Funds or NSF (Non-Sufficient Funds). The name of the party is prominently displayed on the front of the check. More often than not, these checks don't stay on the board for very long and there are few repeats.

Once in a while and when all is quiet, some theoretically anonymous person will meander in and notice the checks on the board and will simply pay them off. They've done this multiple times and without fanfare nor wanting of accolades. However, a few times, it seems that some noticed a trend and their names suddenly appeared on the board. This theoretically anonymous person has taken note and made it a point to exclude them and their checks remain posted. Eventually, those checks too disappear as, presumably, they were paid for by the original debtor.

Conclude what you will but that is my observation on a very small scale where, I think, it's more pronounced and personal.

Re:Wrong?

[Krishnoid]

The men, they gossip and prattle on like old women while, of course, thinking it is the ladies that gossip most

I had to read until the end of your post, but then this line finally made sense. What else would you expect in a town where the women are strong, the men are good-looking, and all the children are above-average?

Re:Can't wait for the aftermath.

[PKFC]

Yeah this is a town of 1200 people and they only got a highway in the 70s. NWT has its own scale of how sparse it is. The largest city, Yellowknife is about 25k people and likely at least a four hour drive from that town. If you think the duopoly everywhere else in North America is bad, try NWT

Re:Can't wait for the aftermath.

[Ol Olsoc]

I predict we see an article on slashdot in about two months, telling us how many customers ended their contract with said company.

My guess is 2%.

This all seems so odd. Instead of public shaming, perhaps cutting off their service will get them to pay up? Jus' sayin'.

A Cable Company?

[mbone]

In my experience, people do not respect cable companies enough to be ashamed at being late paying them.

Re:Can't wait for the aftermath.

[Ol Olsoc]

Some consider internet to be essential.

I suppose it would be mean to cut off some people's sex life

Re:Wall of Shame

[JaredOfEuropa]

There is a huge difference between naming an shaming someone on a bulletin board in a small local store, and doing so online for the whole world to see until the end of time. In terms of more traditional punishments, it's the difference between a thief being put in the stocks for a day, or being branded.

Re:Can't wait for the aftermath.

[thegarbz]

I'm not sure about the last two since I've never heard of them (are they an American thing?) but insurance companies (at least in Australia) do not fall in that category as there is no incentive to stay and switching is just a phone call away. On top of that there are brokers who competitively bid them against each other.

What was typical here is that insurance companies would not pass down savings on new plans to existing customers, so every year when the bill comes in the first thing you do is competitively bid. So far my car insurance was the only insurance that has lasted more than 2 years, and my current health care provider made me a nice offer last time round so they're approaching the 2 year mark as well.

Compared to cable companies which will give you any combination of the following:
- Cancellation fees
- Cancellation delays
- Service outage during switching providers
- Aggressive discounting to make people stay.

Or banks where you have things like:
- Homeloan bundles and credit cards with fees waived.
- Existing monthly debit transactions setup.
- Friends who know your bank account number and may pay into the wrong one where you change.

Swapping is non trivial for some services, but for insurance that's not been the case (at least not for me).