Question for lawyer and/or ISP IT folks

[BoomerClone]

We changed ISP on 11/24/23. The day of install the guy took our first month payment and asked if I agreed to use the card for recurring auto payments each month on the 24th. Yes, I signed I agree.

Long story short, they have not withdrawn any money from my bank account since. The only payment they took was the 11/24/23 payment. My account online says I owe nothing. Internet has always worked.

I called on January 15th to say they never took my December payment. After a very long call they finally said they figured it out and fixed it. Our auto draft will come out on January 24 and the 24th of each month. I didn’t fully understand their explanation. Something about two accounts per address and the wrong account is being billed??? No clue what he meant by that.

No withdrawal occurred in January or February and our online account still says we owe nothing. Internet still works great.

My wife says screw it, we tried to fix it. It’s their problem now. My concern is, what if in 6 months, a year, or longer they figure out their mistake and want to bill us for ALL used services. Would we be liable to pay 100s or 1000s of dollars for back service even if we tried to warn them about what was going on and their own incompetence caused them to not be paid? I’m torn. Trust me, I did my work to fix this. This also isn’t the only thing they’ve screwed up which I won’t get into now.

 

[CoachHines3]

idk anything about your situation

but ive been renting a dumpster for almost 3 years now and haven't been billed once for it and im just going with the flow.

idk if its cause the owner of the garbage company knows my brother in law and im getting a favor or if im just not on the books or what.

 

[BoomerClone]

idk anything about your situation

but ive been renting a dumpster for almost 3 years now and haven't been billed once for it and im just going with the flow.

idk if its cause the owner of the garbage company knows my brother in law and im getting a favor or if im just not on the books or what.

I want to go with the flow too but part of me is worried that in 3 years they’re going to say you owe us $4000 for internet you haven’t paid for.

 

[Jer]

In Iowa it’s legal to record a phone call as long as one of the parties knows it’s being recorded. Record a call to them and if they don’t fix it after that, I think you at least have backup that you’ve tried. While that may not matter in a legal sense, it would be enough for most companies to just move forward.

 

[Clonehomer]

Put the monthly payment into an account. If they come asking for it later, you have it. If not, nice little vacation.

 

[CoachHines3]

I want to go with the flow too but part of me is worried that in 3 years they’re going to say you owe us $4000 for internet you haven’t paid for.

understandable with that.

my dumpster was supposed to be $35/month.

i always figured id tell them id pay a years worth up front and then they can start to bill me if they ever came asking about it. not my fault they aren't paying attention and billing me! hah

 

[Cyclonepride]

My totally not professional legal opinion is that, if you are using the service and have not cancelled it, you would be on the hook for paying for the missed months of billing.

 

[BoomerClone]

Put the monthly payment into an account. If they come asking for it later, you have it. If not, nice little vacation.

you’re assuming I’m a much much better manager of money than I am. lol.

 

[BoomerClone]

My totally not professional legal opinion is that, if you are using the service and have not cancelled it, you would be on the hook for paying for the missed months of billing.

I don’t know. I think it goes both ways. I signed an agreement that they would take my money once per MONTH. not once whenever they want because of their incompetence

 

[Cyclonepride]

I don’t know. I think it goes both ways. I signed an agreement that they would take my money once per MONTH. not once whenever they want because of their incompetence

I think legally it is going to be looked at as "you agreed to pay for this service, and continued to use this service, so you owe for the service". It would be different if you cancelled, discontinued the use of the service, and switched to another provider, but they accidentally didn't shut it off.

 

[LutherBlue]

I think legally it is going to be looked at as "you agreed to pay for this service, and continued to use this service, so you owe for the service". It would be different if you cancelled, discontinued the use of the service, and switched to another provider, but they accidentally didn't shut it off.

This is correct

 

[BoomerClone]

I think legally it is going to be looked at as "you agreed to pay for this service, and continued to use this service, so you owe for the service". It would be different if you cancelled, discontinued the use of the service, and switched to another provider, but they accidentally didn't shut it off.

I agree and I am not trying to get service for free. But I also tried to fix their error. And they also have 2 other instances that put a bad taste in my mouth.

They disconnected my service on December 14th because I simply asked to change the due date from the 24th to the 25th. I get paid on the 25th. Just made sense to push it a day.

When I called the guy said, “I have no idea why they disconnected you. This is very weird. I can see your conversation and you never ask to cancel only to change due dates”. It took 12 hours to get the internet turned back on.

2 years ago, this internet provider was installing fiber in our neighborhood and they cut our previous internet line on a Friday afternoon. We were without internet for 3 days. But, I still went with them because they offer fiber. Rethinking that now

 

[BoomerClone]

This is correct

But, I also agreed to pay once a month. I provided all information to them to take my money once per month. I never agreed to pay multiple months at once

 

[BoomerClone]

But, I also agreed to pay once a month. I provided all information to them to take my money once per month. I never agreed to pay multiple months at once

AND I tried to fix it

 

[3TrueFans]

I don't think there's any argument to be made for getting free internet just because you called and tried to fix their billing issues, but if it were me I'd just let it ride and hope for the best. I got free cable from Mediacom for like 2 years once.