(Photo: Maximum PC)
When last we heard from Time Warner Cable, a corporation so reviled that even Starfleet captains can’t help but voice their discontent, it was devising its latest scheme to become the most hated company ever by charging a modem rental fee. Now, the New York Daily News reports that not one but two class action suits have been lodged against Time Warner, alleging that the $3.95/month modem leasing fee is essentially a money-making racket.
Writes the Daily News:
“In papers filed in New York and New Jersey courts, customers contend that the fee is illegal because it’s not included in existing customer agreements, the company did not give mandatory 30-day notice and it notified customers with a ‘paltry postcard.’”
Though Time Warner initially said that customers could simply buy their own modems instead of paying the monthly fee, it turns out that only the expensive Motorola modems work with the Triple Play Plan. Plus, the modems you can rent are supposedly old, those that the company “wrote off as worthless years ago.”
Both lawsuits are asking the court to pose an injunction against the company, effectively stifling the new fee, which went into effect on October 15th. No word yet on Captain Picard’s reaction to the suits, though we can only guess as to his advice for the customers behind them: Sticking it to TWC? Make it so.
Jessica Roy is the editor of Betabeat and a tech writer at the New York Observer. Follow Jessica on Twitter or via RSS. jroy@observer.com
