Waitaminit! YOU sexually harass an employee and I have to pay for it?

[Voyager]

@Algher

I have no great love for the semi-monopolies of cable, telephone, power, etc. however…

Where the fuck do you think ANY judgement comes from? Do you REALLY think that the companies will lower salaries, or that they have some Scrooge McDuck vault of cash? Whenever someone thinks that a class-action lawsuit will stick-it-to-the-man, I remind them that the cost will be put into the price people pay for the product.

You want to sue the drug companies? The price of drugs will go up.
You want the grocery store workers to make more? The price of groceries will go up.

So, say a drug company kills people, and their heirs sue. You object because it will raise prices? If the managers took the hit for the screwup, then I’d feel a little sympathetic - I’m betting they still get their big bonuses.

Now, if it is a fully competitive marketplace, and you only sue one company, AND the competition is ONLY based on price, THEN it will be difficult for the sued firm to recover their costs in a price increase.

The cable example, however, is a No-Shit-Sherlock-Situation (NSSS). they need to find a few million, they can:
A) Raise Prices
B) Cut Services
C) Take it out of their own pocket.

And C is going to happen? Actually, reducing profits does it quite well - it takes it out of the pockets of stockholders, who should learn not to support companies run by morons.

My advice to the OP - get satellite. We did it, and have never regretted it.

[Algher]

@Voyager

So, say a drug company kills people, and their heirs sue. You object because it will raise prices? If the managers took the hit for the screwup, then I’d feel a little sympathetic - I’m betting they still get their big bonuses.
And C is going to happen? Actually, reducing profits does it quite well - it takes it out of the pockets of stockholders, who should learn not to support companies run by morons.

My advice to the OP - get satellite. We did it, and have never regretted it.

I am NOT objecting, I am pointing out reality. When you put a fine on a company, the company will need to recover the costs somehow. This cost recovery can come from either cutting spending, raising profits, or letting the profit margin sink. The profit margin will be the LAST part attacked, since shareholders will have an issue with that. It will be much easier to simply raise prices (especially if you are in an oligopolistic situation like cable/satellite). Alternatively, the company can just freeze salaries for awhile, if the job market is slow.

My point is that rarely do we see the top execs really taking much of a hit in these situations. Sometimes they get the golden parachute shoveoff to the tune of millions of dollars, but the cash award to the plaintiffs will NOT come out of the pocket of the execs considered guilty.

[Hostile_Dialect]

@brazil84

Just call the state board of public utilities in your state and tell them that you want to be heard the next time Cablevision applies for a rate increase. They will probably explain what you need to do.

Which, if public utilities commissions work the same way in Right Here as they do in California, will involve sticking complaints in dark places, because the customers are also subsidizing cable company payoffs to the people who are supposed to monitor those companies.

[Tripler]

I’m going to go out on a limb here. . .

I recognize that up in Northern New Jersey, where I grew up, that my folks have cable because that’s the only way they think they can get their television. But IIRC, over-the-air broadcasts still continue. It’s not like they’re providing the necessary water or convenient electricity one needs to live. . .

And yes, life does go on without cable television. Shit on a stick, life goes on without broadcast television! But, I guess I see the point that people consider it a ‘utility’ and that it must be somewhat regulated. Or something.

Television is not a necessity of life. If y’all want, organize enough people to pull their monthly payments for one damn month, and maybe the company will realize the customer base potential . . . but up until then, y’all are just gonna have to suck it up, and realize you’re just feeding a machine.

Tripler
Yes, as hard as it is life goes on without television. It’s called “radio”.