What's my ethical obligation to Comcast?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Background: When I got cable back in 2000 or so, I got “basic” and HBO. If I could have JUST gotten HBO, I would have and used an antenna for the networks. But you can’t do that. You have to get at least ‘basic’ to get HBO. “basic” was just the big networks, PBS, and they might have thrown in “Comcast Sports” and something else. I got like 8 stations and HBO. Everything was fine.

One day they switched the channels around and we started getting a few more channels, ESPN, USA, OLN. I figured, “huh, they must have just bumped up the basic package.” There was no CNN, FOX, MTV, VH1, Comedy Channel, Discovery, etc. though so I didn’t think I was getting “cable”, per se.

This weekend, they swtiched the lineup again, and now, in addition to ESPN, USA, OLN, I started getting TNT, F/X, Spike, History, ESPN2, ESPNNews. Still no FOX, CNN, MTV, CC, though, so I still figured “huh, they bumped up the basic”. I wasn’t getting a full cable package.

Problem: no HBO. So, we call Comcast and they couldn’t do it from their end so a guy came to the house yesterday to get the HBO going. He got the HBO going, but whatever he did, we started getting ‘standard’ cable. You name it, it’s there. . .CNN, Weather, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Nickolodeon, etc. etc. etc.

So, am I bound to call Comcast to tell them they did this?

Do you think it will cost Comcast more to actually come to my house and remedy the problem or just to keep sending the signal?

I’m actually concerned that if I call, they’ll say, “if you want to get HBO, you have to pay for standard.”

That really concerns me, because I basically view TV as HBO plus a vast wasteland of shit with sports, and the occasional rare gem of a show.

2

As long as you are getting what you paid for, I wouldn’t press the matter.

3

You’re getting stuff you didn’t pay for – you know it and they don’t. You’re not exactly stealing but you’re not paying what you’re supposed to be charged, either.

Don’t ask me what I’d do. I’m apt to disappoint you.

4

Sounds like you’ve got the rationalization down pretty well already.

Enjoy the little extras and don’t worry about it. When the burden of guilt becomes too heavy order some pay per view to make amends.

:smiley:

5

Thinking on the matter some more, you have no ethical responsibility to tell the company. You pay the bills they send you, and if they’ve charged you less for the services they’ve actually provided, that’s their decision. This not only fair, but laissez-faire.

Now, you probrably have a moral responsibilty to bring this to their attention, but ethics and morality are not quite the same thing.

6

That’s really not a rationalization, but more like the crux of the matter.

It’s not like finding a guy’s wallet where it’s obviously to his benefit to return it.

This is just recieving something through their error that is of no cost to them, and it might even cost more to “send it back”.

Thing is. . .AFAIK they’re sending the “standard signal” to my house. It’s a matter of flipping a switch at my end whether I get it or not. It’s not “costing” them anything to have me getting cable. It’s not water or electricity.

Heck, they’re even “advertising” cable to me. . .a service which I clearly have no interest in. If they could somehow surriptitiously send cable to everyone who otherwise would NEVER get it, they might even do that.

That sounds a little more like rationalizing, but I can live with it. . .we’re calling them today. I never really intended not to. Just fishing for opinions.

7

Clearly you are operating from a moral framework.

8

I don’t get the distinction.

9

We’re in a similar situation with Hotwire Cable at my apartment. About 10 months ago the coaxial connection on our TV got messed up which prevented us from watching cable, so we decided to cancel the service until we got it fixed. Well, Hotwire canceled our bill, but the cable was never turned off. We got the TV working and proceeded to watch free cable for 10 months. We were willing to pay for the service like before, but since they screwed up we decided to just enjoy the situation.

About 2 weeks ago we got a letter from Hotwire saying a recent audit of their account files shows that we’ve been getting cable for the past 10 months but haven’t been getting billed. They said they knew it was their mistake and that they didn’t even know if we’d been taking advantage of situation, and if we’d like to continue getting cable we should contact them and sign up for it again, otherwise they’d shut it off in 2 days.

Like I said, that was about 2 weeks ago. We never contacted them and the cable is still on, so we’re curiously waiting to see if we get a bill or not.

I’m not sure whether or not our behavior is ethically (or morally, I too don’t understand the distinction) correct, but I’m guessing it isn’t. Our rationalization is that we told them to turn it off and they didn’t (i.e. it was their screw up.) Also, we’re generally not fond of the company because they also provide our DSL, which often has lackluster performance, and they’ve got a monopoly on our apartment complex so we can’t really switch to another provider if we wanted to.

10

I’m defining ethics as codes that dictate right and wrong behavior because of your job or social position. Morality is your personal judgment of what’s right or wrong. Ethics generally means abandoning responsibilty and duties in your job for personal again.

Examples. It’s morally and ethically okay for me, a 35 year old man, to have sex with a willing 18 year old woman. It is unethical if that woman happens to be my paitient, my student, or my client, because that kind of intimacy violates the standards of professional behavior of my job. It would be immoral if she were only 17, even if she were willing, because she’s underage and cannot give consent. It’s immoral and unethical if she were my niece or daughter of any age or consent, because I’d be abdicating my responsibilties as a parent and breaking moral laws.

Consumers (your job) do not have an ethical responsibility to inform a business that they’ve made a mistake in your favor by providing an extra service without billing you. If you, as a customer inform them, or pay for a service they’ve rendered you’rew under no obligation to pay for, you’re making a moral, personal decision that that is the right thing to do. There was never an ethical responsibilty.

Clearer?

11

We had a similar situation some years ago. We only had basic cable, but they offered us a free three month subscription to Showtime (or maybe it was HBO). My mom said “sure”. After the three months was up, they kept piping it to us, but never charged us for it. I was living with my parents at the time, and although mom never explained her reasoning to me, she never reported it.

If it was me, I honestly don’t know what I’d do.

12

I would say you are not bound to tell Comcast about this because it was their screw up. Just remember… this is Comcast, the biggest of the big of the cable companies. They are not known for their customer service nor their “Great” cable deals. They want your money. They might say that you have to pay because you are getting something you aren’t supposed to get. Therefore it might be worth it to have them get on this right away so you don’t incur any cost you didn’t contract for.

This is EXACTLY what they will say. We have Comcast cable at my home. We have paid for the basic package which only gives us about 13 channels. The movie channels are only available to us if we upgrade to the “Standard” package, and that sucks. I think you are correct in your view of Comcasts channel programming. Our household has been at odds with Comcast for the past 2 years becuase they don’t offer anything between the “Basic” and “Standard” plans. Their basic plan is $13.00 per month while their Standard is $49.00. To me that is a pretty big difference for getting more channels that I never will watch in addition to the channels I already don’t watch.

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13

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I’m getting the basic package next week. Other than the networks, PBS, and local access channels, what do you get?

14

How do you know they’re not charging you for it? :dubious:

15

I was going to ask this. My experience with Comcast tells me that you shouldn’t worry about what is ethical until you see your next bill.

16

Is it possible that in order to get the feed that contains HBO, you have to get all these other channels as well? I’m guessing, but maybe it’s like this: You’ve been getting HBO all along, now HBO is bundled with all these other channels. You’re still paying for HBO, but you’re getting these channels because of the new bundling. They aren’t charging you more because the company changed the package…not you.

17

I wouldn’t worry about it. There are times channels that I don’t pay for are unscrambled for a few days. Perhaps they’re doing a “free preview” or their equipment is messed up. I don’t feel any obligation to pay them if I should choose to watch.

Also, is there a chance your rate plan may be obsolete? My mom once had a cell phone account and kept it for a few years past the expiration of the contract. For some reason, they gave her extra features and yet continued to charge her for the same low amount under the original agreement. The computer couldn’t figure out what to charge under the old rate plan. I’m sure it was from some merger. I wouldn’t call it stealing.

18

I don’t have a cite for this, but the radio money talk show host Clark Howard says that as long as you are getting any sort of service from them, cable companies are required to sell you any premium channel as an add-on.

19

the basic package in my area includes all the channels you have listed, and more.

about 80 channels actually.

have you tried going to the comcast site and entering your zip code and then selecting the basic channel lineup to see exactly what you should be getting?

20

What I can’t understand is why you think so highly of HBO. The run the same shows over and over. Unless you’re a fan of their original programming, I find starz/Encore has the same movies for less.