Prmehta's profile

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Sunday, September 6th, 2020 12:00 AM

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Television viewer protection act

As per the television viewer protection act you are supposed to provide monthly notification on ebill when a promo period is ending and also when fees are increasing. I was notified in my current billing statement where the increase had already occurred. Furthermore as Xfinity has agreed to partner with school children that need internet for class I cannot just switch off the service upon receiving the bill as there is no advance notification and children need the internet for school. This is very deceptive to wait until
The current billing.

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Expert

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31.9K Messages

5 years ago


@Prmehta wrote:
As per the television viewer protection act you are supposed to provide monthly notification on ebill when a promo period is ending and also when fees are increasing. I was notified in my current billing statement where the increase had already occurred. Furthermore as Xfinity has agreed to partner with school children that need internet for class I cannot just switch off the service upon receiving the bill as there is no advance notification and children need the internet for school. This is very deceptive to wait until
The current billing.

That act hasn't been approved by the Senate yet. 

 

Do you read your billing statements monthly?

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5 years ago


@Again wrote: ... That act hasn't been approved by the Senate yet. ...

In effect, it has. The H.R. 5035 "Television Viewer Protection Act of 2019" was incorporated into H.R. 1865 "Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020" which was approved by the House and the Senate, and signed into law by the President on Dec 20, 2019. The FCC has already concluded several rule making proceedings implementing aspects of the Act.

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5 years ago

Yes, please read the legislation as it was within the past year that it passed. It has a direct reference to e-bill which I am enrolled in and check on a monthly basis that the company must notify you every month of when your promotion plan ends and what the new cost will be. On their current e-bill they only notify you on the current statement, not in advance as they should and stated it is in a separate email when I showed the e bill didn’t have it. The company was not able to provide proof of the email and nevertheless the legislation specifically states it has to be on the e bill. I would suggest everyone with a similar situation review your bill to make sure you were provided advance proof and if not submit the bills to the attorney general as I plan on doing.

Expert

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31.9K Messages

5 years ago


@Prmehta wrote:
Yes, please read the legislation as it was within the past year that it passed. It has a direct reference to e-bill which I am enrolled in and check on a monthly basis that the company must notify you every month of when your promotion plan ends and what the new cost will be. On their current e-bill they only notify you on the current statement, not in advance as they should and stated it is in a separate email when I showed the e bill didn’t have it. The company was not able to provide proof of the email and nevertheless the legislation specifically states it has to be on the e bill. I would suggest everyone with a similar situation review your bill to make sure you were provided advance proof and if not submit the bills to the attorney general as I plan on doing.

If you're referring to this you should read it carefully because it doesn't say anything about a notification when raising prices, only a notification of prices at the time you enter into a contract with the provider.

 

(a)

Consumer rights in sales

(1)

Right to transparency

Before entering into a contract with a consumer for the provision of a covered service, a provider of a covered service shall provide the consumer, by phone, in person, online, or by other reasonable means, the total monthly charge for the covered service, whether offered individually or as part of a bundled service, selected by the consumer (explicitly noting the amount of any applicable promotional discount reflected in such charge and when such discount will expire), including any related administrative fees, equipment fees, or other charges, a good faith estimate of any tax, fee, or charge imposed by the Federal Government or a State or local government (whether imposed on the provider or imposed on the consumer but collected by the provider), and a good faith estimate of any fee or charge that is used to recover any other assessment imposed on the provider by the Federal Government or a State or local government.

 

And further....

 

Consumer rights in e-billing

If a provider of a covered service provides a bill to a consumer in an electronic format, the provider shall include in the bill—

(1)

an itemized statement that breaks down the total amount charged for or relating to the provision of the covered service by the amount charged for the provision of the service itself and the amount of all related taxes, administrative fees, equipment fees, or other charges;

(2)

the termination date of the contract for the provision of the covered service entered into between the consumer and the provider; and

(3)

the termination date of any applicable promotional discount.

 

And then you get into Comcast's Residential Agreement for Services:

4. CHANGES TO SERVICES

Subject to applicable law, we have the right to change our Service(s), Xfinity Equipment, rates and charges, at any time with or without notice to you. We also may rearrange, delete, add to, or otherwise change programming or features or offerings contained in the Service(s), including, but not limited to, content, functionality, hours of availability, equipment requirements, speed, and upstream and downstream rate limitations. We may deliver any notice concerning changes to the Service(s) and our relationship with you, including notice of any change to this Agreement, in any one or more of the following ways, as determined in our sole discretion: (1) by posting it on www.xfinity.com or any other website about which you have been notified; (2) by mail or hand delivery to your Premises; (3) by e-mail to the e-mail address for your account in our records; or (4) by including the information on or with your bill for Service(s).

https://www.xfinity.com/Corporate/Customers/Policies/SubscriberAgreement

 

Notices of increases are found in your e-bill one to two months in advance, and most likely during the month the increase takes place.

_________________________________________________

I apologize for not seeing that this was signed in December 2020.

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5 years ago


@Prmehta wrote: As per the television viewer protection act you are supposed to provide monthly notification on ebill when a promo period is ending and also when fees are increasing. ...

See https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/04/23/2020-07968/implementation-of-the-truth-in-billing-provisions-of-the-television-viewer-protection-act-of-2019. Note that although

 


... section 642 requires greater transparency in electronic bills ...

The FCC ruled:

 


 ... we exercise our discretion under the TVPA to grant a blanket extension until December 20, 2020, of the effective date of new truth-in-billing requirements ...


 

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5 years ago


@Again wrote: ... I apologize for not seeing that this was signed in December 2020.

Make that "December 2019", and all is forgiven.   😉

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