Sucky Utilities
Jan. 4th, 2003 11:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shannon_aToday we received notice in the mail from our DSL provider, DirectTV, that in 12 days they were terminating all DSL services. Clearly in violation of their 30 day month-to-month contract though they tried to disguise that fact by backdating the letter all the way back to December 16.
I am getting so tired of being taken advantage of by corporations. It was two years ago, I think, that Northpoint dumped all its DSL customers (and yeah, that included us too), then violated a court order by not bringing its network back it. I was pissed then and I'm pissed now.
The difference was that Northpoint was on its way out of business, and so there was nothing to do (though I think a lot of executives there deserved to end up in jail), while in this case DirectTV appears to just be trying to make a better profit.
So, this time I dropped a line to some lawyers who file class action lawsuits on a contigency basis to see if they see any potential in this situation. I've been a beneficiary of a class-action lawsuit before, regarding a credit card company taking advantage of its customers, and so I'm very aware that I'll only receive a buck or two if a class-action lawsuit were to occur and if it were to succeed.
But I'd *really* like to see DirectTV pay for its illegal, immoral action, and thus send notice to the next utility company down the line who considers screwing its customers. That's the point of activism, I suppose, even if its just a query letter to some lawyers.
We'll see if anything comes of it ...
I note I'm putting "pissed off" as my mood ... again. It's clearly been a trying couple of days. Maybe I'll go write some nice code. (While I still can.)
I am getting so tired of being taken advantage of by corporations. It was two years ago, I think, that Northpoint dumped all its DSL customers (and yeah, that included us too), then violated a court order by not bringing its network back it. I was pissed then and I'm pissed now.
The difference was that Northpoint was on its way out of business, and so there was nothing to do (though I think a lot of executives there deserved to end up in jail), while in this case DirectTV appears to just be trying to make a better profit.
So, this time I dropped a line to some lawyers who file class action lawsuits on a contigency basis to see if they see any potential in this situation. I've been a beneficiary of a class-action lawsuit before, regarding a credit card company taking advantage of its customers, and so I'm very aware that I'll only receive a buck or two if a class-action lawsuit were to occur and if it were to succeed.
But I'd *really* like to see DirectTV pay for its illegal, immoral action, and thus send notice to the next utility company down the line who considers screwing its customers. That's the point of activism, I suppose, even if its just a query letter to some lawyers.
We'll see if anything comes of it ...
I note I'm putting "pissed off" as my mood ... again. It's clearly been a trying couple of days. Maybe I'll go write some nice code. (While I still can.)
