First the jist of the story. Our building is under a 4 year contract with TimeWarner to provide "basic" cable. It "auto-renewed" in Aug 2006 to expire in Jan 2011. There is no Cancellation or Buyout clause. It's not stated, but as TimeWarner interrupts the contract - if we cancel we have to continue to pay the remainer of the contract ($40,000). Yeah, I'm royally ticked off.

Is this even legal?

The history (more details) if you have advice...

I am on the board of directors for this condo association that has this contract. I was voted on to replace an stop that opened in Oct 2006. We are a single building with about 50 units total. One of the first things I wanted to do was to get rid of the very poor service of TimeWarner in Dallas (seriously, I've never seen such poor service in the 7 cities and Comcast and Timewarner I've used in the past - they just ignore Dallas!). But I quickly found out that the contract auto-renewed just a month prior.

Back when the historic building was remodelled for condos in 1995, the builder signed a contract with a local cable company (no name company/was bought out). That contract did not have a buy out clause nor any cancellation terms. It was a "dirt cheap" contract that cost about $9 per unit. That's $432/mo or $5184/yr.

When Comcast came into the area, they bought out the local company and inherited this contract. In 2003, they jacked up the cost to $22 per unit! Now we're at $1,056/mo, or $12,672/yr.

We've had very poor leadership/boards over the years, and basically they were all voted out last year to bring in actual people to see why our dues keep sky rocketting. The previous board just ignored these increases.

As of Aug 2006, Comcast jacked up the rates again to $26 per unit (NO SAVING!) for basic cable to all units. Now we are at $1,248/mo $14,976 per year!

TimeWanker (err Warner) came in to replace Comcast (yeah, part of that Alphadephia issue) late last year. First thing I tried to do was to contact them to negociate a better rate or to cancel all together. I never received call backs or messages. Months went all until we finally demanded or we would stop paying the bills.

Come to find out, as stated above, there is no cancellation or buy-out clauses. The contract was set back in 1995 and it has auto-renewed 3 times with 3 different vendors. The rate is ZERO cost savings.


Why is the building so upset about this (me being the most)? Because I've had Dish Networks out there to quote us a rate of $11/unit, but 289 channels! Dish Network has those MDU (multi Dwelling Unit) discounts. DirectTV does as well, but DirectTV only does businesses. DirectTV classifies us as a "residential" dwelling and therefore must pay the full amount (no savings). Trust me, I tried to argue that point but they wouldn't budge.

Not to mention that downtown Dallas is FINALLY being wired for fiber. Did I not stress that point enough? Ok, let me restate that. Customer rep to me in 2004, "Dallas has had fiber for years sir, I do not know what you are asking." Me, "No, downtown Dallas. Zip code 75201." Cust Rep, "Oh, right. Yeah, there aren't any plans to wire that with fiber. We'll put you on a waiting list." Jez, back in 1996 my little hometown of Chattanooga, TN had fiber ran. You'd think Dallas would. Oh they do, it's just all North. Seriously, Telco is jacked here in downtown Dallas.


Back on point... Is there ANY way to contact a lawyer, or something, to get out of this contract? I find this hard to believe. We are stuck with TimeWanker until 2011 when Fiber is being run and Verizon, AT&T, and other high speed services are available. Due to our easement on the cable lines in the building, residents can not even get one of those!

HELP!

First the jist of the story. Our building is under a 4 year contract with TimeWarner to provide "basic" cable. It "auto-renewed" in Aug 2006 to expire in Jan 2011. There is no Cancellation or Buyout clause. It's not stated, but as TimeWarner interrupts the contract - if we cancel we have to continue to pay the remainer of the contract ($40,000). Yeah, I'm royally ticked off.

Is this even legal?

The history (more details) if you have advice...

I am on the board of directors for this condo association that has this contract. I was voted on to replace an stop that opened in Oct 2006. We are a single building with about 50 units total. One of the first things I wanted to do was to get rid of the very poor service of TimeWarner in Dallas (seriously, I've never seen such poor service in the 7 cities and Comcast and Timewarner I've used in the past - they just ignore Dallas!). But I quickly found out that the contract auto-renewed just a month prior.

Back when the historic building was remodelled for condos in 1995, the builder signed a contract with a local cable company (no name company/was bought out). That contract did not have a buy out clause nor any cancellation terms. It was a "dirt cheap" contract that cost about $9 per unit. That's $432/mo or $5184/yr.

When Comcast came into the area, they bought out the local company and inherited this contract. In 2003, they jacked up the cost to $22 per unit! Now we're at $1,056/mo, or $12,672/yr.

We've had very poor leadership/boards over the years, and basically they were all voted out last year to bring in actual people to see why our dues keep sky rocketting. The previous board just ignored these increases.

As of Aug 2006, Comcast jacked up the rates again to $26 per unit (NO SAVING!) for basic cable to all units. Now we are at $1,248/mo $14,976 per year!

TimeWanker (err Warner) came in to replace Comcast (yeah, part of that Alphadephia issue) late last year. First thing I tried to do was to contact them to negociate a better rate or to cancel all together. I never received call backs or messages. Months went all until we finally demanded or we would stop paying the bills.

Come to find out, as stated above, there is no cancellation or buy-out clauses. The contract was set back in 1995 and it has auto-renewed 3 times with 3 different vendors. The rate is ZERO cost savings.


Why is the building so upset about this (me being the most)? Because I've had Dish Networks out there to quote us a rate of $11/unit, but 289 channels! Dish Network has those MDU (multi Dwelling Unit) discounts. DirectTV does as well, but DirectTV only does businesses. DirectTV classifies us as a "residential" dwelling and therefore must pay the full amount (no savings). Trust me, I tried to argue that point but they wouldn't budge.

Not to mention that downtown Dallas is FINALLY being wired for fiber. Did I not stress that point enough? Ok, let me restate that. Customer rep to me in 2004, "Dallas has had fiber for years sir, I do not know what you are asking." Me, "No, downtown Dallas. Zip code 75201." Cust Rep, "Oh, right. Yeah, there aren't any plans to wire that with fiber. We'll put you on a waiting list." Jez, back in 1996 my little hometown of Chattanooga, TN had fiber ran. You'd think Dallas would. Oh they do, it's just all North. Seriously, Telco is jacked here in downtown Dallas.


Back on point... Is there ANY way to contact a lawyer, or something, to get out of this contract? I find this hard to believe. We are stuck with TimeWanker until 2011 when Fiber is being run and Verizon, AT&T, and other high speed services are available. Due to our easement on the cable lines in the building, residents can not even get one of those!

HELP!

You ask, "Is there ANY way to contact a lawyer or something, to get out of this contract?"

The answer to your question is YES! ............ Pick up the phone and dial!

I meant is there any ground we can stand on? I.e. some other company or organization out there that went through a similar ordeal?

I meant is there any ground we can stand on? I.e. some other company or organization out there that went through a similar ordeal?
When I worked at a hospital, we had a problem with our ISP and we just auto-renewed the three year license four months before I started. I called them up and told them they were completely over priced and if they didn't lower the price we were going to switch and they could sue us if they didn't let us opt out. They came to an agreement with us where instead of paying the 32 months left on the contract, we paid six months. The savings by going to a different provider and paying the six month termination fee, paid for itself after 14 months.

No one wants to get lawyers involved - ask if they will take three months fee to cancel. If you aren't serious to follow through, then its better not to ask. We were willing to accept a lawsuit, but if you are not then don't threaten.

our townhome community went thru this last year but somehow we were able to vote down re-signing coverage with Time Warner. TW came out and made a sales pitch to keep our 200+ unit complex under Time Warner coverage. They wanted us to sign a 10 year exclusive agreement with no reduction in fees. We didn't sign it so if say FIOS came available they can offer service to us now.

I am no lawyer but I can't see how and company could get away with an auto-renewal that doesn't give the customer some way to cancel.

When I worked at a hospital, we had a problem with our ISP and we just auto-renewed the three year license four months before I started. I called them up and told them they were completely over priced and if they didn't lower the price we were going to switch and they could sue us if they didn't let us opt out. They came to an agreement with us where instead of paying the 32 months left on the contract, we paid six months. The savings by going to a different provider and paying the six month termination fee, paid for itself after 14 months.

No one wants to get lawyers involved - ask if they will take three months fee to cancel. If you aren't serious to follow through, then its better not to ask. We were willing to accept a lawsuit, but if you are not then don't threaten.

Sounds like good advice.

Have a lawyer review the fine details of the contract. I've gotten out of several auto renewing contracts over the years due to the "service" clause. If some level of service is defined in the contract, complain about everything and start documenting response times, fixes, etc. If there is no service clause, there may be some other detail a lawyer could find to null the contract.

You may wish to contact a lawyer...

Contracts are meant to be rewritten...happens all the time...You may have to pay a cancellation fee but that as well can be negotiated...I find it hard to believe that an auto renew clause is written in the contract yet there is no cancellation clause???

In essence you are the franchise holder of the TW system...If TW is not performing to your expectations then you have legal ground to be released from the contract...Also (and this may be very important here) you being the franchise granter, TW has (had) to file forms with the FCC per the FCC rules that they wish to take over from Comcast. They cannot just walk in and do nothing. Personally I would speak to an attorney (maybe you have one in the building?) and see what he/she has to say about the matter. If no transfer forms were filed and approved they (TW) has no ground to stand on and is at your mercy.

This may help with your cabling access problems:

http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/openAttachment.do?link=FCC-07-111A1.pdf

If you are in a "historic building", there might be some issues with dishes and antennas on the building. The FCC OTARD rules do not override local zoning on such structures.

If you are paying all that money for "Basic Cable", you are paying mostly for Local Channels and some lower-level Cable channels. You could, if you can get out of the contract, install an MATV system for all the OTA locals. Adding some basic satellite channels would likely satisfy many tenants needs as well.

Are you aware of the 2-17-09 cutoff of analog OTA channels? At that time, the analog locals go away, but there will be many new channels OTA, as some stations multi-cast. Cable will likely go "all-digital" or "all-digital, except certain analog locals" in the near future. This will make your existing analog TV sets obsolete (or, semi-obsolete...getting only analog local stations via Cable) without the rented Cable box on each set (and each VCR, PVR, or P-I-P tuner input). So, your bills are likely to increase dramatically.

An OTA MATV system, capable of carrying all the locals in ATSC/8VSB, would suit the "locals" needs of many tenants, and would only require the built-in tuners on newer TV sets, or the "subsidized" converter boxes (coming next January) on older non-HD sets. You could then parallel-wire for satellite service, for those who want to pay individually. And, you might be able to buy a few channels (say, CNN, Fox News, ESPN, etc) to add in to your MATV for all tenants.

Back when the historic building was remodelled for condos in 1995, the builder signed a contract with a local cable company (no name company/was bought out). That contract did not have a buy out clause nor any cancellation terms.

HELP!

Did the contract specifically allow it be assigned to a third party? The language usually continues "approval for such reassignment must not be unreasonably withheld or delayed". If there was no written approval, perhaps the contact was not legally reassigned. I would contend that a rate increase from $9 per month per unit to full un-discounted rate would be defined as unreasonable and the transfer could be contested. An attorney needs to see the language to see what it says.