Being the Northwoods’ Foremost Authority is not an easy job. I
get some strange problems to work on, without even asking for
them.
A lady in northern Langlade Country asked me to take a look
at a form she got in the mail from Packerland, her cable
provider. They wanted her to fill out a green sheet so Packerland
could “update our records”. There are spaces for driver’s license
number, Social Security number, and date of birth, with an
asterisk asserting that at least one or the other of driver’s
license or Social Security number “must be provided”.
Her problem was that she thought they were asking for too
much information just to update her 10-year old paid-on-time
account. I think she’s absolutely correct. There’s no legitimate
reason for asking for such personal identifying information. After
all, Packerland already has a name and address, and they can
always cut the cable if they’re having a problem with a customer.
If you call Packerland on it, they’ll give you a cock-and-bull
story about how they don’t require contracts, and because of
that, they have to obtain this kind of information in case there’s
some problem with payment on the account, “for our protection”.
I’m not giving legal advice here; I’m just telling how we handled
it. There is nothing on the form, or anywhere else in the mailing,
that threatens disconnection or any other kind of action if the
form is not filed out. In these parlous times of rampant Personal
Identity Theft, you have to brush out your tracks and keep
looking over your shoulder. So we drew a line through the
“Driver’s License Number” label, and another through the
“Social Security Number” label, and added a label of our own —
“Not Applicable”.
After mailing it out, I realized we really should have put a note
on the address label — “Attention: Bozo in Charge of Marketing!”
—-
I have Packerland. I received the Green insert. I use my Bank’s Billpay to pay the bill. I am not going to waste a stamp to mail this in.
To be fair.. Packerland, recently offered new services. (Internet, and Digital Cable) And will soon offer Telephone, and Pay Per View. In the near future it won’t be difficult to rack up a big bill.
With the new services they also have the ability to cut off Internet, Digital Cable, and Telephone from the office in Iron Mountain without sending someone over to disconnect the cable.
I just grabbed my bill from Packerland. To have Analog Cable, Basic Cable, Digital Cable, Internet, two digital converter boxes, and a couple of Movie Tiers my the cost is $157.00 A month. Add Telephone and a couple of PPV movies and events. The bill would be over $200.00.. Its a little different now that some people are paying $150+ a month for service.
I don’t have a TV. Haven’t had one since about 1999, I started this century out clean and pure, with no mental garbage or celebrity silliness cluttering my brain. I’d be glad to get a TV, however — just as soon as something worth viewing gets televised, and providing I can find the time to sit down and put my mental processes in “neutral”. Problem is, I don’t want to give up any of my interesting, compelling, really fun educational, intellectual, musical, and social pursuits. Packerland’s not going to get rich from me, I’m afraid.
Don’t ever be late with Packerland. I had a payment got lost in the mail. I didn’t catch it until they pulled the plug on me.. It seems they ignore the Wisconsin Cable Subscriber Rights Law:
http://www.datcp.state.wi.us/cp/consumerinfo/cp/cp_laws/telecom/subscriber_rights_details.pdf
Disconnected me when I was 34 days late. Never got a 10 day written notice with intent to disconnect. The next month’s bill I was on “Probabtion Status”.. Told me they would disconnect me even if I was 1 day late. I am fighting with them on that Probationary Status. Wisconsin Law says a cable company absolutely can’t disconnect any services unless you are 45 days past due. If the cable bill is due the 10th of the month they should not disconnect until at least the 25th of next month. Yes.. I was late with the bill, but you would think they would give a collection call or something to let me know the check I sent didn’t make it.. LOL
Otherwise they are pretty good with Internet service.. I can’t find any other provider around here that can offer the speed they offer.
Some interesting reading. From what I can tell it appears the Green Bay Packers and the NFL are suing Packerland Broadband. Probably because of the name..
http://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/v?pnam=CCI%20SYSTEMS,%20INC.%20%20