The city of Los Angeles is suing Tuned In’s soon-to-be-former corporate sibling, Time Warner Cable, for shoddy customer service. Mind you, I’m not a lawyer and can’t judge the validity of the suit one way or another. But I have to enjoy the idea of anyone creating headaches for a cable-company customer-service department, rather than vice versa. From the L.A. Times’ story:
The Los Angeles city attorney’s office plans to sue Time Warner Cable Inc. today, alleging that the company caused “major havoc and distress” when it became the No. 1 pay TV provider in Southern California two years ago.
City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo said Wednesday that Time Warner violated state law by making false and misleading statements to subscribers. The 25-page lawsuit, a copy of which was reviewed by The Times, claims the company violated its franchise agreement with the city by having subscribers spend hours on hold with customer service representatives and allowing excessive repair work delays.
“Hundreds of thousands of Los Angeles residents were ripped off,” Delgadillo said in a statement. “Time Warner must be held accountable for its promises.”
TWC gave no comment, and again, I and Time Inc.’s lawyers can’t stress enough that I have no idea if anyone’s liable for anything here. And the libertarian side of me has to wonder whether this is even within the government’s proper legal bounds. But speaking as a cable customer, is it wrong of me to fantasize about, say, a court order mandating executives to wait at home for a call between the hours of noon and 4 p.m.—forever?