[Jemian]

Although I am not surprised at this, it is just disgusting.

[cactusSharp]

as disgusting as that word ever meant...being a native Texan,AOL just blew it BIG TIMEW.Texans do not take chit from yankees...EVER

[The Iceman Cometh]

Just one more reason to remain a loyal DirecTV subscriber.

Although, they do have some crappy policies. Once I called to remove the sports package from the service and they wanted to charge me 5 bucks for doing this. Bastards...

[2banana]

Isn't this why you have insurance?

[lelio]

Hey they have to get revenue from somewhere.

[thinktwice]

Good old Ted Turner, up to his Jand Fonda tricks -- screwing admirers.

[sphinx]

I would think this is a homeowners/renters insurance issue. If my car gets swept away by a flood, I don't go to GM and ask for a free replacement.

[EternalLife]

Karen Hartley, vice president for marketing and communications at Time Warner, said it is the company's policy to bill for damaged boxes, which are leased from the cable company.

Is it also company policy to have bad public relations miss Hartley?

I think Karen will be looking for a new job real soon.

[Blood of Tyrants]

My response, "Not only am I not going to pay for your boxes, I want you to cancel my subscription to your cable service."

[Guillermo]

Why is it disgusting?? Why should Time Warner eat the cost?? Because they are left wing? Is that enough reason?

[Area51]

Karen Hartley, vice president for marketing and communications at Time Warner, said it is the company's policy to bill for damaged boxes, which are leased from the cable company.

I don't get it. You lease or rent equipment it is YOUR responsibility. READ WHAT YOU SIGN. If they didn't want the burden they shouldn't have signed the Lease.

I bet some of these same people get P!ssed off, when they are actually billed for charges they make on their Credit Cards.

I Am surrounded by stupid People!

[Freakazoid]

The title of this article stinks! The "customers" are responsible for the boxes. Hey, floods happen. You live in a flood plain, you except the responsibility. Homeowners insurance will probably cover this. Time Warner didn't seed the rain clouds. They deserve compensation.

[Redbob]

What do you find "disgusting"?
The fact that there's not some big government hand-out to pay for the cable boxes?
The fact that people are being held responsible?
The fact a major corporation is acting to protect its' stockholders from further loss?

[frnewsjunkie]

These same liberals want to take money from middle income paychecks, to 'share' with those less fortunate. These same liberals will tell us how compassionate they are. These same liberals (in cases like this), will charge them instead of 'helping' them. This is how you can tell if it's a skunk... by its odor.

[Agog]

Makes sense that if the contract calls for the person renting the box to pay if it is destroyed, then they should pay. The real question, however, is what is cost of a replacement box. $300 per box sounds ridiculously high to me. Was the replacmement cost specified in the contract?

[HairOfTheDog]

Oh! this is a winner of a policy...

[goodieD]

Time Warner, always a classy outfit.....NOT.

[The South Texan]

It was reported a few days ago that Dish network will start broadcasting the local networks in the Corpus area on their system soon. The same is expected from Direct TV. This crap will make me drop AOL/Timewarner too as I have seen the flodding first hand in my neck of the woods. AOL/Time Warner: Typical Phony Liberals!

[cake_crumb]

"We are sympathetic to them," she told the San Antonio Express-News. But we are going to charge them for their boxes."

Isn't AOL-Time Warner currently under investigation by the SEC?

"People have their boxes stolen," she said. "It would be really hard to treat one person differently than another. If someone is robbed, that's not their fault either."

Err...considering all the flooding down that way, I'm surprised so few people called...maybe the rest decided to by their own boxes for $80 bucks. Floods damage more people at one time than one robbery, usually. Sounds like the only people being "robbed" are customers of Time Warner

[sheik yerbouty]

Satellite dish.

[mhking]

Perhaps it is legal, given the cable contract that AOL/TW has (not to mention Comcast/AT&T, Cox and all the others have), for them to charge for the damaged boxes, but it is definitely not good business sense.

Considering that many of their residents now live in shelters or trailers or other alternative housing, and only own the clothes on their backs, to hit them with yet another blow while they are down does not look good. I'm sure that the cost they recoup from the downtrodden will be lost from those same downtrodden, who, once they do get back on their feet, will undoubtedly get satellite dishes.