Cable company won’t pay for mailbox damaged by technician

QI have a dispute with Optimum, our cable company. A service technician hit our mailbox with his truck a year ago. I reported the incident immediately and an inspector surveyed the damage a few days later. I’ve contacted the cable company over a dozen times and keep getting the runaround. I have bills for replacement, and they just won’t pay.

Optimum says a check was sent but I never received it. I’m told it was an outside service company that did the call that day, not an Optimum service person, and that’s why it’s difficult to resolve. The mailbox cost $600 plus $150 for installation. Can you help me?

AThat’s not what I would call optimum service! Someone ran over your mailbox and refused to pay. Someone should.

It doesn’t matter if the person who did it was employed by Optimum, or was a contractor for Optimum. Tell me, does that excuse work the other way around? If you tell Optimum you can’t pay its bill because your husband watches cable TV and he should pay, would that work? I think not.

This happens way too often. A company tells you that it can’t do something because a third party, such as a contractor, was involved. But that shouldn’t make a difference. You called Optimum for your cable TV needs, and someone representing Optimum showed up in your driveway and mowed down your mailbox. There’s no question about who is responsible.

The inspector agreed that Optimum is liable.

When this happens, it’s important to keep a meticulous paper trail. Optimum provided you with a lengthy thread of emails (some barely written in English) but no actual copy of the report that acknowledged the damage. The report was the key to resolving your case. It detailed what, exactly, the Optimum representative had done.

You did a great job of record keeping. You had estimates for the new mailbox and installation — and, of course, you kept those threads with Optimum. You even took a video of the damage and sent it to the company.

I list the names, numbers and email addresses for the Optimum customer service executives on my consumer advocacy site, Elliott.org.

This case should have been resolved a year ago. Like I said, not optimum service here. This is one where the company should go back and retrain a few people in the ways of true customer service.

I just don’t understand how Optimum can allow this kind of case to drag on for more than a year. How can anyone justify that kind of delay?

I contacted Optimum on your behalf. It contacted you and agreed to settle your claim.