102-Year Old Woman Dies, DirecTV Hits Her With $160 Early Termination Fee
(ABC) – Isabel Albright of San Lorenzo was among the oldest people in America – living through two world wars, 18 presidents and several moon landings.
She was born before television came into being. Yet, ironically, she didn’t outlive her satellite TV contract. And that was a problem.
“Everything was fine until we went to disconnect and that’s when all the surprises happened,” said her son-in-law, John Manrique of Hayward, California. “They told us… we’re going to charge you $160 for an early termination fee,” Manrique scoffed. “She’s gone. Nobody’s living (here). We’re selling the house. You’re going to tell us we have to keep the service at a house that’s not ours?”
Turns out, at the end of her life, a caregiver moved in, and her daughter stayed often. So the family added a DirecTV box in a back room for caregivers. Little did they know that adding the service started a whole new two-year agreement with DirecTV.
I’ll never understand big corporations. It’s probably why I blog, due to my tiny brain incapable of understanding the bigger picture when it comes to things like contract law. But it seems to me that this is the type of thing not worth hassling over 160 American Dollars. Because on the one hand, you – a multi-million dollar corporation – will take exactly $160 from a grieving family who almost assuredly will make it their life’s mission to never have your service ever again. On the other hand, you have idiots like me across the nation going, “Well, that’s pretty fucked up,” because of $160. Canceling cable and satellite when you’re moving or because you’d rather have a different service, yeah I get that. You signed a contract, entered into an agreement, that’s part of the deal. It’s annoying as shit but that’s what it is. Dying bro? I can’t fucking die without it costing more money? I can’t live over a century without being hit with an early termination fee? You’re gonna charge me to terminate?
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Also, and this has always bugged me with “fees” in general – where the fuck does that $160 go? What cost does that cover? Some guy somewhere has to hit a large, red OFF button? I know if you miss a payment they’ve got no problem hitting that off switch posthaste free of charge so how does PEOPLE DYING impact their cost of doing business in any way? Do they not account for DEATH in their yearly projections, ’cause if not… I got some bad news.