Did the cable company miss your appointment? A new NC bill could make them pay you.
A new bill in the state legislature could penalize the cable company for missing your service appointment.
House Bill 32, called the Service Customer Equal Value Time Act, would require “that if a service company charges its customers for missing scheduled service appointments, the service company shall pay to customers the same amount if it fails to deliver service to a customer at a scheduled service appointment time.”
In other words, any service company that fines customers for missing appointments would have to reciprocate — compensating clients when its technicians don’t show up.
Rep. Keith Kidwell, a Chocowinity Republican and House deputy majority whip, submitted the bill after several constituents complained of unfair treatment by area service companies.
“Certain providers of services will tell them if the resident isn’t home, they’re going to charge a fine,” Kidwell told N.C. Insider, The News & Observer’s state government news service. “But then it’ll take them three to four times to show up for an appointment themselves.”
Kidwell didn’t cite specific companies but said internet providers are the most common offenders.
“I’m not trying to tell these people how to run their business because that goes against my grain,” Kidwell said. “But if (the company’s) time is valuable then I think the resident’s time is, too, and that’s just fair.”
The bill is still in its early stages with several committees still to navigate, but Kidwell was confident other legislators would vote to make it law.
“It just makes sense,” he said.
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This story was originally published February 1, 2023 at 8:00 AM.
