auxilary Posted January 7, 2004 Share Posted January 7, 2004 Man says he’s addicted to cable; wants to sue Charter By Lee Reinsch the reporter lreinsch@fdlreporter.com Cable TV made a West Bend man addicted to TV, caused his wife to be overweight and his kids to be lazy, he says. And he’s threatening to sue the cable company. Timothy Dumouchel of West Bend wants $5,000 or three computers, and a lifetime supply of free Internet service from Charter Communications to settle what he says will be a small claims suit. Dumouchel blames Charter for his TV addiction, his wife’s 50-pound weight gain and his children’s being “lazy channel surfers,†according to a Fond du Lac police report. Charter employees called police to the local office at 165 Knight’s Way the evening of Dec. 23 after Dumouchel showed up with a small claims complaint, reportedly intimidated an employee and made “low-level threats†to employees’ safety, according to a police report. The report states Dumouchel gave an employee five minutes to get a supervisor to talk to him or their next contact would be “in the ocean with the sharks.†According to the report, Dumouchel told Charter employees he plans to sue because his cable connection remained intact four years after he tried to get it canceled. The result was that he and his family got free cable from August of 1999 to Dec. 23, 2003. “I believe that the reason I smoke and drink every day and my wife is overweight is because we watched TV every day for the last four years,†Dumouchel stated in a written complaint against the company, included in a Fond du Lac police report. “But the reason I am suing Charter is they did not let me make a decision as to what was best for myself and my family and (they have been) keeping cable (coming) into my home for four years after I asked them to turn it off.†According to the police report, Dumouchel called Charter to stop his cable service in August of 1999 and was taken off the billing but not the cable service. In a written statement, he said he put the family TV in the basement in 1999 after he had called to get cable disconnected, but soon thereafter, his wife had moved it back and hooked up the cable connection, and it still worked. He stated he “made a deal†with her that “she could watch TV as long as the cable worked.†He then went back to Charter and asked that they disconnect his service, which they reportedly never did. He stated that he called Charter several times to get the service disconnected for good because he felt it was addictive, according to the report. Charter’s director of government and public relations for eastern Wisconsin, John Miller, says he doesn’t take the threat of a lawsuit seriously. “Even though we consider our services to be a very powerful entertainment product, I don’t think it’s reached a medical level yet where it could be proved to be addictive,†Miller said. “In our society, any kind of legal action shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone,†he added. Wisconsin Circuit Court records show no civil lawsuit papers filed in Dumouchel’s name. http://www.wisinfo.com/thereporter/news/archive/local_14044768.shtml Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest zfan Posted January 7, 2004 Share Posted January 7, 2004 Got to love this Country! Anywhere else they laugh them out of court. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave240Z Posted January 7, 2004 Share Posted January 7, 2004 Sadly enough, this should surprise me, but it doesn't. When are we gonna force people who file lawsuits to PAY when they are turned down? I pray for the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTenneZ Posted January 8, 2004 Share Posted January 8, 2004 Who can I sue since it was so cold here today? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deep Posted January 8, 2004 Share Posted January 8, 2004 You guys have some messed up laws in the States... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaparral2f Posted January 8, 2004 Share Posted January 8, 2004 I have charter broadband, can I sue them for making me crazy(er)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Aaron Posted January 8, 2004 Share Posted January 8, 2004 Anybody think I can sue the phone company because DSL is not available out in the sticks where I live, and therefore hinders my ability to run a home based business or my wife's ability to go to grad school? Plus, it makes it so much more difficult to look at HybridZ from home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonzer12 Posted January 8, 2004 Share Posted January 8, 2004 If I was getting free cable service I think I would have kept it on the down low.... he should possible invest in a gym membership for his family with all the money he saved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilRufusKay Posted January 8, 2004 Share Posted January 8, 2004 What do you guys think he did when he went home?...I bet he watched some TV to see if he made the news!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruxGNZ Posted January 8, 2004 Share Posted January 8, 2004 Uhg, West Bend is a few cities over from here. There are A LOT of fat people here (thank goodness I'm in shape). Some people should just be shot and the world would be better off not having to deal with their BS... why can't we do this . !M! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPMS Posted January 13, 2004 Share Posted January 13, 2004 You guys have some messed up laws in the States... Take it back, or I'll sue you!! I'm not sure where you live, but I'm certain we can have you extradited somehow... In all seriousness, I wish I could meet mr. Cable Addict face to face, so I could personally ask him to take responsibility for his own actions. It's someone else's fault that you didn't get off your fat butt and turn off the boob tube? You didn't have enough control over your family to take charge and throw the damned tv away? You let your children tromp all over you and you blame it on someone else? How messed up can one man possibly be??? It's stupid people like this who ruin the system for the rest of us. And what's worse, he's training his children to be the helpless victims of the next generation. Where does it end? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nic-Rebel450CA Posted January 13, 2004 Share Posted January 13, 2004 I'm gonna sue my internet company because I spend too much time at this site! Geez, I wonder if anyone has ever sued because the cable company was giving them free adult channels and they got carpal tunnel or something. If I were the cable company I would say that 3 computers and/or free internet is going to be more likely to hurt their physical health and get them a membership to a gym if anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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