A new Tennessee law aims to protect consumers when cancelling service contracts for cable, internet, or phone plans.
State Representative Michael Hale of Smithville created the bill. Hale said if a customer ends service in the first 15 days of the month, that would be the only month for which they can be charged.
“There were companies that were charging, if you ended service, just say on the fifth day of the month, they charged you the rest of that month, plus the following month,” Hale said. “So basically, you were charged for 55-60 days, nearly.”
Hale said families who had recently lost a loved one would also get billed for services because it can take weeks to get a death certificate. Hale said protecting consumers is something that legislators have to constantly be on guard for.
“It’s one of those things that we have to continually make sure that our businesses are being good to our consumers and that the consumers are being good consumers as well,” Hale said. “But we have to make sure that there’s a good balance there, and this is one of those bills that do that.”
Hale said if a company is based outside of Tennessee but the consumer resides in Tennessee, the company would be held to the new law. Hale said he consulted with companies while putting the bill together.
“When we started moving the bill, I sat down with the representative from Comcast, their lobbyist, and had a very good conversation,” Hale said. ” He said, listen, if we are doing this, that’s uncalled for. We shouldn’t be doing it. This makes it fair for everybody. Everybody’s on the same playing field. We know what we are able to bill for across the board, regardless of what company you are, what provider you are, whether it’s phone, light, or whatever the utility is, then that addresses that, and everybody is under the same umbrella.”
Hale said there was no opposition during the General Assembly, and the bill passed unanimously. Hale said passing the bill to protect consumer rights is another way Tennessee is leading the nation.