this is just insane

Bob Haller

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Sep 11, 2003
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pittsburgh pa
I know a intelectually disabled gal. she is 28 physically, but mentally she is forever 8 years old. her IQ is 52, which is very low. at 50 she wouldnt be able to function at all.... i have seen her iq paperwork

a couple years ago her life fell apart, her hubby went to prison, the home the family was living in ended up in for foreclosure....after no heat and nearly no food they were in a tough spot, and all the emergency housing was filled after the temperature dropped to 10 degrees.

me and rose did all we could to help them. we basically took them in and provided there needs for all 4 of their family, including a 4 year old son for many months

they couldnt pay the dish account, which was mostly from cancellation fees. the intecutally disbled gal was the account holder.. i packed up the equiptement returning it

after checking here and dish got the proof of her IQ. dish got the boxes back and all was fine...... the mention of the attorney general really made he difference

the family went different directions. we lost contact with the intelectully disabled gal....

now she is calling me constantly. her hubby is getting out of prison, somehow dish allowed here to become a new customer again contracts and all:(

she is unable to pay the 700 bill, again mostly contract cancel fees.

hey dish is anyone is found unable to sign a contract shouldnt dish put them on a never customer again list? that seems just common sense.

talking to her its instaneously obvoius she has a problem......
 
If she passes their own checklist for being a customer, then that is that. Not sure what is insane about it.
 
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I don't belong believe it should be incumbent upon a service provider of any kind (television, telephone, mobile phone, electric power, etc...) to have to verify the mental capability of a customer, too much information to ask from both sides. Just because someone is "slow" the provider shouldn't be penalized for signing them up when they have no way of knowing whether or not they are capable.


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I agree that the service provider shouldn't be penalized for signing them up. I don't think anyone is saying that they should be penalized. However, if a 10 year old managed to sign up for Dish Network programming, I would expect Dish to disconnect that service with no charges to that customer, and I would expect the same treatment for a person who is mentally functioning at the same level.
 
Doesn't this person have a social worker or case worker to monitor their living situation? Most people with developmental issues have someone to assist in situations like this.
 
Doesn't this person have a social worker or case worker to monitor their living situation? Most people with developmental issues have someone to assist in situations like this.

I agree, if I were Bob, I'd call the State Dept. of Human Resources to find some agency or service to help her.


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Can you imagine the outcry if DISH (or any provider) started denying service based on their belief that a potential customer has a potential mental disability?

Bob, does the lady have her credit frozen? If not, it should be. That should have sent up a flag to Dish.

Considering what you have said about the husband that went to jail in other threads you need to stay far far away from this situation this time. Especially considering it sounds like he is now getting out of jail. I agree with blocking her number.
 
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Can you imagine the outcry if DISH (or any provider) started denying service based on their belief that a potential customer has a potential mental disability?

Bob, does the lady have her credit frozen? If not, it should be. That should have sent up a flag to Dish.

Considering what you have said about the husband that went to jail in other threads you need to stay far far away from this situation this time. Especially considering it sounds like he is now getting out of jail. I agree with blocking her number.

the last time this occured the letter with documentation of her mental issues was sent to dish, with a note if this isnt forgiven a formal complaint to pa attorney general will be filed.

that was the end of it.

my point, once this occured and the debt forgiven shouldnt dish add them to a permanent never sell service to the person again?

fortunetely her hubby is supposed to get out of prison really soon....

then her and her hubby will move to near philadephia 8 or 10 hour drive... to her hubbys parents home

too far away for me to be involved .....

posters talk about government agencies to help her BUZZ..... a social worker apparently tried to help get her a drivers license.......

imagine a 8 year old mentality driver:(

she somehow passed the written test but failed the behind the wheel test:)
............................................................................................................................

I have devoted my entire life trying to help others, when i die i hope god appreciates my efforts...

when i was a little kid my family had nothing.. my mom was a switchboard operator and women back then made very little......

my grandma who we lived with got a pittance from social security in the 1960s.....

i was too little to work under 12........ we were flat broke

sometimes we didnt have food, then a box would appear on the front porch. never saw it delivered.....

concluded it was the sanctis family, they were a big constuction company at that time, building roads and bridges including the west end bridge around here. one day i had a real hassle with my bank, and visited their main office only to find first south saving president was a sanctis......

after explaining my problem the president agreed....

only then did i tell him who i was. he was super nice, and i thanked him since i believed his family was behind the food baskets.

he just said our family believes in helping. found out later he absolutely hated handling complaints.

later the district manager who refused to address my complaint was a drug addict who got fired........

i always appreciated anyone who helped, and have worked my entire life to give back to others. pay it forward

often my help isnt appreciated at the time its given, but in nearly all cases the people thank me. its not why i did it, but a thank you is always appreciated.

there was a jerk at dbstalk who blasted me for helping some friends who DSL wouldnt work for. he rated you should never do anything for anyone.

i didnt like his attitude. later someone told me here that he had a bad stroke.... i wonder if anyone helped him, but never went back to that site.
 
I don't belong believe it should be incumbent upon a service provider of any kind (television, telephone, mobile phone, electric power, etc...) to have to verify the mental capability of a customer, too much information to ask from both sides. Just because someone is "slow" the provider shouldn't be penalized for signing them up when they have no way of knowing whether or not they are capable.


Sent from my iPad using the SatelliteGuys app!

Can you imagine the outcry if DISH (or any provider) started denying service based on their belief that a potential customer has a potential mental disability?

Bob, does the lady have her credit frozen? If not, it should be. That should have sent up a flag to Dish.

Considering what you have said about the husband that went to jail in other threads you need to stay far far away from this situation this time. Especially considering it sounds like he is now getting out of jail. I agree with blocking her number.

I don't think a company has to, or should have to, verify the mental capability of a customer before doing business with them. That being said, there are contract law rules to prevent things like this. Some people, like minors and the mentally disabled, can not be held responsible for contracts they sign. If this person is truly mentally disabled and not just what Bob would consider a little slow Dish cannot hold them to their contract because they never had the capacity to sign a contract in the first place.

So no, Dish doesn't have to verify the mental capacity of customers before signing a contract with them but if it turns out that the person who signed the contract is a minor or mentally disabled they can't enforce the contract either.

http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/lack-capacity-to-contract-32647.html
 
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I don't think a company has to, or should have to, verify the mental capability of a customer before doing business with them. That being said, there are contract law rules to prevent things like this. Some people, like minors and the mentally disabled, can not be held responsible for contracts they sign. If this person is truly mentally disabled and not just what Bob would consider a little slow Dish cannot hold them to their contract because they never had the capacity to sign a contract in the first place.

So no, Dish doesn't have to verify the mental capacity of customers before signing a contract with them but if it turns out that the person who signed the contract is a minor or mentally disabled they can't enforce the contract either.

http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/lack-capacity-to-contract-32647.html
Totally agree with that. I just don't expect them to make the determination on the front end. Or to keep a database of "verified handicapped" people.
 
Totally agree with that. I just don't expect them to make the determination on the front end. Or to keep a database of "verified handicapped" people.


if it were your business and a customer failed to pay a bill, and they couldnt be held to a contract because they are intelectually disabled would you offer them credit again?

this might be a indiciation of desperation to add customers.

in any case her IQ is 52, if it were 2 points less she would require round the clock care.

it isnt a matter of being slow. and I have seen her reports. since she was living with us.

the professionaladvice was never leave her unattended
 
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Bob, thank you for being a caring individual....Being disabled myself with a career ending TBI, I have met a few wonderful people just like you!
Keep up the good work, there arnt enough of you, but the help, joy, and happiness you bring to people you will never know....... Sat Nam.
 
Bob, thank you for being a caring individual....Being disabled myself with a career ending TBI, I have met a few wonderful people just like you!
Keep up the good work, there arnt enough of you, but the help, joy, and happiness yo bring to people you will never know....... Sat Nam.


thank you very much:)
 
If she passes their own checklist for being a customer, then that is that. Not sure what is insane about it.

I think that's the bottom line. What would be insane, and probably and correctly illegal is keeping a "list" of handicapped people and refusing them service. I would be closer to agreeing if the transaction was made in person and you could tell the person just didn't understand what was being agreed to. By law that would not be a contract actually. But in fact, do we know the person made the call and started service herself or was there if an install was made? Is she not supervised as an intellectual 8yr old? Why isn't there a credit hold for her name that is done in instances where a person is able to live on their own but not capable of understanding or obtaining credit? It is MUCH better to give service if the person meets credit than to start digging into their mental capacity.
 
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if it were your business and a customer failed to pay a bill, and they couldnt be held to a contract because they are intelectually disabled would you offer them credit again?

this might be a indiciation of desperation to add customers.

in any case her IQ is 52, if it were 2 points less she would require round the clock care.

it isnt a matter of being slow. and I have seen her reports. since she was living with us.

the professionaladvice was never leave her unattended
It depends on the size of the business. If it was a small business, then you are exactly right. When you are the size of DISH it isn't worth trying to track this stuff. I'm sure they checked her credit and she qualified.
 
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