Jump to content

Sign in to follow this  
m21man

Addicted to cable

Recommended Posts

  [b said:
Quote[/b] ]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.â€

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.â€

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.â€

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.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Jesus what a moron!

  [b said:
Quote[/b] ]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.

Who forced you to sit there and watch the goddamn TV?! They didn't stop you to make a decision to lift your fat ass and go out! It's not the cable TV, it's you'r own fault!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Well I am not surprised. Looks like people are not able to take responsibility for their action. Same like people are suing big M, because they realised that they are getting fat when they eat 3 or more Big Mac's a day.... rock.gif

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Cable is legal, therefore he can not win this case. If you get addicted to a legal service or product it is your own responsiblity to seek professional help if you think it is unacceptable. tounge_o.gif The only thing this might achieve (when pigs fly) is that cable providers will have to put warning labels on advertizements.

EDIT: Tomorrow Ferrari will get sued when someone gets addicted to driving... or driving fast. biggrin_o.gif

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
  [b said:
Quote[/b] ]Cable is legal, therefore he can not win this case.

Cigarettes are legal tounge_o.gif .

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest

Let me get this straight. He is sueing because cable made his wife overweight and his kids lazy, but for compensation he wants:

  [b said:
Quote[/b] ]$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.

LMFAO!! biggrin_o.gif

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
  [b said:
Quote[/b] ]$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.

He decided that he needed to get addicted to porn too tounge_o.gif .

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
  (m21man @ Jan. 08 2004,11:00) said:
  [b said:
Quote[/b] ]Cable is legal, therefore he can not win this case.

Cigarettes are legal tounge_o.gif .

Yeah and according to law no one should win a case against those companies until they are required to post health warnings. If they ignore to make the warnings public then I can see how htey would have to pay up. Basically I htink the US justice system is a joke. biggrin_o.gif

EDIT: It is ridiculous to have money awarded from Cigarette companies if they have not broken any laws. Either they are required to do or not to do something or they are not. I don't believe in suing people on the basis of "in our hindsight you should have known"

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I drank a freezing cold coffee in a fast food joint and caught pneumonia.

Where's my lawyer's number?

I would try the boiling coffee suit scheme but a McDonald's customer beat me to it several years ago - and won. wow_o.gifunclesam.gif

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
  [b said:
Quote[/b] ]EDIT: It is ridiculous to have money awarded from Cigarette companies if they have not broken any laws. Either they are required to do or not to do something or they are not. I don't believe in suing people on the basis of "in our hindsight you should have known"

I don't how judges took the "I didn't know that inhaling smoke was bad for me" argument crazy_o.gif .

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Yeah I'm not sure, but actually the whole plot I think was that the Cigarette companies DID know and covered up that they did. that would make a case. Selling harmful products to someone, and marketing them as harmless, I can see that's not right. smile_o.gif

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest
  (bn880 @ Jan. 08 2004,17:13) said:
Yeah I'm not sure, but actually the whole plot I think was that the Cigarette companies DID know and covered up that they did.  that would make a case.  Selling harmful products to someone, and marketing them as harmless, I can see that's not right. smile_o.gif

Yep, that was the point of the lawsuits. Whether people should have known it was bad for them....well that's debatable. smile_o.gif

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

m21man please edit your original post so that it contains the actual article (or summary) instead of just posting a link, otherwise the thread will be closed.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I think Cigarette companies relied on people knowing that smoke was bad for their health.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
  (m21man @ Jan. 08 2004,18:17) said:
I think Cigarette companies relied on people knowing that smoke was bad for their health.

Listen to cig ads in the US on the radio back in the 40's. The commercials actually had doctors recommending one brand as being healthier than others.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

@ Placebo - Done smile_o.gif .

As for cigarettes, I believe that they actually lower your risk for getting Parkinson's. So they could be advertised as healthy (I guess tounge_o.gif ).

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
  (m21man @ Jan. 08 2004,18:49) said:
As for cigarettes, I believe that they actually lower your risk for getting Parkinson's. So they could be advertised as healthy (I guess tounge_o.gif ).

You probably don't live old enough to get Parkinson's if you smoke. tounge_o.gif

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

This is like the one about the european guy who got addicted to coca-cola and tried to sue them becuase he got diabetes from the ton-and-a-half of sugar in every litre. There is no label on the pack saying you could develop any problems due to insane consumption levels of the product..

If so I might have a go, I'm beyond addicted biggrin_o.giftounge_o.gif

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

There are some really odd people out there... Willing to blame everyone but themselves for things that goes wrong because of what they bring upon themselves. Really sad that they can't get a grip on life...

EDIT: Jaguar, I am hooked on Cola too. Perhaps we should start some sort of legal rights group or something together? tounge_o.gif

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
  (GoOB @ Jan. 08 2004,20:37) said:
There are some really odd people out there... Willing to blame everyone but themselves for things that goes wrong because of what they bring upon themselves. Really sad that they can't get a grip on life...

EDIT: Jaguar, I am hooked on Cola too. Perhaps we should start some sort of legal rights group or something together?  tounge_o.gif

I've drunk about 4 litres a week. They should be paying ME to drink that much, for my services to cola. biggrin_o.gif

(its not a huge amount i guess)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm addicted to Mozzarella cheese sticks and Fresca tounge_o.gifwow_o.gif .

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
  (DKM Jaguar @ Jan. 08 2004,21:50) said:
  (GoOB @ Jan. 08 2004,20:37) said:
There are some really odd people out there... Willing to blame everyone but themselves for things that goes wrong because of what they bring upon themselves. Really sad that they can't get a grip on life...

EDIT: Jaguar, I am hooked on Cola too. Perhaps we should start some sort of legal rights group or something together?  tounge_o.gif

I've drunk about 4 litres a week. They should be paying ME to drink that much, for my services to cola.  biggrin_o.gif

(its not a huge amount i guess)

Kinda like me, but I drink Pepsi Max, dunno if it's very healthy. I drink orange juice too so I should be somewhat safe. smile_o.gif

EDIT: I'm addicted to these forums too. I should go to bed, but there's so many interesting threads going on in here that I really wouldn't want to. I'll sue BIS for this! tounge_o.gif

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm willing to bet that stuff like Koolaid stains inside you tounge_o.gif .

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

×