Elite Metal Tools: ‘Free Shipping on ALL Orders’
“Free Shipping on ALL Orders” turns out only to be good on around 90 percent of orders.
Consumer says he was charged for installation despite a mailing that promised it would be free of charge.
This offer from Comcast to upgrade to Xfinity’s Extreme Premier Triple Play — a bundle for TV, Internet and phone — recently materialized in a TINA.org reader’s mailbox. The reader, enticed in part by the promise of “free installation,” signed up for the bundle and within a few weeks had everything installed.
Then he got an email with a breakdown of all the new charges. Slipped under “Other Charges & Credits,” he said: A one-time installation charge of $50. The reader vented his frustration in an email to TINA.org (emphasis added):
I called Xfinity and told them that the promotion stated FREE installation. I was told, almost like I should have known it, that the FREE installation was for the Internet and TV part of the promotion … that the $50 installation charge was for the phone.
The reader said he assumed that installation on the whole package would be free of charge — a reasonable deduction with the words “free installation” under the monthly cost of the entire bundle and not just the cost for TV and Internet. He ended his email to TINA.org with a nod to consumers, albeit on a somber note:
I think that this is a common mistake. Sometimes we read something that says “free,” and we think that they mean “free.”
How foolish of us. But it’s true that free doesn’t usually mean free — especially when it comes to cable companies whose customers have long complained about hidden fees. Consumers need to remember to question this four-letter word.
Find more of our coverage on Comcast here.
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