Man says he’s addicted to cable; wants to sue Charter
By Lee Reinsch, the Fon du Lac Reporter
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.
Be careful about how much TV you watch!
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TexasStooge
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GalvestonDuck
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Oh, please...the cable service was free. If he didn't want it, all he had to do was disconnect the cable to the outside of the house, disconnect it from the TV, unplug the TV, throw away the coax, pitch the remote and batteries, get rid of his beer and cigarettes, push his wife and kids off the couch and out the door, go for a walk, and get real. 
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firefighter16
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TexasStooge
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GalvestonDuck wrote:Oh, please...the cable service was free. If he didn't want it, all he had to do was disconnect the cable to the outside of the house, disconnect it from the TV, unplug the TV, throw away the coax, pitch the remote and batteries, get rid of his beer and cigarettes, push his wife and kids off the couch and out the door, go for a walk, and get real.
If the cable service in hy house is free, hey, I can handle that! My mom wouldn't have to worry about whether something's good on TV or not. Of course, I have to go out at times, but hey, I could never turn my nose up at free cable.
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blizzard wrote::eek:Three computers and lifetime internet connection?? Next he'll be suing because he's addicted to the internet.....I think I'll sue S2k becasue they are making me post here and not out excercising....lol
Just kidding Ticka....lol
Low blow Blizzard...dang I better hide the gun better next time...
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blizzard
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ticka1 wrote:blizzard wrote::eek:
Just kidding Ticka....lol
Low blow Blizzard...dang I better hide the gun better next time...
LOW BLOW???? I was just a kiddin' Ticka....... I can spot that gun a mile away....lol
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Lake Effect1
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blizzard wrote:My brother in law was caught getting free cable once and the cable company told him to either start paying for it, or face criminal charges of theft.
Remember those little black boxes that people had to get the pay channels and Pay-Per-View for free? Well, they ruined it by going digital. LOL!!
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