05-11-2008, 08:21 PM
Sadly, I understand that bill. It looks to me like you already had service prior to the upgrades (or whatever you want to call them.) The billing cycle ran from roughly the middle of one month to the middle of the next month, and you pay for service one month in advance. You changed/upgraded your service on 4-25-08, which was partway through the billing period that would have been 4-17-08 to 5-16-08 and for which TW had already received payment. You owe them money for the upgraded service for the partial month, in addition to the full month's payment in advance for the new service package.
Franchise fees and taxes apparently are moving targets, depending on where you live. I have expanded cable and digital service, and I pay $3.02 per month franchise fee. I have another account for expanded basic only, and the franchise fee for it is only .25 per month. The account with the higher fee is inside an incorporated area, so I also pay local taxes. The other account is in an incorporated area of the county; not only is the franchise fee lower, no local tax is charged, because there is no local taxing entity. However, the basic fee for the service is higher in the unincorporated area than the one for service in a city. The way it works out, the bill for service for just expanded basic is only $4.50 less, in total, than the service with the digital package.
As disgusting as you might view that bill, it looks kosher (though admittedly hard to read), once it's been adjusted for the blatant errors that you've already pointed out to them.
Franchise fees and taxes apparently are moving targets, depending on where you live. I have expanded cable and digital service, and I pay $3.02 per month franchise fee. I have another account for expanded basic only, and the franchise fee for it is only .25 per month. The account with the higher fee is inside an incorporated area, so I also pay local taxes. The other account is in an incorporated area of the county; not only is the franchise fee lower, no local tax is charged, because there is no local taxing entity. However, the basic fee for the service is higher in the unincorporated area than the one for service in a city. The way it works out, the bill for service for just expanded basic is only $4.50 less, in total, than the service with the digital package.
As disgusting as you might view that bill, it looks kosher (though admittedly hard to read), once it's been adjusted for the blatant errors that you've already pointed out to them.