by Claire
It has been nearly 7 months since my ex- husband moved out and 3 months since the divorce was final. It feels like so much longer in a very good way. I have been able to completely disentangle myself from him in all areas EXCEPT for my internet service provider (which is through the cable company). Holy Toledo! Have I mentioned how much I hate cable companies?!
Upon his move out I called all of the utility companies to remove him entirely from the bills. You’ll recall that the water company wanted to charge me a $75 “admin fee” for making that change. I only thought that was the most absurd moment of all of this. The cable bill was in his name alone. I don’t even recall how that came to be but it is only in his name (the electric bill was only in mine). When I called right after his move out to have it put in my name they said they required both signatures on a name change form. I then tried to open a new account in my name only but the mothly fees were going to double! We had some special deal on the original account. What a racket! So I left it in his name and carried on.
Fast forward to today. I call to have the service transferred to the apartment. I hit the same snag because of the name issue. I tell them I can provide a certified divorce decree. That establishes that he is no longer at this address. “You aren’t authorized to make any changes to the account ma’am.” We need his signature. Okay that is not going to happen so I am forced to get a new account for the apartment. The irony with the cable company being so stubborn about the name issue is that I could now stop paying the bill and let them pursue the accountholder–which isn’t me! Oh and I can’t disconnect it either…so…the outcome is the same!
I understand the protection of the account from arbitrary changes but at some point I wish human logic could come into play!
