Hey Comcast -- Give Me Back My Rights!

If you received a little black book titled "Comcast Agreement for Residential Services" as I did recently, don't just toss it in the round file. It's a mind-numbing 29 pages of legalese, but it describes your "agreement" with Comcast for their services. And buried almost in the middle is a gem: How to opt-out of mandatory binding arbitration in case of a dispute.

Mandatory arbitration takes disagreements out of the courtroom and into an alternative forum that some consumer advocates and attorneys (myself included) believe is skewed in favor of the industry. You can learn why by going to GiveMeBackMyRights.org.

The Comcast agreement gives you the opportunity to say no to mandatory arbitration. You can go to www.comcast.com/arbitrationoptout or mail a statement to Comcast at 1500 Market Street, Philadelphia PA 19102 Attn: Legal Department/Arbitration. Opting out won't affect your service, but can help preserve your legal rights.

Act quickly. You have only thirty days from the date you receive the notice to tell Comcast you don't agree to binding arbitration.

Hopefully you'll never have a dispute against Comcast that warrants a lawsuit, but if you do, you'll want to make sure you have the right to have your day in court. Throw away this notice, and you're throwing away your rights.

Gerri Detweiler – Personal finance author, radio host and credit expert. Gerri contributes budgeting, debt recovery and savings information online.

Comments

[Experts on Credit]

Thanks for the info!