Consumer Services

What is Price Gouging

There may be times in our lives when we are faced with a natural disaster, such as a hurricane. After a disaster, it's difficult to focus on the various tasks that need to be handled. We have put together some quick tips to aid consumers in making the right home repair decisions.

• Know your contractor. A frequent problem after a disaster is the unscrupulous contractor who takes deposits before starting work or final payments before finishing. Beware of repair businesses or individuals who solicit door-to-door, arrive in unmarked vehicles, have a post office box or temporary address, claim they are from another county or state and are in the area solely to help disaster victims, or offer to work for you only if you secure the necessary permits.
   
• Check with the Miami-Dade County Consumer Services Department, Building Code Compliance Office and the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation to determine if the contractor or company has a complaint history.
   
• Check the contractor's address and license status with the Miami-Dade County Building Code Compliance Office and/or the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
   
• Although we understand that it is often difficult to find available contractors after a disaster, try to get at least three estimates.  A reputable contractor or professional should not try to pressure you to obtain your business.  Be certain that the estimates are itemized and for the same exact work and materials.
   
• Obtain at least three references from your contractor or professional and check them out. Asking for a list of references without checking them is a waste of time and potentially your money.
   
• Work with contractors you know or local firms with roots in the community. To find someone reputable, ask friends and families who have recently used a home repair contractor or professional.
   
• Obtain a written contract, with all of the details in writing, including the scope of work, types and brand names of materials to be used, warranties, guarantees, and final costs. Make sure any verbal commitments are written into the contract.  Make sure you obtain release of lien waivers from all suppliers and sub contractors (See the Florida Construction Lien Law link below).
   
• Avoid paying large sums of money up front. A typical arrangement used by reputable contractors is one-third paid in advance, one-third paid halfway through the job, and one-third paid upon completion of the job. Before making the final payment, make sure that all required inspections have taken place and that all permits have been closed.

Complaint/License Search Links:

• Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation
• Miami-Dade County Building Code Compliance Office
• Florida’s Construction Lien Law 

Were you one of cable TV customers that lost service during the last hurricane season? Well, you were not alone.  Literally hundreds of thousands of cable TV customers in Miami-Dade County lost service due to power outages and fallen trees.  Some cable TV customers got their service back within a few days when commercial power was restored while others didn’t get service back for weeks due to downed or uprooted cable lines.

Remember, safety first. If cable or power lines are lying on the ground or dangling, do not touch the lines since they may still be energized. Immediately notify your cable or power company that the lines have been damaged or are down. Do not attempt to move or repair cable or power lines. Your cable company will begin restoring cable service in your area as soon as they have clearance from your power company.

What do you do for news and entertainment during recovery efforts when your cable service is not working?  If you don’t have commercial power, a generator can be used to power the television, provided your cable service is operable. You may also wish to consider a battery operated television or an external antenna source such as “rabbit ears”. Although you may not get all of your favorite channels or digital reception, you will be able to get information and entertainment that will help you and your family cope through the stressful period.

When should you call for a repair? If your cable service is not restored when commercial power comes back on, give your cable company 72 hours to assess their damage and make repairs to their infrastructure. Your cable company may need time to check their systems and get their main lines back up once power has been restored. Should your cable service not be restored within 72 hours after commercial power is restored, let your cable company know that your cable service is still out and that you want to be credited for the time that you are without cable service. The phone number for your cable company is listed on your cable bill.

The Miami-Dade County Code (Code) provides that you are entitled to credit for cable outages due to a hurricane on a day for day basis. What does that really mean? It means that you get credit for 1/30th of your monthly bill for each day you were without service. For example, if your cable service was out for 16 days, you get 16/30th of your monthly bill as a credit. But keep in mind that you may not receive your credit for a couple of months due to the number of customers that were without service and the way the cable companies bill their customers. Your cable company may automatically provide you with a blanket credit for an area outage that covers the entire amount of time that you were without cable service. On the other hand, the credit provided may not fully cover the time of your outage since a tree may have knocked down your individual cable line and it may take a lot longer to get your service up and running than it did to restore service to other homes in your area. That may also explain why your neighbor’s cable service has been restored and your TV is still not working. Keep track of the time that your cable service went out and when it was restored so that you can determine if you received the proper amount of credit when the bill arrives.

You are not only entitled to credit for outages after a hurricane or other type of natural disaster, but you are also entitled to credit if you cable service is interrupted during non-disaster periods. The Code provides that you are entitled to credit for audio or video outages on one or more channels of periods greater than two hours. That means you get credit for 1/30th of your monthly bill for each two hour period that you are without service. In other words, if you are without service for 12 hours, you get a 20% credit on your monthly bill. Not only can you get a 20% credit for a 12 hour outage, you can get a 20% credit for each 24 hour period that you are without service up to a full month’s credit in any given billing cycle. But in order to get the credit, you must first let your cable company know when that your cable service went out. Once it is restored, you’re your cable company back and tell them that you want to be credited for the time you were without service. The Consumer Services Department recommends that you record the dates and times your service was out and the name of the person at the cable company you spoke to regarding the outage and the one you talked to about the credit. 

So what do you do if you didn’t get credit for the full outage or feel that you didn’t get all the credit you are entitled to?  Call your cable company and let them know. If they fail to resolve your issue, the Consumer Services Department welcomes the opportunity to assist you. Give our Mediation Center a call at 305-375-3677 or e-mail us at consumer@miamidade.gov so that we help you get the credit you deserve.

Please keep in mind that the credit provisions of the Code discussed above apply to cable TV service, but not to satellite TV service.