Comcast Cut a Disabled Army Veteran's Internet Three Times Over a Bill Its Own Records Say He Doesn't Owe
Billing statements and bank records reviewed by New London Media show a 100% disabled veteran, paid in advance, disconnected repeatedly over charges Comcast twice failed to collect and then reversed.
By Karen W., New London Media Staff Writer
A 69-year-old, 100% service-connected disabled U.S. Army veteran in the Vancouver, Washington area has had his home internet disconnected three times this year by Comcast, according to billing statements and bank records reviewed by New London Media - each time over a balance the company's own records indicate he does not owe.
The account is internet-only and, by the customer's records, paid in advance every month. The correct monthly charge is $51.34. The trouble began in April, when an autopay of $51.33 cleared the bank and was never returned. Days later, Comcast added a $25 "Echeck/eft Return" fee and a $13 late fee for a payment that, according to the bank records, never bounced. Told by Comcast that the payment had "returned," the veteran paid the same April charge two more times.
In May, Comcast billed $89.34 - the monthly service plus $38 in those disputed fees. When the company tried to draft that $89.34 in June, the bank rejected it twice as "Not Authorized." In July, Comcast's own statement then reversed the $89.34 as an "Echeck/eft Return" - an acknowledgment, on its own books, that the money was never collected. It kept demanding the balance anyway and added more late fees.
The stakes are not ordinary. The veteran relies on the connection to operate and monitor medical devices and to reach medical help in real time; each disconnection takes those devices offline. The records show the service was suspended in August - restored only after a $50.34 payment the customer says he made under protest to get his devices back on - and suspended again on September 24.
By Comcast's own transaction history, the account is not in debt. The company recorded $713.68 received against $420.68 in legitimate charges since the account opened in December 2025 - roughly $293 more than it was owed. Even setting aside the two $89.34 drafts the bank refused, the records leave the customer in credit, not arrears.
Other charges compound it. After autopay was cancelled, a $10 monthly discount was stripped, raising the rate with no change in service. Two $12 "reactivation" fees appear for disconnections the statements never document; the fee dates have shifted across at least four different sets over time. The membership tier was quietly moved from Gold to Silver.
The customer has filed two formal Notices of Dispute, in July and August. According to the records, Comcast never responded to the first. An executive customer-relations representative applied an unrequested $64 credit in August that did not resolve the dispute.
Comcast did not provide New London Media with an on-record explanation for the disconnections by publication. Its residential agreement routes billing disputes to arbitration, with a small-claims carve-out.
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