Wincasa and UPC cablecom double cable fee

Life Hacking
1

Sorry to ask for advice as I am not so sure if it is the right channel. But it seems that a lot of people in this forum could be knowledgable about this.

In August 2018 I contracted an Internet connection with UPC Cablecom for about CHF60/Month. I was told that I would not need to pay any cable fees to Wincasa. As I was paying CHF26 every month with my rent for the cable the offer from UPC didn’t look so bad. It would be very easy and automatic with “not any paperwork” they said…

8 months later I am still paying the CHF26 francs.

UPC sent immediately the information to Wincasa (controlled that by letter and on the phone). I also sent many many emails to Wincasa, as well as 2 letters to (one asking to ‘close the connection’) as I was aksed to do that by Wincasa themselves. Complete silence since…

They refuse to budge or acknowledge anything. They gave me no date. Just to a “be patient”. They also refuse/cannot communicate in French or English which doesn’t help.

What are my options at this point with Wincasa? What are the legal options? Is there any structure that would help me resolve this?

CHF86 a month for an entry level internet connection… I feel cheated. I even could have fiber at this point for less money.

Thanks in advance for the advice!

2

You can give them an ultimatum (mise en demeure) by ‘lettre recommandée’. You need to state that this matter should be resolved or answered by a certain date (which you have to specify) and if not the case then you will withhold the rent payment (it is still being paid but not on their account).
Usually sending the letter is enough for them to call you the next day and fix the issue. I don’t know this company specifically but for mine it worked like that. You probably won’t have to do the withholding part. You are however not allowed to skip paying rent.

For more information I would suggest you to check the website of Asloca.

Edit : since what you are paying extra is not part of the rent they might give it back to you when they calculate the heating and other costs and I think legally they can wait a very long time for that

3

I’m wondering - how would this work?
To whom would you be paying the rent if not on their account?

4

Do it properly and get in contact with https://www.mieterverband.ch/

5

You pay it to the cantonal counceling office or whatever the name is. Link

I am not sure it would work in this case as there is no problem to fix with the flat and it seems that is what this procedure is intended for.

1 Like
6

Thanks for the information. So as you said it is possible that those costs are calculated at the end of the Nebenkosten cycle and I just need to be patient. But Wincasa never hinted toward this being the case. They mostly said they never got the information from UPC.

This page seems to concur somehow https://www.mieterverband.ch/mv/mietrecht-beratung/ratgeber-mietrecht/top-themen/tv-internet.html

I am also not sure it that legal to withdraw the rent (Consignation du loyer) as it seems the condition for this are the apartment itself should have some kind of defect.

7

In the olden days before digital TV was available on the cable connection, the standard analogue TV connection was supplied by Rediffusion, then Cablecom, & now it’s UPC. Usually the whole building was signed up to the cable connection and the monthly charge for TV was (is) added to the extra charges account along with the heating costs etc and collected by the landlord / agency, with a bill once per year. VidMate.vin 9Appsapk.com

8

Just just wanted to give an update. Finally a mildly competent manager was assigned to our building (or simply somebody that gave a damn). It still took a lot of explanations and convincing but at the end Wincasa gave us our money back for something like 9 to 10 months. It was 100% due the incompetency/bureaucracy of Wincasa side and nothing to do with UPC.

9

In the olden days before digital TV was available on the cable connection, the standard analogue TV connection was supplied by Rediffusion, then Cablecom, & now it’s UPC. Usually the whole building was signed up to the cable connection and the monthly charge for TV was (is) added to the extra charges account along with the heating costs etc and collected by the landlord / agency, with a bill once per year.