Cable account in LWDs name. How do we change that?

LittleVolcano

Hi All,

I'm posting for my father (I'm a secondary caregiver and daughter).

My father is trying to get access to the cable account (Xfinity) but it's in my Mom's name (and she's the LWD, mod-stage ALZ). Mom rarely recognizes Dad anymore, so most things like this are met with suspicion and contention. I was going to call Xfinity about this to see what our options are, but I figured the forum would be more helpful than an anonymous call center (depending of course on who you get. Not all call center employees are apathetic and unhelpful, of course )

I believe that Dad has to be added as a co-primary to the account. I really doubt that Mom will just agree to this outright, because why would she let a "stranger" (her husband of 50+ years) have access to one of her accounts? She's very compliant with me, so I can get her to do just about anything (but maybe not this). I'm also very clever, so I can possibly MacGyver a solution as well, but I wanted to throw this conundrum to the forum in case someone out there has already invented the wheel.

Thanks in advance for your help, and big hugs to all of you primary caregivers. You're all my heroes! 

Quilting brings calm

I suggest that you ask your mom to add YOU to the account.  So that you can handle the cable company’ for her’. Then you call with your Mom next to you and have your mom give permission for you to talk to the rep and add you as a primary to the account.    Then you can call back yourself later and get your dad on the account. 

If you are lucky enough to have a cable office in your town ( we don’t), then you could take your dad down there later ( with his id showing his address) and get the account switched from you to him and then have your mom removed altogether.

You will probably get some suggestions that you tell the cable company you are her, but I don’t believe in going that route. 

If you had a POA, you could handle  this pretty easily. I took my POA to an AT&T company store when my moms cell phone needed replaced and it was handled like clockwork. I got her a replacement  phone, got my name added to the account, and dropped an inactive line.  All without any need to involve her,

LittleVolcano

Hi Quilting,

Thanks for the great info. I did consider that myself (call the Xfinity--or maybe it's Comcast, I forget--and have Mom add me, then swap Dad in). If that works, then, yeah, I could definitely do that. And Dad does have POA, so if that becomes necessary, then we have it in our toolbox.

Cool, this gives me hope. Thanks so much! 

LittleVolcano

Actually, I think I'm going to ask Dad to go the POA route and just go to an Xfinity store and have the account transferred that way. He's going to need full access to the account, and the only way to get that is with a full ownership transfer (vs adding him as an account "Manager").  But, still, knowing that things went well for you with AT&T is very promising. 

Thanks again!!!

Quilting brings calm

I vote the POA route too.   I’ve had to actually supply mine to AT@T and Moms’  Medicare supplement( that one via email). Other places take my word for it when I say I have one. 

I used the notes app in my phone to scan each page into one file  and save it. So that I can just show that, email or text it as needed. 

jfkoc

I would simply pretend to be my mother on the phone or online

harshedbuzz

LV-

If there's a Comcast store reasonably close, I would have dad go to the store with a copy of the POA and ask for the account to be transferred. It is easier to do now than it will be after she passes. We transferred a lot of accounts to my mom's name after dad was diagnosed; it was sad getting bills addressed to dad after he went to MC and later passed away. Plus, it's presumably easier for dad to reach out for service issues but you could be added as an authorized agent for the account. IME, utilities don't really care so long as they get paid. 

I might even suggest turning off paper and setting it up on autopay so there is no trigger for her in the mail. 

HB

Ed1937

I agree that using the POA would be very easy. There should be no problem with that, and like HB said, go paperless, and set it up for autopay.

Gig Harbor

I would call and pretend to be your mother. I did that when my mother was no longer able to cancel something and they wouldn’t let me do it. I waited a few days and called back pretending I was her. There is no sense in upsetting her or making things more complicated than they need to be.

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JJ401

I’ve done the call and pretend in the past for my mom. My oldest called and pretended to be his dad for my first husband. And while they might keep records, neither my mom or first husband was going to complain. My mom actually asked me to call and my first husband was deceased at the time.

If the changes that need to be done can be done online, and you know the login and password, I’d just do them. If they can’t be done online, he will probably have to go to the physical store with the POA. 

But, if all he wants to do is change the name on the account, I say don’t bother. Utilities, in my experience, don’t care about the name on the bill as long as the bill is paid. The most I have been asked is if I am authorized to make changes on the account. I left the utilities in my first husband’s name until I moved years after his death with no problem.