First it was your homework, now it’s a pricey porn bill – when in doubt, blame the dog.
While Thomas Barnes surely isn’t the first person to try and wangle themselves out of paying for some adult entertainment, his excuse demands consideration.
Picture the scene: Barnes, of North Carolina, US, is lying in bed enjoying some normal TV.
His tranquillity is disturbed when his vexatious Bichon Frise Marino leaps on to the mattress, landing squarely on the remote in the process.
The pooch’s paws switched the TV to Hustler, a pay-per-view adult channel, and as a result he was charged $70 in his next bill.
Barnes leapt into action – he phoned his cable provider, Direct TV, a few minutes after it happened to explain what happened.
He was assured via the phone call that the mistake would be acknowledged and the record of him watching it would be expunged.
However, for a while afterwards, Barnes still had access to the adult film channel – he was probably just checking to make sure the mistake had been rectified.
When his bill came through – after being told he wouldn’t see a charge – he subtracted the cost of Hustler and paid the rest. Due it not being paid in full, his service was cut off.
According to the News Observer, Thomas, who relies on Social Security disability payments, said:
That 70 dollars, you’re taking food out of my mouth. It’s like you’re stealing it. They refused to see how that was pertinent.
There’s a problem when there’s a mistake and you expect me to pay for the mistake.
While Thomas says he’s still being made to pay for the canine-related mishap, the provider has agreed to credit his next bill after he filed a Federal Communications Commission complaint.
Direct TV has not made an official comment about the incident.
It’s certainly not the first time porn has caused problems: in July this year, a Metropolitan police officer pleaded guilty to fraud after using a grieving family’s cable TV to order pornography while on duty.
Did you also know that a recent study found that 93 per cent of pornographic web pages leak data to third parties? So if you think incognito mode is masking your kinks from Facebook and Google, think again.
As for Marino, the catalyst of Barnes’ hassles – we hope the pooch enjoyed some doggy-style television.
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After graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University with an NCTJ and BCTJ-accredited Multimedia Journalism degree, Cameron ventured into the world of print journalism at The National, while also working as a freelance film journalist on the side, becoming an accredited Rotten Tomatoes critic in the process. He’s now left his Scottish homelands and took up residence at UNILAD as a journalist.