Ever since the concept of a “bill” was imagined, there’s always been someone who’s late in paying one. So what happens when a notoriously aggressive company doesn’t practice what it preaches?

That’s what the Williams family from Quincy, MO has had to ask itself.

Comcast Corp. has been renting land from the Williams family for the location of one of its towers, yet still hasn’t handed over a dime.

It isn’t quite as simple as a company not paying its bills — the tower was originally owned by the Insight cable company, which was recently bought out by Comcast. The Williams’ entered into rent contract negotiations with Insight in August of ‘07, but after continuing negotiations failed both before and after Comcast’s takeover, the family is left with no rent check, no indication of when negotiations will restart, and a massive, steel obstruction in their backyard.

Then things started getting interesting. Since the Williams’ weren’t being paid for the land, they decided to stop service by turning off the tower’s transmitter. That prompted the attention of Comcast, but instead of paying the #$%&@ rent bill, they sent a service technician to turn the power source back on.

The family turned the power off again. Comcast sent another tech. After a few rounds of the cat-and-mouse game, the family upped the ante and had the power permanently turned off on the tower.

Comcast would have to pay the family, right? Nope. Another Comcast employee returned with a portable generator in tow to keep the tower operational.

Comcast officials stated the tower needed to be up-and-running — regardless of the rent negotiation status — so that doctors’ emergency pagers and warning lights for approaching aircraft would still work.

Despite playing the “we need this for safety’s sake!” card, the Williams’ still haven’t received a check from the company. Comcast’s official statement: “The rent check is in the mail.”

Haven’t we heard that line somewhere before?

Tags: Comcast, Leasing, Service, Withheld payments