If Your House Is on Fire, Save Your Satellite Dish

Victims of the wildfires that have swept through Southern California this week have a new thing to worry about: Big bills for rented high-tech equipment destroyed by the blazes.

In what sounds like a callous and tragic lapse of judgment, AT&T has slapped San Diego-area residents Matt and Danelle Azola, who were on their honeymoon in Mexico while the fires were getting underway, with a $300 bill. Their crime? Failing to rescue their satellite dish receiver from their burning home before they fled. The house, as you can see in this news report, was completely burned to the ground.

Fortunately, stories like this are rare and seem to be getting even rarer. I don't remember any such tales from the Hurricane Katrina aftermath, but are companies getting greedier in a weak economy? Or is this just one disaster too many? Either way, it's not a good sign.

The good news is that the Azolas should be covered by their insurance plan, when they eventually get paid, but they'll still have to cough up the $300 now unless they want a ding on their credit report. The bad press, of course, is going to cost AT&T considerably more.