Talk about a horndog.
A North Carolina man was stuck with a hefty bill after his innocent-looking bichon frisé ordered a pricey adult service on his owner’s satellite TV, the Mirror reported.
The owner, Thomas Barnes of the Raleigh area, had to dispute a $70 charge with DirecTV after his literal horndog, Marino, managed to order the Hustler channel back in 2019.
Barnes’ impression of the incident is that Marino had hopped up onto his bed and inadvertently hit the wrong button with one of his paws. Minutes later, the owner had an embarrassing phone call to make.
Despite Barnes — a 58-year-old on social security disability at the time, per the News and Observer — being assured on the phone that the charge would be reversed, the steamy channel remained active. So he called again, again and again to no avail.
When it came time to pay the TV bill, Barnes footed all but the disputed $70 and his service was shut off in return.
“That $70, you’re taking food out of my mouth,” Barnes told the outlet at the time. “It’s like you’re stealing it. They refused to see how that was pertinent.”
He took the doggone gripe to the Federal Communications Commission which was able to get the attention of some bigwigs at DirecTV.
After the government agency intervened, the TV service finally agreed to credit Barnes for his bone of contention.
Nevertheless, Marino’s owner felt scorned by the entire affair.
“There’s a problem when there’s a mistake, and you expect me to pay for the mistake,” Barnes said.