 KearnstdElf WizardPremium
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ | Theft of service is bad..... but i find it sad that a guy committing a crime has better reviews then the legit cable guys.
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[65 Arcanist]Filan(High Elf) Zone: Broadband Reports | |
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 | | | Re: Theft of service is bad..... I don't. They were knowingly stealing cable and the guy was committing fraud. Just because they were praising him for installing their illegal cable doesn't mean he had better reviews then the legit cable guys. Plus no where in the article does it say their were praising him. If anything they were just happy that he was assisting in the stealing of the service, and upkeep.
And yes I work for a cable company. Stealing is illegal, no matter what it is. | |
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| | ace1974
join:2007-06-09
Goldsboro, NC | Re: Theft of service is bad..... said by dangarion:I don't. They were knowingly stealing cable and the guy was committing fraud. Just because they were praising him for installing their illegal cable doesn't mean he had better reviews then the legit cable guys. Plus no where in the article does it say their were praising him. If anything they were just happy that he was assisting in the stealing of the service, and upkeep. And yes I work for a cable company. Stealing is illegal, no matter what it is. You might not admit but trust me when i say that 98% of cable technicians has hooked up free service for someone at some time or another, whether it's girlfriend, relatives or best friends.. It happens everyday..believe it or not they are supervisors that work for major cable companies that have done it for their buddies and families..That I know because I seen it with my own two eyes.. | |
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| | | | | Re: Theft of service is bad..... I'm sure there are. And I've seen people throughout the years lose their jobs because of it. All it takes is one person that knows that you did it to get mad at you to report you and the cable career you thought you had is gone. It's not worth it IMO. | |
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| | | | ace1974
join:2007-06-09
Goldsboro, NC | Re: Theft of service is bad..... Cable career?? Thats funny lol!! No one retires from the cable company. That industry is a revolving door industry when it comes to employees..The average life of a cable tech is 2-5 years of employment...lol! After that they normally quit and go find another job due to low morale.. | |
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| | | | | | | Re: Theft of service is bad..... Eh, depends on the career path you are taking. I never worked on in the field. But I've fortunately been with the same company for 9 years and moved up the chain to something I'm happy with technical training. I can't complain. But I've known lots that have got burned out being a tech. | |
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 ·Bright House
| Re: Theft of service is bad..... said by dangarion:Eh, depends on the career path you are taking. I never worked on in the field. But I've fortunately been with the same company for 9 years and moved up the chain to something I'm happy with technical training. I can't complain. But I've known lots that have got burned out being a tech. I have personally been friends with a co-worker that was a field tech for 8 years, moved up to zone coordinator for 10 years, became regional president for North Florida Comcast for 2 years, and got promoted to regional president for Charleston, and moved up there to continue working with the company WITH a pay increase and paid expenses to move there. They also plan on retiring (one of these days) from the company too. Field tech work IS hard work though, and I myself cannot do it due to a car wreck injury, so I sit in the air conditioned call center. Believe it or not, being a cable tech, or call center rep for a cable company DOES have it's benefits too. | |
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·Bright House
| said by ace1974:Cable career?? Thats funny lol!! No one retires from the cable company. That industry is a revolving door industry when it comes to employees..The average life of a cable tech is 2-5 years of employment...lol! After that they normally quit and go find another job due to low morale.. Well, lets see, I have worked for Comcast for 5 years. I have seen about 15 people retire in my CAREER at Comcast. They get good benefits after retirement, including they get to keep their courtesy account for life, which is the package that has every channel offered, and free high speed internet, at least with my company. Sorry you, or the people you might know, have had a crappy experience. Perhaps they sucked as an employee in the first place, and were shunned by their management as a result. | |
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| | | | | you have seen 98% of all technicians from all cable companies set up illegal service? Wow you must be busy... I guess we can take comfort that 2% of the technicians are honest (according to you).
You need to think before you post. | |
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| | | | | said by ace1974:You might not admit but trust me when i say that 98% of cable technicians has hooked up free service for someone at some time or another, That is some BULLFREAKINGS$%T.
I have been in cable many years and have only knows a couple of people who are stupid enough to do this.
Just because you know some stupid people doesn't mean 98% of the cable installers out there are.
I don't know if you are pulling this number out of your ass or what, but you better stick it back in there because it is WAY off. | |
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| |  knightmbEverybody Lies
join:2003-12-01
Franklin, TN | said by dangarion:I don't. They were knowingly stealing cable and the guy was committing fraud. Just because they were praising him for installing their illegal cable doesn't mean he had better reviews then the legit cable guys. Plus no where in the article does it say their were praising him. If anything they were just happy that he was assisting in the stealing of the service, and upkeep. And yes I work for a cable company. Stealing is illegal, no matter what it is. I had room mates that got cable into my house, when they moved out a year ago, Comcast never disconnected the service. A year later, I switched from Dish to Comcast and they of course saw that the cable was already active when they arrived. The cable guy was nice, and probably did report this to his boss. So I don't blame him for doing his job. Of course, within a few weeks, I got the evil letter demanding back payment. I contacted their attorney office and had the entire staff for lunch (google was my friend as I countered everything they said until they were speechless) in which I followed it up with an angry letter and have never heard from them since.
Stealing is bad, we know. But trying to scare innocent people in paying is illegal as well. So two wrongs don't make a right. If they knew, shame on them. If they didn't, don't let the cable company scare you because these kind of cases have been passed through the legal system many times in which ignorance is always the winner. | |
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| | | | | Re: Theft of service is bad..... I agree with you. But just because one does not know they are doing something illegal does not make it legal. If someone sells me pirated DVDs and claims they are real but only sells them to me for a buck each that doesn't make me free and clear of my actions. It's the consumers responsibility to know what they are purchasing. Ignorance does not make responsibility go away.
In your case it sounds as though Comcast screwed up. If they didn't disco that's their fault. | |
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·Bright House
| You are a one in a billion situation though. I myself have never heard of someone getting threatened with legal action as a result of cable theft. It is the cable companies responsibility to do audits for service theft. Unless your address was flagged as being a known theft of service, they will let it slide the first time, and maybe even the second time, but if you keep stealing it, a police report would be filed, and instead of the cable companies lawyers sending you a letter, a nice police officer will knock on your door to summons you to court, or haul you off to jail, either one. Not sure what happened in your case, but you have nothing to worry about if you had a Dish that you were paying for service on. You simply show them proof that you had a dish, and were paying for it legally, and you're off the hook anyway. Google won't save you from the REAL hounds that Comcast hires to make you pay. You have NO IDEA what their lawyers will do to you if your case went to court. But hey, no point in arguing about it, because you got off the hook, just like I said. So "case dismissed". But again, I have never heard of someone being summons into court over a one time offense for cable fraud. | |
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| | | |  ThespisI'm not an actor, but I play one on TV.Premium
join:2004-08-03
Keller, TX | Re: Theft of service is bad..... said by phattieg:You are a one in a billion situation though. I myself have never heard of someone getting threatened with legal action as a result of cable theft. I had @home internet but no cable TV. My line was clearly marked with an @home tag. The installer failed to put a filter on my line to block TV. I had Dish at the time and didn't know. I got a letter threatening me with legal action if I didn't pay retroactively for TV from the time my @home service was installed.
It took about a month to sort it out; about two weeks of no internet. | |
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·Bright House
| Re: Theft of service is bad..... Well, once again, you must be a one in a billion. I ain't picking on you, but you did not have 25 other posters saying "me too" when you posted that story. It doesn't mean it hasn't happend before wither. But as I said, I've never heard of that happening. When cable theft occurs, they come to your house with a camera, and take pictures of the illegal connection, and any possible damage to their equipment too. They file it in their records and flag the address in the billing system as having once stole cable, and it is left alone until you steal it again. If you steal it again, they take more pictures, and usually leave a tag on your door saying they know you're stealing it, it's illegal, and if you do it again, you will be federally prosecuted and could face a $10,000 fine, please call this number to setup service, we'll even waive the install, etc... If you do it after that, both incidents and pictures from both incidents are sent to the state attorneys office, and a lawsuit may also follow. It costs the cable company money to do all of these things to begin with, like gas money, paying the tech to take the photo's, wasting his time with a non-subscriber when he could be helping a customer with a real issue, and in most cases the theif has crappy experience hooking the cable up, so their is signal leaks generated, which degrades your neighbors signal, etc, but they usually try to get you to becme legit first, because they'd rather not spend the money taking you to court. Your situation is a unique one, and it sucks you had to deal with all that, but illegal is illegal. Something folks might not know in this forum is this. If you have a HUD home, and you steal cable, you could lose your house, because theft of utilities in general is against HUD's contract, and if they wanted to be evil (which they don't usually resort to this tactic) they can have your house taken from you. I'm not calling YOU a criminal, but anyone else in here who has stolen cable needs to ask yourself, is reruns, and basic cable worth your house? Hell no. So don't steal it, it's not worth it. You'd be better off pirating DishNetworks Nagravision encryption on a FTA box, but even that has its repercussions. My ex's father sold a bunch of FTA satellite boxs, and now he's facing 12 yars in jail, and $35,000 in fines. But it's your life, so play at your own risk. | |
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| | | | | | ThespisI'm not an actor, but I play one on TV.Premium
join:2004-08-03
Keller, TX | Re: Theft of service is bad..... ... at the very least, I'm one of two in a billion.
I bet this happens more than you think. I wasn't stealing cable, so I have no problems posting this story. If I had been stealing cable, I might not have posted out of embarrassment.
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 ieolusSupport The Clecs
join:2001-06-19
Duluth, GA | LMAO!
CABLE GUY!
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 DHRacerFire Survivor
join:2000-10-10
Lake Arrowhead, CA | Classic!
This maybe the only story where "outsourcing" is apparently better. They should just hire him and break his rose-colored view of life as an installer.
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| | | Re: Classic! I agree hire him and take each install out of one weeks pay. I guess he would have to be a snitch on the people who have illegal cable hooked up. | |
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·Bright House
| ROFL!!! Send him to Florida to do attic wallfish outlet install work during the 1pm to 3pm window. He'll think twice about doing it again once he gets in that 115 degree attic to fish the line thru the wall.
BTW, in Florida the techs will only do attic work between 8am to 11am because the heat is so bad in those attics, techs have almost died, and some have actually passed out from the heat years ago. | |
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| | | | Re: Classic! I know what you mean. I work for a company doing FTTH. Fiber to the Home. kind of on the same line as FIOS. we install ONT's that sit on the side of the house and then it's all Copper inside. and i've had customers that want me to add a new RG-6 run at 3pm in the afternoon. and I work the Central Florida Area. there is no way in hell I am running RG-6 3pm in the afternoon in the middle of august. i always tell them we have to reschedule and morning hours prefered. | |
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 major marcoRes Firma Mitescere NescitPremium
join:2003-02-13
Stepford, CA | What the I'd love to hear why people were under the impression that Warren was even legit. Didn't it ever occur to anyone to call an actual TWC # or were they all just cable thieves? And what about the customers - they are just as implicit in stealing cable as the guy installing it. Why aren't they being arrested/cited? Hundreds of people pleading stupidity can only fly so far. | |
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| | | Re: What the said by major marco:I'd love to hear why people were under the impression that Warren was even legit. Didn't it ever occur to anyone to call an actual TWC # or were they all just cable thieves? And what about the customers - they are just as implicit in stealing cable as the guy installing it. Why aren't they being arrested/cited? Hundreds of people pleading stupidity can only fly so far. They will get bills demanding back payment on threat of prosecution. Almost all will pay up.
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| |  morboComplete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000 | Re: What the the rest will (rightfully) laugh in the cableco's face. ha!  | |
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| | | | | Re: What the said by morbo:the rest will (rightfully) laugh in the cableco's face. ha! So. You condone theft of service. Your lack of morality is appalling.
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| | | | | | Re: What the said by fAcEtIOUs:said by morbo:the rest will (rightfully) laugh in the cableco's face. ha! So. You condone theft of service. Your lack of morality is appalling. Don't condone it, but I will definitely look the other way.
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"Doublethink means the power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them." -- George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four.
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·Bright House
| Re: What the And people wonder why cable rates are so much higher than other services. GEE, I wonder why. It's because of assholes who "look the other way" while the service is being stolen. The same thing goes for software. Microsoft charges an assload of money for software because the percentage of people who actually pay for the software are making up for the loss in piracy. Same thing with hospital bills. Assholes go to the hospital, knowing they can't afford the bill, and never pay anything back for the services rendered. Thats why an emergency room VISIT costs close to $500. Think about what you're saying, as it applies to more than the "greedy cable company". Oh well, that America for ya. If you're broke, then I can understand why you'd steal something, but it don't mean that you're not obligated to pay for it later. | |
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| | | | | | morboComplete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000 | Re: What the i completely disagree. cable companies and microsoft charge so much for their goods because THEY CAN. people are hooked on tv--can't get enough of that shit, and satellite isn't much of an alternative since not everyone can even get it. same with microsoft. the vast majority of businesses use it so they can charge excessive prices. there are no reasonable alternatives. piracy is just an excuse these companies love to blame for the price hikes that were already planned by those running the company. better to blame those "breaking the law" than to admit that they just want to raise prices to make more money.
healthcare is entirely different. yes, the poor and uninsured (illegal immigrants fit in here too--just take a look at California's massive problem) drive up costs, but most of the problem is due to skyrocketing prices for medicine, advanced equipment, and physicians. | |
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·Bright House
| Nah, probably not. They will just get disconnected at the tap, and a terminator will be locked onto the tap outlet so they can't reconnect the service without the "special tool" that takes the terminator off. Sometimes those terminators get rusty and can be removed with a set of pliers though, which is probably how Mr Warren connected some folks. | |
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| cacoPremium
join:2005-03-10
Whittier, AK | "The investigation began after Time Warner reported cable thefts in the Winton Hills area to police, Steele said. A number of those arrested for receiving illegal cable service gave investigators Warren's telephone number."
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See 8 replies to this post |
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|  Noah VailSon made my AvatarPremium
join:2004-12-10
Lorton, VA
kudos:1
·Bright House
 ·Sprint Mobile Br..
| said by major marco:I'd love to hear why people were under the impression that Warren was even legit. Can you blame them really? He had a clipboard after all.
NV | |
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| | morboComplete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000 | Re: What the covered with pornography. so i heard. | |
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| Reviews:
·Bright House
| I agree. Unless "Warren" was providing them fake invoices for the work, then the people KNEW they were stealing it. But there is a such thing as "direct sales" where a tech/business man will go thru the neighborhood, offer free install, half off the first X months, and in some cases free HBO or other premium for X months too, just for signing up on the spot, as long as you have the money to pay for the first month of service. I am sure "Warren" was given checks by a few of these people, unless he said cash only. And if he DID get checks, you know the bank would not have cashed them if they were made payable to Time Warner. | |
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thumbs down from:
Cabal 
Noah Vail
|  speaking of stolen things?
Puts alleged cable theft into perspective.. | |
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| | | Re: speaking of stolen things? everything is Bushes fault...,.always! You have to give it up. Insert here>____________________ what the newly controlled democratic congress has acheived. See how small the line is!
I don't think either party deserves our affection right now.
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Burn a tire, but make sure you buy that carbon offset! | |
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| |  tiger72SexaT duorPPremium
join:2001-03-28
Saint Louis, MO
kudos:1 | Re: speaking of stolen things? he didn't say it was Bush's fault. If you read, he'd say idjits in Ohio are at fault for Bush. | |
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| | | | | Re: speaking of stolen things? so why even mention Bush for this story. | |
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| | | Hmmmm...maybe Godwin's Law should be adjusted. "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Bush or the Bush administration approaches one." | |
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 HallPremium,MVM
join:2000-04-28
Dayton, OH
kudos:1 | Analog only service His "customers" shouldn't be allowed to get off. There's no way they can plead ignorance here... How did they get his phone # ?? Why did they not call Time Warner ?? Golly gee, how come they never got billed ?? No set-top boxes, no premium channels, hell, nothing above "standard" cable, and no one thought something was up.  | |
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| | to bad this is awesome, at least the guy took pride in doing a good job, to bad time warner will never hire him. | |
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See 9 replies to this post |
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| | Any one have his number ? My cable is a little pixelated on my box a lot of the day and comcast can't help. | |
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bmn? ? ?Premium,ExMod 2003-06
join:2001-03-15
hiatus | Yeah, and now he's going to be getting more love... Lots more love... Bubba's going to have fun with this guy.
Seriously, what a boob. You start doing illegal cable installs on the scope that this guy did it and you are setting your self up for a one way trip to the hoosegow. IF, for some reason, you are going to actually do this, you have to keep the number of people involved small because people talk eventually... People cave way too easily under the pressure of law enforcement.
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 nklbPremium
join:2000-11-17
Ann Arbor, MI
kudos:2 | $6 billion a year said by Article :
Nationwide, the cable television industry loses about $6 billion a year to theft of service, Time Warner spokeswoman Karen Baxter said. "It's a problem. It's been a problem," Baxter said. I have to wonder about that figure. Seems kinda like the music industry claiming music downloads are lost revenue.
Of course, with illegal cable hookups there is the possibility of wiring mistakes being made that DO cause degredation of service and real-world loss. But $6 Billion seems a bit of a stretch.
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See 7 replies to this post |
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 ChucklesPremium
join:2006-03-04
Saint Paul, MN | Hah! A modern day robinhood! | |
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zenafu
join:2007-06-12
Brooklyn, NY | Thus conscience does make cowards... There's a part of me that would love to have gotten in on that free cable 'deal' but the other parts would prefer to stay out of jail. And so I pay and pay and pay.... | |
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Reviews:
·Comcast
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1 edit | I wonder.... if any real stories exist where a cable guy got laid by a sexy customer when he went to her house to install it.
I guess that is just in porn. Lol!!! Bowchaka Bow Bow bowchaka bowchaka bow bow!
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| zenafu
join:2007-06-12
Brooklyn, NY | Re: I wonder.... lol!@fatmanskinny I needed that laugh. | |
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| | | | Re: I wonder.... said by zenafu:lol!@fatmanskinny I needed that laugh. Totally, that was good. | |
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| | | said by fatmanskinny:if any real stories exist where a cable guy got laid by a sexy customer when he went to her house to install it. I guess that is just in porn. Lol!!! Bowchaka Bow Bow bowchaka bowchaka bow bow! Not sure about cable guys, but I know a couple of phone guys that met their brides on service calls.
I've had "offers" from subs, but most of them have been butt-ugly, so I passed.
As for the ones that weren't butt ugly, that's CPNI. Sorry. | |
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| | Article Never Said... The article never said that he gave them the cable as a TW service. He could have installed it under a false company. Just my .02 | |
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| | | Tools part is funny. Anyone can buy those tools on ebay or any other supply websites. | |
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 SolarPupHardware GodPremium
join:2002-03-07
Greeley, CO | digital cable? hsi? I'm curious what he would say when they wanted digital cable or high speed internet installed. "Sorry, we don't have that here?" or what happened when the neighbor says "well we have digital cable, why cant you do it for them?"
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