Re: Theft of service is bad..... in http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r18848786 en Sat, 28 Nov 2009 07:40:06 EDT Sat, 28 Nov 2009 07:40:06 EDT Re: Theft of service is bad..... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,18858112 Thespis : ... 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.
]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,18858112 Sun, 12 Aug 2007 11:10:57 EDT Re: Theft of service is bad..... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,18856848 phattieg : 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.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,18856848 Sun, 12 Aug 2007 01:25:57 EDT Re: Theft of service is bad..... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,18856154 alfnoid :
said by ace1974 See Profile :

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.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,18856154 Sat, 11 Aug 2007 22:26:47 EDT Re: Theft of service is bad..... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,18853158 anon : 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.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,18853158 Sat, 11 Aug 2007 12:58:14 EDT Re: Theft of service is bad..... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,18853316 Thespis :
said by phattieg See Profile :

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.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,18853316 Sat, 11 Aug 2007 11:37:41 EDT Re: Theft of service is bad..... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,18852814 CableTool :
said by dangarion See Profile :

But I've known lots that have got burned out being a tech.
Haha, I wonder why...
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CableFAQ.org/Technicians Unplugged
]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,18852814 Sat, 11 Aug 2007 09:02:28 EDT Re: Theft of service is bad..... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,18852454 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. 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.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,18852454 Sat, 11 Aug 2007 06:11:48 EDT Re: Theft of service is bad..... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,18852443 phattieg :
said by dangarion See Profile :

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.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,18852443 Sat, 11 Aug 2007 06:03:30 EDT Re: Theft of service is bad..... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,18852434 phattieg :
said by ace1974 See Profile :

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.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,18852434 Sat, 11 Aug 2007 05:58:35 EDT Re: Theft of service is bad..... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,18849518 dangarion : 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.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,18849518 Fri, 10 Aug 2007 18:03:40 EDT Re: Theft of service is bad..... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,18849146 knightmb :
said by dangarion See Profile :

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.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,18849146 Fri, 10 Aug 2007 16:56:17 EDT Re: Theft of service is bad..... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,18848838 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.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,18848838 Fri, 10 Aug 2007 16:13:57 EDT Re: Theft of service is bad..... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,18848786 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..]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,18848786 Fri, 10 Aug 2007 16:07:17 EDT Re: Theft of service is bad..... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,18848467 dangarion : 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.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,18848467 Fri, 10 Aug 2007 15:26:02 EDT Re: Theft of service is bad..... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,18848305 ace1974 :
said by dangarion See Profile :

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..]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,18848305 Fri, 10 Aug 2007 14:56:44 EDT Re: Theft of service is bad..... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,18847528 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.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,18847528 Fri, 10 Aug 2007 13:10:29 EDT Theft of service is bad..... http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,18847230 Kearnstd : 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]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,18847230 Fri, 10 Aug 2007 12:32:34 EDT