Poll of the Day > Have any of you ever heard stories of some cable guys stealing from people's

(+) Yeah! (+)

...homes? maybe on your local news , of it happening?

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I had a cable guy who stole my cable box. My now exwife and I were having difficulty paying our cable bill (it was HD and recordable), so we went back to basic cable. He came and swapped it out, no problems.

About 6 months later, I got a bill for $600. I called up the company (time Warner) and they wanted me to pay for the stolen box. They knew he stole it, and he stole 13 others from people.

Long story short, took a year and an half, telling two different collection agencies to piss off (professionally), consulting a lawyer, and threats of going to court in order for them to leave me alone and drop the charges

CTLM posted...

I had a cable guy who stole my cable box. My now exwife and I were having difficulty paying our cable bill (it was HD and recordable), so we went back to basic cable. He came and swapped it out, no problems.

About 6 months later, I got a bill for $600. I called up the company (time Warner) and they wanted me to pay for the stolen box. They knew he stole it, and he stole 13 others from people.

Long story short, took a year and an half, telling two different collection agencies to piss off (professionally), consulting a lawyer, and threats of going to court in order for them to leave me alone and drop the charges

really? he got fired? but only after an investigation proved it and the investigation was your doing right? And, i didn't know cable boxes costed that much

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JebronLames posted...

really? he got fired? but only after an investigation proved it and the investigation was your doing right? And, i didn't know cable boxes costed that much

He had quit his job and simply took the equipment with him. Selling the parts or even whatever the term is for their "jailbroken" units would fetch a high price.

The companies did checks/scans to make sure your unit was legit, but some technicians knew the overrides and ways around it.

The company KNEW he stole from me. They were the ones who told me. They said I was still responsible, which was wrong. I was not going to be held responsible for employee theft.

I didn't really have to investigate. I used the law, the information they provided, and turned it against them. The hardest part was getting the collection agencies off my back because they kept calling and calling. Once Time Warner said they'd no longer pursue the matter, they conveniently forgot to tell them and that led to more issues

so how did you end up getting the collection agencies off your back?

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Wowza. Thanks for the story CTLM. Typically when technicians are working at my place I try to keep myself available in case they have questions for me or if I need to move something out of the way. But I don't want to hover over them as they work but sometimes I can't help but wonder if I should at least keep them within my sights from a distance.

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When I got Fiber Optic internet installed a few years ago, we kept a close eye on the men installing everything. They didn't touch anything at all.

InfestedAdam posted...

Wowza. Thanks for the story CTLM. Typically when technicians are working at my place I try to keep myself available in case they have questions for me or if I need to move something out of the way. But I don't want to hover over them as they work but sometimes I can't help but wonder if I should or at least keep them within my sights from a distance.

He did everything in front of me. He even technically did his job. The fancy cable box got swapped out for the new one, and the job was done. He just decided to keep the company property when he was finished.
JebronLames posted...

so how did you end up getting the collection agencies off your back?

First, I worked with a teacher of mine from my business classes to write a professional letter. At one point, he had been the VP of a publishing company (Crown Publishing- think Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew) so he knew his stuff. Sent that out.

I then talked to my lawyer to find out what rights I had. He had actually handled my custody case a few months prior to this so he was still on retainer, but that's another story. He sent them a letter threatening legal action and countersuit if they continued to contact me.

Within a month, I had apology letters from BOTH agencies, one of which had their 3rd or 4th overall in charge call me to personally apologize. She said she appreciated my candor and my politeness in the matter. I would never hear from them again.

I still have her letter saved after all these years. It's been 12 years now, but it's more of a testament to me not taking any shit from a company and to remind myself what I can accomplish