The bottom line here is that if you pay your bills on time, as agreed, you don't have to worry about being disconnected.
And, you must be seriously delinquent before you will ever get disconnected, or have a history of late payments. I would bet you are a frequent late payer.
You have some sense of entitlement like you can be late without recourse by the company, or that they owe you something. They don't, and you can't.
Maybe you just can't afford to have cable.
Maybe you should take another look at your budget, and your priorities.
If they suck so bad, why have you been with them 15 years?
You say they are the only option, but I know of a few satellite companies you could get, or you could put up a super antenna and get it for FREE!
And, Dec 20th was a MONDAY! Christmas was SATURDAY. This means you had 5 days to pay the bill and get re-connected if you chose to, or if you were able to pay.
The REAL rip off here is on your end ans you expect to keep recieving service for which you have not paid for!
So, who is really the rip off artist here?
Lose the sense of entitlement.