Time Warner Cable ripoff steeling cable scam to people who don't have cable Albany New York

and this is outrageious, it upsets me very much that this kind of thing happens, I do agree with the others posting here to say that you should go to the local Time Warner office. I do think that you are right, the guy probably hooked your line up outside and then came to your door to try and get you for stealing cable. But in my many years of being a field tech for a cable co. When we find someone stealing cable or what we call "bootlegging" we disconnect the offending address and call all of the info in to our dispatch such as , address, and any distruction of equipment that may have been caused by the person whom was stealing the servies. We also wright up a work order with all of the notes as to what was found and what was done to fix the problem. And then turn this into owr supervisor at the end of the day, and they will do the rest of the reserch on this situation. We do not usually make any contact with the person whom is suspected of stealing cable unless they where to come outside to confront us about it , but if that happeness the police are called and then the situation gets taken care fo right then and there. But like I said we usually do not make any contact with anyone liveing in the offending address. Another thing that jumpes out at me is, that if infact your line was still hooked up outside, even though you didn't know it was, there should of still been a ID tag on the line, these tags usually have numbers or letters that are entered in to a database at the local office, which if there was a tag on the line still he would of been able to call it in to verify the address or if that tage should be on a active line or not, then he just could of discoed the line and turned it into the super, and would not have had to talked to you at all. Or in turn he may just be a very bad person trying to make extra money from unsuspecting people. Which he would need to be reported to the police as well as to the cable co. because he may not even be a employee for them.

How long have you lived there?

I do think that you should go to Time Warner and explain the situation as well as the very abusive nature of the employee. Because how he treated you was very uncalled for.

But for some reason I'm thinking that the person who lived there before you never had the cable turned off, didn't pay the bill that was forwarded to their home, thinking hey if I don't pay, they will just turn it off and nothing will happen and then when threatened with collections finally took the time to mention that they moved. And that maybe you guys should have said something about the cable that you were getting free.

Since he did show up unannounced and the cable was NOT plugged in at the time he showed should be enough to prove that you did not know the cable was on and therefore not stealing it.

As an ex-employee and ex-door-to-door sales rep for Time Warner I am aware of the type of abuse you received. It is not uncommon. And although many people are stealing cable, everyone must be considered inocent until proven guilty. If a Time W employee or rep should come to your door - do not let him/her into your home - unless you feel completely comfortable. Selling cable door to door, especially for a company like Time Warner is a great challenge. Unfortunately, many sales reps utilize scare tactics to make the sale. If ever in doubt call Time Warner direct and speak to a manager or call the police. If you are stealing cable, Time Warner employees are authorized to cut your service, unless you agree to pay for it. Many sales reps make most of their sales this way - through scare tactics and threats.

When you let this man in your home, you made the first mistake. If you didn't ask him to come, he had no right to enter. You should have simply told him to get lost.

Once he tried to extort money from you, it was time to bring your local police into the case. Extortion is a crime. You should have called.

Now, what to do?

First, contact Time-Warner to see if this guy really represents them. If so, explain the problem and ask for a manager.

If no satisfaction, file with your state utilities comission or the FCC (can do FCC on web).

This guy was so far out of line it's crazy.