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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    California
    Posts
    7

    Default Theft of cable services

    For a while now I've been receiving free cable. How? Well, I had subscribed to cable internet so decided to add cable tv (it was only $2 more). Prior to this I had never had cable tv and was watching tv on bunny ears. I had the cable for about a year and decided to cancel it to get dsl being that it was half the price. I called in and cancelled my cable internet and tv. On the day that they were suppose to cancel my service the internet was out but the tv still worked. I called in again a few days later to make sure that I cancelled both and that I wouldn't be charged for the tv (alone it would cost $12). They said someone would be out to fix it. In the meantime I reconnected the bunny ears and watched that (bunny ears provided 6 channels and cable had ~15). Anyway, I watch it for about a month and decided to see if they actually disconnected my tv service or not. I've come to realize that rather than disconnecting it they added more channels. It stayed that way until earlier this year when all of a sudden my cable went out. I assumed since I got new neighbors they must have called to get cable service and while the guy was on the pole realized they misconnected mine. So I went without cable for about a week then all of a sudden I got cable again. I guess I should mention that the city has been replacing the electricity pole in front of my house for the past couple of months or so and I realized they had just installed a new metal pole next to the new wooden pole. They old pole is still there, so basically we have 3 poles there now.

    This morning 2 police officers and a representative from the cable company come to my house and say that I have been stealing cable. I was shocked. I knew I shouldn't have the service but I never knew I would get in trouble for a mistake they made. Anyway, the guy asked me a bunch of questions including.. after it was disconneted who reconnected it? I told him many people have been climbing the new pole to install the electrical wires and whatnot so I don't know. He asked me why I never called to inform them of this and I just said that I called to cancel and they gave me more channels. It's not my fault but it's true that I never called them about the mistake they made.

    Now they are taking me to court. The paper the guy gave me said that I can be fined up to $1k without any jail time. The police officer told me to plead innocent since I did call to cancel originally and that it was their mistake. I'm concerned now b/c after the cable company corrected their mistake it was reconnected. By whom? I have no clue, but since so many people have been up that pole I'm assuming that someone thought they knocked something loose and decided to reconnected it. I don't know but I'm worried about what will happen.

    If I plead guilty I will have to pay a fine. If I plead innocent I will have to pay lawyer fees and whatnot. And in either case if I plead, or am found to be, guilty it will go on my record as a misdemeaner. Can anyone please provide some advice as to what I should do?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Behind a Desk
    Posts
    98,846

    Default Alleged Theft of Cable Services

    This is how telling the truth to the police can get you into trouble - had you said, "I don't have cable, I cancelled it a year ago and all I get are six crummy channels through my rabbit ears", they would have a much harder time making a case. I have no idea what evidence they have that this was a reconnection of cable as opposed to a failure to disconnect, or why they weren't scrambling their signal - those are issues worth investigating further. If I were you, I would request a court-appointed lawyer.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    California
    Posts
    7

    Default

    I guess it would be easy to say that but when they turned on my tv it had all the cable channels. I'm not the guy to turn down something free so when they made the mistake I'm not going to watch tv through bunny ears when they're providing me with free cable.

    I don't think this is my fault but I do understand his point of reporting it when I realized their mistake. However I don't think I should pay for something that wasn't my fault. Not only do I not own a ladder that is high enough but even if I was able to get up there I wouldn't know what to do. I think this is all rediculous and I'm getting really stressed out. Why don't they just disconnect it again and start videotaping the pole to see if someone does anything.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    California
    Posts
    7

    Default

    Forgot to ask earlier but is a misdemeaner bad?

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    California
    Posts
    7

    Default please help by answering this one question.

    I must correct myself from my first post. I stated that the paper the guy gave me said no jail time but that isnt correct. The guy told me that but the paper states that there could be a fine, jail time, or both.

    I also forgot to mention that the police officer wrote me a citation to appear in court but on the citation he spelled my name wrong. Is this like a traffice violation where an error is grounds for dismissal?

    I know many people have veiwed this thread. I would appreciate it if some of you reponded and let me know if you were in the situation where the cable company , or any company, made a mistake to your benefit would you call in to complain???

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Behind a Desk
    Posts
    98,846

    Default

    A misdemeanor is a criminal offense. If I were you, I would request a court-appointed lawyer.

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