The cable company must have a lot of people cancelling service...

[Ava]

They sent a salesman to my home tonight to try to get me to add television & phone! We currently subscribe to Internet only through the cable company, cancelled our TV several months ago and have never had phone service. The salesman was polite & didn't push when I told him we weren't interested in having cable TV - they assumed we'd switched to satellite - but still. I've never had a cable TV salesman come to my house before.

 

[lucyem]

Here the internet is through the cable company and it is cheaper to get cable tv & internet then it is to get just internet. I guess they figure if you have the basic cable you won't bother with satellite or something

 

[DawnM]

Interesting. We have satellite and there is no way I would take cable unless they PROMISED me in writing to give me a fantastic deal that did NOT expire! Lifetime pricing at a good discount! otherwise, I will stick with satellite!

Dawn

 

[yearlightbuzz]

Funny, I remember when the cable salesman came to our house when i was a kid. He sat on our couch and explained to my parents how instead of 5 or 6 channels, they could have 60. yes, 60!!!! different channels once cable came to our neighborhood. Man am I old!

 

[ConnieB]

Call you cable company and ask them if they have salesmen going door to door in your area. Our local news did a report late summer I think it was that this was happening but that it was NOT the cable company salesmen...it was scam artists who took your "deposit" installed an empty box and were never seen from again!! I guess our town is pretty gullible though, because last year we had the college magazine salesmen in their fake local college shirts and they were scammers too. Oh...and the meat salesman who claim "a neighbor" just lowered their "whole cow" order to a half cow, so he has a half cow he needs to sell so his boss doesn't get mad at him.....oh yeah, I'm gonna buy meat off the back of your pickup with the cooler. In PHoenix, in August. OOOh baby, yeah.

 

[vicki_c]

Verizon sends us about 6 mailings a month asking us to sign up for FiOS TV (we have FiOS for our Internet and phone). It's just what they do. They also call our house at least once a week, despite us telling them to take us off their list. I think we might fall into that "already have a relationship" exclusion from the Do Not Call thing. We just don't answer.

 

[seashoreCM]

I forget, in those TV commercials, is the Comcast guy the fat guy or the skinny guy?

Once I got a brochure that mentioned "choose your bundle" and I called them and said I don't need long distance phone and I don't need this and I don't need that and this is how much I am willing to pay (about half the price of the cable channel tiers I chose). They hung up.

Another time I was cancelling my cable service and I brought the box and other equipment to their office. While holding it I asked the manager if they would be willing to continue my service for X dollars a month (representing a substantial discount). They said no. So I left the equipment on the counter and left. They would rather get nothing from me versus getting a steady monthly payment just for going up on the utility pole and putting another plug into another jack.

 

[mjkacmom]

Really? I get them a few times a year.

 

[Bell30012]

I remember when the cable television salesman came to our door promising us 12 channels. That's right instead of the three channels we could receive with rabbit ears he could get us channels 2-13.

 

[sissy_ib]

I have internet through the cable company as well and when I called to have it set up in my new place they seemed to expect me to order cable and phone service as well. When the guy came out to hook it up he told me he could set up cable that day as well. When I told him I didn't watch tv he said "not at all?" as if I had just told him I never showered or something There are very few shows I am interested in and I cant justify spending $50+ for the tv to get turned on two or three times a week.

 

[luvmy3jewels]

We had a cable (TimeWarner) saleswoman come by our house one day recently. She asked my dh if we were interested in signing up. He told her we had a satellite, were very happy with it, and were not interested. A week later a sub-contractor for our local cable company went to our house (while dh and I were at work) and ran a cable line from the street to our house. While trenching the line, he cut accross our satellite cable. When dh and I found out what happened, we were furious!! In talking to the sub-contractor we found out that this particular salesperson had a reputation for signing up addresses where people didn't want the service. Guess she was making a little extra commission by trying to do this (and it was costing the sub-contractor because he had to pay for the repairs to our cut satellite line). I thought it was very strange that when I called Time Warner I found out all they had was our address with no name on the account. You wouldn't think they would just hook people up to cable when they didn't have the person's name.

 

[Ava]

I have internet through the cable company as well and when I called to have it set up in my new place they seemed to expect me to order cable and phone service as well. When the guy came out to hook it up he told me he could set up cable that day as well. When I told him I didn't watch tv he said "not at all?" as if I had just told him I never showered or something There are very few shows I am interested in and I cant justify spending $50+ for the tv to get turned on two or three times a week.

I got a similar response when I told him we don't have satellite and aren't interested in having cable TV either. We're like you in that we only follow a handful of shows, and all are on regular networks. So why pay for cable channels that will rarely get watched? I do miss the DVR sometimes, but we make do by watching the shows online if we miss them when they air on TV. Nothing on TV is that good that I'll pay to watch it, haha.

 

[krcit]

Really? I get them a few times a year.

Me too.

 

[Shleedogg]

Call you cable company and ask them if they have salesmen going door to door in your area. Our local news did a report late summer I think it was that this was happening but that it was NOT the cable company salesmen...it was scam artists who took your "deposit" installed an empty box and were never seen from again!! I guess our town is pretty gullible though, because last year we had the college magazine salesmen in their fake local college shirts and they were scammers too. Oh...and the meat salesman who claim "a neighbor" just lowered their "whole cow" order to a half cow, so he has a half cow he needs to sell so his boss doesn't get mad at him.....oh yeah, I'm gonna buy meat off the back of your pickup with the cooler. In PHoenix, in August. OOOh baby, yeah.

We had guys like that trying to sell us meat out of the back of their truck. It was August 08. I was pregnant with DD at the time and DH was buying into it. I just stood at the door and kept saying, "no, no, we're not interested." Something was just fishy about that one.

I've never heard of salesmen going door to door for the cable company. I'd be leery of that, good thing you were OP. I think a lot of people are canceling though. Any time we call about a problem they ask us to upgrade, add our house phone back (we had a terrible time with it and service).

 

[Swimalie]

I called our cable company on Monday and told them that we (ahem) couldn't afford this "discretionary" bill each month. They put me on a package which lowered my bill $20 a month and said I would get fewer channels. Fine, I don't watch that many anyway. Well, I'm still getting the same number of channels and my bill should still be $20 lower

 

[kaytieeldr]

I know somebody who does this. They're employed by the cable company and have been for a while (so it's not a new thing in response to a lot of cancellations). It's just apparently another marketing tool.

It's always good to be careful. Ask for identification and proof that they're legitimate - a work ID, maybe? Call the cable company if you have any doubts. They should know and tell you if they have people coming to the door in your area.

 

[cm8]

We had a cable (TimeWarner) saleswoman come by our house one day recently. She asked my dh if we were interested in signing up. He told her we had a satellite, were very happy with it, and were not interested. A week later a sub-contractor for our local cable company went to our house (while dh and I were at work) and ran a cable line from the street to our house. While trenching the line, he cut accross our satellite cable. When dh and I found out what happened, we were furious!! In talking to the sub-contractor we found out that this particular salesperson had a reputation for signing up addresses where people didn't want the service. Guess she was making a little extra commission by trying to do this (and it was costing the sub-contractor because he had to pay for the repairs to our cut satellite line). I thought it was very strange that when I called Time Warner I found out all they had was our address with no name on the account. You wouldn't think they would just hook people up to cable when they didn't have the person's name.

I would be so . She is being allowed to damage other peoples property and commit fraud

 

[MeekoB]

I had my phone/internet company here do the same door to door sales for their TV service. They have come by several times in the last few months.

I told the guy that I never buy or sign up for anything from door to door salemen.

 

[ConnieB]

I got a similar response when I told him we don't have satellite and aren't interested in having cable TV either. We're like you in that we only follow a handful of shows, and all are on regular networks. So why pay for cable channels that will rarely get watched? I do miss the DVR sometimes, but we make do by watching the shows online if we miss them when they air on TV. Nothing on TV is that good that I'll pay to watch it, haha.

We haven't have cable or satellite for over 14 years.....brought home our twin babies and the next month we got notice that the cable co was raising the rates...we realized that we hadn't had time to watch anything because of the newborns, cancelled it and have never missed it, lol.

Cable series as well as network series' can be borrowed from the library within a month or two of the season ending, so we watch just slightly behind. No need to worry about missing a show because of working late or something, or having to stay up late to watch...and snack breaks require pushing pause not dashing around during commericials...oh yeah, and NO commericials.

I can think of twice in all those years that I really wished we had cable...so we just sweet talked a friend into recording whatever it was and watched it later, lol. Cost me a plate of cookies both times....lots cheaper than cable!

 

[ConnieB]

We had a cable (TimeWarner) saleswoman come by our house one day recently. She asked my dh if we were interested in signing up. He told her we had a satellite, were very happy with it, and were not interested. A week later a sub-contractor for our local cable company went to our house (while dh and I were at work) and ran a cable line from the street to our house. While trenching the line, he cut accross our satellite cable. When dh and I found out what happened, we were furious!! In talking to the sub-contractor we found out that this particular salesperson had a reputation for signing up addresses where people didn't want the service. Guess she was making a little extra commission by trying to do this (and it was costing the sub-contractor because he had to pay for the repairs to our cut satellite line). I thought it was very strange that when I called Time Warner I found out all they had was our address with no name on the account. You wouldn't think they would just hook people up to cable when they didn't have the person's name.

Wow, you'd think after the 2nd or 3rd time that the cable company sent a bill that someone refused to pay because they hadn't ordered it, that this woman's scheme would be figured out. If the cable company keeps allowing her to do this, then they are just as guilty of fraud. Sound similar to those CD/DVD clubs of the 1980s, only worse because they are destroying your satellite to boot!

I'd file a complaint with the FCC (they regulate the cable companies). The cable company needs to stop looking the other way as this woman commits her fraud.

Of course this is yet another reason to not give ANY information to door to door salesmen. Had OP given her name good chance she'd have less standing to argue she didn't order it. It's also why I don't have our name on a plaque outside the door. The less information strangers have on me, the happier I am. I feel sorry for the few legit door to door folks, but we have just had so much fraud around here that I don't trust any of them. Same with phone solicitors....can't tell you how many times I've asked them to send me their brochure, and gee, I never get anything. The legit ones are all super eager to get you on their mailing list....the fraudsters know that you're going to check up on it and won't send anything, they want your credit card number NOW, so they can be gone before you realize what they've done.