‘4 years later, we still had cable.’ This Guy Tried To Be Honest About His Free Cable Service, But Cable Company Kept Insisting He Didn’t Have It

Whether you’re still paying for cable or have made the switch to streaming only, the fact is that it costs money watch television – and since internet is required for either option, you’re probably going to have to pay some kind of fee to get started at a new place.

When OP ran into the people moving out of his place, they told him the cable was paid through the end of the month. OP found he was able to watch basic channels, no problem.

This happened around the year 2000. I had just purchased a house and met the previous owners while they were moving out. They were really nice people and we had a friendly conversation about the house. The previous owner mentioned that the cable bill was paid up until the end of the month (about 3 more weeks), and that he had already turned in his cable box, but the cable signal should still be active til the end of the month.

I told him thanks and we let him finish packing up.

We moved in the following week and when I hooked the cable to my TV I got all the basic cable channels which was all I was planning on getting anyway.

At the end of the month he called to sign up for basic cable so he could keep on keeping on, and they told him there would be a hookup fee, since there was currently no service at his address.

Come the end of the month, I called the cable company and asked to sign up for basic cable. The sales rep told me that there was going to be a $100 hookup fee.

I told them that the previous owner had left his account active and that I was literally watching cable as we speak, so there should not need to be a hook up fee because the cable was already hooked up. They just needed to start billing me for basic cable.

He tried telling them there was, but they wouldn’t budge.

The rep then clicked on her keyboard and told me that her data showed that the address I was at does not have cable and that they will need to send out a crew to activate the signal.

I told her that I was not paying $100 for a hookup fee and said never mind, I don’t want cable.

He kept watching free cable, and tried again to start paying a month later, with the same results.

I waited another month (still had cable) and called the cable company back to ask what it would cost to get basic cable? A different operator from before said it would cost something like $30 a month and a $100 hook up fee.

I asked why the $100 hookup fee? She said that it was because my address does not currently have cable. I told her never mind, I don’t want cable unless they waive the hookup fee.

She said she was not authorized to waive the fee. I just thanked her and hung up.

OP figured two times trying to fork over his money was enough, and let it go.

4 years later, we still had cable, but we ended up moving out of state for work. 😄

I bet Reddit is going to love this one!

This commenter says that sometimes the rules work in your favor.

According to these comments, these kinds of issues run rampant.

Always ask them for proof.

No one wants to be responsible.

There are always ways around it.

No one escapes life without at least one scuffle with the cable company.

That’s just facts of life.