I discovered I have cable......

[Amfortas]

I've been living here for 2 years and 3 month (renting) , and only today I discovered I have a cable connection ....it seems some serviceman screwed up and forgot to disconnect the service!

what do you think I should do .....

1) should I report to the cable company
2) or should I enjoy this free lunch !

If I don't report , am I a thief ?

[havocmom]

1. Some landlords/property managers provide cable.

You may wanna ask before you report.

[FormerDittoHead]

2. You should pay the cable company for 27 months of use...

No seriously, they need to the money to buy out more sports teams and competing telecom companies - they're just keeping their heads above water.

[mcscajun]

3. I'm gonna guess you didn't have a TV hooked up to it before now...

…that would mean you really don't watch much television. :)

Anyway, if your landlord isn't providing cable with your rental unit, and you're not planning on signing up for cable, I'd call 'em and have 'em disconnect it. If you hook up your TV to it and use it, that's theft, and the 'free lunch' won't be indefinite.

It might be that someone else split off your connection from a legit connection illegally, and you'll get the blame, or, when they're checking signals (as they are wont to do periodically) they'll find you. Same result.

It's called 'theft of service'.

[salin]

4. I would agree with this advice

I seem to recall a few years ago some cable companies going after "pirated service" and they weren't none to nice about it.

That said... more than a few years ago - in the last month of college - we realized that we had cable tv (just hadn't tried hooking it up til that point)... and we took the risk and watched. Cable was a lot cheaper back then, and many fewer channels - and we only risked it for a month.

But if you rent - I would call the landlord first - they may have been paying for your cable all along - (as part of your "rent") in which case you get to use it!

[Amfortas]

5. But howcome it seemed to be there for 2 years 3 months ?

didn't they check the signals during that time ?

I'll ask the landlord on monday ....

[crispini]

6. Hey, I'd go for

"don't ask, don't tell." They forgot to cut it off -- their loss.

Anyway, I think they can only zing you for like three months of service if they decide to come after you. Someone told me that, anyway, dunno how true it is....