After we switched our television, Internet and telephone service from the Optimum package to Verizon, we received a "final service call" from a Cablevision representative. He said he was here to disconnect the cable that came from the pole on the street to our house.
He spent about 10 minutes at the junction box and left.
As soon as he was gone, we realized that our TV service and our Internet service were disconnected. I called Verizon, and they confirmed that they were unable to communicate with our router.
I called Cablevision, and they said that they may have cut the wire, but if they had inadvertently cut the wrong one they would replace it. They said that a technician would come to investigate.
Before he came, I went and looked in the junction box. A "locking terminator" had been installed between the incoming cable and the splitter inside the box. This is a device that is designed to be removed only with a special tool. I replaced the entire splitter, and the service came back up.
I was later able to remove this terminator from the splitter, and on examination I saw that the inside wires had been removed, and replaced with a rubber plug.
I called Cablevision and cancelled the service call, telling them that if a truck showed up on my property I would call the police and file a complaint against them for trespassing. During this call, their automated voice response system confirmed that indeed an appointment had been made for this disconnect for this date, December 15; hence the technician that had come initially was a legitimate company representative.
I can see no other possibility other than that Cablevision went out of their way to install a device designed to interrupt my service, that would be difficult or impossible to remove without a special tool or a service call from Verizon.
0 comments