This is an excerpt from a letter to my neighbors:
I am in the process of trying to find out where to file a complaint against RCN for shutting off all of my television stations at 4am this morning. (I know it was 4am, because I was watching my television at the time.) I don't have an account with RCN or any other cable company. I only had the four major network stations, two PBS stations (Boston and New Hampshire), one Spanish station and the intercom surveillance on Channel 8.
I called RCN this afternoon, and spoke to a nice young man in the Chicago call center. He told me that they have been getting complaint calls from all over Boston since 7am. RCN has shut down television service in Boston, Dorchester, Hyde Park and Jamaica Plain. He also told me that to resume regular network stations (CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX, PBS, etc), I would have to pay RCN $15 a month in addition to the rental fee for my second digital converter box ($3/mo). This is up from $0 a month just twelve hours ago.
I should sign up with Comcast just for spite! It's unfair to charge a fee to watch the "free" channels; it may even be illegal. Additionally, RCN is forcing Boston residents to switch to digital nearly three months before we are required to do so.
In my research, I found out that there is a Mayor's Office of Cable Services http://www.cityofboston.gov/cable 617-635-3112. Of course, they are not open today because of the holiday. I will do more research and find out if there is anywhere else to lodge a complaint.
Get angry and get involved!
Comments
You're woefully misinformed.
SO, just to confirm: you are not an RCN customer? You can still get free TV, just not through cable. Get an antenna, and revisit this problem in early February.
I have no idea why, however, you believe RCN owes you anything at all.
You were just lucky that you had cable service that worked for free - you're not entitled to any cable service unless you subscribe & pay for it. (They could probably charge you for the time you used their service for free if they wanted to.)
Get a 5$ antenna. Thats the only way to get free channels for free. If you have an HDTV, youll get widescreen digital images for free too
It is neither unfair nor illegal for RCN to sell you access to broadcast stations through their cable lines.
If you want broadcast stations for free, get an antenna. If you don't want to deal with an antenna, you can pay a cable company to send the signal to your TV via their network of cables.
You were getting a $15 service for free... probably because RCN never disconnected the last resident's service.
Lodging a complaint with the city, and whining to your neighbors because you're no longer getting a free lunch is absurd.
Urging others to "Get angry and get involved," while you haven't even bothered to get informed about how broadcast television works is irresponsible and wastes your readers' time.
@Eric and J - The televisions in question were hooked up to the apartment building's master antenna which is included as part of my rent.
@Local - I have never stolen cable service. I had no cable service. I had the eight free stations I mentioned above. Next time, read before you comment.
@Brendan - I am not an RCN customer and I cant get the free TV stations because RCN shut off the entire building through our master antenna. I have neighbors who pay for basic every month who were forced to rent a converter box yesterday, even though the national conversion doesnt happen until February. RCN owes me nothing. I also dont owe them.
@Ward4 Precinct2 - Maybe so. But what I do understand is that many of my neighbors will be calling the City or Comcast today.
I did read what you wrote & you said you did not have an account with RCN, so I, and other readers, assumed you were not paying for cable. If your apartment includes basic cable from RCN, then you (via your landlord) are an RCN customer, and you pay it through paying your rent. Have you spoken to your landlord about it, since he or she appears to have the account with RCN?
The February conversion is not for cable, only for over-the-air antenna television reception. The cable companies can choose which stations go to digital & when they move them, even though that does not seem fair.
Find out what Comcast will charge & you might find out that they don't have any better deals. Or buy an inexpensive antenna.
No need to be rude to people who read your post.
No need to accuse me of stealing cable.
One more time, many large apartment buildings (such as mine)have a master antenna that provides network television and the security camera to residents included in the rent/maintenance payments. RCN used the master antenna to cut off the entire building. Our management company was given less than four days notice and had to convince RCN to restore the security camera. RCN went too far.
This will be my last comment on this subject, but I find it very interesting that the "readers" looked at my picture and assumed that
1. I was stealing cable,
2. that I was foolish enough to write about stealing cable on a blog that carries my picture and name, and
3. that I was trying to get something I wasnt "entitled" to have.
Interesting...
1. I didn't accuse you of anything
2. I didn't look at your picture and you certainly don't know what I look like! My response was solely based on your original post.
3. I've never heard of free cable or of an antenna controlled by cable/RCN and your original post was confusing for those of us who never heard of free cable or of receiving cable via an antenna from RCN.
4. We were actually trying to help clear up confusion between the February 2009 digital change-over and RCN and other companies dropping analog channels.
While the OP is misinformed, I do know that it is now a requirement for RCN subscribers who used a splitter in their homes (i.e., box on the main TV and a cable-ready TV in a bedroom) to pay an additional monthly fee to rent the box in the rooms attached to the splitter. Not the end of the world but certainly a huge inconvenience. Makes the Internet-based TV services a bit more interesting now...
While the OP is misinformed, I do know that it is now a requirement for RCN subscribers who used a splitter in their homes (i.e., box on the main TV and a cable-ready TV in a bedroom) to pay an additional monthly fee to rent the box in the rooms attached to the splitter. Not the end of the world but certainly a huge inconvenience. Makes the Internet-based TV services a bit more interesting now...
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