How do I get Comcast to fix a cable line?
August 29, 2016 10:38 AM Subscribe
I don't have Comcast service, but I do have an old cable line going into my house. It's broken. How do I get it fixed?
A couple of years ago, a tree branch fell on the cable line and pulled it out of the side of the house. I got it back in temporarily OK shape (I used a dog leash as an improvised pulley to yank it back up to the right height through a window, and used zip ties to keep it in place). This has lasted a couple of years, but now I want to sell the house, and the jury-rigged cable line is really ugly. And I think the way I have it rigged up, water is trickling down the line and underneath the siding, so I definitely need to get it fixed.
I've called Comcast about 4 times (starting with right when it happened), each time taking about 2 hours to get through to their line service team's phone line. They have promised to come out and fix it, but they've never called back or showed up.
Should I:
a) do something magical to get Comcast to respond to me? (write a letter?)
b) just cut the cable line and wrap it neatly by the side of the alley? Is this illegal -- they own the line right? Also this could impact my neighbors because the dead line would fall to their side of the alley.
c) order Comcast service, and have them fix it when they install, and then immediately cancel? but wouldn't they charge a few hundred bucks for that?
I'm in Minneapolis if it matters.
A couple of years ago, a tree branch fell on the cable line and pulled it out of the side of the house. I got it back in temporarily OK shape (I used a dog leash as an improvised pulley to yank it back up to the right height through a window, and used zip ties to keep it in place). This has lasted a couple of years, but now I want to sell the house, and the jury-rigged cable line is really ugly. And I think the way I have it rigged up, water is trickling down the line and underneath the siding, so I definitely need to get it fixed.
I've called Comcast about 4 times (starting with right when it happened), each time taking about 2 hours to get through to their line service team's phone line. They have promised to come out and fix it, but they've never called back or showed up.
Should I:
a) do something magical to get Comcast to respond to me? (write a letter?)
b) just cut the cable line and wrap it neatly by the side of the alley? Is this illegal -- they own the line right? Also this could impact my neighbors because the dead line would fall to their side of the alley.
c) order Comcast service, and have them fix it when they install, and then immediately cancel? but wouldn't they charge a few hundred bucks for that?
I'm in Minneapolis if it matters.
We had the same problem. I finally got someone on the phone to promise that a tech would come out and fix it. No one came and no one has said anything about the neatly cut and coiled cable hanging on the back fence.
posted by firstdrop at 10:52 AM on August 29, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by firstdrop at 10:52 AM on August 29, 2016 [2 favorites]
Remove leash, remove zip-ties; don't cut the cable line, but bundle it up if you can. Call Comcast and tell them the line was damaged in a storm a while back, and you had a temporary hold-in-place arrangement, but that was causing water damage so you removed it.
Leave a message rather than play with extensive voicemail tag games; don't bother wasting your time trying to get through to them. Potentially, also write them a letter with full details.
If the line can't be easily bundled (don't cut it), let the neighbors know that, because of water damage, you have to let down the cable line. They can call Comcast if they want.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 11:01 AM on August 29, 2016 [1 favorite]
Leave a message rather than play with extensive voicemail tag games; don't bother wasting your time trying to get through to them. Potentially, also write them a letter with full details.
If the line can't be easily bundled (don't cut it), let the neighbors know that, because of water damage, you have to let down the cable line. They can call Comcast if they want.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 11:01 AM on August 29, 2016 [1 favorite]
Speaking as a former Comcast employee they won't fix it unless you sign up for service. Do what fixedgear says.
posted by sacrifix at 11:23 AM on August 29, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by sacrifix at 11:23 AM on August 29, 2016 [2 favorites]
When I had a downed wire here in Portland, after getting tired of waiting for comcast I just reported it to the city as a safety issue. Comcast was there by mid afternoon.
posted by Dr. Twist at 11:44 AM on August 29, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by Dr. Twist at 11:44 AM on August 29, 2016 [5 favorites]
I was a Comcast customer in Maryland and still waited something like a year for them to address a wire that had fallen down very similarly to yours. Two things that seemed to get action were reporting it to the city a la Dr. Twist and also launching an executive e-mail carpet bomb. I included a bullet point list of dates and contacts and the problem was fixed within the week.
posted by goggie at 12:58 PM on August 29, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by goggie at 12:58 PM on August 29, 2016 [1 favorite]
This seems like a question for 311.
The rest of this is not legal advice.
If this were my house, and the line was is exclusively for my house (I assume so, since it sounds like its non-functional), I would just cut it as close to the pole (or wherever it emerges from) as possible without trespassing and throw it in the trash. If this house of mine were a typical Minneapolis house I would bet that the line isn't much more than one story up and could be reached near the pole with a ladder and/or a long pair of snippers like for pruning trees. When I did this thing on my house I would be extremely careful to ensure that the cable line was running independently of other lines because I would not want to cut or even touch other types of lines.
I might also keep documentation, in writing, of the requests to Comcast to get this fixed (did they email you a service appointment reminder or anything?) in a file folder for a few years after the sale. My thinking, if I were to do this at my house would be that that 1.) it can't possibly cost enough to run a new line to make it worthwhile for Comcast to pursue this in court, and 2.) if the line is damaged, to reconnect service they'd probably be running a new line anyways. 3.) the chances of Comcast having their act together enough to even remember that there was once service at your address, let alone tracking you down at your new one, are minimal.
If the new owners want service, it will be between them and Comcast to get a new line run.
posted by sparklemotion at 1:05 PM on August 29, 2016
The rest of this is not legal advice.
If this were my house, and the line was is exclusively for my house (I assume so, since it sounds like its non-functional), I would just cut it as close to the pole (or wherever it emerges from) as possible without trespassing and throw it in the trash. If this house of mine were a typical Minneapolis house I would bet that the line isn't much more than one story up and could be reached near the pole with a ladder and/or a long pair of snippers like for pruning trees. When I did this thing on my house I would be extremely careful to ensure that the cable line was running independently of other lines because I would not want to cut or even touch other types of lines.
I might also keep documentation, in writing, of the requests to Comcast to get this fixed (did they email you a service appointment reminder or anything?) in a file folder for a few years after the sale. My thinking, if I were to do this at my house would be that that 1.) it can't possibly cost enough to run a new line to make it worthwhile for Comcast to pursue this in court, and 2.) if the line is damaged, to reconnect service they'd probably be running a new line anyways. 3.) the chances of Comcast having their act together enough to even remember that there was once service at your address, let alone tracking you down at your new one, are minimal.
If the new owners want service, it will be between them and Comcast to get a new line run.
posted by sparklemotion at 1:05 PM on August 29, 2016
I'm not sure Comcast has any obligation to you as a non-customer. I also don't think anyone will care if you remove the line. If the new owner wants Comast service, they'll be happier with a fresh installation.
water is trickling down the line and underneath the siding
If you decide to keep the existing line, maybe there's enough slack to create a drip loop. The idea is that you want the cable to go up as it enters the wall to avoid the problem you mention. And maybe spraypaint the dog leash black so it's less fugly?
posted by exogenous at 1:30 PM on August 29, 2016
water is trickling down the line and underneath the siding
If you decide to keep the existing line, maybe there's enough slack to create a drip loop. The idea is that you want the cable to go up as it enters the wall to avoid the problem you mention. And maybe spraypaint the dog leash black so it's less fugly?
posted by exogenous at 1:30 PM on August 29, 2016
Just roll it up and attach it to the back of your fence or to the pole. This is not your problem.
posted by ssg at 4:35 PM on August 29, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by ssg at 4:35 PM on August 29, 2016 [1 favorite]
fixedgear is right. Just roll it up neatly and forget about it.
Chances are, too, since you are not a customer, if Comcast did roll a truck to take care of it, you might get handed a bill for the trouble. I'm not saying you definitely would be billed, but this is Comcast we're talking about.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:44 AM on August 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
Chances are, too, since you are not a customer, if Comcast did roll a truck to take care of it, you might get handed a bill for the trouble. I'm not saying you definitely would be billed, but this is Comcast we're talking about.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:44 AM on August 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
Just cut it away from the house and coil it up as neatly as you can. If you can attach it to the pole from which it comes to your house (or wherever the main splitter is that your individual line runs from), so much the better. If the new owner of the house gets Comcast service, pulling a new piece of cable out from the pole/junction is generally a pretty minor ordeal.
You've asked them to come out and deal with it, they didn't, so I'd just get it away from your house for the purposes of the sale.
posted by Kadin2048 at 7:46 AM on August 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
You've asked them to come out and deal with it, they didn't, so I'd just get it away from your house for the purposes of the sale.
posted by Kadin2048 at 7:46 AM on August 30, 2016 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Thanks everyone. For some reason I was mentally stuck for years in this loop of "it's somebody else's problem." It's in my yard, I'll just chop it down and forget about it.
posted by miyabo at 1:18 PM on September 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by miyabo at 1:18 PM on September 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by fixedgear at 10:48 AM on August 29, 2016 [5 favorites]