Insight's "Leak test"

[Jeff Johnson]

So, I get a call at the office on my cell (our primary number now) and it was Insight wanting to get access to our house to do a "leak test".  I told them I was out of town and they'd have to call the missus, which they did.

Found out later that the missus denied them access, because Insight had done the same thing to our daughter who lives in Mt Washington, and told them that due to the signal they had to pay to upgrade their equipment (or change plan?).  Thus, Holly said keep your people out of our house, that we would call if there was any issue with our signal/service.

I know there are some Insight people in the club, and not sure if they can confirm/deny this without getting in trouble.  Has anyone else (Insight employee or not) heard about this, and is it a bogus way of upcharging?  If so, be aware if they want to get in your house for a leak test.

[Chris Hettinger]

I was told that they needed to do a "technical analysis" on our system.  All we have is bargain 1.0 internet and had just canceled our cable.  When I told the phone rep this, she lost her composure and said "Ok, well I guess you are good then".

[jesco w]

those tech guys they have running round most of em will try an sell you your own  yard !
 
   last guy tried to tell me my cable modem an router was outdated an i needed new ones ,   i told him to stfu  in a nice way and id rather have no service then pay for upgrade i didnt need ,              he started trying to talk technical so i told him hold on id get my own testing tools out an check , so then he changed it to somthen at the main office that didnt like my "outdated hardware"  .      still told him no and F off !     

     long story short some of the guys they have working for them in the field full of shit !
       

On Fri, May 18, 2012 at 7:38 AM, Jeff Johnson <jeffj...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Jeff Johnson]

About 2 years ago, I had an issue with something in my system that their tech guy (a contractor) came out to fix.  While he was there, I showed him a TV that was fuzzy (but didn't have a box, went straight cable).  He said it was normal for TV's that didn't have a box.  I was like wtf?

So, I found the VP's email address and sent a nice email detailing the experience.  30 minutes later, his secretary called wanting me to meet 2 of their best techs at my house to fix it.  I was impressed.  Long story short, I had a bad splitter in my system.

[Aaron VerDow]

It seems odd to me that they'd willingly come to check for problems without knowing there was a problem.  I know Insight contracts out a lot of work and it wouldn't surprise me if some contractors during slow times would try to drum up some business.  As for signal levels with internet they can log into your modem and see the signal strength there.  The person only needs to be at your house to find what's causing the low signal strength, not if it exists.  With TV I don't think they have a way to measure signal remotely, but unless you report any problems I don't see why they would want to come check on things.

If you are having internet troubles always check the lower channels on your TV and see if they are fuzzy.  The internet band butts up your lower TV channels so signal issues for your internet will usually show in the form of static on your lower channels.  If someone tries to sell you a higher modem and you have this problem you can show them the TV channels and say "No, this is clearly a signal issue because it's affecting my TV also."

TL;DR:

If everything works, you can probably safely deny any checks.  If something's broke, call tech support and they'll send someone out.

[Dustin Essington]

When i upgraded my service with them, they told me on the phone that i had to get a new router. When the tech showed up and saw the cisco edge router and switches he quickly changed his mind about setting up some derpy soho layer3 switch.

Sent from my iPhone

[Pat McCarthy]

Same here…

After a quick look at the rack mounted switch, wireless routers, and patch panel….

 

Never mind…..

 

Heh

 

 

Patrick McCarthy

 

T 502.476.9878

C 502.939.1756

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The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed
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[Raj]

>I know there are some Insight people in the club, and not sure if they can confirm/deny this without getting in trouble.  Has anyone else (Insight employee or not) >heard about this, and is it a bogus way of upcharging?  If so, be aware if they want to get in your house for a leak test.

After reading the similar experiences from others on the list, I wouldn't be surprised to see a class action law suit in the future about these shady business practices.

---

From: Jeff Johnson <jeffjohnvol@gmail.com>
To: lvl1@googlegroups.com
Sent: Friday, May 18, 2012 7:38 AM
Subject: {LVL1} Insight's "Leak test"

[Jamie Copeland]

If there is a "leak" it can be observed without entering. Ask if emissions have been observed that are indicative of a leak. Then ask for documented proof of it. If not tell em to pound sand.

Sincerely,

Your local mentally challenged cable company employee.

[Christopher Cprek]

I got the same automated call today saying I had an appointment
scheduled for a leak test tomorrow. Funny, because I never scheduled
such a thing and it was for my old apartment. I stayed on the line
cancelling the phantom appt until it kicked me back to a phone rep. I
told them to go fly a kite.

Now I'm really curious what this is all about.

Chris

[Aaron VerDow]

Could they be looking for leaks as in people stealing cable?

[Randy C.]

More like looking for leaks in your wallet, seeing if there's a hole
they can reach in and pull something out.

[Jason Dodd]

There are many leaks...
Hulu, XBMC, Boxee, Roku, Mirro to name but a few.

[Essobi]

Yup. I'm in j-town. They tried to schedule a "leak test" too. My wife said well.. We never made an appointment and we're at the doctor. The guy apologized and said it wasn't mandatory but if we could reschedule to call him. I told my wife they didn't need in the house to do a leak test and to tell them to bite it.

Essobi

[Jeff Johnson]

Wow, thanks for all the responses.  Definitely seems to be some kind of scheme.  Maybe some of the Time Warner masters are pushing their dark ways into Insight proper.

[Randy C.]

Just came back from a house where the Insight installer "kid" took my
setup of
2 DD-WRT WRT54GL's (router/repeater) out of line and told the customer
they
were "throwing thousands of errors" - took them out of line, hooked
them back together wrong,
and installed a Netgear router in it's place so they could charge the
cust an extra $5 a month.

Ain't nothing in the logs to suggest any errors.

Arrrgh!

[Essobi]

Looks like insight is the newest hustler on the block. *sigh*



Kyle Stone

[Jason Dodd]

I wasn't charged for my router, which I'm not using, but I was charged
for the modem and they said I had to use their modem.

[Dustin Essington]

They force people to use their modem so you are less likely to
override the config file and get faster speeds.

Sent from my iPhone

[Jason Dodd]

We tried to tell them years ago they need to get on board with the tv a
la carte in both the way they charge for channels and when you can watch
them. I haven't watched broadcast or cable TV in months and unless they
somehow lock down tv sites like hulu, individual channel sites like
abc.com, tbs.com, nbc.com, etc, and video podcasts, I don't think I will
again.

I feel like the tv part of cable companies is sort of like Borders and
and ebooks.

[Joseph Harper]

Just for clarification from a former charter employee, the technology for the "al la carte" cable is called "switched digital video" or SDV

[James Copeland]

You can use whatever modem you like. And uncapping cable modems doesn't really work any longer. Unless you want a nice permaban from the attempts. Definitely open to be educated by anyone who fancies themselves an docsis guru.

[jesco w]

this is a good read on docsis ,, it outdated but worth reading

http://www.amazon.com/Hacking-Cable-Modem-What-Companies/dp/1593271018

       A local wrote some of the code in it ,  shes cool an a ninja