Hello,
Just wondering if this is normal practice. A friend of mine switched from Verizon to TWC. Got the package deal, phone, internet, and tv. The service tech cut the line cord going to one of his 500 sets, in the basement, and replaced the old terminal block on baseboard with a modular block. Is it common practice for the tech to CUT the line cord going to the phone? That's not his, or the companies property! I imagine the old hard wired block might have been bad, but he could have unscrewed the wires from the phone line cord, not just cut the cord, and then tell my friend, he can no longer use the 500 set. My friend has two other 500 sets, hard wired in the house, that work on the TWC system, and the tech left them alone. I mailed him a line cord, one end spade tips, other modular jack, and will talk him thru wiring it to the 500 set. I told him to call TWC, and complain! This cant be right, can it???

Bob

They should not be touching ANY customer owned equipment. He should file a formal complaint, for all the good it's likely to do. If there was a problem with the set causing service to fail, or some other issue, he should have asked the customer to disconnect the set. At the very least he could have unscrewed the cord from the block without cutting it. I would be BULLSH!T.

The service provider really shouldn't touch the CPE just as the end user shouldn't mouse around with the provider's stuff.

They don't know what they are doing. It is fairly common for them to find dial tone anywhere and just splice onto that.

If it was a 41A or 42A style block on the baseboard the installer unless he was totally inept, could have used a short piece of IWC and put the modular jack next to it if he had to inject dial tone from the cable gateway using a patch cord.

Another nail in the coffin that craftsmanship is lying in. Non-telecom guys doing telecom work don't understand the concept of a demarcation point.

Even more so, the basic common courtesy of don't mess with someone else's stuff. ~ Mike

As an old telecom guy I (we) know that there is a large number of ways POTS lines were connected to equipment as well as a variety of equipment itself. It took us years to learn the trade and history. As is typical of today, about all you can expect from these techs who have been doing this for maybe a year at best is that they will get you dial tone as quickly and any way possible and move on to the next job.

-Hal

Or just show up, mess everything up and then leave. They got their "complete." Now it's someone else's problem. It happens ALL THE TIME!

One day, soon, there will be no more craftspeople left. I guess that's when everything will go wireless. Maybe that's "Big Brother's" grand plan?

Rcaman

Thanks guys, for "ringing in" (sorry, couldn't help myself!)on this,

I told my friend to follow up on this, with TWC, but, he probably wont. Makes me angry, and im not even a REAL tech, just a "shade tree" phone tech! I got my first taste of the phone tech community, when I was 16, and my neighbor, who taught me most everything I know about older phones, took me to work with him, to his C/O a few times. It was all STROWGER step by step switching then (1976). I was amazed!!! been "hooked" ever since!!!

Bob

Where did he cut it at the 42A ?

Sounds like he was just too lazy to unscrew the wires.

Hi,
The TWC tech, cut the line cord going to the 500 set, right between the phone and the terminal block on the wall. I walked my friend thru wiring the cord I sent him, spade tip/modular, and he plugged it in the "new" modular jack, and its dead! This line worked before the TWC tech got to it. I think the tech caused an open, maybe while back feeding the line back out to the customer interface, to supply dial tone to the house. From what my friend tells me, this house is wired mostly old school. Two other 500 sets are hard wired in the house. The tech probably disturbed the line in question, and cause an open. The twisted pair in that house might be VERY old. Maybe he thought he would get lucky, by replacing the terminal block? I had my friend plug the 500 set, he wired, into the tel 1 port on the box that gives you dial tone, and the 500 set works fine. This guy screwed up, and ran!