PCOs are the most evil thing ever. (1 Viewer)

[Adam Tyner]

My apartment complex recently switched to Apartment Mediaworks, a private cable operator, which is among the worst service I've received from any company in 23 years I've been alive. Is anyone else having to deal with one of these monstrosities? Optel and Advanced TeleMedia are two other PCOs, and I can't imagine them being any worse than the company I'm forced to use. We're not allowed to use other cable companies, and I don't have an unobstructed view of the south sky, so DSS is out.
Anyway, I sent this excessively polite letter to the CEO of the company -- http://reit.pair.com/tyner/mediaworks/sucks.html)
Thanks for letting me vent here ,
-Adam
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[Edited last by Adam Tyner on September 23, 2001 at 02:45 PM]

 

[Bruce Hedtke]

My question is: Is this a provision of your lease or rental agreement? Your landlord cannot deny you access to other forms of recieving cable access if they are available unless you expressly gave written permission to do so. But, I don't live in a complex so I am not certain on the legal platforms that they operate in. It could very well be that they have the right to do this, but it just seems fishy if that is true.
Bruce
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[MikeAlletto]

There was a law passed a little while ago stating that the apartment complexes cannot stop you from getting other cable providers. If a local one can't install there, then by law you can get a dish.
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Michael Alletto
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[Adam Tyner]

I have no idea. Nothing in my lease or any of the documentation given to me when I moved in makes any mention of cable service whatsoever. MediaWorks sent me a number of letters in May saying that Charter Communications would no longer be providing service to my complex at the beginning of June. When the MediaWorks service technician came over to my apartment, he mentioned that Charter was almost finished removing all of their equipment, so I guess they're out of here for good.
The only view of the south sky I have is on the opposite end of my apartment, which I guess is 30-40 feet from the television in my living room. I'm not really up on dish set-ups, so how would that work? I'm not particularly keen on the idea of having wires running everywhere, but it'd certainly be worth the trade-off.
Edit -- I did some research, and South Carolina apparently doesn't have any mandatory access statutes for this sort of thing.
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[Edited last by Adam Tyner on September 23, 2001 at 04:09 PM]

 

[Bruce Hedtke]

Adam,
I see what you're saying now and I don't envy it. I thought that your landlord or the owners of the complex had decided to use that particular company for cable access and in effect, were "forcing" all the tenants to use that company. But, it looks like Charter is pulling out and this Mediaworks is the only company that will be providing service...so, in other words, that is the only cable access you do have.
As for the dish, 30-40 feet is not that long of a run. The only question is where the dish might be located, but I do believe that the landlords are bound to allow you to install a dish to recieve a signal. Now, as to where he/she might allow that, that is muddy and you would need to check into that.
Bruce
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[Adam Tyner]

quote: . I thought that your landlord or the owners of the complex had decided to use that particular company for cable access and in effect, were "forcing" all the tenants to use that company.[/quote]I think this is what they're doing. South Carolina doesn't have any mandatory access statutes, and I found a couple of things on Google where apartment complexes/condos here in the South have signed deals with PCOs, barring larger companies access entirely. A PCO like MediaWorks isn't subject to the same sort of regulation as a company like Charter or Comcast.
30-40 feet isn't that long, but that's more of an 'as the crow flies' sort of estimate from my TV to the window at the total opposite end of the apartment. The rules and regulations for dish placement at this complex are extremely rigid, and although I'm not 100% certain, I believe just where my particular apartment happens to be makes it nearly impossible to comply with those requirements.
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[Edited last by Adam Tyner on September 23, 2001 at 05:55 PM]

 

[Glenn Overholt]

You might try calling the local cable company. They might be allowed to do it but just don't advertise it.
In my area, we have a cable regulatory committee, and they can really yell at the cable companies.
As for the dish, do you have private deck on the other side? If you do, they can't stop you from setting one up. You'd just have to run one coax line, and more than likely, you can push it under the floorboards on the walls. You'd only have to worry if it got over 100 feet, and you can hang them (if possible) from the tops of door openings. You'd have a much better picture.
Glenn

 

[Adam Tyner]

Thanks for the suggestion, Glenn. I'll give them a call later this week. Worst thing they can say is no. I don't know how much good a cable regulatory committee could do in this case, since the company providing my service now is technically an SMATV operator, not a CATV operator like Charter.
Unfortunately, the other side just has a window, not even so much as a windowsill, and I'm fairly sure that putting a dish there would disrupt 'consistency'. The general rule of thumb at this place seems to be that you can have as much crap on the front or back of your apartment as you like so long as nothing juts out the side. The rules at my complex prohibit putting a dish on the roof, and the only way I could get an unobstructed view of the south sky would be to have the dish out of that particular window. I'm strongly considering moving (I have no real attachments to this place), but alas, I'm a very lazy person.
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[AdrianJ]

As for the dish, the general rule is that apartment complex cannot forbid you from having them. However, they can stop you from mounting them against any of their property. So basically you are limited to being able to mount them on a seperate post on your balcony or porch.
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Adrian Jones

 

[Glenn Overholt]

Adrian - Yeah, I know about the restrictions on mounting them. That's a no, no, but how about this?
You mount the dish stand onto one side of an inverted "U" shaped bracket. You could open one window up and place the inverted "U" over your window sill. No property damage. As long as no one could bump their heads or other body parts on it you should be ok, no?
Glenn

 

[CRyan]

Someone here can give you the URL for the FCC ruling on satellite. I no longer have it, but it is worth reading. I know that an apartment complex cannot forbid you from mounting a dish on your property as long as you abide by their rules regarding the mounting of said dish. However, I am not sure if it can hang out over their property. You need to read the legislation for yourself. Hopefully someone can give a link here.
C. Ryan
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http://www.elitestoragedesigns.com/RyanOAR.bmp
[Edited last by CRyan on September 24, 2001 at 02:28 AM]

 

[Rachael B]

The F.C.C. rule boils down to this: apartment dwellers can mount dishes or antenas on the outdoor space reserved for their use only, which would be your pattio or balcony. The outside walls and windowsills beyond your balcony are considered commons areas. Commons areas are considered off-limits for dishes without land-lord approveal. Mine won't give me permission. My balcony faces notheast and trees are around too. You get the feeling that landlords might get kickbacks from the cable companies for every resident who buys cable. Mine won't go one inch past what the FCC sez he must do.
My south facing wall has no window. If it did, I would mount a dish inside. This is quite possible. I saw it done in a mag article once, and a neibhor at a previous apartment I resided in did it too. I'm so fed up with Crumcast, I'd love to knock a few bricks out and make a window! I'm going to complain to the FCC that my landlord is denying me access to HDTV since the only way, presently in this one horse town, is via satelite. I don't know if my spark will light a fire, but like my old friend Rossana Anna Dana always said, "it's always somethin' ". It's worth a try.
Cable TV shouldn't have a captive audience. I feel like a captive! Best wishes!
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Rachael, the big disc cat! "...Mandrake, have you ever seen a commie drink water..."
AFI Film Challenge, hey I've only got 1 to go!
[Edited last by Rachael B on September 24, 2001 at 03:58 AM]

 

[Ryan Wright]

http://www.fcc.gov/csb/facts/otard.html
Enjoy.
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-Ryan (http://www.ryanwright.com )
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes.
That way, when you do criticize them, you'll be a mile away and you'll have their shoes.