I can't think of a single reason to touch anyone else' cabling, for any reason other than removing it to change over to something else, if it was damaged by someone else or if they were only responsible for the rough-in. Obviously, ATT, Time Warner and the other providers don't do only the rough-in, but I have asked about the hiring practices of ATT and T-W installers, in a way that doesn't come off as "You suck and here's why..."- more in a way that makes them think I'm interested in working for them and being interested in their qualifications.

They're not asking for much.

A homeowner asked the alarm guy if a cable could be removed, so he went into the next room, cut it and removed everything, back to the demarc box. Guess who got an e-mail, telling me that the internet wasn't working. I went there, looked at the ceiling and saw that the Cat5 was gone and then saw that it was clipped a couple of feet from where it passes through the 2" hole in the plaster ceiling on its way to the base cabinet in the office, along with my speaker cables and several other network cables and at least one coax. I told the homeowner that the alarm guy probably cut it and that he should come back to fix it. Got the "It's working" message and the next time I was there, I saw that what had been a white Cat5e is now black, fastened to some of the pipes and conduit with white electrical tape in a room that has a finished ceiling and is painted white. In the adjacent mechanical room, it was taped to the pipes with white tape in very few spots before it eventually passed through the basement window frame. While I walked around the house to make sure nothing was needed and saw that the alarm guy had just laid the cable on the ground along the outside of the garage and kitchen as it made its way to the demarc box. It could have been chewed by an animal or chopped by a weed wacker, but the guy didn't seem to care.

This homeowner like neat cabling and knowing that, I also looked at the pipe where the old electric service had been installed. It had four sets of ATT cables and a pair of abandoned coax- only one of which was needed (the currently used ATT drop). I removed everything and when I re-ran the new black Cat5e, I passed it through the garage wall so it could be attached to the other cables that were fastened to the inside wall on their way to the hole that goes into the basement.

I guess pride in workmanship isn't something they look for when hiring installers.