The consumer advice center is currently warning about so-called media advisors at the front door. These often pressure tenants into new contracts under false pretenses. This could get expensive.

The so-called additional cost privilege still applies to cable connections. If there is a cable connection for TV and internet in an apartment building, the owners are allowed to pass on the costs to all tenants via the utility bill. They have to pay even if they don’t use the connection at all.

The fact that this is no longer up to date has already been stipulated in the Telecommunications Act. However, a transition phase still applies until June 30, 2024. The consumer advice center warns against media consultants or technicians who go from door to door and threaten tenants with switching off the cable connection. The actual goal is for you to conclude expensive new contracts, similar to the scam with fiber optic connections.

The people who go door to door do so on a freelance basis and are usually actually traveling on behalf of the cable network operators. However, it is not about objective advice, but about concluding as many contracts as possible. Because only then will you receive a commission.

The consumer advice center advises:

Basically, there are various ways in which you can access your television program. Cable is just one of them and that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Tenants now only have a free choice, because up to now it has often been the case that many tenants use cable because they have to pay for it anyway.

In addition to cable, there is also terrestrial TV reception (DVB-T2), as well as television via satellite (DVB-S2) or IP-TV. We have summarized the advantages and disadvantages of the different methods in this article. If you don’t watch much TV, you might even be able to get by with completely free offers.

By the way, you can also use the Internet and telephone via the cable connection if you don’t have a TV contract. The providers then install so-called filter boxes that prevent television reception via TV cable.

The original for this article “Technicians are ringing particularly often now, but they shouldn’t go into the apartment” comes from chip.de.