Action: Misused Social Security number darkened TV screen

I've been having a problem with Time Warner that I can't get straightened out. I moved into my duplex in May 2001, around the same time I got cable. I paid my bill every month, but about five to six months later, the company sent me a bill saying that its records showed that my Social Security number and someone else's name had cable before and left a back bill plus a cable box.

Although I recognized the name, it wasn't mine, and I told Time Warner so. I gave no one permission to use my Social Security number. Time Warner didn't want to hear what I said and cut off my cable.

I hate watching TV at home because I get only regular TV now. I love TV. I was so desperate that I called Time Warner, and even though the bill wasn't mine, I offered to pay it at $25 a month along with my regular bill. The company wouldn't budge.

I think it's Time Warner's fault for letting someone use my Social Security number. When I got my cable, I had to show my lease and an electric bill. Two representatives have come to my door for the two cable boxes I have. I told them I would put them in the Dumpster or I would take them to court with me. I figured that way the judge could decide who's right. Judith Miller

Response: Michael Robertson, vice president and general manager of Time Warner Cable in Clearwater, said your complaint to Action has been researched and the accounts in question reviewed. As the company has discussed with you, the old account lists your Social Security number as identification when the service was authorized. The signature on the work order also matches the signature and Social Security number provided on the work order for your new address.

Robertson said the cable company periodically checks its data base, and when it matches up information such as this, it notifies the customer that there is an outstanding debt at a previous address that must be paid to keep the current service active.

Because this is an outstanding debt, it must be satisfied in full before your current service is reactivated. If you choose to make partial payments on that debt, the company will accept them, he said, but your current service won't be turned back on until the debt is paid off.

Because you stated that you recognize the name on the old account, he suggested that it might be in your best interest to speak with that person about paying off that debt if your Social Security number was used without your permission.

With regard to the two converters to which you referred, Robertson said you don't state whether they were from your previous account or ones that the previous tenant left in the apartment for pickup. He said the company has tried many times to retrieve them.

As long as you refuse to give them up, the account holder to whom they were assigned remains responsible for them. That individual will likely incur a bad debt until the converters are physically in the company's possession again.

We suggest you reconsider your strategy of holding the converters hostage. If they are not from your account, you are creating a problem for someone else. If they do belong to your account, you will have to settle with the company one way or another before your service is restored.

As regards the outstanding debt on the old account, Robertson has outlined the only choices you have if you want to have your service restored: You can either pay the debt yourself, or you can urge the person who used your Social Security number to do so. The latter might might require legal action, particularly if your number was used without your permission.

As a final word of caution, we urge readers to guard their Social Security numbers. This would include letting others use them to set up accounts in their names.

Searching for medals

I wrote to the National Personnel Records Center on April 17, 2001, requesting replacement for awards and medals earned during World War II. I sent a second request on July 1. My third letter to the St. Louis address was sent Aug. 14. After not receiving a reply, I called the VFW office in Ocala and was told to write to my congressman. I was about to do so but remembered the Action column of July 2, 2001, titled "Medals arrive."

I am enclosing copies of my request letters plus all the records I have from my time in the Air Force (November 1942 to September 1945). I'd sure appreciate it if you could remind the office in St. Louis that I am only asking for what it offers. If St. Louis offers records of the 50 missions I completed, I would appreciate a copy. Thanks for your efforts. Bill Breuning

Response: Scott Levins, assistant director for military records, said that the National Personnel Records Center maintains more than 70-million military personnel and medical records for the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard, and thousands of requests are received each day.

Your military record was found in the area that suffered the most damage during a fire that occurred at the center July 12, 1973. Fortunately, a portion of the record was among those recovered, although it was damaged.

Levins said the center has now provided you with the form (NA Form 13059) Transmittal of and/or Entitlement to Awards, which verifies the medals and awards authorized. Because the Department of the Air Force maintains jurisdiction for issuing Air Force and Army Air Corps service medals, a copy of NA Form 13059 has been forwarded to the Air Force personnel center at Randolph Air Force Base in Texas. You may expect a direct response from there.

As a reminder, all new requests for information or documents regarding veterans may be made in writing to National Personnel Records Center, Military Personnel Records, 9700 Page Ave., St. Louis, MO 63132-5100. Request forms, pertinent phone numbers and other information are also available online at www.nara.gov.

- Action solves problems and gets answers for you. If you have a question, or your own attempts to resolve a consumer complaint have failed, write Times Action, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731, or call your Action number, (727) 893-8171, or, outside of Pinellas, toll-free 1-800-333-7505, ext. 8171, to leave a recorded request.

Requests will be accepted only by mail or voice mail; calls cannot be returned. We will not be responsible for personal documents, so please send only photocopies. If your complaint concerns merchandise ordered by mail, we need copies of both sides of your canceled check.

We may require additional information or prefer to reply by mail; therefore, readers must provide a full mailing address, including ZIP code. Names of letter writers will not be omitted except in unusual circumstances. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.

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