CHARLESTON, W.Va. — State Public Service Commission Chairman Charlotte Lane says the quality of service for cable operator Suddenlink Communications deteriorated when it was purchased by European-based Altice USA in 2015.
On Wednesday, the State Public Service Commission (PSC) fined Suddenlink more than $2.2 million as part of a Final Order in its investigation into Suddenlink’s quality of service. The PSC found the company, had failed to provide safe, adequate and reliable service to its West Virginia subscribers of its cable, internet and phone service.
“We found from that day, that Suddenlink has failed to provide safe, adequate and reliable service to its West Virginia subscribers,” Lane said on Thursday’s MetroNews ‘Talkline’ referencing when Altice bought Suddenlink.
The PSC also ordered Suddenlink to locate a call center in West Virginia. Lane said Suddenlink had a call center in Parkersburg as late as 2015 but Altice closed the center and let go of all employees.
Lane said the PSC has given Suddenlink 90 days to give them a proposal as to where this call center will be and how they plan to staff it.
The PSC also determined that Suddenlink intentionally reduced its maintenance work and budget, reduced the number of full-time employees, changed its method of communicating with customers and ignored thousands of customer complaints.
Complaints included that customers were unable to get a hold of anyone during service outages and when they did, there were language barriers in calls. Other complaints included that customers scheduled service calls but technicians would be continuously late, not qualified to do the work or not even show up.
The order stated that the PSC received 2,766 customer complaints as of August 2021 since its investigation was launched. Lane met with representatives of Suddenlink last year to discuss the staggering number of quality of service complaints.
“Suddenlink does not have a culture of customer service and that is the major overriding problem I have found. It was that Suddenlink just did not have a concept of what it means to provide good customer service,” Lane said.
READ: PSC fines Suddenlink $2.2 million, orders company to open WV call center in final order
The PSC assessed immediate penalties of $2,242,000, which is the maximum penalty to date. The body also has the authority to impose future penalties.
Lane said the money would go back to West Virginia’s 139,000 cable customers in the form of credit. Lane said it’s estimated a customer would get around $16 on its next bill.
“We have provided that Suddenlink will have to give a credit to all of its cable subscribers as of yesterday’s date to pay that $2.2 million,” Lane said.
A spokesperson for Altice USA, Suddenlink’s parent company, released the following statement to MetroNews on the PSC order:
“Suddenlink shares the State’s goal of ensuring West Virginians receive high-quality service and have a positive customer experience. We have made and continue to make substantial investments in our network and customer support that are resulting in significant improvements in performance. We have cooperated with the WV PSC over the course of its review and are reviewing today’s order.”
Additional information, including Wednesday’s order is available on the PSC website by referencing Case No. 21-0515-CTV-SC-GI.