CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The state Public Service Commission issued a Final Order in its investigation into Suddenlink’s quality of service on Wednesday, fining the company more than $2.2 million.
According to the order, the state Public Service Commission (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.
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, a release stated.
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.
“Suddenlink’s conduct and performance with respect to its operations in West Virginia have been nothing short of egregious,” stated PSC Chairman Charlotte Lane in a release.
“There is no excuse for its conduct except to increase its bottom line, doing so with a blatant disregard for its subscribers. Suddenlink should be penalized for its actions.”
Further in the order, the commission ordered Suddenlink to locate a call center in West Virginia. The company is to notify the commission within 90 days, detailing its expected location and the anticipated date the center will open.
Kent Carper, the Kanawha County Commission President applauded the order. He said the opening of a call center in the Mountain State was the anchor of his testimony before the PSC during public hearings.
“How ridiculous when you’ve tried to talk to someone, they were in a foreign county, you couldn’t understand them and nothing came about it. Now this is West Virginia, if you want to do business here you ought to be here,” Carper told MetroNews Wednesday.
READ: PSC’s final order into Suddenlink investigation
Lane met with representatives of Suddenlink last year to discuss the staggering number of quality of service complaints the PSC had received, including delays in service restoration, billing errors, the inability to place orders for service or contact personnel regarding the status of service, a release stated.
Suddenlink was directed to provide the PSC a correction plan within 30 days following meetings with Lane. The PSC stated that in response, Suddenlink sent a letter that contained neither a correction plan nor details of the steps that the company had taken to improve service.
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.”
Delegate Daniel Linville (R-Cabell), the chair of the House Technology and Infrastructure Committee told MetroNews Wednesday that he hopes the money goes back to the customers. Suddenlink has over 133,000 cable television customers in West Virginia.
“The reality of complaints has been that customers have not been able to address their concerns. From a billing standpoint, service quality standpoint, and a technical assistance standpoint. The people that deserve the money are the people that have been paying the only option they’ve traditionally had to these internet and cable services,” said Linville.
Linville, who has welcomed constituents to express displeasure with Suddenlink, said he was pleased with the order from the PSC. He said there has been well-established fact patterns of customer service and operation failures.
Carper hopes the company learns its lesson with this order.
“The cable company cannot just turn around now and give a wink and a nod and raise rates to recoup the money. They need to learn a lesson from this or we’ll be back before the Public Service Commission as soon as they start what they were doing in the past,” he said.
Additional information, including Wednesday’s order is available on the PSC website by referencing Case No. 21-0515-CTV-SC-GI.