Suddenlink FYI

A couple weeks ago, we shared correspondence from a customer of our New Bern, NC, cable system, who returned to Suddenlink after discovering that the claims of a direct broadcast satellite (DBS) company didn’t measure up to the expected reality. This week, we share a similar story from our Eureka, Calif., cable system. As before, the customer’s correspondence has been edited for space.

“A … satellite TV service … is advertising heavily in the Humboldt County area as well as nationally. In their advertising, part of what they promised is: ‘No startup costs or equipment to buy, and every package includes local channels.[’] By local channels, they don’t really mean locally produced programs from Eureka; they mean ABC, CBS, NBC out of Los Angeles. I understood that when I signed up and gave them my credit card number. They … told me that getting the so called local channels would take up to 45 days. While I waited for the local channels, I kept my cable service so that we could watch ABC and CBS programs and paid for both services. After 50 days of waiting, they … informed me that they could not deliver on their commitment to provide those local channels. The reasons that they could not deliver on their commitment [were] that the local TV providers would not grant a waiver to allow the LA station to be substituted for the local broadcasts. I can understand that because each lost customer means fewer people watching local commercials and that could impact ad sales. When they … informed me that they could not provide local channels I told them that I had no reasonable choice [but] to terminate their service and ask for a refund. I explained my situation both verbally and in a letter to their Billing Disputes Department. They responded by billing my credit card for $388.23, in addition to what I paid them for monthly service. Perhaps this letter will prevent others from making the same mistake that I made.”

A customer of the Suddenlink cable system serving New Bern, NC, recently sent the following message to us, via our main Web site. The content of this message has been edited for space and to remove the name of the direct-broadcast satellite (DBS) company referenced in the customer’s correspondence.

“… I am a ‘returning’ Suddenlink customer. After being lied to by (DBS Company X) we decided to give them a try … We had been told at the time we contracted with (DBS Company X) that we would be able to receive network broadcasts (ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox) in high definition. What they DIDN’T tell us is that THEY do not provide local or network broadcasts in high definition in the New Bern area. For that we were told we would have to use an ‘external antenna’ in addition to the TWO external antennas they had already installed. Of course it did not work, so we cancelled (DBS Company X) and have returned to our reliable, excellent Suddenlink network high definition provider. Now (DBS Company X) has been trying to bill us for an ‘early cancellation fee of $250!’ … anyone wanting to watch things like the Super Bowl, The Master’s, the World Series, etc., in high definition will have trouble doing it if they are only using (DBS Company X). Their equipment also malfunctioned continually, requiring 15 minute ‘reboots’ of their receivers, to reach their customer service took forever, and we are SO happy to be back with good old, reliable Suddenlink … ”