A few years back, Suddenlink Communications was purchased by a company called Altice, USA and is now their subsidiary. The merger may have gone well for both companies, but instead of improving their customer services and supporting their customers with A-1 technical services when needed, their now so-called VIP customers are no longer treated like VIP customers. I thought I knew what VIP meant, but I was wrong.
Today is May 16, 2018, and the company did not skip a beat when it came time to charge me for my Internet and phone services right on the first of the month, even while they did not provide services to me every day in April as I paid for those services. Let me explain…
This VIP customer had his Internet and phone services disconnected not because he didn’t pay his bill. Instead, an incompetent service technician came to my home, did not announce that he was on my property and then disconnected ALL remaining services. The event happened on April 13 while I was on the Internet preparing my taxes, as I still needed to file them online by the deadline that is typically April 15. But this year, because the last day to submit Federal taxes, was on Sunday, the IRS moved the deadline date to April 17. Still, my goal was to have my taxes complete by April 15, because I had other things planned during the upcoming week. Thanks to Suddenlink Communications, my taxes were not done by April 15th.
This technician did not knock on my door and ask if everything was still OK after he performed his work, but instead, did his thing and then left me high and dry, without Internet or phone services. His orders were to install a filter at the D-mark to completely block TV services, as I had that service removed from my account the prior month, and not to disconnect Internet and phone services. At first, I thought that my services just went out temporarily, as it usually does periodically throughout the month and the company never explains why it happens. They express no accountability. You cannot reach this company when services go out, especially if it is a significant outage, because all you get on the phone is a recording stating the problem and you cannot talk to any representative of the company in real-time. They claim that they will call you when the outage is over if you want them to, but I have yet to receive a phone call after an outage.
After realizing that the services were not returning, I called Suddenlink Communications, and I told them that I had no service. They explained to me that my Internet and phone services are disconnected by mistake and that Suddenlink Communications would send out a technician to correct the error and re-hookup my services, but the appointment was set for Sunday, April 15th?!!!! Really? !*&@^$!(*8?. That meant that I would have to wait two more days.
Yes, they decided that it was OK that I would be without services until Sunday, April 15. Then I was worried that my taxes may get filed late or that I may have to file an extension because I didn’t know if I would have time on Monday or Tuesday to get them done. It was important to me that they are done on the weekend. I was without services for two days, and my bill was not adjusted for not having services, due to no fault of my own. I called the company back and talked with Supervisor #1, and he promised me that someone would instead show up on Saturday instead of Sunday as that was the earliest that someone could show up. I waited for the technician to show, but no one came to my home. On Saturday night I talked to Supervisor #2 and was told that Supervisor #1 tried to contact me by phone and that no one was available to come to my home because they were too busy on other appointments for Saturday. How could that be? I waited patiently for a phone call informing me that someone would be at my home shortly. So what Supervisor #2 told me about Supervisor #1 was an outright lie. The technician did not come out until after 10 AM on Sunday, and I missed the only Sunday service at my church in Van Alstyne at 9:00 AM. Supervisor #2 told me that because it was the technician’s mistake, which he or someone of some intelligence should have returned the same day and re-hooked up my services. THAT NEVER HAPPENED!
Finally, when a technician came out and hooked up my services on Sunday, April 15, 2018, the work was completed in less than 10 minutes. But I had to wait the entire weekend to get this job done. He went right to the D-mark and hooked me back up. He corrected a previous technicians mistake. I now had Internet and telephone services restored. This technician was courteous and knew his job. He was very kind to me, even though I was dismayed and not too kind to him. I remembered him from a prior service call, and even during that time, he provided the best services that I could ever expect him to deliver.
Since the company seems not care that they provided a VIP customer such a dis-service, I may canvass the neighborhood and find out who also feels that they are being mistreated by them.
Presently, this website only tells my story. Maybe I’m their only customer that is having these problems, but I’d bet my life on it that I’m not the only one. Time will tell. I do not doubt that there are lots of other stories out there. Why does this company provide this kind of service?
The bottom line here, if this company would not hire incompetent technicians, issues like this could be avoided. If excellent customer service could be provided to ALL customers, this website would not have to exist.
The story goes on, as it is now the middle of May, I still have services connected, but service speeds have dropped to a very unacceptable rate of just 10 Mbps or lower. I subscribe to 400 Mbps. The issue has existed since Monday, May 14th, and I’m still waiting to get the issue resolved. Thank you Suddenlink Communications for making me feel like a very VIP customer.
If you feel that you are a victim of Suddenlink Communications or of any company that you have a severe issue with that is not getting resolved in a timely matter, then File a complaint with your local consumer protection offices or the state regulatory agency or licensing board that has jurisdiction over the seller of the service. Notify the Better Business Bureau (BBB) in your area about your problem. The BBB tries to resolve your complaints against companies and makes others aware that you have issues with a specific company.
https://www.usa.gov/consumer-complaints
To post your complaints on this website, please send your story or comments to:
admin@suddenlinkcomplaints.com
Your submission will be reviewed before submission
ATTENTION ALTICE U.S.A (Suddenlink)
If I continue to have problems with Suddenlink service, I will expand this website and list all the complaints that I’m made aware of.