Buffalo, NY (WBEN) After a winter storm caused outages last weekend, some Spectrum customers were blacked out of service. Now, Assemblyman Sean Ryan is asking the cable company to make getting refunds easier.
Ryan says Spectrum is forcing customers to proactively call their customer service line and ask for a refund instead of doing so automatically. He adds many customers are reporting frustrating experiences with the system Spectrum has established. "The 800 number line is not adequately staffed and it's taking too long to get refunds," says Ryan, who notes refunds range from $5-10.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Charter Communications
400 Atlantic St.
Stamford, CT 06901
Dear Mr. Rutledge:
I write today concerning a recent outage of Spectrum’s fiber-optic network that impacted more than 2 million Spectrum subscribers in New York and the New England Region. These customers lost Spectrum’s cable television service from Friday, February 7th until 5pm on Saturday, February 8th. Spectrum is offering refunds to customers impacted by the widespread outage, which is certainly appreciated, but I am concerned about how the refunds are being managed.
Instead of providing automatic bill credits to customers that were impacted, Spectrum is forcing customers to proactively call their customer service line and ask for a refund. Many customers are reporting frustrating experiences with the system Spectrum has established.
Spectrum should make this process as easy as possible instead of forcing more than 2 million customers to go through an onerous hassle to get a refund.
Providing customers with an automatic bill credit is the best way to resolve this and I urge you to take this action immediately. In the best interests of customer service, I believe this is the best path forward. Thank you for your consideration, and I look forward to hearing from you regarding this important matter.
Sincerely,
Sean M. Ryan
New York State Assembly