Suddenlink Hit with Class Action After West Virginia Fine for Providing ‘Wholly Inadequate’ Internet Service

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The companies that operate as Suddenlink Communications face a proposed class action nearly a month after being fined more than $2.4 million by the Public Service Commission of West Virginia for allegedly failing to provide safe, adequate and reliable service to subscribers. 

The 34-page lawsuit stresses that Suddenlink’s “wholly inadequate” service has severely damaged the ability of West Virginia residents to engage in commercial competition, obtain information, communicate and enjoy entertainment. According to the case, Suddenlink’s failures have “significantly impeded the quality of life of West Virginians,” especially during a pandemic in which many were required to engage in remote learning or work. 

Per the complaint, the Public Service Commission of West Virginia found on February 9, 2022 that Suddenlink had failed to provide adequate service to subscribers in the state, apparently as a result of intentional cuts to its maintenance work and budget and a reduction of full-time employees. According to the suit, Suddenlink also shifted how it communicated with subscribers and ignored the thousands of consumer complaints filed as a result of these changes. 

The Public Service Commission of West Virginia found that Altice, who provides cable television service in the state as Suddenlink, painted a “rosy” picture concerning its qualifications, capabilities and intentions as far as its operations in the state. On the contrary, the lawsuit alleges that Suddenlink’s services in West Virginia are characterized by “frequent unpredicted prolonged outages, sometimes at a single home in a neighborhood, sometimes throughout an entire neighborhood.” 

The case blames Suddenlink’s apparently shoddy service on its alleged use of outdated equipment, failure to upkeep infrastructure and hardware, failure to proactively deal with vegetation encroaching on service lines and failure to staff experienced technicians and otherwise adequately train employees. The complaint also claims Suddenlink has failed to implement a crucial redundancy configuration with regard to mission-critical equipment, which causes a cascade of failures, and longer than necessary service interruptions, should one piece of equipment fail. 

According to the lawsuit, Altice has, since its acquisition of Suddenlink in 2015, sought to aggressively cut costs year after year. As the case tells it, since Altice took over Suddenlink’s operations in West Virginia, the Public Service Commission has received as of August 26, 2021 more than 2,700 customer complaints, with most filed since 2019. 

The suit states that the Public Service Commission initiated its case against Suddenlink in response to both the volume of customer complaints and the commission’s displeasure with the company’s initial response to the matter. 

Lastly, the case contends that Suddenlink’s standard customer adhesion contract is “unconscionable” as it effectively imposes no obligations on the company but a number of “unreasonable” obligations on subscribers. 

The lawsuit looks to cover all West Virginia customers of Suddenlink video service, phone service and high-speed internet service from January 1, 2016 to the present. Named as defendants in the suit are Cebridge Acquisition, LLC; Cequel III Communications I, LLC; Cequel III Communications II, LLC; and Altice USA. 

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