Charter signs $174 million settlement agreement with New York following low-quality service...

[Polycount]

Everybody loves to hate their internet service provider, but few ISPs have been the source of as much anger as Charter - at least, in New York.

If you weren't aware, the company has been locked in a bitter legal dispute with New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood for some time now, due to complaints that the ISP had been "defrauding" its customers and providing poor service.

That battle is finally over now, as Charter has signed a settlement agreement with Underwood. The total amount Charter will need to shell out for damages come in at around $174.2 million. That sum is comprised of $62.5 million in direct customer refunds, as well as free streaming services and "premium channels."

The refunds are going out to around 700,000 subscribers (each of which will only get $75-$150), whereas the freebies will be offered to 2.2 million subscribers.

"This settlement should serve as a wakeup call to any company serving New York consumers: fulfill your promises, or pay the price," Underwood said in a statement. She went on to note that her settlement with Charter is the "largest-ever consumer payout" by an ISP in US history.

Underwood's settlement doesn't stop with refunds and free channels, though. It also forces Charter to implement a "series of precedent-setting marketing and business reforms."

Though the full breadth of those reforms isn't clear, they will reportedly include "the requirement to describe internet speeds as 'wired,'" and to "substantiate" them through frequent internet speed tests.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/77928-charter-signs-174-million-settlement-agreement-new-york.html

 

[amstech]

$150? Corruption I guess, has been legal for a long time now.
F**k your customers royally, get caught, pay a minor charge, continue to f**k your customers.

 

[VitalyT]

This settlement should serve as a wakeup call to any company serving New York consumers: fulfill your promises, or pay the price

You wish! In reality this always turns into "disguise the fraud better, pay the right people, and don't get caught".

 

[senketsu]

Sadly a lot of these type settlements don't work out well for the end person.
I joined a class action lawsuit over the Feds losing a laptop that contained ALL of my information (personal and banking) as well as about 583,000 others.
They settled for $17.5 million. Every person whose info was lost is due $60 (based on 4 hours of inconvenience according to the documents) while the lawyers are getting $5,250,000 plus taxes.
If you do the math, 583,000 x 60 comes to about $35 million, much larger than 17.5 mil. so guess what, if everyone applies for their $60, you can't get 60 bucks, there isn't enough money so you'll get less. What a waste of everyone's time....

edit: It seems in this case it was worthwhile since you may get a little back on the bill, but we'll see if the law is enforced on them or once this blows by it's 'back to the business'

 

[wiyosaya]

As I see it, this is I am sure Spectrum will continue to provide the same customer service. Maybe there will be some truth in advertising, maybe not. I bet the execs at Spectrum are snickering and raising their middle fingers to NYS. I have a feeling we have not seen the end of this issue in NYS.

On that note, there is a fiber service in my area of NYS that recently announced their base speed will be 500 Mbps down and 50 Mbps up for $50/mo. Unfortunately, I cannot get them yet, but even though I dropped Spectrum for a wireless data only service, I would switch instantly to this service if/when it comes to my street.