Firm-Wide blog

Many businesses rely on providing their employees and customers with access to reliable high-speed internet and are willing to pay higher fees to obtain such service; however, businesses that paid for Time Warner Cable (now Spectrum) cable internet services may not be getting what they bargained for. Businesses with Spectrum internet service may be experiencing internet connections well below the advertised speed, unreliable internet service, and “throttled” access to popular websites. A lack of fast and reliable internet may lead to reduced employee efficiently and lower customer satisfaction.

On February 16, 2018, a New York state judge released its opinion that a lawsuit brought against Charter Communications may continue to proceed. The lawsuit, brought by the New York Attorney General, alleges that Charter Communications  and its subsidiaries Time Warner Cable and Spectrum Cable (collectively called “Charter”), “conduct[ed] a deliberate scheme to defraud and mislead New Yorkers by promising internet service that they knew that could not deliver.”

The New York Attorney General’s complaint alleges two major components of Charter’s “scheme.” First, that Charter made misrepresentations regarding available internet speeds. Charter advertised tiered packages ranging from 20 to 300 megabits per second, allowing customers to select their desired internet speed and pay the associated fee that increased with each faster-speed tier. These internet speeds were guaranteed to be “reliable” and delivered “consistently.” However, according to the complaint, Charter did not deliver these guaranteed levels of speed and service.  For many customers, the speeds were technologically impossible to deliver as many of their modems (leased by Charter) were incapable of achieving the advertised speeds. The complaint further alleges that Charter failed to maintain its network to adequately deliver the guaranteed speeds. The second component of the complaint alleges that Charter misrepresented that its customers would have reliable and uninterrupted access to all internet content, but also failed to deliver on this promise by failing to maintain enough network capacity and effectively “throttling” access to content providers such as Netflix causing slowdowns and unreliable access.

While the New York Attorney General’s lawsuit is limited to Charter’s actions affecting New York customers only, there is a reason to believe that the alleged misrepresentations and wrongdoing occurred in other states.

If you own a business that is or has been a subscriber of a high-speed internet package from Charter Communication (or one of its subsidiaries Time Warner Cable or Spectrum Cable) and you believe that you were misled about the offered internet speed or reliability, contact an experienced business litigation attorney at Burg Simpson Ohio today. Our award-winning lawyers would be happy to discuss your potential claim. Call 1-800-713-9340 or fill out our contact form here for a FREE no-obligation consultation.