Lawsuit Filed Against Suddenlink One Month After State Fines

A class-action lawsuit was filed Monday against cable provider Suddenlink for failing to provide reliable cable TV and internet service.

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court’s Southern District of West Virginia on behalf of a St. Albans resident, as well as all West Virginia Suddenlink customers from 2016 to the present day.

The suit names Suddenlink’s parent company, Altice, as a plaintiff in the case and argues that Altice’s cost-cutting practices have contributed to a decline in service.

On February 9, the company was fined more than $2 million dollars by the Public Service Commission of West Virginia for failing to provide reliable service. The Commission also ordered Suddenlink to locate a call center in West Virginia, amongst other requirements aimed at improving customer service.

The penalties stemmed from an investigation into what the Commission called, “a staggering number of quality of service complaints.” These included delays in service restoration and billing errors. The investigation found that the company had ignored thousands of customer complaints while intentionally reducing its maintenance work and budget.

The lawsuit makes repeated reference to PSC’s findings. The order specified Suddenlink’s cable services, but the suit argues to extend the order’s provisions for service improvements to Suddenlink’s internet and phone services as well.

The filing further accuses Suddenlink and its parent companies of binding customers by an unsigned agreement that the plaintiff argues is unenforceable in West Virginia.

The plaintiff is seeking an injunction to stop Suddenlink from doing several things, including hiring technicians from parent company Altice, routing customer calls out of the state, and utilizing outdated equipment.