SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Spectrum customer Ellen Mills was furious about losing her cable TV, internet and phone service for seven hours Saturday.
“That was a huge inconvenience,” said Mills, of Lisbon in St. Lawrence County. “We pay our bills on time every month.”
She called Spectrum Tuesday morning to demand compensation. But when a Spectrum customer service agent offered her a credit of “$4 and change,” she got even angrier.
“I said put me down for cancellation,” Mills said. “He said, ‘Wait a minute,' and then he came back with an offer of $20.”
Mills’ negotiating skill got her a larger refund than most of the nearly 400 Spectrum customers who responded to a syracuse.com survey this week.
Spectrum has refused to say how much of a refund it’s giving out for the outage that impacted 2 million customers.
Spectrum refund: How to claim a credit for weekend’s big outage
The outage began Friday night and expanded throughout New England and Upstate New York on Saturday as a winter storm brought down its network’s primary and backup fiber optic lines in multiple locations.
Since the company wouldn’t reveal the size of the refunds, Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard asked Spectrum customers to share with us how much they got. Nearly 400 people responded to our request.
On average, the customers reported receiving a $7.12 credit on their bills. The exact amounts ranged from a low of 69 cents to a high of $40. (We did not count a few outliers, like the $1 million refund one customer reported.)
Those who subscribed to all three of Spectrum’s services -- TV, internet and phone service -- got the highest amounts.
The refunds are not automatic. Customers must call Spectrum’s customer service line -- (855) 707-7328 -- to request one. Spectrum said it will determine the amounts on a case-by-case basis.
Customers told Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard that they were told the amounts were determined by dividing their total monthly bills by 30 to come up with the amount they pay for service daily. They were then given a credit equal to that amount.
Under that formula, a customer paying $200 a month would receive a credit of $6.66.
In some cases, however, customers who turned down the company’s first offer and pushed for a better one got it.
“They offered $4.50,” one customer said. “I said that wasn’t enough. Then she offered $10. I accepted.”
One customer got a better offer by calling a second time: “First call, told me $4. Second call, they credit me $15 after complaining."
Others, though, said their attempts to get a bigger credit failed.
“They said if we didn’t lose power for over 24 hours, the $5 courtesy credit was the best they could do,” said one customer.
Many said the amounts they got were not enough to compensate them for the inconvenience.
“A whopping $9,” a customer said. “I can retire now.”
“$6.69. Nice huh! I can buy a 6 pack of bad beer,” said another.
Jim Newman, of Syracuse, said a customer service agent told him he would receive a $5 credit on his next bill for losing his TV, internet and phone service for one hour on Saturday. Problem is, he actually lost service for five to six hours, he said.
“I wish we had other alternatives,” Newman said. “I would switch in a minute.”
Many felt the company should automatically provide refunds rather than requiring people to call and request one.
“Absolute joke - they should automatically refund ALL affected,” wrote one customer.
Rick Moriarty covers business news and consumer issues. Have a question or news tip? Contact him anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3148
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