Thread by @mpt86

@OptimumHelp @optimum @AlticeUSA I am contacting you to try one last time to resolve an account problem I have tried to resolve many times. Each time I contact optimum I am told the problem is fixed, but it persists. I have been advised by @NewYorkStateAG to submit a complaint..

for mediation to their Bureau of Consumer Frauds & Protection (the @NewYorkBBB has also advised that I should submit a complaint), but I will try in good faith one more time to allow you to fix your mistakes without involving the authorities.

On 9/2/20 at 3:22pm I called optimum because in the 9 months I'd had service, I had never received the service I pay for. I pay for a download speed of 200 Mbps, but have never even gotten 50Mbps. My speed swings wildly, the lowest I've found was 1.78Mbps, the highest 46.19Mbps.

While I understand that wifi speeds will not be as high as those with an ethernet connection, I have never gotten even 25% of what I pay for, even if I put my computer right next to the modem/router. Since optimum is unable to provide the service I pay for,I asked for a change...

to my account, so that I would pay for the service I actually receive. This is a very reasonable request. I spoke to Nicole,then Brandy. Brandy said that if I downgraded my service, I would have to pay more each month. She asked if I wanted to upgrade, which would also cost more.

This seemed nonsensical to me; I questioned why I would upgrade if optimum already couldn't provide 200Mbps. So my options, according to her, were to downgrade and pay more, or upgrade and pay more. But there was no option for me to get the service I actually pay for.

Is this a proper business model? I then spoke to Leslie, who transferred me to the fourth person that day, Simone, who said she would address this as a tech prolem--she would attempt to increase my internet speed so that in reality it would come closer to what I was paying for.

I don't know how she was going to do this, & told her that how she did it didn't matter to me, but I made it clear to her that I was not willing to do anything that increased my monthly bill. She assured me that there would be no change to my bill or any other services,...

that whatever she was doing would only be an attempt by optimum to bring my service more in line with what I pay for. She made an appointment to call me the next day at 2pm & instructed me to turn off the box 1-2 hours before that. The next day she called at 3:20pm, not 2pm,...

& said she was making attempts to increase my download speed. Her attempts failed, & she told me there was no more to be done, that no changes were made to my account, and thus my only option was to continue to pay for services I don't receive.

On 9/18/20 I noticed that my DVR service was not working. At 3:03pm, I spoke with Gabriela about it over live chat. She then informed me that "back on September 2nd, you made an upgrade on the services, the new ones you got does not included DVR services,...

I could see you had them before, but not since the upgrade." Let me be very clear: I did not give permission for an upgrade, & in fact had clearly, repeatedly, & emphatically DENIED permission for optimum to make any change that would increase my monthly charges.

She offered to restore my DVR, which had been mistakenly deactivated, at an additional cost to me of $17.99 per month. I explained to her what had happened on 9/2, how the problem was about internet service, not cable/DVR, & how the deactivation was a mistake on optimum's part.

She said I had to call the sales department. At 3:22pm, I spoke with Omar in sales & explained the situation. He put me on hold to investigate, came back & admitted that optimum had mistakenly cancelled the DVR. He said he was having trouble restoring it, but that...

it would be restored within 2-4 hours, & assured me that all of my recordings would be restored as well. At 3:51pm, service was restored, but all recordings were lost. Omar said he would make a note on my account that my monthly bill would not change,...

my service would go back to where it had been before 9/2, I would continue to pay $141.21 per month, & he said he had prorated my account for the lost DVR service, telling me to pay $10.10 less on my next bill (only the next bill, then go back to the full amount).

On 10/1, I saw that I was being billed $175.49. Again I was forced to call optimum. I spoke to Ronald at 3:48pm. He told me to pay $131.10, because of the prorated amount, & said that all other charges would be removed within 7-10 business days. I immediately paid my bill,...

even though it was not due for weeks. On 11/3, I looked at my account & found I was now being charged $208.55!! Again I had to contact optimum. At 11:23pm I engaged in live chat with Michael. Once again I explained what had happened. Michael replied: ...

" Based on the information gathered, on 09/03 an upgrade was made from Optimum core to Optimum Select, in which your monthly rate increased to $156.94 before taxes. The previous bill was $ 175.49 because you had the partial month activity charge of $ 11.86 for the use of...

the new packages from 09/03 - 09/30. A payment of only $131.10 was made and that's why there's a past due balance on your account of $44.39The previous bill was supposed to be paid in full, but it wasn't." How did this keep happening?

He then told me I would have to contact customer care the next day, that he couldn't help me. I requested he contact customer care & ask them to contact me, but he refused: "since we are different departments, I'm not able to open a case for them to call you! ."

optimum departments are unable to communicate with each other? This seems unlikely. At this point I believed that nothing I said or did would result in optimum fixing this problem. On 11/4, I paid $141.21, & have paid that amount each month since then,...

always paying early, always the full amount I am supposed to be charged. I currently have an account balance of $164.16, money which I have been mistakenly charged & DO NOT OWE (on 2/3/20 I again paid $141.21), & I'm being denied services that I pay for, e.g. On Demand & others.

Before submitting this matter to the @NewYorkStateAG, I ask that you once and for all correct your mistake, remove the $164.16 overcharge from my account, ensure that there is no disruption of any of my services, and that all services I am paying for are restored.

I want to note that there have been problems with false claims & charges by optimum from the beginning. In December 2019, I opened my account with Jeff. I was told that my monthly bill would be $130.70 & that this rate would be locked for as long as I am an optimum customer;...

it would never go up. Yet on 6/30/20, my bill was increased to $141.21, without any notice or change to my service. I was also told by Jeff that my billing cycle would begin/end on the 9th of each month, that I would receive my bill on or shortly after that monthly date.

After immediately paying all the initial account charges, he told me my next bill would come on 2/9, & that if I paid on time for 3 months, I would receive a pre-paid debit card in the amout of $150.00. I agreed to let Jeff sign me up for paperless billing,...

but I did not receive an electronic bill on 2/9. I contacted optimum on 2/13 (live chat with Patricia at 2:57pm) but she did not help. Without receiving a bill, I paid in full on 2/16, just one week after my bill was supposed to have arrived.

Despite the fact that my account clearly shows that I am enrolled in paperless billing, I have not ever received any bill from optimum, not an e-bill, not a paper bill in the mail, nothing. Not ever! I tried another time to get optimum to send bills...

& was told to clear my computer cookies/cache, & bills would arrive. I told the agent that I thought this was a problem optimum needed to fix--his response was to ask "do you want it fixed?" And that was it, he refused to help. I did as he suggested, but still received no bill.

In fact, I received no communications whatsoever from optimum until that 3 month period passed, then suddenly & coincidentally began to receive promotional emails. I contacted optimum about the debit card & was told I had paid my never-received bill late in February,...

that my billing cycle began/ended on the 1st of the month, not the 9th as Jeff had said, & that they would not be sending the debit card which I was owed. It occurred to me that the coincidence made it seem as if optimum was deliberately trying not to remind me of my account...

with them, at least until the 3 months had passed & they could claim they no longer owed me the debit card. The locked-for-life rate & the debit card were meant to be incentives for me to choose optimum over my other options, & they worked, I chose optimum.

Both incentives turned out to be false promises; I received neither. And now, because of my need to quarantine during the pandemic, I am unable to switch to another provider.

Let's add to all this the charge I had to fight for a replacement remote control--my remote has to have batteries replaced at least 5x every 2 weeks! presumably due to flashing lights that come on every time the remote is moved,or even if I just walk past the table where it sits.

I have had cable for many decades, never encountered this problem with a remote control. The replacement remote was no better. In one year I spent over $300.00 on batteries! I contacted optimum repeatedly about this problem, to no avail, always being told this is just how it is.

And when I requested a longer cable because the cable I'd been given at installation was too short, I was told I would be charged $80.00 for a contactless delivery of a longer cable. It was only after I questioned this charge that optimum admitted...

that I shouldn't be charged for a service call regarding equipment--if I hadn't assertively questioned it, I would have been inappropriately charged. Throughout all of this, I had to take notes of conversations, & copy online chats, as I was told optimum doesn't provide...

chat transcripts. I've never encountered a company that won't provide transcripts of online chats. What reason could there be for optimum to refuse to do so? There have been other frustrating communications, but these I've mentioned have been the most troubling.

There seems to be a pattern of dishonest business practices by optimum. I am reluctant to use the word "dishonest," but after all of these episodes it is hard to come to any other conclusion. Every month,I have paid my bill early & in full, fulfilling my obligations in good faith

I of course have all the financial records to prove this, but just a cursory look at my account should suffice. Online research shows that my negative experiece with optimum is not unique (the Better Business Bureau website shows...

at least 16,355 complaints closed in the last 3 years, 10,065 complaints closed in last 12 months). optimum altered both my internet and tv services and charged me more money, despite being explicitly DENIED permission to do so. This is egregious, and presumably illegal.

I have given optimum many opportunities to correct these problems of their creation, only to be lied to again & again that the problems were fixed. Once again,before filing any complaint with the @NewYorkStateAG or elsewhere,I am generously allowing optimum another opportunity...

to correct these mistakes. I can provide account details in DM's, & ask that you respect my privacy & do not make public my identity/personal information. I await your reply.

re: the debit card, please note: I paid $221.03 on 2/16/20--whether my billing cycle ended on the 1st, or on the 9th as Jeff had asserted, this payment is not late.

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