If you pay for Spectrum internet, you might be getting a refund in the mail from Charter Communications given New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood’s announcement of a $174.2 million settlement with the company for committing consumer fraud.
“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. “Not only is this the largest-ever consumer payout by an internet service provider, returning tens of millions of dollars to New Yorkers who were ripped off and providing additional streaming and premium channels as restitution – but it also sets a new standard for how internet providers should fairly market their services.”
For those affected by the Spectrum fraud case, $62.5 million of the settlement has been earmarked for direct restitution. If you have leased a shoddy modem or router or subscribed to a Time Warner Cable plan promising internet speeds of 100 megabytes per second or higher, Charter will refund you $75. Additionally, Charter will pay another $75 to anyone who has had an inadequate modem for 24 months or longer.
As a further part of the settlement, Charter will have to offer every one of its internet subscribers one free month of Spectrum’s TV Choice streaming service and another free month of Showtime. Customers who are also have a cable TV subscription with Charter will be able to choose between three free months of HBO and six free months of Showtime. Anyone who is already paying for access to both premium channels is, unfortunately, out of luck.
Customers stuck with bad modems will be able to get upgraded ones (that work as advertised) from Charter shipped or installed for free. In the future, Charter will not be allowed to let customers pay more for internet service that their modems are not able to fully accommodate.
How to claim your Spectrum fraud settlement refunds
According to the terms of the settlement, all of the work falls on Charter to compensate its customers. Within 120 days, the company will have to notify (and pay) everyone who is eligible for a refund or premium TV package. Failure to do so would be a violation of the terms of the settlement, so if you think you are one of the 700,000 customers that the Attorney General accused Spectrum of defrauding and do not receive a refund within the right timespan, the Attorney General’s office may be interested in hearing about it.
For those who have been using bad modems or routers, Charter will have to offer replacement equipment “promptly” and via at least three different contact methods.
In the future, Charter will have to be much more conscientious about how it describes its internet service plans and will have to use industry-accepted and independent methods to verify any claims about how fast or consistent its internet service is. Furthermore, to prevent further Spectrum fraud from happening, Charter’s employees will have to inform subscribers about factors that could affect their internet speeds, and keep an instructional video on its website on the same subject.
