{"id":77680,"date":"2017-02-10T16:54:08","date_gmt":"2017-02-10T21:54:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=77680"},"modified":"2017-02-09T19:57:12","modified_gmt":"2017-02-10T00:57:12","slug":"schneiderman-announces-suit-in-alleged-fraud-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=77680","title":{"rendered":"Schneiderman announces suit in alleged fraud case"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Complaint Alleges Nation\u2019s Second-Largest Internet Service Provider Systematically And Knowingly Failed To Deliver The Reliable And Fast Internet Access It Promised To Subscribers Across The State<\/em><\/p>\n

Suit Seeks To Compensate Spectrum-Time Warner Cable Subscribers For Five Years Of Broken Promises And Damages And Restitution That Could Be Worth Upwards Of Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars<\/em><\/p>\n

Click Here To Read The Full Complaint Filed In NY State Supreme Court<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

NEW YORK \u2013 Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced a lawsuit against Charter Communications Inc. (\u201cCharter\u201d) and its subsidiary Spectrum Management Holdings, LLC, (f\/k\/a Time Warner Cable, Inc.,) (together, \u201cSpectrum-TWC\u201d) for allegedly\u00a0conducting a deliberate scheme to defraud and mislead New Yorkers by promising internet service that they knew they could not deliver.<\/p>\n

The complaint alleges that since January 2012 Spectrum-TWC\u2019s marketing promised subscribers who signed up for its Internet service that they would get a “fast, reliable connection” to the Internet from anywhere in their home. But a 16-month investigation by the Attorney General\u2019s office \u2013 which included reviewing internal corporate communications and hundreds of thousands of subscriber speed tests\u00a0\u2013\u00a0found Spectrum-Time Warner subscribers were getting dramatically short-changed on both speed and reliability.<\/p>\n

The suit alleges that subscribers\u2019 wired internet speeds for the premium plan (100, 200, and 300 Mbps) were up to 70 percent slower than promised; WiFi speeds were even slower, with some subscribers getting speeds that were more than 80 percent slower than what they had paid for. As alleged in the complaint, Spectrum-TWC charged New Yorkers as much as $109.99\u00a0per month for premium plans could not achieve speeds promised in their slower plans.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe allegations in today\u2019s lawsuit confirm what millions of New Yorkers have long suspected — Spectrum-Time Warner Cable has been ripping you off,\u201d said\u00a0Attorney General Schneiderman<\/strong>. \u201cToday\u2019s action seeks to bring much-needed relief to the millions of New Yorkers we allege have been getting cheated by Spectrum-Time Warner Cable for far too long. Even now, Spectrum-Time Warner Cable continues to offer Internet speeds that we found they cannot reliably deliver.\u201d<\/p>\n

The AG\u2019s investigation also found that Spectrum-TWC executives knew that the company\u2019s hardware and network were incapable of achieving the speeds promised to subscribers, but nevertheless continued to make false\u00a0representations about speed and reliability. The investigation further revealed that while Spectrum-TWC earned billions of dollars in profits from selling its high-margin Internet service to millions of New York subscribers, it repeatedly declined to make capital investments necessary to improve its network or provide subscribers with the necessary hardware.<\/p>\n

As the complaint alleges, Spectrum-TWC continues to underserve their subscribers by failing to make the capital investments necessary to live up to their promised speeds. These investments would include substantially upgrading Spectrum-TWC\u2019s network capability and replacing large numbers of deficient modems and wireless routers that subscribers currently pay Spectrum-TWC up to $10 per month to rent.<\/p>\n

Spectrum-Time Warner Cable currently has approximately 2.5 million subscribers across New York State.<\/p>\n

The complaint specifically alleges a series of false and misleading practices by the company over the course of several years, including:<\/p>\n

Spectrum-TWC Misled Subscribers By Falsely Promising Speeds It Knew It Would Not Deliver<\/u><\/p>\n

The complaint alleges that since at least 2012, Spectrum-TWC represented to its New York subscribers that they could get fast and reliable Internet access.\u00a0 However, the company knew that these promises were impossible to keep for several reasons.\u00a0 First, Spectrum-TWC leased deficient modem equipment to subscribers that could not deliver the promised speeds.\u00a0Second, in addition to the equipment failures, Spectrum-TWC\u2019s network was overloaded and could not consistently deliver the speeds it promised to subscribers.\u00a0That was because Spectrum-TWC did not design the network to reliably deliver the promised speeds.\u00a0 Moreover, the complaint alleges that Spectrum-TWC decided to cut costs by not fixing the equipment and network failures.\u00a0 To mask its misconduct, the complaint alleges that Spectrum-TWC rigged test results.<\/p>\n

For example:<\/p>\n