Press Releases
09/11/2020
Attorney General William Tong Urges Cable Providers to Reimburse Customers for Lost Service during Outages Caused by Tropical Storm Isaias
(Hartford, CT) — Attorney General William Tong is urging cable companies reimburse customers for lost services during the widespread days long power outages caused by Tropical Storm Isaias in August.
The letter was sent on Sept. 8, 2020 to seven cable providers in Connecticut, following ongoing complaints from consumers that their cable providers are not reimbursing them for cable outages. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused financial stress for many Connecticut consumers, who cannot afford to pay for services they didn’t receive.
“Cable, phone, and internet service is essential, not optional,” Attorney General Tong wrote in the letter. “Many people buy all three services from their cable company. People depend on cable, phone, and internet for life — to call emergency services, run medical devices and monitoring equipment, to run home alarms, communicate with family, work at home, run their businesses, and conduct other necessary life activities.”
In the letter, Tong says he is very concerned that the unreasonably long cable service interruptions and delays were caused by inadequate storm preparation and asks that the seven cable companies provide the number of Connecticut consumers who experienced service interruption for more than 24 hours following Tropical Strom Isaias. The Attorney General also requests that the companies address whether those customers can expect credits or refunds during the next billing cycle.
The letter was sent to the following companies:
- Frontier Communications Corporation
- Charter - Spectrum/Western
- Altice USA
- Comcast – Xfinity/New Haven
- Cox Communications/Meriden
- Atlantic Broadband
- Thames Valley Communication
- Twitter: @AGWilliamTong
- Facebook: CT Attorney General
Media Contact:
Elizabeth Benton
elizabeth.benton@ct.gov
Consumer Inquiries:
860-808-5318
attorney.general@ct.gov