Suddenlink Internet Class Action Lawsuit Overview:
- Who: A California consumer has advanced a class action lawsuit against a pair of Suddenlink internet providers, Cebridge Telecom CA, LLC and Altice USA, Inc.
- Why: Suddenlink internet users are hit with an unexpected fee on top of the price advertised by the telecom companies, says the plaintiff.
- Where: The class action lawsuit, originally filed in state court, was transferred to California federal court.
Suddenlink internet users are hit with an unexpected fee shortly after signing up for the service, claims a class action lawsuit lodged in California federal court Wednesday.
Lead plaintiff, Nick Vasques, wants to represent other California consumers who he says were duped by a “bait-and-switch” scheme to sign up for Suddenlink internet service. Vasques accuses Cebridge Telecom and Altice USA of luring consumers in with a flat monthly rate and then tacking on a “Network Enhancement Fee” amounting to an additional $3.50 a month for each Suddenlink internet user.
Vasques says that he signed up for Suddenlink internet based on a “particular flat monthly rate” advertised by the telecom providers. He says that nowhere in their promotional material or terms of service did Cebrigde Telecom or Altice USA disclose that a $3.50 Network Enhancement Fee would be added to his monthly bill.
Suddenlink Internet ‘Price for Life’ False Advertising
The plaintiff accuses the telecom companies of using a “Price for Life” promotion to falsely advertise Suddenlink internet services to California consumers. The promotion touts a fixed price for Suddenlink internet service for life.
In addition, the companies offered bundled services at a so-called flat monthly fee with a fixed price for one year; however, Suddenlink internet users, amounting to 19,000 in California, are hit with unexpected fees that the companies try to hide in their billing statements.
Indeed, Vasques claims that the telecom companies try to conceal the added fee from Suddenlink internet users by making it appear as a tax or government pass-through charge that they cannot control.
“In the event that a customer happens to notice the Network Enhancement Fee has been charged on their monthly statement and contacts Suddenlink to inquire about the Fee, Suddenlink agents falsely tell the customer that the Fee is a tax or government fee or is otherwise out of Suddenlink’s control,” states the class action lawsuit.
The plaintiff says these “fictitious” fees add up to more than $800,000 a year in profit for the Suddenlink internet providers.
The class action lawsuit accuses Cebridge Telecom and Altice USA of violating California consumer protection laws.
Vasques wants to put a stop to these Suddenlink internet fees. He also wants the Telecom companies to pay a Class of California Suddenlink internet subscribers back for Network Enhancement Fees they were charged.
Suddenlink internet users are far from the first to complaint of bait-and-switch schemes used to advertise telecom services. RCN Telecom Services was accused of duping consumers by falsely advertising their rates in a class action filed in March.
AT&T was recently accused of sending expired or nearly-expired Visa gift cards as a part of a marketing ploy.
Did you sign up for Suddenlink internet? Did you pay unexpected fees? Tell us about your experience in the comment section below!
The plaintiff is represented by Daniel M. Hattis and Paul Karl Lukacs of Hattis & Lukacs.
The Suddenlink Internet Fee Class Action Lawsuit is Vasquez v. Cebridge Telecom CA, LLC et al, Case No. 1:21-cv-06400 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
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23 thoughts onSuddenlink Internet Users Accuse Telecom of ‘Bait-and-Switch’ in Class Action Lawsuit
I live in lake havasu city az. Suddenlink charges me 89.99 plus 50.00 and a 3.50 fee for a gig of internet of witch i only get around 345 megs that is far off of the 1 gig I pay for. Suddenlink tells me thats just the way it is. I would also like to join this suit
I too got scammed with the $200 prepaid Visa Gift card promotion. Suddenlink forgot to add the $10.32. modem fee to my auto pay and never sent me a text or email telling me that I owed for the modem fee. Suddenlink disconnected my internet, when I called them, the service rep played dumb and this caused me to “Be disqualified “ for the $200 prepaid card. I can’t get ahold of a real customer service person, only a worthless call center, that barley speaks English .
We’ve been their customer for 3 years. We didn’t like the service, but Suddenlink is the only option here in East TX. We paid $88 monthly but they increased our bill to $102 without any notice. They said they sent us a notice via email. But we haven’t received any. I think this kind of notice must be sent via postal mail.
I would love to join in the lawsuit against Suddenlink.
Sudden Link had a promo if you make your first 3 payments on time you get a $200 visa gift card. They enrolled me with auto pay, I receive an autopsy discount, then after first bill they do not draft the auto pay. My statements advise I am enrolled in auto pay and it shows my discount as well. Upon contacting the company I was advised auto draft takes 60 days before it is set up completely. No where on my statement does it advice that. It also now voids my $200 gift card. I recorded the whole conversation and upon requesting a supervisor I was told no one is available with no resolution to a call back or other options. Call was transferred without notifying me of transfer and call disconnected. This company needs to be sued for business conduct not being legitimate.
We have been using suddenlink for multiple years and started out paying around $59 for internet only. They have since price hiked our rate several times all the way up to $152 a month for internet alone! They are currently advertising the same service plus more for $49.99 same speed. I inquired about the offer since they literally mailed the offer to my house and showed up on my suddenlink when I was logged in. They called later to tell me I am not eligible for the offer even though they sent it to my house…. Ok so I file a bbb complaint they take a week to get back to me and leave a voicemail saying they can lower it to $113 a month again for internet only! While offering it to new customers for $49 a month with extras. This company is terrible and preys on people
For money when they have no other internet option. Terrible customer service as well.
We live in East Tx, the only option was Sudden Link when we moved here last December. Our bill has increased 39.00 to 64.77, they say it is because they no longer have 200 speed internet and we were changed to 400 speed. I have numerous tomes to complain how slow our internet is and they run a test and say it’s fine. Finally talked to a lady lady week who seemed to be concerned and said the box we have is only a 200 speed so she sent someone out finally yesterday. Suppose to be here between 2 & 5 pm, no call no communication at all when he didn’t show up. I called they said on a recording he would be here between 5:46 & 6:46, again no show, called again, said another hour, finally showed up at almost 8pm. He told us he could show up when he feels like it, and our box was fine. Now our internet is even slower. When I call them you get someone off shore and they just laugh at you and hang up.
Hell I live in Oklahoma and would love to join in on the lawsuit against Suddenlink
I think I had it worse than anyone with suddenlink….I was told when I signed it would b $89.00 per month. I never saw that. That 89 became $120…that $120 became $200….but this is the crazy one…I ordered a movie for $4.99…the movie credits came on and then the movie went off. So I kept putting movie back on….and the same thing happen. I even tried to fast forward pass that point and it went right back to 2 mub
Mins of play and cut off. So
I tried another movie and it did the same thjng…finally I gave up…when I received the bill. It stated I owed over $599….even though i had not watch the movies…they charged me for watching the entire movie 30 times n less than a half an hour..LOL…
I called and called no one ever answered most of the time. If I called 59 times. I got live connection 3 xs….I was told I had to pay a bill of over $1,300….I was getting charge for 2 months when I was even n new York city as well…so when I finally went to the office I told them if they sent a technician they would c there is a problem. They never did after asking them 3 r 4 times.. BUT WHEN THEY FINALLY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THERE WAS A PROBLEM…THEY LOOKED ME IN THE FACE AND SAID. O K. WE KNOW THERE IS A PROBLEM…BUT U STILL HAVE TO PAY SINCE IT TOOK U 3 MONTHS TO COME C US…WOW HOW U FIGURE? THE AUDACITY…. NOW I ONLY PAY 50 A MONTH THRU ANOTHER SERVICE
I’m also being charged for service that doest work half the time I’m being charged ridiculous amounts of money for service I can’t use half the time and I’ve had them out in my home 6 times to fix the issues and yet it still is going on I’m also being charged for equipment that I took in and returned it every mth they won’t adjust my bill for it I’m being g dble charged I can pay my bill in full and turn around and already be behind again thier charging us a mth in advance before the new bill is already due we do with out service half the time when it rains or when the wind blows the internet goes in and out all day and I can’t get them to fix anything it’s not fair we have to pay these high prices and not get to enjoy what we we are paying for I pay almost 200 dollars a mth for basic cable and basic pluss is what they call it phone and Internet thT doest work half the time and when it does its so slow you can’t hardly do anything on it
Oh yes I was charged an extra fee from Suddenlink for my internet that was $59.00/ month for life, but Suddenlink is running a scam service. From July 2020 til present September 2121 I have been charged for service that doesn’t work. When I call them it’s always an excuse. They send a technician out and he will get it working for a couple hours then it’s out again, but yet I’m still charged. I call back and let them know I need credit for no service but they claim they can’t adjust the account if there’s a balance so I paid it but never got a credit. However they send a technician out again and again he gets it working a couple hours then out again and I call again and repeat the process over and over every month for the last 13 months now my bill is $400+ and I paid $200 that never got credited for service that never worked a whole 6 hours straight!! I’m so frustrated with Suddenlink if I could just get my installation fee and $200payment and clear the balance they would never hear from me again