Optimum/Suddenlink review: Internet service and billing

I live in a small remote community. We have very limited access to good internet service. I had Suddenlink Internet starting in 2019 when we moved here. Suddenlink was very problematic in this area due to old technology, and we had many visits from tech support. Our internet was almost acceptable, but it was $108.49 a month. That is a lot for unreliable internet.

Overnight, Suddenlink became OPTIMUM. We were told the rollover would be seamless. It was not. I had autopay with Suddenlink. Optimum took the same payments out, so I thought everything was fine. It was not fine.

We were signed up for Autopay. It appears, from my bank records, that Suddenlink helped themselves to an extra payment on 5/31/22. Suddenlink also paid themselves again on 7/1/22. Optimum took a payment 8/8/22. Optimum also took a $118.49 payment on 9/6/22 which is the late fee amount. This payment was taken without any notice or email saying I was late. They just helped themselves to an unauthorized outrageous late fee while telling me I was not signed up for Autopay!

Now, Optimum is in the process of taking a payment from my bank account for an undisclosed amount. My Optimum account says they are taking $236.98 in 18 days. I believe that is the monthly amount plus another $118.49 late fee. I did not make one single transaction manually. This was them dipping into my bank account.

Yesterday, one of the foreign workers gave me a mailing address in PA to send my bank records. No case number, just some control number. What are the chances of someone looking at those mailed in records and fixing the problem? I would say 0 chance. I do not trust the person in whatever country they are in to give me the correct address. It is a Post Office box!

Optimum would not let me talk to an actual billing person. I spent hours on chats and calls to people in other countries who wanted all of my personal and banking information. One person told me that the Billing Dept. Would send an email link so I could email my bank records. They did not.

I called again today, spent over an hour trying to explain my situation to someone who barely speaks English and has a lot of noise in the background.

This person promised a phone call from an actual billing person. So far, crickets.

I do not trust this company. The only way I knew I had these late fees and missed payments is because I logged into my Optimum account to see what my current download speeds were. Optimum never notified me, just took those late fees out of my account without any notification. I am a disabled senior trying to live on SSA. These people will not fix the billing problem and apparently cannot be trusted with my bank account information.

I really need internet. I use it for everything. We have no real options here as this is a small, remote desert town.

This is creating a lot of stress and a lot of money issues, as I cannot get in contact with a billing person who speaks enough English to fix my problem.

My bank account right now says this:

Pending

ATM CREDIT [protected] ISA980400000 00

Other $0.01 —

Pending POS DEBIT OPTIMUM [protected] NY

Misc. debit -$0.01 —

Optimum says this: Account balance $236.98, which is the monthly payment plus another $118.49 late fee. I have autopay. I had autopay with Suddenlink. I assumed I had autopay with the new company as we were told it would be seamless. Optimum says I do not have autopay, but they took not only a monthly payment but an unauthorized late fee of $118.49. I just showed above that more is being taken.

The bill is supposed to be paid by the first day of the month and they do not take the payment until the 8th or 12th of the month. How does that make me late when they do not take the payment on the first day of the month?

Please help me with this terrible, unscrupulous company. If we had another provider here with even minimally useful speed, I would switch. I am paying for 400 MPS and is not reliable. Lots of dropped internet. The other provider in this area had speeds of 60 MBs, which is basically dial-up speed for the same money as Optimum.