Hi--
Since we moved in here over 4 years ago, we've had Optimum cable for internet, phones, TV. The whole 9 yards. Bills around $220/month.
Since that time, we've had a couple of service calls from Cablevision / Optimum, due to TVs not getting enough signal. Their solutions were to put in some amplifiers in the basement to boost the signal. That seemed to work OK.
Just this month, however, we were having problems with our internet not working properly. We were getting extremely slow connection speeds. So I called Optimum, they checked the equipment from the office, and deemed that it was necessary to send someone here.
When the service person arrived, after about 10 minutes, he looked in the basement. It was there that he found that one of the amplifiers they had installed for the TV problems I mentioned above, was messing with the signal to the modem. So he rerouted the modem line to go around the amp. Took about 5 minutes.
He said that amplifiers placed on modem lines have been shown to make the modems not work properly, over time. So those should not be installed on the lines going to the modem. I asked him why, if that was problematic, would they have installed it that way in the first place, or if it was an issue that they had recently discovered. He said that this is an issue that they had only recently discovered, and as a result, he has gotten many calls with this very issue.
Since it was Optimum equipment, installed by Optimum in a way that turned out to be incorrect, and since nobody else ever touched the lines, I assumed that there would be no service fee for the call. But I got an $80 fee on my bill.
So I called Optimum and spoke to customer support who simply said we had to pay it. I spoke with his manager then who said they had no say in those charges, so they transferred me to tech support. Spoke to tech support who said that according to FCC rules, any and all providers, whether it's Optimum or Verizon, will charge for such a service issue since it has to do with inside wiring. He explained the reason for charging using the example of an Optimum technician installing wiring in a home that is subsequently chewed by mice, or inadvertently moved by the homeowner. Those are not Optimum's responsibility. I told him that those examples were different since in our case, it was the only the fault of Optimum equipment and procedures. We did nothing to the lines.
He persisted in his opinion, even once he heard that the call was the result of the amplifier having been installed by Optimum, in a way that was subsequently found to be faulty. He also claimed that he's never heard of an amplifier causing problems with a modem, despite what the technician told me. (I have both the technician, and the Optimum tech support rep on tape stating what I've included above... so one of them is not getting it right.)
So is it actually an FCC rule that they will charge for such problems, even though their technician/equipment caused the problem in the first place? Seems hard to believe. I only want to fight this if it's actually not my responsibility.
Thanks for your wisdom and suggestions!
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