My ISP Nightmare with Optimum Online

Forgive the different content. This is the largest platform I have, and I’m using it for a different reason today.

Like many people in America right now, I have to do a large part of my work from home. It is a once in a century global pandemic and there are days where I have to teach all my classes from home.

Optimum Online has now made it so I cannot do my job, and they are refusing to take any action to fix it.

On Friday, 25 December, 10AM exactly, my Internet upload dropped from its usual 40mbps to less than 1mbps. I contacted customer support as I couldn’t even send an email without lengthy waits.

The first customer service representative claimed the modem installed by Optimum was not an Optimum model. She claimed they would charge me an $80 fee for a service visit because I had to have installed my own 3rd party modem. She also said the only way to avoid this was to sign up for an additional $8 a month service plan to prevent any ongoing costs. This agent also refused to acknowledge that I do not use Wi-Fi when I’m working on this computer. I plug the ethernet port directly into my computer when working in my office. I had no Wi-Fi connected when she was testing my account.

She insisted I had to have a router from Optimum. They never gave me one. This is an account that predates Optimum being a service in this area by many years. Optimum bought out Cablevision, which was the company that installed all the wires and gave me the modem. Wi-Fi in the home was not a common thing then, so receiving a router was a premium service that I did not need. The representative insisted if I did not have an Optimum router, my LAN Internet service was broken because of the router that was not hooked up. After 90 minutes of going back and forth with her, I finally got an appointment scheduled.

My upload returned to its normal levels like magic once I confirmed the appointment. I went back to my regular planning work online while I contacted customer support through Twitter. I was not happy with how the agent seemed to be strong-arming me into extra services I do not want and was looking for a resolution.

The second agent contradicted the policies of the first agent. She insisted there would be an $80 fee for any work done inside my house at all. The only way to avoid this was to sign up for a recurring $8 a month service plan for a minimum of six months. When I tried to get clarification and point out things she should be able to see in my account, I was told, “I would recommend keeping the service technician as it may go out again based on the signals I see here.” Once she finished this message, the upload dropped below 1mbps again, which is where it has stayed.

The technician arrived on 27 December at 4:00pm. Because of a glitch on their end, I had already received the receipt for the service visit. The technician would install a new modem/router hybrid, rewire the outside of the house, check the connections on the inside of the house, and do preventative maintenance. He did all of that and more. He was wonderful.

I ran the speed test from Optimum in front of him and he said, “I’ve never seen anything like this.” The download speed was faster than promised on my plan by a lot. The upload speed was less than 1mbps. He said he would do everything he could to fix it, but he was pretty sure this was a system issue controlled by Optimum, not a mechanical issue with any equipment at my address. He then rewired my entire house, splitters and all, and the upload did not improve. He told me to contact Optimum directly for resolution.

I did just that. They resolved nothing. The third customer service representative took close to 8+ minutes for each reply. Instead of resolving anything, he just kept sending me this message, “I’ll have to make a notation on your account about this recurring issue.” I tried to get clarification, and he sent the message again.

I have screenshots of all these communications edited and ready to share; I can’t because of the upload issues. I will have to go somewhere with working upload to add them to the post. I documented all of this along the way. I just have to put myself at risk to use public Wi-fi somewhere to provide this evidence during a pandemic.

Their phone representatives have been incredibly dismissive. The e-mail glitch was connected to a separate issue. Somehow, they marked my service tech at my house 45 minutes before he arrived. With the threat of an $80 fine for not being at the door when the technician arrived, we called for help.

The phone representative told me that the page on the Optimum website featuring live updates on when your technician would arrive didn’t exist. After the call ended, something was deleted on their end as I could no longer access any information on my service appointment. They automatically sent the e-mail with the receipt when he arrived, not when he left, letting me know they had planned on all this work based on what they could see in their system. They made a specific note that the router was not theirs, because the original representative was convinced that was the problem with my LAN Internet connection was caused by my router.

Now I am left with minimal working upload and no way to conduct any live video teaching from home. I am fortunate enough to not have to teach virtually this week, but I have no faith that Optimum will even attempt to resolve this issue soon. Aspects of my job are at risk now because of their terrible customer service. I’m not sure what the decision-making process is to shut off upload when a customer is paying a significant markup for faster Internet services out of fear of this happening, but I’ve apparently crossed that threshold and am being punished for it.

Buyer beware. Go with anyone but Optimum if you can in Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York.

ADDENDUM: Phone service is down as well. Customer support over the phone line hung up on me twice. The messaging service redirected me to the phone. There’s literally a severed phone line next to the modem that never got attached. This is awful. I actually felt guilty about writing this but not after the last hour of trying to restore 2/3 of my service with no success. -12/28 @ 4:58PM.