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If you lived in NJ and Optimum refused to prorate your final bill, keep checking in - a settlement is approaching
The purpose of this website
(Posted May 18, 2024)
To accomplish just one of the following two tasks, one good and one bad.
The preferred first task would be to educate former New Jersey Optimum customers on how to go about obtaining long overdue refunds related to the company refusing to prorate final bills, in violation of N.J.A.C. 14:18-3.8(c). Refer to New Jersey Board of Public Utilities Docket Number CS18121288.
The undesired second task would be to expose an unwarranted level of cooperation between the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities and Optimum management, allowing the company to avoid paying tens of millions of dollars in subscriber refunds, even after the New Jersey Supreme Court determined that refunds are due. This is what we suspect is happening and why we feel it is necessary to encourage the BPU to do the right thing.
The New Jersey Supreme Court rendered their final decision regarding Supreme Court Docket Number A-1269-19 on
June 30, 2023, almost a full year ago, and yet the Board of Public Utilities has yet to release a formal announcement regarding refunds. In fact, we don't believe the BPU Press Office ever issued a news release regarding their Supreme Court victory and we can only wonder why the agency isn't blowing its own horn after winning the case.
BPU – isn’t it about time you claimed credit for obtaining tens in millions of dollars in refunds for consumers and advised them of how to go about putting in claims? Show us the money!
Update
(Posted December 6, 2024)
As yet there is nothing to report, but be assured that we continue to monitor the BPU and are on the lookout for news of a fair settlement
Why we don't we trust the Public Utilities Commission
Because we’ve gone down this road before and all Optimum wound up with was a slap on the wrist. Twice, once by New Jersey and once by New York.
During the early days of the Covid lockdown, Optimum failed to deliver reliable service to a population that was reliant on the internet to work from home. It reached the point that more than a dozen municipalities filed formal complaints with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, which created a situation where the BPU needed to demonstrate they were taking action. So naturally they did what government agencies always do when they have to appear to be taking action, they launched an investigation. Isn’t that special! The investigation was led by then Commissioner Holden, who invited the public to attend a zoom meeting. Hundreds of dissatisfied customers joined the meeting with many of them speaking and even more submitting written complaints. If you want more details, just refer to BPU docket number CX21020139.
What was the result of this 3 years long investigation? The municipalities involved did receive compensation varying between $5,000 and $10,000, depending on town size while the impacted customers received no compensation. What Optimum did was promise to do better by investing $11,000,000 in its New Jersey hybrid fiber optic-coaxial cable network. Basically, they promised to spend money on themselves that they should have been spending anyway. Case closed!
To make matters even more galling, Optimum is the only cable provider that adds a “Technology Enhancement Fee” to their invoices, charging people in advance for that which Optimum will turn around and sell them some time in the future, so essentially, they are already holding the money they promised to invest. One can only wonder if the BPU followed through and made certain that $11,000,000 was actually spent.
This didn't just happen in New Jersey. It happened in New York too! New York proudly announced a $72,000,000 settlement with Optimum because of their poor response to Tropical Storm Isaias, which sounded great until you dig down into the details. Seems as though $68,500,000 of that settlement was Optimum agreeing to make an investment in themselves! They promised to spend what they already should have invested, in which case there wouldn’t have been a crisis to begin with.
So why do we think there is a chance for a fair settlement this time around? Because this time is different; it involves specific amounts of money that Optimum improperly charged customers, so a dollar amount can be calculated. The prior settlements involved quality of service issues with apparently no standards to apply, so arriving at a specific dollar amount would have been problematic.
We consider any settlement that actually punishes Optimum and doesn’t leave a penny in their hands fair. Any settlement that leaves Optimum in control of the funds is not fair and very possibly highly questionable.
BPU, make certain Optimum pays out the money. They cannot be allowed to hold on to the funds, promising to invest in themselves; what sort of a punishment would that be?
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