Insight Communications is offering credits to customers who lost high-speed Internet access when it switched to a new network earlier this spring. The company is including forms in its June bills that will allow it to calculate credits for those affected customers.
Thousands of customers lost service — some for several minutes, others for several days — in April and May as Insight shifted its half million Internet customers in four states from an AT&T network to its own system. Some customer-support workers issued credits to some, as they were authorized to do, but many customers either did not realize they were entitled to credits or were unable to get through to the company's call center.
Insight worked hard to inform customers of the impending switchover; and while some city officials in the affected areas were unhappy with the outages and Insight’s level of customer service, they admitted the company tried to communicate with them about the issue. Even so, the city of Peoria, Ill., formally asked the federal government to look into creating rules that would regulate the high-speed data side of the cable business.
Insight said two-thirds of its customers experienced little or no disruption in service during the switchover in May, but Peoria city councilman Patrick Nitching said he received dozens of complaint calls about the service interruptions. Insight is increasing its download speeds at no cost to customers and those who wish rebates for any service interruptions in May can fill out a form, which will be included in their next bills.
