Central Florida customers frustrated after Spectrum outage

Video, internet issues plague Orlando-area residents

ORLANDO, Fla. – If you're having problems with Spectrum, you're not alone.

Spectrum, a cable, internet and phone provider, said that it is experiencing a video issue in Central Florida.

“Our engineers are actively working on correcting this and we hope to resolve it as soon as possible,” the company said in a tweet posted Sunday night.

Dozens of frustrated Spectrum customers showed up Monday afternoon at Spectrum's service center on All American Blvd. in Orlando, packing the parking lot and jamming the lobby.

Customers said they came in person because they couldn't get through over the phone.

 "You call them and call them and nobody answers they hang up on the phone and everything," one customer said. "No handling the problem very well."

The company issued another statement on Monday.

"The storms last night caused damage to operations impacting customers in the Central Florida region. 
I won’t speculate on completion but as Spectrum engineers are working to restore full video (TV) services to our customers and as time goes on – some areas are coming back. We confirm there's no internet outage at all that could still be affecting Orange County Public Schools," spokesman Joe Durkin said.

He added that customers do not need to call to report outages because the company is already aware and working on a solution.

Durkin did not say what damage occurred, how it happened, where the outages were, how many customers were affected or when service would be restored.

Customers said they got a recorded message when they called that didn't provide information either.

"Actually, I wasn't able to speak to anyone," another customer said. "You got a recording that was very nice and told you how they were sorry and hung up on you."

Meanwhile, a Spectrum internet outage affected Orange County Public Schools. Officials said internet was restored before noon on Monday.

OCPS released a message to families Monday morning:

"OCPS families, we want to make you aware that throughout our community the internet and networks are down throughout due to issues with Spectrum. This outage is impacting many of our schools. At this time, Spectrum cannot provide a timeframe for restoration of service. We want to make you aware that contacting schools may be limited due to the outages. We also want to assure you our digital classrooms are always prepared to adjust to such circumstances as they can use blended methods for learning so instruction can continue regardless of problems with the internet. Thank you for your support. We will update you as we get new information."

Customers also weren't told if they'd be reimbursed for the outage.

 "I asked them saying, 'Do you have any idea when the system will come back up?' No idea," another customer said. "'For the people that lost their system are you going to credit your account?' No idea."

Watch News 6 and stay with ClickOrlando.com for updates.


About the Authors:

Dawn Jorgenson, Graham Media Group Branded Content Managing Editor, began working with the group in April 2013. She graduated from Texas State University with a degree in electronic media.

Erik von Ancken anchors and reports for News 6 and is a two-time Emmy award-winning journalist in the prestigious and coveted "On-Camera Talent" categories for both anchoring and reporting.

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