UPDATE: A spokesman for Suddenlink provided KETK with the following statement:

With the aim of creating a simpler experience for our customers, we’ve upgraded our Suddenlink billing platform, which will make account management more streamlined and user-friendly, among other customer benefits.  As a result of this upgrade, there have been brief delays in accessing customer accounts and other billing systems. For those customers whose service was interrupted due to this issue, we have since processed their correct billing information and restored service. We greatly appreciate our customers’ patience during that time.

– Altice USA

Suddenlink officials say they did anticipate some disruption in the system as part of the upgrade and alerted customers to potential changes in billing before the upgrade took place.

As far as the problems with autopay settings being deleted, they say they are looking into that issue.

ORIGINAL STORY:

TYLER, Texas (KETK) – Suddenlink customers are venting their fury at the cable and internet provider for service and billing problems.

Customers are reporting having their cable and internet service suspended abruptly for non-payment, though their payment accounts were set to autopay.

Suddenlink is telling customers, when customers can get to a service representative, that autopay setups were deleted when the company went to a new system earlier this week.

To make matters worse, customers reported being unable to get into their online accounts to make payments and being unable to make payments through the company’s customer service phone line.

Several customers reported having spent more than an hour and a half on the phone with the company just trying to reach a human service representative.

As a result, angry customers descended on the Tyler Suddenlink office on Rice Road to voice their displeasure and attempt to pay their bills, forming a line that spilled out of the store and onto the sidewalk in front.

But the problem isn’t limited to East Texas.

A Missouri news outlet reported that customers in St. Joseph filled the Suddenlink office there demanding explanations for extra charges on their bills. One customer reported paying $1,400 due to faulty billing.

A Suddenlink customer in California called KETK to say that she, too, has been plagued by the issues. She said she has called Suddenlink multiple times but has gotten no resolution.

“You can’t get to a live human being,” she said.

She added that she is going to write the FCC with her complaint.

And according to downdetector.com, a website that tracks service outages, 86% of Suddenlink customers reporting on the site said they were without internet in the Midwest and Southwest area of the country.

KETK reached out to Suddenlink corporate headquarters for answers to no avail.

Joseph Perez, assistant news director for KETK, attempted to contact a service representative through the company’s online chat service, again to no result.

This is a developing story. We will update it as more information becomes available.