Time Warner Cable is up against a flood of negative social media reaction from customers following the company’s two-hour Internet outage this morning that affected more than 11 million people nationwide.
The downtime, which occurred at about 4:30am EST on Wednesday, was caused by an issue that arose during routine network maintenance, according to a statement from Time Warner Cable to media outlets.
Time Warner Cable tweeted twice from its @TWC_Help handle this morning to update users on the outage, but the regular @TWC account did not post any tweets until about noon.
As of 2 pm EST, the company had not posted about the outage on its Facebook page, which has more than 2.2 million followers. Time Warner Cable representatives were not immediately available for comment.
We're working to restore services to all areas as quickly as possible; no ETR. Tweets will be delayed while this is addressed.
— TWC Help (@TWC_Help) August 27, 2014
Services should be restored for all customers; our apologies for the interruption. If you're still having issues, please let us know. ^BP
— TWC Help (@TWC_Help) August 27, 2014
TWC apologizes for Net outage that occurred early AM. We restored services at 6AM ET & customers can contact @TWC_Help anytime as needed.
While the outage annoyed customers who lost their Internet service, it also spawned a number of negative reactions toward Time Warner’s proposed merger with Comcast. Rivals, such as Dish Network and Netflix, as well as some politicians, have asked the Federal Communications Commission to review the deal due to fears of poor customer service.
In addition to dealing with angry subscribers across the 29 states in which the New York-based cable provider operates, the company will soon face an investigation about the outage from the New York State Department of Public Service, according to a statement issued by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday.
The investigation, which is part of the department’s review of Time Warner Cable’s proposed merger with Comcast, will also check to see if the outage affected TV services.
"Dependable Internet service is a vital link in our daily lives and telecommunications companies have a responsibility to deliver reliable service to their customers," said Cuomo, in the statement.
PRWeek reported in February that Abernathy MacGregor Group is assisting Comcast with communications for its $45.2 billion deal to acquire Time Warner Cable, while Sard Verbinnen & Co. is supporting Time Warner on acquisition comms.
On Tuesday, the FCC said Time Warner Cable has to pay $1.1 million for not reporting multiple network outages in a timely manner last year.
WayPaver, an innovation lab within venture incubator The Lamp Post Group, spent its morning taunting Time Warner Cable on Twitter.
In seriousness, how is internet this hard @TWC? We figured it out and our ISP is actually fighting FOR net neutrality. #humblebrag #CHA
— WayPaver (@waypaverco) August 27, 2014
Last tweet about this, but I'm sure service will be that much awesomer when @TWC merges with @comcast. #JustMoveToCHA
— WayPaver (@waypaverco) August 27, 2014
Here are some reactions from other Twitter users about the outage:
Oh, that was a TWC service outage? Time Warner and Verizon Internet are so bad in NYC you couldn’t tell the difference.
— Ian Christe (@ianchriste) August 27, 2014
nope, @TWC @TWC_Help, you did not restore services by 6am - mine didn't come back until closer to 8am ET. just for the record. #outage
— Sasha Haines-Stiles (@sashastiles) August 27, 2014
Every resident and company in #LancasterPA should oppose the TWC/Comcast merger. Please sign. http://t.co/OEfYOY91GJ
— Sabrina Strong (@SabrinaIsStrong) August 27, 2014
No service again, #TWC?! Way to waste people's money.
— J is for Jean (@Hooked_Swan) August 27, 2014
