Small business owners in the Reading area are counting losses after an internet outage shut down their businesses for an entire day on Tuesday, July 25th.
Vandals cut power lines south of Redding early Tuesday morning, causing a power outage and knocking out service to Spectrum Charter Communications customers throughout Shasta County, according to the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office.
Spectrum crews from across Northern California worked throughout the day to repair and reconnect more than 650 fiber optic cables, restoring internet connection to the last customers by late Tuesday afternoon, said Dennis Johnson, Spectrum’s senior director of communications for the West Northwest.
By that time, some Reading business owners were turning away customers because they couldn’t accept credit or debit cards or couldn’t access their online accounts.
Some business owners reported brief disconnections on Tuesday.
Spectrum phone and internet service was down until 9:30 a.m., said Laurent Dillion, owner of the Flag Center on South Hilltop Drive.
Dillion said he wasn’t sure if he missed any phone orders during the first 30 minutes the store was open Tuesday morning, but he was “pulling out the old-fashioned receipt slips” to take orders from customers walking in.
Other business owners in Reading reported losing much of their income that day.
Spectrum customer Chris Hillman, owner of Janine’s Jewelry on Yuba Street, said he had to turn away several credit and debit card customers because he couldn’t process payments. He also wasn’t able to place orders with his dealership until service was restored around 3 p.m., Hillman said.
For other businesses and their customers, the outage meant time inconvenience rather than financial loss.
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Staff at some clinics reported they couldn’t access online patient records or had to ask patients who paid by credit card to call back later in the week.
These issues weren’t limited to Spectrum customers.
Although the Eureka Way office uses a different internet provider, family physicians Jack and Sheila Finch’s employees were unable to access Spectrum patient records Tuesday, said Shannon Carter, an office staff member.
Businesses that had backup internet services fared better or were unaffected.
“We had backup Wi-Fi so (the outage) didn’t affect us at all,” said Cameron Hull, assistant manager of Apricot Lane Boutique, a clothing store on Market Street in downtown Reading.
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Asked whether Spectrum was offering business owners refunds for the service outages, Johnson said the company was “working directly with customers who were impacted by the vandalism that caused the service outages.”
Spectrum Business Services’ customer line is 800-314-7195. The operator said, “Contact us about your invoice.”
The outage came shortly after Spectrum announced this summer that it would raise its monthly internet service prices by $3. “Our service is impacted by these increases, but we are committed to keeping our prices as low as possible,” Johnson said.
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As of Friday, no suspects had been detained in connection to the downed cable that caused the power outage, Shasta County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Tim Mapes said.
Mapes said investigators are examining evidence found at the scene of the downed cable at Highway 273 and Canyon Road.
When asked about Spectrum’s future plans to protect its cables from vandalism, Johnson said, “We don’t comment on our network security.”
Jessica Scropani is a features reporter for the Record Searchlight/USA Today Network. She covers science, arts, social issues and news stories. Follow her on Twitter.Follow andFacebookWith Jessica Get out! Norcal Recreation Facebook Group. To support and continue this activity,Please subscribe today. Thank you.
