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ELKINS -- Suddenlink customers in the Randolph County area may be traveling extra miles to Buckhannon for in-store customer service assistance, as the Elkins office is set to close.
Elkins Mayor Van Broughton said the decision was reported to the city a couple weeks ago. The Harrison Avenue office is set to close at 1 p.m. Friday.
"They said they put a lot of thought and reason behind it, and they thought it'd be best to close it down and have it all in Buckhannon," Broughton said Wednesday.
However, Elkins City Council and the Randolph County Commission are teaming up to object to the closure of the Elkins Suddenlink office.
Because the cable and internet service provides for most of Randolph County, Randolph County Commission President Mike Taylor said, residents are upset over the decision.
"We at the commission office have received a number of complaints voicing their disagreement with Suddenlink closing their office in their service area," he said.
Broughton also said council members have received calls every day since the announcement.
"People have stopped me on the street, and they said they'd like for us to be kept open where they can go pay their bill or exchange equipment or pick up new equipment," he added.
City council and the county commission will meet in separate meetings at 9 a.m. Friday to discuss the options available with Suddenlink officials.
"At the very least we may possibly go to court to get a temporary injunction to ask the court to consider halting the closing of it," said Taylor.
Broughton said the decision to file for the possible injunction will be discussed at the meetings, which are open to the public.
Taylor said currently the commission and council are working to respond to their constituents who have expressed displeasure at the announcement.
"It's going to be a major inconvenience for the citizens of Elkins and Randolph County," he said.
Suddenlink did not respond to calls asking for information for this article.
The Elkins office is not the only Suddenlink operation in the state designated for closure this year.
In April, it was reported by The Parkersburg News and Sentinel that Suddenlink, which was bought out by Altice more than a year ago, had closed their local call center, resulting in the loss of more than160 jobs. The Parkersburg telecommunications center was the only operation to close -- the walk-in center and technical support were still available locally.
In 2015, the European telecom company Altice paid $9.1 billion to purchase Suddenlink Communications. Altice also spent $17.7 billion to purchase Cablevision. The Wall Street Journal reported last year that Altice planned to slash expenses at the companies and reinvest the savings in networks and services.