When Chad Pierce and his family bought a new house this year, they made sure of one thing: that getting Internet service wouldn’t be a problem.

“The first thing we did was go on [Charter] Spectrum’s website and punch the address in,” Pierce told Ars, recalling the day this past summer when he and his family saw the house in Newaygo, Michigan, that they’d ultimately buy.

The Charter website indicated that Internet service was available at the address. But Pierce wanted to make extra sure. “I had read articles saying the [Internet providers’] websites aren’t always accurate,” he noted. So he called Charter’s customer service line and was told the same thing—that Internet was available.