Former Bright House Networks customers in Florida are unhappy with a $9.99 Wi-Fi Activation Fee that appeared on some customer bills in December.

Several customers converting to Charter Spectrum service reported the activation fee to the Tampa Bay Times and noted Charter initially told them the fee was required after Charter bought Bright House.

Most of the affected customers had cable service from Bright House for years and could not understand why they were being charged for the service. The company began admitting it had made a mistake and is waiving the fee on an individual basis, but only to customers who call and complain. Charter Spectrum began billing Bright House customers for service in November, which may explain why the charge is only appearing now.

Spectrum spokesman Joe Durkin told the newspaper the fee is probably a mistake and should not apply to customers the company inherited from Bright House who already had internet service. But this does imply Charter intends to charge an activation fee for new customers now or in the future. Whether the charge applies to customers using a company-supplied router to provide in-home Wi-Fi or relates to Bright House’s extensive network of Wi-Fi hotspots around Florida is not known.

Durkin told the newspaper this was not a widespread issue, but in response to its first story, the newspaper printed a follow-up the following day, noting it was continuing to receive complaints.

Some customers are suspicious.

“Their customer-service representatives were dismissive of me,” said Lara Bartelds, a Charter Spectrum customer in Clearwater. “A lot of people don’t notice these kinds of charges. I think Spectrum was hoping we’re just not paying attention to our bills.”