Washington State Expands Comcast Bogus Billing Lawsuit Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson says the state is expanding its $100 million lawsuit against Comcast, first announced back in August of 2016. That lawsuit had already accused Comcast of numerous, rampant deceptive business practices, including misrepresenting the scope of its Service Protection Plans, charging customers improper service call fees, and engaging in improper credit screening practices.

The original lawsuit claims nearly 2 million instances of deceptive behavior impacting half a million Washington state subscribers. But now Ferguson is amending and expanding that complaint, arguing that his investigators have found that Comcast's deceptive practices go even deeper than what was alleged in the original complaint. "New evidence makes clear that Comcast’s conduct is even more egregious than we first realized," Ferguson said. "The extent of their deception is shocking, and I will hold them accountable for their treatment of Washington consumers." The original complaint found that Comcast tricked more than half a million customers into paying $73 million in subscription fees over the last five years for a "near-worthless" Service Protection Plan (SPP) without disclosing its significant limitations. This plan covers the cost of all service calls, including those related to inside wiring, customer-owned hardware connected to Comcast services, and on-site "education" about products. However, Washington's AG office claims Comcast did not appropriately disclose that the plan does not cover repairs to any “wall-fished” wiring -- wiring inside a wall -- which constitutes the vast majority of wiring inside homes. The AG office found that 75% of the time, Comcast representatives told customers the plan covered all inside wiring. They also found that Comcast consistently and intentionally charged customers for work that should have been covered by this $5 monthly fee. The amended complaint (pdf) says investigators found that " Comcast may have signed up more than half of all SPP subscribers without their consent," and in numerous instances charged customers for the SPP plan after telling them it was "free ." The AG's office says it intends to hold Comcast accountable for "tens of thousands of new violations of the Washington state Consumer Protection Act." The move comes as ISP lobbyists have convinced the government to gut both The move comes as ISP lobbyists have convinced the government to gut both state and federal oversight of ISPs like Comcast, dramatically reducing the ability to hold them accountable for behavior precisely like this.







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Most recommended from 38 comments



Economist

The economy, stupid

Premium Member

join:2015-07-10

united state ·AT&T FTTP

1 edit 33 recommendations Economist Premium Member Stopping this is remarkably simple. Make fines RUINOUS. Make the penalty 1000X the amount of the fraud, payable back to the customers (not the State). Defraud people out of $1M and you get to pay a billion in penalties. Take $100M, and you give your company to your customers. Next step is make management personally liable for the criminal activities of the company. If I walk into Comcast and steal something, I get arrested. Comcast managers and pencil pushers concoct a scheme to steal from me and nothing...company pays a fine on their behalf...maybe, like the Congressional sexual harassment slush fund.



Only when theft stops being profitable will corporations stop stealing, not a second before. For every corporation, it is a matter of math. Make $100M in ill-gotten gains, pay a $30M fine...let's do it. wiggum

join:2003-05-05

Seattle, WA 20 recommendations wiggum Member I like my regulation litigious and aggressive Please make sure you get max punitive damages. If the regulators aren't going to regulate then AGs and judges are our next best bet.

FureverFurry

RIP Daphne: 3/12/05 - 6/19/12

Premium Member

join:2012-02-20

49xxx Zoom 5341J

ARRIS WBM760

Vonage VDV-21

8 recommendations FureverFurry Premium Member Lawsuit is missing a favorite deception Those instances of deceptive business practices and billing would triple or quadruple if the lawsuit included the most lucrative one: charging a customer for their OWNED modem.



That has been going far too long and far too often. I would like to believe Comcast when they say they are making changes to their billing system. Alas, the only changes appear to be changes that perpetuate the "deceptions". firedrakes

join:2009-01-29

Arcadia, FL 3 recommendations firedrakes Member you all are thinking small make it a million per customer.

DaveDude

No Fear

join:1999-09-01

New Jersey 2 recommendations DaveDude Member Just revoke contracts Let any competitor in, they can just raise rates for monetary damages. Revoke all exclusive contracts.