Comcast Gets $9 Million Fine For Tricking Customers With 'Worthless' Protection Plans

from the relative-wrist-slap dept

In August of 2016, Washington State sued Comcast, claiming the cable giant had long been offering consumers a "service protection plan" that was barely worth the paper it was printed on. According to the Washington State AG, the plan promised consumers "comprehensive" protection for all repairs, service calls, maintenance of inside wiring and customer-owned equipment, and "on-site education about Comcast products" for $5 more per month.

But the AG investigation found Comcast repeatedly misled consumers about the scope of the plan, and routinely charging consumers for repairs and service that should have been included under the plan's umbrella. Comcast misled more than 500,000 Washington state consumers in this fashion, and the AG's original lawsuit (pdf) noted that Comcast had even created a clear "service code" for techs to use when they wanted to incur charges for service that should have been covered under the plan.

Fast forward to last week, when a ruling in King County, Washington court (pdf) found that Comcast also technically violated the law more than 445,000 times when it charged tens of thousands of Washingtonians for this worthless Service Protection Plan -- without first obtaining their consent. From the full AG announcement:

"The court found that Comcast added the SPP to the accounts of 30,946 Washingtonians without their knowledge, and did not tell an additional 18,660 Washingtonians the true cost of the plan. The court ordered Comcast to refund affected consumers, and pay 12 percent interest on the restitution. The amount of restitution is unknown at this time, but is expected to be significant. The court ordered Comcast to issue the refunds within 60 days and report to the state on the specific details and amounts."

Comcast's little gambit was certainly profitable: the court ruling declared that Comcast netted more than $73 million in errant fees over a five-year period by signing up customers for the worthless service plan they never asked for. Court recordings even documented how Comcast would sign up customers for the plan even when they clearly rejected Comcast representatives' pitches.

Comcast, whose historically terrible customer service is already the stuff of legend, will be required to refund nearly 50,000 customers and pay a $9.1 million fine to make up for years of misleading behavior. And while that sets a Washington State record, that still likely falls well short of the total net profit Comcast made from scamming Washington State consumers. And that's of course just Washington State; if Comcast was doing this in Washington, it was likely doing it in other states, yet no other states have pursued investigations into the behavior.

In the wake of the federal government abdicating most of its authority to protect consumers from giant telecom monopolies that face little organic competition, states have tried to step up their game when it comes to consumer protection. But it hasn't been easy; with the Ajit Pai FCC's help, the telecom lobby has tried its damnedest to ban states from being able to hold giant ISPs responsible. That gambit hasn't been working out all that well -- at least in states that can be bothered to actually still care about consumer protection.

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Filed Under: fcc, scams, service protection plan, washington, wireless protection plan

Companies: comcast