Attorneys general in 10 states have begun civil investigation int...
Attorneys general in 10 states have begun civil investigation into EchoStar for allegedly failing to comply with consumer protection laws, company said in SEC filing. Attorneys gen. in Fla. and Conn. started probe in April into possible violations of…
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laws governing call response times, advertising, customer agreement disclosures, consumer complaints, rebates, refunds and cancellation fees, filing said. Conn. and Fla. attorneys gen. since have been joined by those from 8 other states. EchoStar CEO Charles Ergen, in conference call with analysts, defended company’s customer service practices: “I'm willing to put our customer practices up against anyone. We're not perfect, and we're still learning. We can certainly do a better job, and there’s certainly some helpful suggestions in our discussions with the state attorneys general.” EchoStar executive said investigation was prompted by consumer complaints, although spokesman declined comment on how many were involved. Many of complaints involved consumers confused on how to get refund on programming or equipment, spokesman said. EchoStar also disclosed that EchoStar-6 satellite had experienced “abnormalities” that resulted in loss of solar array string in Aug. It had lost 2 other strings in 2001. EchoStar-6 has 112 solar array strings, 106 of which are required for bird to remain at full power. EchoStar-5 also lost solar array string in July and now has 95 of 96 available with 92 required for full power. Another 8 transponders failed on EchoStar-4 in quarter bringing total to 38 of 44 available. Transponders on EchoStar-4 started to fail in 1998 and EchoStar reduced its life to 4 years in 2000. EchoStar also said in-orbit insurance policies for EchoStar-1 through EchoStar-7 satellite had expired and it had reserved $168 million to cover them. EchoStar filed insurance claim of $219.3 million for EchoStar-4 in 1998. Insurance carriers offered $88 million to settle claim, which EchoStar refused in filing claim with American Arbitration Assn. for breach of contract.