Comcast Deceived Consumers, Alleges Washington AG Lawsuit
Comcast violated Washington state’s Consumer Protection Act nearly 2 million times, alleged a lawsuit by Attorney General Bob Ferguson. Ferguson filed the suit Monday in King County Superior Court. Comcast allegedly misrepresented the scope of its service protection plan, charged…
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customers improper service call fees, practiced improper credit screening and deceived customers with its company guarantee, the AG said in a Monday news release. Comcast allegedly misled 500,000 Washington consumers into paying $73 million in subscription fees over five years for a “near-worthless” protection plan, the AG said. The plan doesn’t cover repairs to any wiring inside a wall, which comprises “the vast majority of wiring inside homes,” it said. The suit seeks $73 million in restitution, plus about $1 million for improper service call charges and up to $2,000 per violation of the Consumer Protection Act. The AG also sought a court order requiring Comcast to remove improper credit checks from the credit reports of more than 6,000 customers and an injunction requiring the cable company to clearly disclose limitations of its protection plan in advertisements and through representatives, to stop improper charges and to implement a compliance procedure for improper credit checks. The AG's office informed Comcast of the issues more than a year ago, but the company didn’t start making changes until it was on “the verge of this litigation,” it said. “This case is a classic example of a big corporation deceiving its customers for financial gain,” Ferguson said. “I won’t allow Comcast to continue to put profits above customers -- and the law.” We “will vigorously defend ourselves,” a Comcast spokeswoman said. The protection plan at issue covers more than 99 percent of repair calls, she said. “We worked with the Attorney General’s office to address every issue they raised, and we made several improvements based on their input. Given that we were committed to continue working collaboratively with the Attorney General’s office, we’re surprised and disappointed that they have instead chosen litigation.”