Attorney General Bob Ferguson says it’s the first case of its kind in the U.S. Ferguson alleges there were more than 1.8 million individual violations of the Washington state Consumer Protection Act.
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The lawsuit claims Comcast violated Washington’s Consumer Protection Act 1.8 million separate times.
This case is a classic example of a big corporation deceiving its customers for financial gain.
Up until very recently this year AKA “the eve of litigation”, the WA AG claims that Comcast “gross misrepresented” its protection plan to almost 500,000 consumers in the state and “deceiving them into paying at least $73 million in subscription fees over the last five years for a near-worthless” service. The suit revolves entirely around customer fix bills; namely, the fact that Comcast promised things that were simply not true, resulting in customers paying out-of-pocket for repairs that they believed were covered. Ferguson said that 75 percent of the time, Comcast representatives falsely told the customers that the plan covered all inside wiring.
“Comcast needs to pay that money back”, he said.
The state of Washington is suing Comcast for $100 million, charging massive deception of customers in its Service Protection Plan.
Ferguson points out that this lawsuit is the first of its kind in the USA, suggesting that numerous things Washington is suing over could hold true in other states as well. According to Ferguson’s office, the parties were in talks over the issues but that the fee Comcast was willing to settle with was too low in the AG’s opinion. Comcast requires a deposit for equipment, but customers can have that deposit waived if they undergo a credit check and have a high credit score.
Ferguson said Comcast promised customers taking part in the plan they would not be charged for service calls involving internal wiring.
Comcast said in a statement to CNNMoney that it was “surprised” by the suit.
Beth Hester, vice president of external affairs for Comcast in Washington state, issued a statement Monday: “The Service Protection Plan has given those Washington consumers who chose to purchase it great value by completely covering over 99 percent of their fix calls”.
Ferguson said he gave Comcast a heads up a year ago about the allegations, but that the company only started making changes recently, on the “verge” of the suit. “We stand behind our products and services and will vigorously defend ourselves”, Comcast says. Throughout the press conference, Ferguson was adamant about the fact that Comcast wasn’t oblivious to the issues, but instead chose to ignore them until the “eve of litigation”.
“It took the filing of our complaint before correcting some of the steps”, Ferguson said.
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Ferguson’s office says that trial has been set for July 2017.
