Comcast Accused (Again) of Billing Fraud

Comcast Accused (Again) of Billing Fraud

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 state and federal oversight of ISPs like Comcast, dramatically reducing the ability to hold them accountable for behavior precisely like this.