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Comcast Broke Law 445,000 Times in Scheme to Inflate Bills, Judge Finds

posted by martyb on Monday June 17 2019, @04:24AM   
from the popping-the-inflated-price-bubble dept.

upstart writes in with a submission, via IRC. for SoyCow4463.

Comcast broke law 445,000 times in scheme to inflate bills, judge finds:

Comcast yesterday was ordered to refund nearly 50,000 customers and pay a $9.1 million fine when a judge ruled that it violated Washington state consumer protection law hundreds of thousands of times.

Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson sued Comcast in August 2016, accusing the nation's largest cable company of tricking customers into buying a "near-worthless 'protection plan' without disclosing its significant limitations."

Buying the $5-per-month plan ostensibly prevented customers from having to pay each time a Comcast technician visited their home to fix problems covered by the plan. But in reality, the plan did not cover the vast majority of wiring problems, the AG's lawsuit said. Moreover, Washington state attorneys said that Comcast led customers to believe that they needed to buy a Service Protection Plan (SPP) to get services that were actually covered for free by the company's "Customer Guarantee."

In yesterday's ruling (pdf), King County Superior Court Judge Timothy Bradshaw found that "Comcast violated the Consumer Protection Act more than 445,000 times when it charged tens of thousands of Washingtonians for its Service Protection Plan without their consent," Ferguson's announcement said. Each wrongful monthly charge was a separate violation, so there were multiple violations per customer.

Washington state attorneys sought more than $171 million, asking the judge to order Comcast to pay $88 million in restitution to customers and $83 million in fines.

The $9.1 million fine Comcast was ordered to pay is a fraction of the amount sought by Washington. But Comcast's refunds to customers are separate from the fine, and it's not clear exactly how much they'll amount to.

If this just another "cost of doing business" or do you think this will actually change things?

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Original Submission

• Service Protection Plan, eh? (Score: 3, Interesting) by c0lo on Monday June 17 2019, @01:23PM

  by c0lo (156) on Monday June 17 2019, @01:23PM (#856617) Journal

  Comcast led customers to believe that they needed to buy a Service Protection Plan (SPP) to get services that were actually covered for free by the company's "Customer Guarantee."

  At least, the NY mafia delivers actual protection services [unilad.co.uk] for those money.

  Giovanni Gambino, son of infamous gangster John Gambino, said in a TV interview that the Mafia in a better position to protect the Big Apple from the Islamic State than the feds, which are limited in their reach.

  Gambino claims the FBI and Homeland Security often act too late, or fail to see a complete picture of what’s happening due to a lack of “human intelligence”. Which he says is the knowledge of individual movements and actions that even the best technology can’t capture.
  ...
  He’s reassured Sicilian communities that they should feel safe saying:
  "The world is dangerous today, but people living in New York neighbourhoods with Sicilian connections should feel safe, we make sure our friends and families are protected from extremists and terrorists, especially the brutal, psychopathic organization that calls itself the Islamic State."

  Gambino also added:
  "The Mafia has a bad reputation, but much of that’s undeserved. As with everything in life, there are good, bad and ugly parts the rise of global terrorism gives the Mafia a chance to show its good side."

  --
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford

  Starting Score:	1		point
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