Comcast Forced to Pay 2.3 Million for Overcharging Customers

[R=G]

Comcast Corp, the largest U.S. cable company, will pay a $2.3 million fine to resolve a federal investigation into allegations the company wrongfully charged cable TV customers for services and equipment they never authorized.

The Federal Communications Commission said on Tuesday it had received numerous complaints from consumers that Comcast added charges to their bills for unordered services, including premium channels, set-top boxes and digital video recorders.

Comcast will implement a five-year compliance plan as part of a consent decree, the FCC said, and must offer a detailed program for responding to consumer complaints "in a standardized and expedient fashion."

By next year, the FCC said, Comcast must send customers a separate order confirmation of new services, allow customers to block additional cable services, improve customer record keeping and require additional employee training for individuals placing excessive unauthorized charges on customer bills

Comcast spokeswoman Sena Fitzmaurice said the company did not agree with the FCC's legal theory but added, "We acknowledge that, in the past, our customer service should have been better and our bills clearer." She also said Comcast had already committed to make most changes sought by the FCC.

The FCC investigation found numerous examples of Comcast billing customers for services they did not want but would not refund charges. Customers were often told by Comcast that the company would only address six months of billing issues because of its computer systems, the FCC said.

In June, a U.S. Senate panel found overbilling to thousands of consumers by Charter Communications Inc and Time Warner Cable, which has since been acquired by Charter.

The Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations said the companies made no effort to trace equipment overcharges unless consumers asked and did not provide notice or refunds.

Comcast told the Senate panel it would make it easier for consumers to cancel service without being forced to stay on the phone and answer questions.

Comcast will pay $2.3 million for overbilling customers

 

[STAN JONES]

yeah comcast stay on some bullshyt

i remember i upgraded my boxes to the new X1 boxes earlier this year,got my bill in the mail and not only did they start charging me more for the same exact plan i already had they also were charging me for 10 boxes

i only had 5 boxes and 4 are included in the plan i have so i was only supposed to be paying for 1

took 3 fukking months for them to get everything straight and credit my account for the overcharges

went threw some similar bullshyt when i got a cable card from them

now that i think about it any time I've changed my plan or added services i had to got through some bullshyt with them

 

[STAN JONES]

one of their biggest problems is these scamming ass contractors that do installations for them will activate extra boxes when they do a job and sell them on the side

the person whos account they active the boxes on ends up paying for boxes they dont have for months until they "investigate" and get everything straighten out

 

[Heretic]

so a company raking in billions only has to pay pennies. I have UVERSE and love it even though they might not be offering it anymore, but I'm considering cutting cable altogether.

 

[Panther]

fukk Comcast

 

[Achille]

fukk Cumcast

fixed

 

[wire28]

How ironic. Just was on the phone with them today....about some bullshyt from three months ago and I'm only using them for Internet and they still fukkin up my bill