You may remember when Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced a lawsuit against cable and internet goliath Comcast. The allegation was simple: the company’s own documents show a pattern of illegally deceiving their customers. The lawsuit, filed on August 1, 2016, alleged that Comcast was guilty of no fewer than 1.8 million violations of Washington’s Consumer Protection Act. These violations included misrepresenting the Service Protection Plan to customers, deceiving customers about the Customer Guarantee, charging improper service fees, and improperly running credit checks on customers who paid a deposit to avoid such a check. According to Ferguson, “this case is a classic example of a big corporation deceiving its customers for financial gain.” The potential penalty against Comcast is $3.6 billion.
Comcast, the largest provider of cable and internet to consumers with one of the lowest customer satisfaction ratings of any American company, sought to dismiss the suit. According to their lawyer, Ferguson’s lawsuit “fails to demonstrate violations of the Washington Consumer Protection Act” and she argues that in fact, it shows that Comcast’s customers saved money.
In a big loss for corporate giant Comcast, a Washington State judge has declined to throw out the lawsuit filed by the state’s attorney general. He ruled that the lawsuit can advance to the discovery phase. It may be unfortunate for Comcast, but it’s a big win for American consumers in their fight against corporate greed.
At Billshark, we are all too familiar with big corporations taking advantage of their customers and putting profits before ethical policy and, sometimes even the law. Our Sharks’ mission is to put the power back into the hands of consumers by fighting against the big guys, one bill at a time. Every step forward, whether it’s made by the government or by companies like Billshark, is a giant leap for consumers everywhere.