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Comcast Cable Fined $1 Million In Massachusetts Settlement

March 20, 2006

Comcast •Cable TV •Internet Service •Telephone Service --- News • Comcast Tries to Polish Its Image • Comcast Sued Over Internet Blocking • Comcast Cable Fined $1 Million In Massachusetts Settlement

Persistent complaints about cable TV service have come back to haunt Comcast in Massachusetts. The company has agreed to pay $1 million, change its advertising for cable television, Internet, and telephone services, and improve its customer service practices.

The agreement is the culmination of a two-year investigation, spurred by hundreds of complaints Comcast customers filed with Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly's Consumer Hotline.

"In many communities, Comcast is the only game in town for cable television service," Reilly said. "This settlement will insure that consumers get the information they need, up front, to make informed decisions on price, programming, and services, before they spend their hard-earned money. Customers will also get the reliable customer service they are entitled to."

Reilly said he conducted an extensive review of the company's advertising and marketing practices, as well as complaints received by his office and the Better Business Bureau. Based on that investigation, Reilly charged that Comcast, and its predecessor, AT&T Broadband, engaged in a series of unfair practices in the advertising and sale of its cable television services, including:

• Advertising limited time offers of free or reduced rate digital cable packages without adequately disclosing to consumers what the actual price of those services would be during and after the promotional period;

• Promoting Comcast's higher priced digital packages, like its "Digital Gold" video programming, without disclosing to consumers that they could purchase less expensive digital cable packages;

• Overstating the number of channels available on digital cable packages by failing to distinguish among video, music, and pay-per-view channels, and overstating the capabilities or benefits of Comcast’s "On-Demand" and "Digital Video Recorder" services;

• Hiding material terms and conditions from consumers in difficult to read fine print, in violation of the Attorney General's advertising regulations;

• Advertising "free" installation, but then charging consumers for installation, and requiring them to redeem coupons or vouchers to receive an installation credit. In some cases consumers were unable to receive the "free" installation as advertised;

• Charging a $5 monthly rental fee for a converter box and remote control, even for consumers who did not need the converter box and remote to get their programming.

Comcast denies that any of its practices were unlawful. However, with this settlement, Comcast has agreed to end these practices and improve its advertising and marketing.

To avoid any future consumer confusion, Reilly is now requiring that Comcast clearly and conspicuously state in its advertising materials accurate pricing information that tells consumers what they will pay for the service during a promotional period, as well as what they will pay after the promotional period ends.

Comcast has also agreed to inform analog cable customers that they may not need a converter box and remote, which could save the consumer $5 per month on fees. Moreover, customer service representatives will not falsely imply that only one product or service is available, but will instead tell consumers how they can get information about other, often less expensive, options.

Customers had complained to Reilly about Comcast's poor customer service, including long wait times to speak to a customer service representative, and the need to make repeated calls to address a customer's problem. To alleviate these problems, the Assurance mandates that Comcast's customer service representatives will provide a supervisor when requested, and maintain a customer account system that can update customers about the history of past complaints.

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