Comcast Just Got Hit With a Record Fine

Comcast has agreed to pay the largest civil penalty the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has ever assessed a cable operator to settle charges it billed consumers for equipment and services they never ordered.

I wrote a couple stories nearly two years ago about “drive-by” modem upgrades that Comcast was pushing on consumers around the country — complete with a box Comcast sent me despite my very public efforts to stop the firm.

Obviously, I wasn’t the only one. And Comcast’s unwanted service “upgrades” weren’t limited to these modems, apparently. The FCC consent decree, released today, cites complaints from consumers about unwanted channels, hardware, you name it — and folks’ sometimes futile efforts to get refunds. This practice sometimes referred to as “negative option billing,” meaning corporations sign consumers up for things without their consent, unless the customers proactively stop it. It’s generally against the law.

“Some Customers alleged they specifically declined the new Products offered by Comcast but were nonetheless charged for the unrequested Product on their Bills, while others simply alleged that they had no knowledge of changes made to their accounts until they received an email notifying them that changes were made, they received new equipment in the mail, or after they read their Bills and saw the charges for new Products,” the FCC wrote in its order. “And, some Customers alleged that they were unable to obtain redress from Comcast without substantial time and effort, including allegedly long telephone wait times, allegedly unreturned calls from Comcast customer service representatives, allegedly unmet promises of refunds, alleged travel to local Comcast offices to return unrequested equipment, and hours allegedly spent disputing charges while pursuing refunds.”

The penalty amount is $2.3 million, but the agreement also requires Comcast change its business practices, to stop negative option selling and to make getting refunds easier.

“It is basic that a cable bill should include charges only for services and equipment ordered by the customer—nothing more and nothing less,” Travis LeBlanc, chief of the Enforcement Bureau, said. “We expect all cable and phone companies to take responsibility for the accuracy of their bills and to ensure their customers have authorized any charges.”

Comcast, in a statement, said the FCC did not find any intentional wrongdoing, but only “isolated errors or consumer confusion.”

“We have been working very hard on improving the experience of our customers in all respects and are laser-focused on this. We acknowledge that, in the past, our customer service should have been better and our bills clearer, and that customers have at times been unnecessarily frustrated or confused. That’s why we had already put in place many improvements to do better for our customers even before the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau started this investigation almost two years ago. The changes the Bureau asked us to make were in most cases changes we had already committed to make, and many were already well underway or in our work plan to implement in the near future,” a Comcast spokesperson said in an email.

“We do not agree with the Bureau’s legal theory here, and in our view, after two years, it is telling that it found no problematic policy or intentional wrongdoing, but just isolated errors or customer confusion. We agree those issues should be fixed and are pleased to put this behind us and proceed with these customer service-enhancing changes.”

Meanwhile, you can file a complaint against Comcast, or any cable operator, on the FCC website.

[Editor’s Note: It’s important to remember that many service providers look at a version of your credit report when you subscribe to their services, so it’s a good idea to know where yours stands. You can see a free snapshot of your credit report, updated every 30 days, on Credit.com.]

Image: RiverNorthPhotography