Comcast Hit with $9.1 Million Penalty in Washington State for Bogus Service Protection Plan Billing

A Washington State judge ruled that Comcast violated consumer protection laws more than 445,000 times, bogusly charging thousands of state cable consumers for a $5.99 plan they didn’t even know they were getting. Judge Timothy Bradshaw ordered Comcast to pay $9.1 million in penalties and ordered Comcast to pay back all the customers it has been ruled to have misled, with 12% interest. That figure could exceed another $3 million.

State Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who filed the suit in 2016, counted 30,946 Washington Comcast customers who were charged for the service within the span of July 1, 2014 and June 30, 2016, and didn’t even know they were getting it. The AG reported another 18,660 who were allegedly misled about the true cost of the plan. “Comcast refused to accept responsibility for its egregious conduct that resulted in Washingtonians losing money every month for a product they did not want or request,” WA AG Ferguson said. “Instead of making things right for Washingtonians, Comcast sent an army of corporate lawyers into court to try to avoid accountability.”