Fight Over Fees: Federal Judge Rules Lawsuit Against Comcast Can Proceed
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A lawsuit accusing Comcast of a pulling a fast one on TV subscribers can proceed: that's the ruling from a federal judge.
Regional sports fee. Broadcast TV fee. It's not just Comcast customers who get hit with those add-ons to bills, but it's the Philadelphia media giant being sued over what lawyers call a "massive bait-and-switch scheme."
In the proposed class action, they allege "false advertising" with no mention of the fees that can tack $12 onto your monthly cable cost, and "deceptive hidden disclosures" that leave subscribers believing the surcharges "are taxes or government-related charges over which [the company] has no control."
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A Comcast spokeswoman says they've always made "clear disclosures" in ads, and notes the fees have always been listed separately on the bill.
In the California judge's decision denying the company's motion to dismiss, filed earlier this month and first reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer, he writes "the plaintiffs have adequately alleged a reasonable consumer would be misled." But Comcast notes that because this case is in the early stages, the court was required to accept the plaintiffs' allegations as true because the case is in its early stages.
