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Charter customers have filed a class action lawsuit saying that the communications company misled its customers about the costs of its Spectrum cable television services.
The Charter class action lawsuit was filed by Randall Byrne, David Kleuskens, Jerry Henry, Jason Weber, and Susan Foster-Harper. These customers say that they are from Ohio and Kentucky, and all have Spectrum TV subscription with Charter.
Allegedly, the company deceptively increases the monthly rate, charges undisclosed fees, reduces the number of channels included in its packages, and makes it hard for customers to cancel their service subscriptions. The plaintiffs say that they were all offered a lower monthly rate that was then raised, contrary to what the company advertised.
The customers all present similar stories of how the company implanted a “bait and switch” scheme that led to them paying more than was advertised when they decided to purchase subscription.
In Henry’s case, he states that in May 2019, Charter promised him a flat promotional price of $150 per month for a cable package that included Spectrum TV Select. He says that the company promised him that the would be charged this rate for at leas ta year, but only five months later, increased fees. Henry says that by October 2019, the company had raised his monthly rate by increasing the Broadcast TV Surcharge by $1.51.
Then, in December 2019, the company alleged advertised a Spectrum TV “Seasonal Plan” that would allow him to pay less money per month to maintain service at his Ohio home while spending winter in Florida. The Charter bait and switch class action lawsuit asserts that, though the company advertised that he would be charged $9.99 per month for the plan, he was charged $23.40 per month after the company added an undisclosed $13.50 month “Seasonal Broadcast TV Surcharge” to his bill.
The Charter cable TV hidden fees class action lawsuit argues that Henry’s case is far from unique. Allegedly, the company makes a regular practice of advertising low rates but effectively charging customers much more by piling on undisclosed service fees.
The customers in the Charter cable class action lawsuit state that when customers have complained about this surcharge, they have been told a number of different, conflicting stories about the surcharge. They site one customer who says that the first time he called to ask about the Broadcast TV surcharge, Charter told him that it is a “tax” that Charter has no control over.
The second time he called, he says the was given a different explanation. Allegedly, he was told that Charter imposes the surcharge because the local government charged a fee to Charter to show some channels. The Charter representative allegedly told the customer that the surcharge was Charter’s way of passing off this government fee to consumers.
However, the customers in the Charter cable class action lawsuit assert that this is not the case. They say that the surcharge is really just part of what Charter charges, but is concealed so that the company can make the monthly rate appear lower.
According to the customers, the company misrepresents this fee in various ways throughout its advertisements and actively instructs its staff members to lie about the nature of the surcharge to customers.
The customers then go on to take issue with the discounts offered by Charter, saying that they are not real discounts. Allegedly, Charter advertises discounts by offering a certain percentage off of the monthly rate, but effectively makes this discount meaningless, because they strategically raise the base monthly rate, which also raises the discounted rate. This is done because then the discounted rate is still the advertised percentage of the full rate, but is higher than the dollar amount initially advertised.
The customers say that, when they complain about this fake discount, the company claims that the discounts have remained the same though the rates have risen.
Finally, the customers say that they purchased the Charter cable TV services specifically because they believed that the services would include certain channels. However, the company allegedly makes a practice of removing channels from the package, and then telling customers that they must pay extra for channels that were once included in their cable packages.
Have you ever encountered hidden fees in your cable or internet services? Share your experiences in the comments below.
The customers are represented by Hugh W. Cuthbertson and Steve Rickman of Zangari Cohn Cuthbertson Duhl & Grello PC, Michael W. Sobol and Daniel E. Seltz of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP, and by Daniel M. Hattis of Hattis & Lukacs.
The Charter Cable TV Bait-And-Switch Class Action Lawsuit is Randall Byrne, et al. v. Charter Communications Inc., et al., Case No. 3:20-cv-00712, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.
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567 thoughts onCharter Cable TV Class Action Alleges “Bait and Switch” Tactics
I just got done dealing with customer service for a period of 24 hours because of channels received for one price and Spectrum trying to charge for other channels that were to be included. It was an absolute nightmare. My price went from 160.00 to 213. I spoke with 12 representatives starting with sales eventually going back to sales and then to the retention department. I spoke with representatives that lived in North carolina, New york, and texas to name a few. I was emotionally exhausted because of this encounter and have no idea at this point what I will be charged. Anytime I try to remove cable TV all together and just keep WIFI and home telephone, my bill is escalated because the package prices change and then my bill is even higher forcing me to keep cable tv in order to afford internet and home phone. This company is extremely out of control with billing practices and because there is no competition I am forced to stay with them if I want these services.
I was a customer of Charter Cable for years and years. I signed up for a package called the “silver package.” Over the years, channels I contracted for were frequently taken away while I continued to be charged for the “Silver” package. Monthly costs went up many times even though TV channels were decreased. When Charter became Spectrum, this “bait and switch” tactic continued. I have recently been told as of 9-20-2023 by phone that I was billed by Spectrum at a higher “Charter” rate continually until present day. I asked if I were due a refund and the Spectrum rep said “No”. I asked why not? Anyway now Spectrum is taking away many channels from the package I contracted for. They claim that they cannot tell me my new billing details or what my replacement channels consist of at this time. I feel that I have repeatedly been misinformed, overcharged and had services reduced. The company is extremely hard to get in contact with.
Please add me…..
Spectrum offered internet, wi-fi and mobile services bundle as we already had home landline telephone service. Then, after I filed a complaint regarding another local business with the state medical board along with its evidence, I alone, started having problems with internet and emails and I decided to contact my email provider and used the landline not the mobile calling operator 411. What I got was the compromised cyber criminal pretending as the Service Tech who assured me he could fix the problem. I paid him as demanded that hour thru USPS. As he entered my laptop he was really the cyber criminal and all my associated accessories like printer, iPhones, and television became controlled by him. To this day I am fighting against him. I appealed to Spectrum, the FCC and the issue is still going on!