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A $15.5 million settlement ending a class action lawsuit alleging that consumers were forced to rent a Comcast set-top box in order to access their cable subscription was issued final approval by a federal judge.
In 2007, a number of class action lawsuits were lodged against cable company Comcast over the set-top boxes. Plaintiffs claimed that Comcast extorted extra money out of them and others by requiring the rental of a set-top box to access their premium cable subscriptions.
The Comcast set-top box class action lawsuits were consolidated into a single action against the cable company in 2009. After five separate mediation sessions and several attempts at settling, the parties reached a settlement agreement.
Now, a decade after the initial complaints were filed, U.S. District Court Judge Anita B. Brody has granted final approval to a $15.5 million Comcast set-top box class action settlement.
Class Members included those who subscribed to Comcast’s premium offering and were required to pay a set-top-box rental fee between Jan. 1, 2005 and Sept. 5, 2019 and opted out of the arbitration clause in their cable contract. Class Members in Washington, California, or West Virginia need not have opted out of the arbitration clause.
According to the order approving the settlement deal, the number of Class Members who will receive compensation is, unfortunately, low.
“Out of an estimated 3.5 million potential Class Members, 20,262 individuals have filed claims, fifty-nine individuals have opted out of the proposed Settlement, and four individuals have filed three objections to the Settlement,” the judge notes.
Despite the low turnout of consumers making claims in the class action settlement, Judge Brody states that the outcome is preferable to no Class Members receiving payment.
“Ideally, many more Class Members would have submitted claims,” states the judge in her order. “It is likely, however, that if no Settlement Agreement had been reached, even fewer potential Class Members would have received any benefit from this litigation due to several significant hurdles in this case. Despite a weak case, Class Counsel continued to prioritize obtaining a direct benefit for potential Class Members and ultimately achieved a Settlement with the potential to directly benefit an estimated 3.5 million consumers.”
The deadline to make a claim in the Comcast set-top box class action settlement passed on Aug. 31, 2019. The possible awards ranged from $10 to $15 in cash or up to $59.95 in Comcast credits.
Class Members were required to submit proof that they had paid a rental fee for a Comcast set-top box, in the form of a financial statement, cancelled check or invoice.
Did you filed a claim for the Comcast set-top box rental fees class action settlement? Let us know in the comments below!
The plaintiffs were represented by Dianne Nast of NastLaw LLC, Kenneth Wexler of Wexler Wallace LLP, and Stephen Corr of Stark & Stark.
The Comcast Set-Top Box Rental Fees Class Action Lawsuit is In re: Comcast Corp. Set-Top Cable Television Box Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 2:09-md-02034, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
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32 thoughts onComcast Set-Top Box Class Action Settlement Gets Final Approval
I had no idea of this was never informed till now