Peacock class action claims media service engages in illegal automatic renewal scheme

Peacock class action overview: 

• Who: Plaintiff Holly Winston filed a class action lawsuit against Peacock TV. 
• Why: Peacock is accused of engaging in an illegal automatic renewal program that charges customers without proper disclosures or payment authorizations. 
• Where: The Peacock automatic renewal class action was filed in federal court in New York.

A new lawsuit against Peacock TV alleges the company operates its automatic renewal program in an illegal manner.

In the class action lawsuit against Peacock, plaintiff Holly Willson claims the company charges for monthly and annual subscriptions without proper disclosures or payment authorizations.

The streaming service gets payment information from customers when they originally sign up for the service but it fails to clearly and conspicuously show the automatic renewal terms and request consent before starting the service, the class action claims.

“Defendant is then able to unilaterally charge its customers renewal fees without their consent, as it is in possession of its customers’ payment information,” the automatic renewal class action claims. “Thus, defendant has made the deliberate decision to charge plaintiff and other similarly situated customers on a recurring basis, relying on consumer confusion and inertia to retain customers, combat consumer churn, and bolster its revenues.”

Peacock went from $778 million in revenue in 2021 to $2 billion in revenue in 2022, going from 9 million to 21 million subscribers, by using the described tactics, the Peacock class action claims.

Peacock lacks easy-to-use process to cancel subscriptions, class action lawsuit says

Canceling a Peacock subscription is difficult because Peacock does not give a toll-free number or allow for any other timely or easy-to-use way to cancel a subscription, instead making it difficult or confusing to cancel a subscription, the class action claims.

The class, which includes California Peacock subscribers, claims that the Peacock automatic renewal process violates California law.

Consumers filed a trio of class action lawsuits early this year against The Athletic, HungryRoots and FloSports, accusing them of unlawfully automatically renewing customer subscriptions.

Do you have a subscription to Peacock? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiff is represented by Adrian Gucovschi of Gucovschi Rozenshteyn PLLC and Frederick J. Klorczyk III of Bursor and Fisher PA.

The Peacock automatic renewal class action lawsuit is Winston v. Peacock TV LLC, Case No 1:23-cv-08191, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:

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• FTC files lawsuit against Amazon over auto-renewing Prime subscriptions
• FCC proposes requirements for cable, satellite providers to disclose ‘all-in’ pricing
• Audible class action alleges company ‘tricks’ consumers into automatically renewing subscriptions