Comcast Class Action Alleges ‘Bait-and-Switch’ Cable Rates

A California cable subscriber accuses Comcast of tacking on bogus fees after making false promises of fixed monthly rates for cable service.

Plaintiff Joseph Loomis claims Comcast has been running a “massive bait-and-switch scheme” exploiting more than 2 million California customers.

He says Comcast advertises service packages at a lower price, then tacks fees onto subscribers’ bills that were never disclosed in the original subscription agreements.

Loomis is challenging fees that appear on subscribers’ bills as a Broadcast TV fee and a Regional Sports fee. Comcast allegedly describes these fees as mandatory charges required by federal law, he says.

But Loomis says these fees are “discretionary disguised double-charges for the channels that Comcast has promised are already included in the lower advertised package price,” according to this Comcast class action lawsuit.

Comcast allegedly uses these fees as part of a scheme to lure customers into one- and two-year contracts at supposedly guaranteed rates, Loomis says. Once the subscriber agrees to the contract, Loomis claims, Comcast starts adding undisclosed fees. The company allegedly reserves the right to add more and more fees and to increase them at will, according to this Comcast class action lawsuit.

Loomis reports having a Comcast customer service experience so bad it could make anyone want to sue.

His troubles allegedly began in June 2016, when a salesperson at a Verizon store offered him a Comcast upgrade package for $65 per month plus taxes and fees. Later that day, he says, he received a confirmation email showing that the new plan he had signed up for was significantly more expensive than what the salesperson had promised.

In attempting to get his service plan sorted out, Loomis says he then went through a slew of contacts and negotiations with Comcast online chat agents. Different agents offered him different solutions, some of which ran contrary to what he had been told by other Comcast agents, Loomis claims.

Loomis says he finally settled on a service plan he could accept. But the next month, he says he got a Comcast bill that included a Broadcast TV fee and a Regional Sports fee, bumping his monthly bill to $8 more than what he had been promised.

Calls to Comcast and a complaint to the Federal Communications Commission failed to get these disputed fees off his bill, he says. He claims Comcast agents “falsely” told him these fees are mandatory “taxes” that are required by federal law.

Loomis proposes to represent a plaintiff Class that would include all persons in California who within the applicable statutory limitations period were charged a Broadcast TV fee or a Regional Sports fee by Comcast.

He seeks a court order barring Comcast from charging fees to customers who are currently under minimum term agreements that resulted from the alleged misconduct described here. He is also seeking an award of damages, restitution and disgorgement, and reimbursement of court costs and attorneys’ fees.

Loomis is represented by attorneys Daniel M. Hattis of Hattis Law, Jason Skaggs of Skaggs Faucette LLP and Tony J. Tanke of the Law Offices of Tony J. Tanke.

The Comcast Improper Fees Class Action Lawsuit is Joseph Loomis v. Comcast Corp. and Comcast Cable Communications LLC, Case No. 3:17-cv-02110, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

UPDATE: The Comcast ‘Bait-and-Switch’ Cable Rates Class Action Lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed on August 17, 2017. Top Class Actions will let our viewers know if a new class action lawsuit is filed.