Spectrum Class Action Says Promised Internet Speeds Aren’t Delivered

Spectrum recently removed a class action lawsuit to federal court which will handle allegations that the internet company promises internet speeds it cannot deliver.

Plaintiff Carla Jimenez filed the class action lawsuit against Charter Communications Inc. and Spectrum Management Holding Company LLC claiming that Spectrum internet speeds are advertised as higher than what is actually delivered.

Jimenez says she currently has an “Extreme” internet plan through Spectrum, which she pays for so that her and her family can achieve higher internet speeds.

However, the Spectrum internet class action alleges that Jimenez has never attained the high internet speeds she is paying a premium price for.

Despite advertisements that consumers can connect “6-8 devices at the same time” and achieve “the fastest internet speeds available,” Spectrum internet speeds fail to reach the high speeds advertised, the Spectrum class action lawsuit states.

“For years and continuing through the present day, Defendants have defrauded and misled Plaintiff and similarly situated consumers by promising to deliver residential Internet service at speeds that Defendants knew they could not reliably deliver and that consumers could rarely, if ever, achieve,” the Spectrum internet speeds class action alleges. “Defendants also falsely promised to provide Plaintiff and similarly situated consumers residential Internet services with ‘no contracts’.”

Jimenez argues that Spectrum internet speeds which are used in advertisements do not represent WiFi speeds, which are what most consumers are looking for, but instead represent the speed of wired connections of devices connected via ethernet.

The Spectrum internet speeds class action claims that the company wrongfully uses these speeds to advertise their WiFi speeds with the intent of misleading consumers.

“[Defendants Spectrum Management Holding Co. LLC and Charter Communications Inc.] know their advertisements and related statements are false and misleading, and they know they are omitting material information from their representations that would impact consumers’ evaluations and purchasing decisions,” Jimenez claims in her Spectrum internet class action. “Defendants know that no consumers will reliably achieve the speeds.”

Jiminez argues that “insufficient infrastructure, overcrowded bandwidth, and underperforming equipment” also contribute to slower Spectrum internet speeds.

The Spectrum internet speeds class action also claims that the company’s employees are trained to encourage consumers to buy higher speed internet packages, despite the knowledge that consumers cannot reliably reach the higher speeds.

Spectrum has noted that Jimenez’s class action is nearly identical to a similar case filed in a California federal court last year. The company argues that Jimenez should be considered a Class Member in the other suit.

The plaintiff seeks to represent a Class of California consumer who have purchased a residential Spectrum internet plan.

The Spectrum internet speeds class action seeks actual damages, punitive damages, restitution and disgorgement, court costs, and attorneys’ fees.

Jimenez is represented by Jamin S. Soderstrom of Soderstrom Law PC and Douglas L. Mahaffey of Mahaffey Law Group PC.

The Spectrum Internet Speeds Class Action Lawsuit is Jimenez v. Charter Communications Inc., et al., Case No. 2:18­-cv-­06480, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.