Two Florida cable TV customers are seeking Class certification in a consumer class action lawsuit over Comcast lease fees.
Plaintiffs Jon McDougal and David Fiessinger Jr. accuse defendant Comcast Corp. of improperly charging some of its cable TV customers a lease fee for cable boxes that the customers own outright. The fee appears on customers’ bills as a “Modem/Leased” fee.
In their motion for Class certification, McDougal and Fiessinger argue that the defendant has been applying the Comcast lease fees at issue to an entire Class of Comcast customers.
They argue that certain issues, such as whether these Comcast lease fees are legitimate, are common to the entire proposed Class. These common issues predominate over any individualized issues that might arise out of the same alleged facts, the plaintiffs say.
Similarly, the claims McDougal and Fiessinger raise are typical of those that each proposed Class Member could have against Comcast. Each Class Member would be subject to similar harm related to the same alleged conduct by Comcast, making class action treatment proper here, the plaintiffs argue.
Both McDougal and Fiessinger are Comcast cable customers in Florida, and each owns the cable box used with Comcast service. Yet they claim Comcast still charged them lease fees for using equipment the company doesn’t even own.
Neither plaintiff agreed to pay these Comcast lease fees when they signed up for cable service, they allege. “Quite obviously, Plaintiffs contend that Comcast has no right to collect a ‘lease’ on property that it does not own,” the plaintiffs say.
“The same problem would be there if Comcast tried to collect a ‘lease’ on the houses and cars Plaintiffs own or if, for example, Comcast tried to have Plaintiffs pay for roof repair at Comcast’s corporate headquarters in Philadelphia, lawn work, window repair, worker salaries, corporate banquets, and the list goes on,” the class action states.
Their Comcast lease fees class action lawsuit raises one claim for violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act and another claim for unjust enrichment.
If certified as proposed, the plaintiff Class would cover all persons who were billed for fees not owed to Comcast, including “Modem/Leased” fees. The plaintiffs estimate this definition will include tens of thousands of Class Members.
McDougal and Fiessinger seek a court order requiring Comcast to cease the allegedly unlawful practices complained of here and to engage in a corrective advertising campaign. They also seek an award of damages, restitution and disgorgement of revenues related to the fees, plus court costs and attorneys’ fees.
The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys Cullin O’Brien of Cullin O’Brien Law PA, John B. Patterson and Adam M. Balkan of Balkan & Patterson LLP, and Brian Smith of Smith & Vanture LLP.
The Comcast Lease Fees Class Action Lawsuit is Jon McDougal, et al. v. Comcast Corp., Case No. 9:16-cv-81906, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
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7 thoughts onComcast Class Action Says Cable Customers Charged for Fraudulent Lease Fees
Add me. I’ve been charged for additional outlets even though I owned my own boxes
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add me please
add me
I knew it all the time
Comcast do over charge us on they cable with extra fees to equal up to $9.99.. Smh
I originally started with a special they had going on. March 03, 2020 it included cable TV high speed internet. They asked me for my social security number which I gave to them. The employee said that nothing was coming up. The manager didn’t say anything but was telling the employee to click there and there on their screen.. the reason for my social security number is because I was on a one year plan. So if they couldn’t find it then whose social security number were they using. They sold me some fake promotion and said just for joining them they were going to send me $100 visa prepaid card. They also said that I have to give them a $100 deposit which I’m sure that’s why I received $100 visa. I’ve had Comcast before and never need to give any deposit. Also for the entire pandemic my kids weren’t able to log into virtual school. The internet was not nothing and I wasn’t getting all the channels that was promised. Comcast sent a tech out a few times and I only saw one of the tech the very last time in September of 2020. Before September I upgraded to the most expensive internet with them thinking it was going to make a difference because my kids needed internet for their school. That also didn’t work. They also charged me for all the technicians that stopped by and the problem was never resolved. The last tech that came said that the 2.4 ghz was the only thing working and he said he doesn’t know how to fix the problem.. also I called transunion and they sent me my transcripts. It turned out that the very first day I had gotten services from Comcast in March 3, 2020 it was sent to collections. About $200 I was paying after upgrading and nothing still would work. I has calling them everyday and I would be on hold for hours for no reason because no one was able to help. I believe that it was a bulk account and that’s why the 2 ghz was the only thing working. I’ve been having problems with my bank. I see that I was being charged 4 times. I went to Comcast on October 8, 2020 to explain what was going on with the service and the assistant manager didn’t say much he said that he would submit a ticket number, meaning Another tech guy was going to come over for nothing and keep getting charged for work that’s not being fixed. I also told him to remove my bank account information from my Comcast account because of the problems I’m having and he said he did right in front of me and this was on October 8, 2020. Then I found out that my account kept getting charged without my permission. And there’s 4 Comcast accounts on my name. The assistant manager knowing that I wasn’t getting any service the entire time refused to refund my money for everything. On top of that he still left my bank information on my Comcast account and I kept getting charged on both ends for not having the funds in my bank account. Everything that Comcast has done was 100% illegal. Please help me thanks in advance