For cable subscribers, an unwanted charge can create work as well as expense. On October 11, 2016, the Federal Communications Commission announced a Comcast settlement after customers complained about charges for equipment and services they had not ordered. The agency said consumers described spending substantial time seeking corrections. Comcast agreed to a $2.3 million civil penalty and a five-year compliance plan. [comcast-release][comcast-order]

The release described safeguards against adverse action during a billing investigation. The consent decree supplies important limits: once an investigation of an allegedly unauthorized product charge is underway, Comcast generally cannot demand payment of that charge, send it to collections or interrupt service solely for its nonpayment pending a decision. Other bill amounts remain due, and the decree includes an exception for a clear pattern of abusive or bad-faith disputes. [comcast-order]

Those procedures were not all promised for the announcement day. The decree sets July 1, 2017 as the implementation deadline for the billing-redress processes, subject to specified exceptions. It also calls for a clearer escalation process. That timetable matters to households: announcing protection and making a dispute system work are different steps, and the settlement alone does not demonstrate that either time costs or billing errors have fallen. [comcast-order]

The underlying complaints remain allegations, not a finding that every disputed charge was improper. The decree records Comcast's position that most charges were authorized and that it corrected problems where appropriate; it also preserves disagreement over the law's interpretation. Read together, the FCC release and decree establish obligations and enforcement terms, not independent evidence of improved customer service. [comcast-order]

Source documents

  1. Comcast to Pay $2.3 Million After Subscribers Complain of Billing for Services & Equipment They Never Orderedhttps://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-341621A1.pdf
  2. In the Matter of Comcast Corporation: Order and Consent Decree, DA 16-1127https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-16-1127A1.pdf