State settles lawsuit against Comcast

Minnesota Attorney Keith Ellison has settled a lawsuit against Comcast, obtaining refunds and fee reversals for more than 30,000 customers of the telecom company. Ellison says Comcast hid true prices from customers and misled them in other ways.

“Comcast promised gift cards, a perk for signing up, that they never delivered,” Ellison said at a conference Wednesday. “Comcast charged customers for equipment and services that customers never signed up for. Then they charged those customers termination fees when they wanted to get out from under the equipment and services that they never signed up for.”

Comcast will provide $1.14 million in refunds, along with an undisclosed amount of debt relief.

Barb Laporte of St. Paul was among the Comcast customers who complained to the AG's office. She said she was overbilled.

“I think the monetary amount is beside the point,” she said. “What really matters to us is that they're being held accountable. And they have to know there are consequences when you're dishonest with your consumer.”

The settlement also requires Comcast ads reveal all charges for a service.

Comcast says it disagrees with the lawsuit's allegations but settled because it wants to partner with Ellison and others who quote "share our commitment to improving the experience of our customers. "

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