Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson amended his lawsuit against Comcast Thursday to include new evidence he says points to even more deceptive conduct than previously alleged.
Ferguson filed a more than $100,000 million lawsuit against Comcast in August of 2016. It says Comcast misrepresented its Service Protection Plan in violation of Washington's Consumer Protection Act.
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More than half a million Washingtonians have subscribed to the to the plan since 2011.
The lawsuit says a sample of recorded calls between plan subscribers and Comcast representatives show Comcast may have signed up more than half of all subscribers without their consent, telling them the plan was free when they signed up, but they were automatically charged every month after the first month.
Refusal to provide call recordings
Ferguson says Comcast's refusal to produce recordings of calls has been an ongoing issue, with Comcast saying it would be too burdensome to do so.
Only after a judge ordered Comcast to comply in May did Comcast admit it had already deleted 90 percent of the calls the state Attorney General's Office had requested as part of its investigation.
Despite the deletions, the Attorney General's Office obtained a sample of call recordings through a judge’s court order.
Ferguson says the new evidence substantially expands original $100 million-plus lawsuit.
Ferguson's original 2016 lawsuit says Comcast violated the Consumer Protection Act to all of its nearly 1.2 million Washington subscribers.
Ferguson is seeking full restitution for the $73 million paid by Washington subscribers to Comcast’s Service Protection Plan and is also seeking penalties for violations of the Consumer Protection Act for a total of more than $100 million.
Shortly before Ferguson filed the lawsuit, Comcast increased the monthly price of the Service Protection Plan from $4.99 to $5.99. The cost has tripled since 2011.