Comcast Seeks Dismissal of Cable Subscriber Fees Suit

hidden, it said in a motion to dismiss (in Pacer) filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. It responded to a second amended complaint (in Pacer) from Comcast subscribers in seven states filed last week that said those add-on fees earn Comcast more than $1 billion annually and "are a deceptive way ... to double-charge for channels that Comcast has already promised are included with the basic service price." The lawsuit -- with lead named plaintiff Dan Adkins -- alleges the add-on fees Comcast charges lets it falsely advertise a flat monthly rate that's lower than it actually charges, even though programming costs are a standard expense. The plaintiffs also cite customer conversations with telesales agents and Comcast retail store staff telling prospective customers the only additional charges are taxes and government fees. Comcast said the illegitimacy of the suit is illustrated by plaintiff's counsel taking two years to recruit plaintiffs, coach them into opting out of arbitration, and choreographing conversations "in order to elicit sound bites" for the complaint. It said the California court lacks jurisdiction since Comcast is based in Philadelphia, its subsidiaries provide Xfinity services to the named defendants in California, and other named defendants live in other states. It argued plaintiffs haven't shown any breach of contract evidence with parent company Comcast since their subscriber contracts were with subsidiary Comcast Cable Communications, nor have they shown breach of implied duty since the fees charged are addressed and permitted by the parties' contracts.