Have you ever been confused by the pricing on TV listings? The deal sounds great but then there is tons of fine print with fees, taxes, and other stuff that makes you scratch your head?
Minnesota’s Attorney General agrees and has filed a lawsuit against CenturyLink. In the lawsuit the Minnesota Attorney General says, “These pricing documents reveal a complex and elaborate pricing system in which layers of conditions and exceptions can affect the rates paid by consumers.”
The Attorney General went on to say, “The stories below reveal a recurring disconnect between the quotes CenturyLink has given to consumers and the actual prices they were charged, supposedly based on hidden rules contained in the company’s complex billing system, which CenturyLink claims are ‘trade secrets.’”
When the state of Minnesota asked for CenturyLink to turn over full information about its prices, CenturyLink is said to have claimed that the request was “unduly burdensome.”
We have said for some time not to trust the price you see in ads or on the phone. Companies often slip in terms such as fees and taxes apply. While CenturyLink has no control over the taxes, it does have control over the fees.
Many fees appear on CenturyLink TV and other cable company bills. Fees include HD technology fee, broadcast TV fee, and regional sports fees. These are fees that companies such as CenturyLink who do this know will be included in the monthly bill. Hopefully this lawsuit will force cable companies to start including these fees in the advertised price.
This likely comes at a very bad time for CenturyLink as they are facing presure from new streaming services like DIRECTV NOW, Sling TV, Hulu, PlayStation Vue, and more.
Have you ever been impacted by deceptive pricing? Leave us a comment and tell us your story.
Source: Reuters
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