CALIFORNIA—Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey announced on Thursday, February 20 that Time Warner Cable LLC completed a historic settlement on behalf of more than 170,000 consumers in California over internet speeds never received.

The lawsuit was originally filed by the district atorneys of Los Angeles, San Diego and Riverside counties in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The claim alleged unlawful business practices, specifically using misleading advertising practices beginning in 2013 to sway consumers to pay for high-speed internet services the company could not deliver.

The majority of the money being returned to its consumers will be credited on their monthly cable/internet bills from Spectrum, who is the parent company of TWC. Spectrum has been given 60 days to automatically issue credits to all eligible consumers.

“We as prosecutors demand that all service providers – large and small – live up to their claims and fairly market their products. When they don’t, my office will take legal action to protect consumers,” said Lacey.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Gregory Keosian signed the stipulated final judgment between prosecutors and Time Warner Cable on February 14, 2020. Under the settlement, restitution in the amount of $16.9 million which will be distributed directly to eligible customers. This distribution is based on the type of service they purchased from Time Warner Cable initially.

Examples of barriers to accessing the high-speed internet that TWC promised include some customers who were issued outdated modems, making it impossible for them to receive the higher bandwidth they purchased. Other consumers paid for higher internet speeds that TWC could simply not deliver.

Those who paid for higher speeds and did not receive it are eligible to receive approximately $90 in a one-time credit on their cable/internet bills, while those who were issued outdated modems in addition to paying higher prices for higher speeds will be eligible to receive approximately $180 in credit on their bills.

To ensure these eligible California consumers are rightfully compensated for their troubles, they will also be offered one of two free services. Those with cable TV subscriptions will be offered three free months of Showtime ($45), if they do not currently subscribe to Showtime. Those with only internet services will be offered one free month of an entertainment streaming package, Spectrum Choice, ($40).

The remaining $1.9 million of the settlement will go to the three prosecuting agencies in the case to cover costs associated with the investigation and prosecution of this and future consumer protection cases, as agreed to by TWC. 

TWC agreed to avoid advertising internet speeds it knows cannot consistently be delivered during peak hours. TWC also agreed to ensure that its customers are issued proper equipment in order to deliver advertised speeds as promised. While TWC was cooperative in this lawsuit, they did not admit fault.