in Newswire Published on November 9, 2017

CenturyLink Among Nine Defendants Saddled with Fraud Class Action in Minnesota

Last Updated on May 8, 2018

Kramer v. CenturyLink, Inc. et al.

Filed: November 3, 2017 ◆§ 0:17-cv-05001

Another lawsuit against CenturyLink out of Minnesota claims the company grossly overbilled consumers despite promising affordable, low rates.

Defendant(s)

CenturyLink, Inc. CenturyLink Public Communications, Inc. CenturyLink Sales Solutions, Inc. CenturyTel Broadband Services, LLC CenturyTel of Minnesota, Inc. PTI Communications of Minnesota, Inc. Embarq Minnesota Inc. Qwest Broadband Services, Inc. Qwest Corporation CenturyLink Communications, LLC

Law(s)

State(s)

Minnesota

Categories

Fraud

A proposed class action lawsuit claims CenturyLink, Inc. and the below entities defraud consumers by promising “simple, low teaser rates” to new phone and internet customers in Minnesota who are soon hit with unexplainable fee increases and fraudulent charges on their monthly bills:

- CenturyLink, Inc.

- CenturyTel Broadband Services, LLC

- CenturyLink Communications, LLC

- CenturyLink Public Communications Inc.

- CenturyLink Sales Solutions, Inc.

- CenturyTel of Minnesota, Inc.

- PTI Communications of Minnesota, Inc.

- Embarq Minnesota Inc.

- Qwest Broadband Services, Inc.

- Qwest Corporation

“The sheer volume and consistency of the overcharges and unauthorized accounts demonstrates that [the defendants’] conduct cannot be explained as isolated incidents or simple mistakes,” the case says. “[The defendants] exploited unsuspecting consumers who had placed their trust in [the companies] to bill them accurately, honestly, and to withdraw from their financial accounts only amounts due and agreed to.”

The plaintiff, citing a well-publicized whistleblower incident against CenturyLink from June 2017, blames employee and agent incentive programs as the catalyst behind rampant customer overcharges. Further, despite maintaining that customers themselves are responsible for alerting CenturyLink to overbilling, the lawsuit claims the company “would not immediately honor a request for a refund of any overpayment” if it came in past the three-month period after a customer received his or her bill.

Another allegation of deception put forth in the suit concerns “obscured and misrepresented fees” CenturyLink supposedly passes off as “Internet Cost Recovery Fees” or “Broadband Recovery Fees,” charges the plaintiff says are made to look like government-mandated taxes that are “deceptively separated out from any promotional rate to make promotional base rates appear lower to customers.” According to the complaint, some of the false charges CenturyLink and its co-defendants shifted onto consumers include:

- Lines or items customers did not request;

- Higher rates than those originally quoted;

- Early termination fees even though services were canceled due to higher or misrepresented rates or poor service quality;

- Billing for products or services before the customer received them;

- Charges for periods of service resulting from CenturyLink’s failure to timely process cancelations; and

- Full-price billing for leased modems despite their return to CenturyLink within the required timeframe.

The full complaint can be read below.

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