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Slow Internet? Time Warner Cable's Repaying Customers $18.8 Million
The Time Warner Cable corporate logo is displayed at a company store in New York in 2015. (Mark Lennihan/AP)
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Time Warner Cable is paying $18.8 million to settle a lawsuit with Southern California counties over slower-than-advertised internet speeds.
The suit claims thousands of California consumers paid for speeds they did not receive. Of the settlement money, $16.9 million will go directly back to customers via automatic bill credits from Spectrum, Time Warner's parent company.
L.A. County District Attorney Jackie Lacey said this was the largest restitution order in a consumer protection lawsuit ever negotiated by her office:
"This historic settlement serves as a warning to all businesses in California that deceptive practices are bad for consumers and bad for business."
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In addition, all Time Warner Cable internet customers in California will be offered one of two free services: three free months of Showtime for cable TV subscribers or one free month of an entertainment streaming package, Spectrum Choice, for internet only subscribers.
The lawsuit was filed by the district attorneys of Los Angeles, San Diego and Riverside counties in L.A. County Superior Court. Time Warner Cable also agreed to pay $1.9 million to the three prosecuting agencies in the case to cover prosecution costs. The company did not admit liability in the settlement.
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