Cox Communications will pay $13M settlement after not disclosing additional fees

Attorney General Kris Mayes' office has agreed to a $13 million settlement with Cox Communications following a lawsuit alleging the company did not disclose additional fees to customers, her office announced Thursday.The settlement includes a $10 million payment to the state and $3,042,493 paid out by the Atlanta-based telecommunications company to customers who signed up for TV service between January 2017 and March 2021, according to the AG's Office.

The office said the lawsuit dealt with how Arizonans were "deceived" into long-term contracts for TV services through "price lock guarantee" and other fixed-price deals.

"We’re sending a clear message that businesses must fairly and honestly disclose all fees and honor the guarantees that they make to Arizonans," Mayes said in a statement where she chastised Cox as "deceptive" and as having made "false promises."

According to the AG's Office, between January 2014 and March 2021, Cox could regularly increase price-locked Arizona customers' bills through company fees. Cox, according to the AG's Office, failed to fully explain these fees — the Broadcast Surcharge Fee, the Regional Sports Surcharge and the Carrier Cost Recovery Fee — and instead disguised increases as fees.

The lawsuit alleged that Cox falsely implied the long-distance telephone service-related Carrier Cost Recovery Fee charge was a tax or government fee by listing it alongside government charges, according to the Attorney General's Office.

Cox will pay out payments from the settlement as account credits to eligible current customers, while eligible former customers will receive electronic funds transfers, the Attorney General's Office explained.

Cox will contact eligible customers. Those interested in seeing whether they are eligible are asked to visit cox.com/azrefund.

These are other of Cox's settlement requirements:

• "Accurately" and "clearly" disclose all terms and conditions to customers at time of sale.

• Keep from unilaterally increasing prices in term agreements if customers were advertised fixed monthly pricing.

• Continue offering plans that do not include the Broadcast Surcharge Fee, the Regional Sports Surcharge and the Carrier Cost Recovery Fee surcharges.

• Ensure its products and pricing are easily found on its website.

Anyone needing a complaint form can call the Attorney General's Phoenix office at 602-542-5763, the Tucson office at 520-628-6648 or 1-800-352-8431 for those outside both areas.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Cox Communications tp pay $13M settlement, AG Kris Mayes says