NBCUniversal Reaches $3.6 Million Settlement In Lawsuit Over Peacock Subscription Cancellations
NBCUniversal can pay $3.6 million to settle a lawsuit accusing it of failing to supply customers a simple mechanism to cancel mechanically renewing Peacock subscriptions.
As a part of the deal, Peacock should give customers a easy cancellation mechanisms to right away halt all recurring prices and get their consent to transform auto-renewals and free trials to paid enrollments, amongst different issues. The cash from the settlement will go to Los Angeles County, which filed the lawsuit alongside the settlement on Wednesday, to implement shopper safety legal guidelines.
The phrases outlined within the settlement mirror guidelines that streaming platforms and different companies would’ve needed to implement if the FTC’s “click on to cancel” rule went into impact. Below the measure, companies would’ve been barred from making it harder to cancel than it’s to enroll. It was meant to eradicate drawn-out cancellation processes geared toward trapping customers in undesirable subscriptions, although the initiative was struck down by a federal appeals court docket earlier this month.
A patchwork of state legal guidelines govern cancellation processes for customers, with some areas carrying particular legal guidelines geared toward defending customers from predatory subscription practices. That features California, New York, Georgia, Florida and Tennessee.
LA County, which filed the lawsuit alongside the settlement, alleged violations of a California legislation over mechanically renewing subscriptions, in addition to a legislation defending shoppers from misleading billing practices. The grievance focused NBCUniversal neglecting to present customers a transparent clarification of the value that will be charged after a free trial ends, amongst different issues.
NBCUniversal didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.