Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo vowed to sue Time Warner Cable Inc. of its alleged violation of California state law by making false and misleading statements to subscribers, a newspaper report said on Thursday.
In a planned lawsuit, the Los Angeles city attorney's office alleged that Warner Cable caused "major havoc and distress" when it became the No. 1 pay TV provider in Southern California two years ago, the Los Angeles Times said.
The 25-page lawsuit claims that the company violated its franchise agreement by having subscribers spend hours on hold with customer service representatives and allowing excessive repair work delays.
"Hundreds of thousands of Los Angeles residents were ripped off," Delgadillo said in a statement quoted by The Times. "Time Warner must be held accountable for its promises."
City prosecutors said the suit would be filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court. Time Warner Cable representatives had no immediate comment.
The New York-based company could face civil penalties of tens of millions of dollars, according to the report.
Time Warner became the major cable TV provider in the area when it joined with Comcast Corp. in 2006 to buy out bankrupt Adelphia Communications Corp. Time Warner and Comcast then swapped franchises so each would dominate markets in different U.S. regions.
The combination was difficult because Time Warner Cable had to upgrade the old Adelphia and Comcast systems and merge them with its own, and nearly 500,000 subscribers in the city were affected, according to The Times.
The suit focuses on service from the fall of 2006 to the spring of 2007.
Source:Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article