Originally published December 29 2005
Time Warner accused of illegally billing AOL customers
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Time Warner is accused of illegally billing customers by making unknown secondary accounts. AOL requires members to pay by credit card, electronic withdrawals or on their telephone bill, leaving no opportunity to review the bill.
A lawsuit seeking to potentially cover hundreds of thousands of America Online Inc. subscribers accuses the Time Warner Inc. unit of illegally billing customers by creating secondary accounts for them without their consent.
The lawsuit, filed last month in St. Clair County Circuit Court on behalf of 10 AOL customers in six states, claims the company confused and deceived customers about the charges, stalled them from canceling unauthorized accounts and refused to return questioned fees.
All of the federal cases were consolidated in California two years ago, Talley said.
Nicholas Graham, an AOL spokesman, said the Dulles, Va.-based company considers the Illinois lawsuit ''a legal rehash that has as much legal value as refiling your personal income taxes from four years ago.''
''We have safeguards in place now that prevent unauthorized charges, and we have credit and refund policies that do justice to the consumer,'' he said.
The lawsuit also names ICT Group Inc., a Newtown, Pa.-based outsourcing company AOL retained to respond to customer complaints and billing matters.
Plaintiffs include an Illinoisan, two Californians, three Tennesseans, a West Virginian, two Alabamans and a New Yorker.
No hearing date has been set on the Illinois case, which accuses AOL of violating Illinois' Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act.
The latest lawsuit alleges that AOL misrepresented that subscribers may add up to seven different screen names to a membership account for free.
To maintain its customer base, according to the lawsuit, AOL has instructed customer-service contractors such as ICT to prevent AOL subscribers from canceling their accounts ''at all costs'' and to resist giving refunds.
New York-based Time Warner -- the world's largest media company -- has been holding exploratory talks with companies including Microsoft Corp. about a potential investment in or sale of AOL, which has become a hot property because of its booming advertising sales and ability to draw in large audiences online.
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