CenturyLink's Minnesota Customers Can Get Their Money Back

MINNESOTA — Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison this week announced that his office has obtained a settlement with global telecommunications company CenturyLink, the third-largest telecom company in America, that requires the company to pay $8.9 million for fraudulently overbilling Minnesota consumers.

CenturyLink must also "fundamentally reform" its billing practices, including by disclosing its true prices, honoring all prices and discounts it promised to consumers, and banning sham internet fees, officials said. It is also required to submit audits to the Attorney General’s office.

Attorney General Ellison is urging CenturyLink customers in Minnesota who believe CenturyLink has overcharged them at any time from 2011 until today to complete a contact form on the Attorney General’s website as the first step in a reimbursement process.

“My job is to help Minnesotans afford their lives. That means holding accountable companies that make that harder by breaking the law. CenturyLink broke the law by fraudulently overbilling hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans and illegally raising the price Minnesotans had to pay for the company’s service,” Ellison said in a news release.

“There’s no amount of money that can fully reimburse every Minnesotan that CenturyLink defrauded for all the money they were overcharged and all the time they lost in trying to get CenturyLink to do the right thing in the first place. Even so, this settlement will put money back into the pockets of thousands of Minnesotans. Just as importantly, it requires CenturyLink to fundamentally reform its billing practices going forward, which should save all consumers money and heartache going forward,” he continued.

“This case began because Minnesotans wouldn’t take CenturyLink’s ‘no’ for an answer and complained to my office. Any Minnesotan who thinks CenturyLink has overcharged them at any time from 2011 on should contact my office as soon as possible to start the reimbursement process,” Attorney General Ellison added.

Terms of the settlement

The Consent Judgment filed in Anoka County District Court today settles the consumer-protection lawsuit that the Attorney General’s office filed in July 2017. Specifically, the settlement requires CenturyLink to pay:

• A total of $844,655 in refunds to 12,094 Minnesota consumers who were falsely promised a discount that they did not receive; and
• An additional $8,055,345, which the Attorney General will use to distribute further refunds to harmed consumers.

The settlement also requires CenturyLink to fundamentally reform its billing practices, and requires CenturyLink to:

• disclose the true price of its services at the time of sale and in the company’s advertisements;
• provide consumers with an “Order Confirmation” that includes a complete summary of the prices consumers will pay;
• honor all of the prices and discounts it promises to consumers; and
• stop charging sham internet fees that provide consumers with nothing of value.

CenturyLink must also submit audits to the Attorney General over the next three years to prove that the company is complying with these settlement terms.