CenturyLink target of Class Action Lawsuit, accused of overcharging customers

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - Internet provider CenturyLink is the target of a class-action lawsuit, accused of allegedly defrauding its customers.

Thus far, class-action lawsuits against CenturyLink have been filed in seven states, including Arizona. Attorney Ben Meiselas with Geragos and Geragos in Los Angeles said CenturyLink is over-charging and creating fake accounts, using consumer identifications and other means.

The lawsuit is based on the claims of a fired employee who has filed for whistleblower protection.

"Consumers tell us they were hit with dings on their credit scores," said Meiselas, via a phone interview. "So, they can't purchase homes, they can't purchase cars, because of a balance which they believed they resolved was now, based on fraudulent charges in the first place, was unresolved."

Meiselas says the amount of people wanting to join the class-action lawsuit is "unprecedented".

"CenturyLink consumers are so outraged, and once they've become wise to the hussle that they've been in, and the amount of fraud they've been victim to, these CenturyLink angry subscribers keep all that information they have," said Meiselas.

One CenturyLink customer said his bill is automatically paid from his account, but now after hearing about this lawsuit, he'll be paying more attention.

"Well, I actually haven't heard anything about it, but I'll definitely be interested in looking my bill, now that you mentioned it," the man said.

CenturyLink released a statement that said:

"Unfortunately, these types of opportunistic follow-on claims are not unexpected. The fact that a law firm is trying to leverage a wrongful termination suit into a putative class action lawsuit, does not change our original position. Our employees know that if they have any concerns about ethics or compliance issues, we have an integrity line in place, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We take these allegations seriously and are diligently investigating this matter."

CenturyLink Class Action Lawsuit - Zimmerman Reed Attorneys www.zimmreed.com/about/contact-us