CenturyLink is currently in the middle of a multimillion dollar class action lawsuit which alleged that the telemarketing service sold to customers in Arizona improperly contained material misstatements that were discovered by the Federal Trade Commission in an investigation. The lawsuit was filed by the National Class Action Association, which claimed that CenturyLink knowingly violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The suit also alleged that the company engaged in illegal discrimination as well as falsely advertising its services. In a statement released after the suit was filed in January, CenturyLink said that it had received the complaint and that it would review the matter.
This isn’t the first time that CenturyLink has had its fair share of trouble. In 2021, the company was slammed with a class action lawsuit which alleged that it charged certain fees to people who were enrolled in its dial-up services, even though these individuals never used a dime and didn’t even order any service. Another case involved consumers who bought computers from the retailer and later complained that the computers came with adware and spyware programmed into them. According to reports, CenturyLink settled the suits brought against it by settling out over $2 million. The class action lawsuit was eventually dismissed.
The class action lawsuit was only one among many that CenturyLink encountered. As of today, the company is still reeling from its troubles. One class action lawsuit was filed by an individual who said that he was once a loyal customer of the retailer until he realized that he was receiving monthly calls from an 800 number that the store’s automated attendant would not identify. When he went to call the number, the caller wouldn’t acknowledge him or give his name. Instead, he just shouted that he was going to call the police and hung up the phone. When the man confronted the company about this, the representative he was dealing with said that they “do not sell information regarding criminal records to third parties.”
Several other suits have been filed against CenturyLink, claiming that the company did not live up to the claims of customers. One class action lawsuit claims that the company’s phone service kept being disconnected at inconvenient times. Another suit says that the toll-free customer service representative often did not return phone calls. And in one instance, a customer’s cat died while in the care of one of their employees. This customer then filed a class action lawsuit against the company, saying that they should have provided better care for their pet.
The class action lawsuit financing company that was tapped to handle the class-action lawsuit ultimately went under. A few months later, the entire class action lawsuit was recalled and sent to the bankruptcy court. The bankruptcy court trustee assigned to the case liquidated the assets of the company and sent the assets to a new entity. However, the same problems that happened with the original lawsuit financing company occurred with the new company, which ended up sinking and filing bankruptcy.
The class action lawsuit financing company may have avoided bankruptcy, but this still could have an impact on the class. The new lawsuit financing company will have to prove that the assets it is purchasing are worth something. If the bankruptcy trustee observes that the purchase price of the assets is less than the current market value for each class member, the case will fail. However, the class members are not entitled to any money from this class action lawsuit since it was not a valid class action lawsuit.
