SALEM, Ore. (Legal Newsline)-Oregon Attorney General John Kroger has announced a consumer protection settlement with DISH network.
The multistate lawsuit came about after hundreds of complaints from consumers. The lawsuit alleged deceptive and unfair sales practices by the satellite programming provider.
The lawsuit specifically alleged that the telecommunication company failed to accept responsibility for misconduct by their employees, violated do-not-call rules, failed to disclose all terms and conditions of consumer agreements, did not disclose purchased or leased equipment was used, charged customers credit card and debit bank accounts without notice or receiving authorization.
DISH will pay $5.99 million as a psrt of its settlement with 46 states. Kroger, a Democrat, said Oregon's Department of Justice will receive $125,000.
"Telecommunication companies ranked No. 1 on the Department of Justice's Top 10 consumer complaints 2008," the attorney general said. "For that reason, we have made telecommunications abuses one of our top consumer protection priorities."
Out of the 1,189 complaints filed against DISH, 7 percent were filed in Oregon.