Cable customers in Montgomery County who have paid Comcast a service call fee might qualify to recoup their money.

Comcast reached a settlement with the Montgomery County Office of Consumer Protection in December regarding complaints from county residents who believed they should not have paid the companys truck trip fee for a service call at their homes.

Between 2007 and 2011, 85 Comcast customers in Montgomery County claimed they were charged a truck trip fee ranging from $19.95 to $39.95 without being told it could appear on their bill or without meeting the conditions for the fee, said Eric Friedman, director of the countys Office of Consumer Protection. About 5,000 Comcast customers in Montgomery County have paid a truck trip fee.

Friedman said Comcast refunded fees of between $19.95 and $39.95 to those who complained to the county — as what the company viewed as a gesture of good will — but going forward, the company is required to directly settle with any other customer who raises a legitimate complaint.

This is why we must get the word out about the settlement agreement, he said. We do not want someone who might be entitled to a refund to not know it.

To avoid paying future refunds, Comcast must prove it both disclosed the charge and that it accurately assessed it, Friedman said.

Comcast charges the fee if customer-owned equipment causes a service problem or if a customer fails to use Comcasts equipment properly, according to the settlement. It launched the fee in early 2007 with a monthly service protection plan customers could buy to avoid the fee, the settlement states.

Improving customer experience is key for Comcast, spokeswoman Alisha Martin wrote in an email. Martin said Comcast officials were unable to speak about the settlement by The Gazettes deadline.

Dealing with Comcast is just terribly frustrating, said Dan Feisel of Darnestown, who recently spent more than an hour on the phone to resolve a different concern. Feisel was one of the customers who took issue with the truck trip fee and only after he brought his case to the countys attention did Comcast give him a refund.

As a condition of the settlement, Comcast must provide customers two notices about the fee. For at least the next 18 months, Comcast must make recorded, pre-service appointment calls stating:

A service call fee will be charged if the service problem is caused by the equipment you own, the wiring inside your house, or your failure to use the Comcast service or equipment properly. Some charges will not apply if you are a Service Protection Plan customer, according to the settlement.

Customer service representatives must also alert subscribers who call about the potential fee.

The settlement also requires Comcast to pay Montgomery County $25,000, which will be used to fund consumer protection education. Comcasts payment will be the offices largest to date, more than doubling the current approximately $17,000 fund balance, Friedman said.

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