America Online Threatened With Lawsuit by New York
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New York’s attorney general, adding to America Online’s growing pains, said Friday that he will sue the company unless it promises refunds and stops promoting a pricing plan it can’t reliably deliver.
“You don’t sell 10,000 tickets to a theater that you have only 3,000 seats for,” Atty. Gen. Dennis Vacco said. “Consumers that want refunds should be able to get refunds.”
Vacco said he notified AOL in a letter that a lawsuit alleging false advertising and “repeated and persistent fraud” would be filed Thursday unless the company provides a satisfactory response.
The move was made after representatives from Vacco’s office and 19 other state attorneys general voiced their concerns with AOL executives in Chicago. Details from that meeting were not disclosed.
America Online Chairman Steve Case, appearing later on the cable network CNBC, said the company is not considering any refunds. An AOL spokeswoman would say only that the company is progressing toward “an understanding” with the attorneys general.
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