Peacock Subscription Cancellation Lawsuit: $3.6M LA County Settlement

Peacock has resolved two lawsuits over its subscription cancellation practices: a $3.7 million federal class action settled in November 2024 covering California subscribers billed for renewals between September 2019 and February 2024, and a separate $3.6 million settlement with Los Angeles County in July 2025 that also forces the streamer to change how it handles sign-ups and cancellations going forward. Both cases accused Peacock of making it easy to subscribe and unreasonably hard to leave.

The $3.6 Million Los Angeles County Settlement

The Los Angeles County case began with a consumer complaint filed in early 2022 with the county’s Department of Consumer and Business Affairs. County Counsel Dawyn R. Harrison later sued Peacock TV and NBCUniversal in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleging violations of California’s Automatic Renewal Law, the state Unfair Competition Law, and the federal Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act.¹

The county alleged Peacock failed to present its automatic renewal terms clearly, did not properly obtain consent before rolling users into paid plans, and made cancellation needlessly obstructive.²

The stipulated judgment was filed July 15, 2025. The $3.6 million breaks down into $2 million in civil penalties for county enforcement work, $1.5 million to the Department of Consumer and Business Affairs, and $100,000 in investigative cost reimbursement. None of it goes directly to subscribers.¹

The operational changes are what affect current Peacock customers. Under the judgment, Peacock must:

Present automatic renewal terms clearly and conspicuously.
Obtain affirmative consent before charging a subscriber.
Provide written acknowledgment of the renewal terms and the cancellation policy.
Offer an easy cancellation method that allows immediate termination “without any further steps that obstruct or delay the end of service.”

Peacock did not admit the allegations. Harrison noted the company had cooperated with the investigation and had already taken steps toward compliance.¹

The Winston Class Action and Whether You Can Still Claim

If you subscribed to Peacock and want money, the relevant case is Winston v. Peacock TV LLC, filed in September 2023 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. It was brought on behalf of California residents who paid renewal fees between September 2019 and February 2024.³

The complaint accused Peacock of using “dark patterns” such as the “roach motel” (making cancellation harder than sign-up), “misdirection” (steering users away from the cancel button), and “forced continuity” (converting free trials into paid subscriptions automatically). It said these tactics made cancellation “exceedingly difficult and unnecessarily confusing.”³

Judge Andrew L. Carter Jr. granted final approval to the $3.7 million settlement on November 21, 2024. The claim deadline was October 13, 2024. No proof of purchase was required, but a claimant had to provide the billing address associated with the subscription. Payments went out on a pro rata basis, with individual payouts estimated at roughly $18.33.⁴⁵

The claim window is closed. Peacock reported paying $1,736,640 in restitution through the Winston case, a figure that appears in the later LA County judgment.⁶ The LA County settlement that followed does not include a consumer restitution fund, so there is no current claim form for subscribers to fill out.

What Subscribers Were Actually Experiencing

The complaints in both cases lined up with what Peacock users had been reporting publicly. As of early 2026, Peacock’s Better Business Bureau profile listed 728 complaints filed over the prior three years, 198 of them classified as billing issues.⁷

Subscribers reported being charged for annual renewals without advance notice and denied refunds for unused months after finding they had been renewed, despite marketing that said users could “cancel anytime.” Others said Peacock’s automated chat bot would end the session when they typed “cancel subscription,” that no direct customer service phone number was available, and that in one case a user was redirected to a third-party site charging $65 per month to connect to a technician. A senior citizen reported being unable to cancel because the account was tied to a misspelled email address, with no way to reach a human representative.⁷

Your Rights Under California’s Auto-Renewal Law

Both cases were brought under California’s Automatic Renewal Law. It requires businesses to disclose renewal terms clearly, obtain affirmative consent, send a post-enrollment acknowledgment, and offer a simple cancellation method. If a business fails to get proper consent, any goods or services delivered are treated as an unconditional gift to the consumer. Public prosecutors can seek civil penalties of up to $2,500 per violation under the state’s Unfair Competition Law.⁸

The law was strengthened by AB 2863, which took effect July 1, 2025. Businesses now must let you cancel through the same medium you used to sign up, send annual reminders detailing the service and charges, give seven to 30 days’ notice before a price increase, and, if they present retention offers during cancellation, simultaneously display a prominent button that finishes the cancellation immediately.⁹¹⁰

Private class actions under the ARL have previously targeted Hulu, Spotify, Google, Apple, Dropbox, Blizzard Entertainment, and Blue Apron.⁸ The protections apply to California residents; the LA County settlement’s operational requirements are enforceable against Peacock through that judgment.

Why the Federal “Click-to-Cancel” Rule Won’t Help You

In October 2024, the FTC finalized a “click-to-cancel” rule that would have required every business to make cancellation as easy as sign-up.¹¹ It never took effect. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit vacated the rule on July 8, 2025, days before its scheduled effective date, finding the FTC had exceeded its rulemaking authority.¹²

The FTC still enforces the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act and Section 5 of the FTC Act case by case, but there is no federal rule you can invoke to force a cancellation. If you are a California resident, your leverage sits with the state Automatic Renewal Law and the specific requirements Peacock accepted in the LA County judgment.

1
LA County Counsel. LA County Settles Consumer Protection Lawsuit Against Peacock TV NBCUniversal for $3.6 Million
2
Los Angeles Times. NBCUniversal Pays $3.6 Million for Alleged Consumer Law Violations
3
ClassAction.org. Peacock Class Action Says NBC Streaming Platform Automatically Re-Ups Subscriptions Without Consent
4
ClassAction.org. Winston v. Peacock TV LLC Settlement Agreement
5
ClaimDepot. Peacock TV California Auto-Renewal Settlement
6
LA County Counsel. Peacock Settlement Stipulation for Entry of Judgment
7
Better Business Bureau. Peacock TV LLC BBB Complaints
8
ABTL Report. California Automatic Renewal Law
9
ZwillGen. Auto-Renewal Update Legal Landscape Imposes Complex Obligations Subscription Businesses
10
CalMatters Digital Democracy. AB 2863
11
Federal Trade Commission. Federal Trade Commission Announces Final Click-to-Cancel Rule
12
Brown Rudnick. US Appeals Court Blocks FTC’s Click-to-Cancel Subscriptions Rule