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Telecom Sued For Sandy Failure
An organizer of 12-12-12: The Concert for Sandy Relief says a telecommunications firm’s “gross failure” in processing donations for Hurricane Sandy relief cost flood victims $5 million, according to a suit filed in Los Angeles.
Photo: AP Photo / Starpix, Dave Allocca
Paul McCartney jams with "Nirvana" — or at least Dave Grohl, Pat Smear and Krist Novoselic — during the "12-12-12" Hurricane Sandy benefit at Madison Square Garden.
Robin Hood Foundation filed suit against Patriot Communications Aug. 30, saying the telecom landed a $1.4 million contract to handle Internet donations by falsely claiming rivals including Google and Amazon would be unable to process the expected volume of transactions.
Robin Hood claims it initially wanted Patriot to handle only call center services, according to the suit.
The televised concert featured The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen and others, raising more than $50 million for victims of last fall’s Hurricane Sandy.
“Patriot processed less than $15,000 in Internet donations, despite the fact that it had processed approximately $2 million in the hour that preceded the blackout,” the complaint alleges, adding the company’s website came to a complete halt during the concert’s peak hour. Patriot’s processing platform suffered call drop-outs and potential donors endured long waits, according to court documents, and the company’s call center failed to “mitigate the effects” of the crash, Robin Hood claims.
Robin Hood Foundation alleges breach of contract, breach of warranty, negligence and fraud against Patriot, and seeks $5 million for storm victims. In addition to misrepresenting its ability to handle Internet donations, Patriot billed the Foundation for more than $400,000 after the concert and refused to provide Robin Hood with data needed to evaluate the marketer’s performance, according to the complaint.