AT&T must pay $105 million to settle wireless "cramming" charges

Shawn Knight

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fcc ftc att wireless provider cramming

The Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission have slapped AT&T with a $105 million fine for unlawfully billing wireless customers for third-party subscriptions for things like ringtones and text messages containing love tips, horoscopes and “fun facts.”

The practice, known in the wireless industry as cramming, allegedly involved AT&T billing its customers hundreds of millions of dollars over several years for which they kept at least 35 percent of. Many of the fees came in the form of $9.99 recurring charges that the customer may or may not have been aware of.

AT&T did note the charges on billing statements although they were often extremely vague, such as “Variety Texts.” AT&T fielded 1.3 million calls on the matter in 2011 from customers that noticed the extra charges although they often had a tough time getting the wireless carrier to refund them. Sometimes, they were only willing to refund a month or two at best.

As part of the settlement, $80 million will be used to provide refunds to affected customers. An additional $20 million will go to the 50 US states and the District of Columbia while the remaining $5 million will be pocketed by the FCC.

In addition to the monetary damages, AT&T is being forced to end such practices and will have to proactively notify subscribers in the event extra fees are added to their accounts.

Consumers that believe AT&T unlawfully charged them for such services are encouraged to submit a refund claim. All claims must be submitted by May 1, 2015.

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AT$T is a monster with no soul...I will never forgive them for charging me a disconnect fee when they could not provide me service to where I moved...
 
Sadly, the government will,, maybe, see payment. The consumer/subscriber and therefore the VICTIM won't benefit from this finding and judgment.
 
Sadly, the government will,, maybe, see payment. The consumer/subscriber and therefore the VICTIM won't benefit from this finding and judgment.

STATED in the article:

"As part of the settlement, $80 million will be used to provide refunds to affected customers. An additional $20 million will go to the 50 US states and the District of Columbia while the remaining $5 million will be pocketed by the FCC." -Shawn Knight, Techspot*

Maybe we should get our news in 250 characters or less so we don't go TL;DR... but that wont fix the problem.

* https://www.techspot.com/news/58363-att-must-pay-105-million-settle-wireless-cramming.html
 
AT&T has tried this on my family plan dozens of times. We pretty much have to call them every month to let them know it's wrong.
 
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