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AT&T To Pay $700,000 For Overcharging Consumers

Posted by Soulskill on from the two-thousandths-of-a-percent-of-quarterly-revenue dept.

An anonymous reader writes "CNet reports on an agreement between AT&T and the FCC which will require the telecom company to pay $700,000 to the federal government to resolve overcharging complaints. AT&T will also refund charges to customers who were switched from pay-as-you-go data plans to monthly plans after AT&T said they could keep the old plans. 'AT&T has also agreed to an extensive compliance plan (PDF), which includes: consumer notification, training of customer care representatives, and periodic compliance reports to the FCC. AT&T must also conduct additional searches of its records to identify improperly switched consumers and ensure appropriate refunds.'"

7 of 74 comments (clear)

  1. 700,000 dollar by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    an ink dot on himalayas, when compared to unjust profits of telecom vultures

    1. Re:700,000 dollar by Mitreya · · Score: 5, Insightful

      an ink dot on himalayas, when compared to unjust profits of telecom vultures

      I assume they get to write off 700K as losses when filing federal taxes? Plus another 2-3 million as a cost of locating and refunding the affected customers, so that the penalty is fully offset by a decreased tax liability.

  2. That UK judge gives me an idea by Andrio · · Score: 4, Insightful

    A much simpler and far more effective punishment would be if they were forced to run ads (on TV, magazines, online) to let the public know they were overcharging their customers.

    Fines don't mean crap to billion dollar companies. They need punishments that actually punish them.

    --
    The Internet King? I wonder if he could provide faster nudity.
    1. Re:That UK judge gives me an idea by Xelios · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Fines would mean crap to companies and individuals alike if they were levied as a percentage of income instead of a flat amount. Is there any good reason why it isn't done this way?

      --
      Murphey's fighting Occam, and we're in the stands.
  3. Funny how these sorts of lawsuits pay to... by 3seas · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...not those who were damaged....

  4. Re:wow... by Mitreya · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They'll make enough by lunch time to cover it.

    Quoth TFA -- "He added that AT&T had already discovered and corrected the issue by Nov. 2010, and had given refunds to customers who contacted AT&T."

    Whatever their fine is, it should be increase by 100-fold because AT&T discovered the issue 2 years ago, but only refunded customers who contacted them and complained. You'd think that if they discovered unfair customer overcharging, they would refund every affected customer?

  5. Re:wow... by jd2112 · · Score: 5, Funny

    That would be a violation of the Ferengi rules of acquisition: Once you have their money never give out back.
    AT&T is run by Ferengi right?

    --
    Any insufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.