T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T Required To Pay $10.2 Million Over False ‘Unlimited’ Plan Claims
T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T will pay a combined total of $10.2 million to settle a lawsuit that alleged the carriers falsely advertised some of their wireless plans as “unlimited and their phones as “free.”The deal was announced earlier this week by New York Attorney General Letitia James and a multistage, bipartisan coalition of 50 attorney generals.“New Yorkers, and all Americans, deserve to know that when they buy a service or product, they will be treated fairly and can trust what the seller is saying,” said James in a press release announcing the settlement. “AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile lied to millions of consumers, making false promises of free phones and ‘unlimited’ data plans that were simply untrue. Big companies are not excused from following the law and cannot trick consumers into paying for services they will never receive. We will continue to go after companies that hurt everyday Americans and try to take advantage of this basic and critical service.” The multistage investigation reportedly found that “the wireless companies made several misleading claims in their advertising, including misrepresenting “unlimited” data plans that were actually limited, offering “free” phones that came at a cost, and making false promises about switching to different wireless carrier plans.”In addition to the $10 million fine, the agreement requires that future advertisements are “truthful, accurate, and non-misleading” and that “ ‘Unlimited’ mobile data plans can only be marketed if there are no limits on the quantity of data allowed during a billing cycle,” amongst other requirements.
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The companies are also required to appoint a dedicated representative to work with the attorneys general to address complaints filed by customers and train their customer service representatives to comply with the terms of the agreement. The companies are also required to enforce a program to ensure compliance across their teams.
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