WASHINGTON-A consumer group Tuesday filed a billing lawsuit against Nextel Communications Inc. in Los Angeles Superior Court, claiming the carrier billed subscribers for errant text messages without notifying them or compensating all affected wireless customers.
In recent months, Nextel has been barraged with billing lawsuits. The wireless carrier currently is attempting to have about two dozen lawsuits consolidated in a Missouri federal court.
Earlier this month, the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights filed a class-action suit and a state suit against Cingular Wireless L.L.C in the same court. The suit alleges Cingular falsely advertised the quality of coverage to boost subscribership and revenues without having adequate network facilities in place to accommodate increased demand. As a result, according to the Santa Monica-based organization, consumers suffered dropped calls and poor service generally. The suit closely tracks findings in the California Public Utility Commission’s $12 million fine against Cingular Wireless. Cingular has appealed the fine.
“Thanks to deregulation, the only way cell-phone abuses can be rectified is through lawsuits on behalf of the public,” said Harvey Rosenfield, a lawyer representing FTCR. “Nextel’s duplicitous new billing practice is the cover-up of a major rip-off strategy that is starting to spread to other companies. Cingular is the poster child for poor-quality service and sharp business practices designed to enrich the company by ignoring its legal obligation to its customers.”
Meantime, the California PUC is working on a bill of rights for telecom consumers. The measure, opposed by the wireless industry, could go to a vote early next month. The mobile-phone industry, attempting to tamp down consumer backlash, has adopted a 10-point voluntary code of conduct.
