A new class-action lawsuit alleges T-Mobile USA Inc. forces subscribers to use text message-enabled handsets and then charges them for unsolicited content, business practices that plaintiffs said are not adequately disclosed to customers.
The complaint, filed in federal court in Seattle, also asserts T-Mobile refuses to allow its customers to disable the text message service or block incoming text traffic in order to avoid charges.
A group of law firms representing plaintiffs in New Jersey, Tennessee, New Hampshire and Nevada are the same ones pursuing a similar class-action lawsuit against Bellevue, Wash.-based T-Mobile that is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. While similar, the lawsuits cover different groups of plaintiffs.
However, T-Mobile USA does now offer a text-blocking feature.
T-Mobile, the smallest of the four national cellular carriers, was not immediately available for comment.
Other leading mobile phone operators have been slapped with class action lawsuits over content charges on consumers’ monthly bills.
Class action targets T-Mobile USA’s texting service
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