Individuals who currently have or had wireless service with Verizon and Sprint in the last five years have until Dec. 31 to apply for a refund as part of the companies’ $158 million settlement with the Federal Communications Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for bill-cramming, the practice of allowing third parties to add bogus, unauthorized charges to customers’ phone bills.
Verizon and Sprint customers (or former customers) can visit the settlement websites — http://ift.tt/1G3arsV or http://ift.tt/1E3T0lO — to see if they’re eligible for refunds.
According to the May settlements, Verizon’s portion of the penalty pie comes to $90 million; $70 million of that will go to redress for wronged customers. Sprint will pay $68 million, with $50 million going back to consumers.
Both companies allegedly made hundreds of millions of dollars in commissions by allowing third-party services to charge for unauthorized subscription services at monthly rates ranging from $0.99 to $14. For each of these monthly charges, Verizon earned at least 30%, while Sprint’s commission was around 35%.
Cramming occurred at all of the major wireless companies for years, even as consumers complained to their service providers and regulators about the unauthorized charges.
In Oct. 2014, AT&T kicked off the bill-cramming settlement parade by reaching a deal with federal regulators. The company’s deal came out to $105 million, of which $80 millions as slated to be refunded to affected customers.
In Dec. 2014, T-Mobile entered into a $112.5 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.
The company agreed to pay $90 million in consumer refunds, $18 million in fines and penalties to the attorneys general of all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and $4.5 million to the Federal Communications Commission.
by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist
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