AT&T settles with FTC on $105 million fine

AT&T and the FTC have settled an ongoing spat about customer billing. The dust-up surrounds add-ons customers may have found on their bill for custom ringtones and the like. Though those goods were purchased from third-parties, and added on the bill to streamline payments, many customers took issue with the practice, and felt the charges were either egregious or just plain wrong. Now that AT&T — like T-Mobile and Apple before them — has settled with the FTC, it cleans up an unfortunate mess.

AT&T was engaged in a type of carryover billing practice, but weren’t alone. If you bought a ringtone or the like, it probably didn’t really come from AT&T — or any other carrier. The FTC’s complaint was that carriers were overcharging or billing for goods not received. AT&T has agreed to pay the full $105 million to settle customer disputes.

Carriers like AT&T typically don’t agree with the FTC’s claims, here. The assumption that carriers purposefully mislead customers or charged them inaccurately on purpose is serious.
AT&T also had a long return window for purchases customers felt were off, at 60 days. You had two months to dispute a charge if you felt it was inaccurate.
The carrier also had several safeguards in place — like a text message to alert you to purchases and the ability to block third-party billing altogether.
If you feel you may have been billed incorrectly, you can apply for a piece of that $80 million.

Source: Click here.

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