A class action lawsuit says that AT&T charges customers an “administrative fee” on post-payment wireless plans, and does not notify customers of the fee in an attempt to boost their profits.
Plaintiffs Ian Vianu and Irina Bukchin claim that when they signed up for an AT&T wireless plan, they were not notified that they would be charged an administrative fee.
However, they say that they were charged the fee and the price raised gradually over the course of their contract.
Vianu notes that he did not notice that the fee was being charged at first, because it increased so slowly. Allegedly, after a number of months, he noticed that his rate had risen by around $15.
Allegedly, both Vianu and Bukchin say that after their initial contract with AT&T, they then signed new contracts with the company when they purchased new phones, and in Bukchin’s case, allegedly added a new line to her phone plan.
The plaintiffs claim they were not told that they would be charged an administrative fee when they resigned their contract, as they were not told when they signed their initial contract.
The AT&T administrative fee class action lawsuit asserts that the fee was charged unjustly, because administrative fees should have been included in the price of the wireless plan as advertised by AT&T.
Furthermore, the AT&T class action lawsuit says at the wireless company does not advertise the fees to its customers. Allegedly, this fee is not disclosed in the contract, and is hidden in the company website.
AT&T reportedly raised this fee without notifying customers that it exists or notifying customers that it is being raised. The customers assert that this rate hike happens gradually so customers do not notice it is being raised, and is effectively a way for AT&T to increase their monthly charge to customers without having to advertise a higher rate.
Vianu and Bukchin say that AT&T intentionally misleads customers about the fee in an effort to make their services seem like a better deal than they are.
To emphasize their assertion that the company charges this fee without customers’ knowledge or consent, the customers note that this fee is only charged to customers who are on post-payment plans, not prepayment plans.
The customers argue that AT&T charges this fee to post-payment and not prepayment customers because post payment customers are less able to cancel their plans if they do not want to incur the fee. Allegedly, post-payment customers would be charged a large fee for the service they already used and would face penalties for breaking a contract.
Vianu and Bukchin are represented by Michael W. Sobol, Roger N. Heller, Sarah R. London, and Avery S. Halfon of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP; and by Daniel M. Hattis and Paul Karl Lukacs of Hattis & Lukacs.
The AT&T Wireless Plan Administrative Fees Class Action Lawsuit is Ian Vianu, et al. v. AT&T Mobility LLC, Case No. 3:19-cv-03602, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
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594 thoughts onAT&T Class Action Alleges Bait-and-Switch Pricing Scheme
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Please add me, a total crooked operation. Anyone of us would be in jail if we tried to rob people as AT&T does. I have documentation plus recordings of conversations.
yes, AT&T is price jacking add me.
Please add me. So difficult to understand the billing fees.
I have been a customer with AT&T for 26 years. I have always noticed that my bill fluctuated monthly and that prices increased often. I started out with 4 phones on my account and it was hard to figure out the pricing but as my plan finally reduced down to only 2 phones, I can really see a difference in the monthly billing. I pay $265 plus a month for service on just two phones with unlimited data, monthly installments for one iPhone and it too has started to increase up to $313 without an explanation. The insurance on the phones are a joke as well. You pay $4.99 – $7.99 a month for insurance on your phone and if you have to use the insurance once, the insurance is cancelled and that is after you pay the $125 replacement fee. I do not look forward to calling customer service about this new increase in my monthly bill because I know I will get the run-a-round and no one will be able to tell me why there was an increase. This conversation with AT&T, usually after countless time on the phone, will lead to a credit being placed on my bill. I am not sure if they just hope that customers won’t take the time out to call and just pay the extra cost or what but it is becoming ridiculous. As some of the comments above mentioned, the increase is in small increments so customers usually don’t notice until it too late or they have been paying for over a period of time and the amount becomes really noticeable. I would love to switch to another provider but they all have some kind of way of cheating you out of money when it comes to billing and offering “family” pricing plans.
I started with AT&T in March 2018. I was told there was a “buy back” program as well as “buy 1 get 1” on IPhone 8. My contract was for 5 lines & my bill was to be $286 per month with taxes. They said my 1st bill would be a bit high but that was a pro rated amount. I didn’t understand why my 1st bill was $752.00 & I was being charged for the IPhones after they ran a ad for buy1 get 1. This was under a business & the credit was excellent with zero down payment. I also went to give them my phones after signing the contract & they stated to just walk them over to Sprint & hand them in. I tried to explain that the whole reason I am coming to AT&T is because Sprint ripped me off & never took my phones & bill payment with T-Mobile when they offered the “buy back” program & left me stuck with a $4600. Bill! I already signed the contract and had all new phones so when I went to turn in my phones to Sprint, I was told they don’t except phones back for full price & they would only credit my bill $100.00 for each phone when I was paying $800 for each phone! I went back to AT&T and got the run around! The end result was a monthly bill of $400 & bad credit on my business! Please add me to the list of lawsuits!
Pls add me, AT&T is the worse, they keep raising their price and they have the worse customer service.
Please add me. I had to get rid of them because they jacked up the price of my service
I started my service with the $246 a month bill within a year it was over $330 For 4 months I’ve been trying to handle this and get my bill reduced back to their original price They have added services that I didn’t order to my plan I’ve called in for months to fix it they give me exact dollar amount say that they have fixed the problem and at the end of the month it’s the same price again I will be canceling my service with them and over eyes and offers you enough money to buy out your contract with them and gift cards in incentives thank you I hope they get what’s coming to them and they are doing the same thing when my directv bill to as well
Add me please I just left At&t