Judge Disconnects T-Mobile Class Action Alleging ‘Fake’ Ringtones

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T-Mobile Ringtones Class Action Lawsuit Overview: 

• Who: A federal judge dismissed a class action lawsuit that had been filed against T-Mobile by telecom companies.  
• Why: Lee determined the plaintiffs failed to show T-Mobile acted deliberately to defraud them with “fake” ringtones during dropped calls. 
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in Illinois federal court. 

An Illinois federal judge sided with T-Mobile on Tuesday, dropping a class action lawsuit lodged by local carriers alleging the company used fake ringtones to deceive customers into believing it wasn’t at fault for dropped calls.

Telecom companies Craigville Telephone Co., doing business as Consolidated Telephone Co. and Adam Wells Internet Telecom TV, filed the class action lawsuit against T-Mobile alleging it used “fake” ringtones to mislead customers into believing the cell phone carrier was not responsible for dropped calls, making it harder for the local carriers to collect access charges. 

Plaintiffs alleged T-Mobile was guilty of violating the Communications Act of 1934, the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. 

U.S. District Judge John Lee said the plaintiffs failed to show the company acted deliberately to defraud them, and relied too much on a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) probe from 2018 that he said didn’t prove their claims T-Mobile intentionally inserted false ringtones to incentivize callers to hang up. 

Lee countered that the FCC said ringtones were actually put in place to “mask” call completion problems in areas with little service. 

“Just as Plaintiffs fail to establish that T-Mobile acted with intent to defraud them of access charges, so too do they fail to demonstrate that T-Mobile acted with intent to injure their expectancies of receiving access charges,” states the ruling. 

$40M Federal Fine For T-Mobile Fake Ringtones

The 2018 probe into T-Mobile revealed it had formerly inserted fake ringtones into “hundreds of millions of calls.” The company admitted to not following industry rules which dictate that problems with service in rural areas must be addressed by voice carriers and ultimately paid $40 million to settle the probe. 

T-Mobile is also currently on the receiving end of multiple class action lawsuits from customers alleging it was negligent in failing to prevent an August data breach, putting their private information at risk. 

Have you experienced hearing what you believe to be fake ringtones during dropped calls on T-Mobile’s network? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiffs are represented by David T.B. Audley of Chapman & Cutler LLP. 

The T-Mobile Ringtones Class Action Lawsuit is Craigville Telephone Co., et al. v. T-Mobile USA Inc., et al., Case No. 1:19-cv-07190, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:

• T-Mobile Faces Two New Class Action Lawsuits After Data Breach Leaked User’s Social Security Numbers, Birth Dates, and Other Personal Data
• Class Action Plaintiffs Worry About Identity Theft Following T-Mobile Data Breach
• T-Mobile Negligent, Reckless in Failure To Prevent Data Breach, Says Class Action
• T-Mobile Investigates Data Breach Potentially Affecting 100 Million Customers