T-Mobile Class Action Alleges Fake Ringtone Scam

Although T-Mobile has agreed to pay $40 million to the FCC for their fake ringtone scheme, a recent class action claims that the company hasn’t done enough.

In April 2018, T-Mobile reportedly admitted that it violated rules set forth by the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) when it inserted a fake ringtone before calls made from rural areas.

This ringtone allegedly covered up the fact that calls were not reaching their intended destination of rural carriers and consumers.

Although T-Mobile agreed to pay $40 million to the FCC to compensate for these alleged violations, the recent T-Mobile class action claims that the company needs to do more to repay consumers and rural carriers for the effects of their scheme.

The T-Mobile class action argues that the use of fake ringtones before calls intentionally deceived consumers into believing that their calls were reaching the expected party. When these calls eventually failed, the blame was allegedly shifted from T-Mobile onto local phone companies and rural cellular carriers.

Two rural carriers, Craigville Telphone Co. d/b/a AdamWells Internet Telecom TC and Consolidated Telephone Company d/b/a CTC, serve as plaintiffs in the T-Mobile class action. The two companies claim that they sustained damages from T-Mobile’s alleged scheme.

The companies were allegedly forced to shoulder the blame for call failures despite the fact that T-Mobile calls rarely even made it to the rural carriers’ networks.

The businesses allegedly suffered from reputational harm, lost profits, lost opportunities, loss of goodwill with consumers, lost time value of labor hours, and “industry wide harm to the reputations and business opportunities for local rural phone companies.”

Plaintiffs in the T-Mobile class action argue that the company got off with barely a slap on the wrist after admitting to violating FCC regulations. Although the company was ordered to pay $40 million in penalties, the plaintiffs argue that this is barely a drop in the bucket when considering T-Mobile’s 2018 net profits of $2.88 billion and total revenue of $43.3 billion.

The rural carriers also argue that they were in no way compensated by the FCC or by T-Mobile when the company agreed to settle. They argue that T-Mobile should be ordered to compensate them, other rural carriers, and affected consumers for the effects of the alleged fake dial tone scheme.

“The FCC’s Consent Decree did nothing to compensate any of the consumers that were victims of T-Mobile’s fake ringtone scheme and deceptive trade practices,” the T-Mobile class action argues.

“T-Mobile made no public statements apologizing for its conduct and did nothing to atone to its consumers or the local and predominantly rural carriers it harmed by failing to deliver calls.”

Did you make a call through T-Mobile that included a fake ringtone before the call was truly connected? Share your experiences in the comment section below.

Plaintiffs and the proposed Class are represented by David T.B. Audley and Mia D. D’Andrea of Chapman and Cutler LLP and by Cathy A. Hinger, G. David Carter, and Kurt Weaver of Womble Bond Dickinson US LLP.

The T-Mobile Fake Ringtone Class Action Lawsuit is Craigville Telephone Co. d/b/a AdamsWells Internet Telecom TV, 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.

UPDATE: On Feb. 10, 2020, local telephone carriers are fighting back against T-Mobile’s efforts to dismiss a class action lawsuit over claims that T-Mobile blames dropped calls on the carriers.

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