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A California woman claims AT&T’s false debt collection practices have damaged her credit and left her feeling “deceived, anxious, and harassed.”
Plaintiff Susan Whiting claims defendant AT&T Corporation has been unlawfully trying to collect a debt from her that doesn’t actually exist.
On behalf of herself and a proposed plaintiff Class, Whiting’s AT&T false debt class action lawsuit is seeking statutory damages under California and federal consumer protection laws.
Whiting says that starting in September 2016, AT&T began erroneously billing her for equipment and services she never ordered and never received.
The company apparently charged her for renting its modem and other internet equipment, when in fact Whiting had been using her own equipment. The plaintiff says she never even requested the equipment for which she was being billed.
Whiting says AT&T sent her letters in an attempt to collect the debt, letters that she says were full of misrepresentations. She claims these letters misstated the nature and legal status of the debt, the services rendered in the attempt to collect it, and the amount owed, among other things.
In her AT&T class action lawsuit, Whiting claims AT&T acted in violation of California’s Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
The RFDCPA provides consumers with several broad protections against abusive debt collection practices, in part by incorporating references to the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
Generally, these consumer protection laws forbid debt collectors from using false or deceptive representations or deceptive means in the course of attempting to collect a debt or to obtain information concerning a consumer.
Collectors are also prohibited from collecting an amount that is prohibited by law or that is not expressly authorized by the agreement that created the debt.
The act makes it unlawful for a collector to falsely represent the nature or legal status of the debt, or to falsely represent any compensation the collector may lawfully demand for their services provided in the course of collecting the debt.
The RFDCPA’s protections extend to alleged debtors as well as actual debtors – so a person who is the subject of false debt collection attempts can also use the act to protect themselves.
According to Whiting, both state and federal laws provide for $1,000 in statutory damages for each person affected by the alleged AT&T false debt collection practices.
Whiting proposes to represent a plaintiff Class consisting of all persons in the U.S. who were subject to AT&T false debt collection efforts via mail for equipment charges that the purported Class Member had no knowledge of. She expects Class Members will number in the thousands.
She seeks an award of damages that would include $1,000 in statutory damages for herself and for each Class Member. She also seeks reimbursement of attorneys’ fees and costs of litigation, plus any other relief the court deems appropriate.
Whiting is represented by attorneys Todd M. Friedman and Adrian R. Bacon of the Law Offices of Todd M. Friedman PC.
The AT&T False Debt Collection Class Action Lawsuit is Susan Whiting v. AT&T Corp., Case No. 2:17-at-00076, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.
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97 thoughts onAT&T Class Action Says False Debt Collection Targets Thousands
Please add me to the list i never did business with AT&T but yet they claim i owe over $1,000.00
My ex and I have been fighting with them for at least a year over errors and charges and continue to get no where. We are continually paying for a watch we bought outright and a phone that is not connected.
Sign me up. I used there services , When the bills stated to change; I complained. How does a bill consistently change with a plan? No answer. I dropped them. I want my monies back.
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So where are you on these complaints with AT&T. I had 16 years of third party billing. I got slammed for long distance charges n I didn’t have and requested no long distant services. .Yet every month M.C.I. sprint n off the wall companies WOUld charge me.. Some times 7 charges for same date same time. But would turn me off for non payment. I’VE been asking for help .
In 20015 we were in the prices of moving I was attending online class through a university… My phone enternet everything was connected through att.. I called them to have my service transfered for two weeks I fought with them everyone on my road has high speed they kept telling me they didnt offer internet at my new residence so finally after two weeks of fighting with them I told them to just disconnect the service at the old house because we no longer lived there I gave them my cell phone number new address even my email address and the fellow I spoke to gave me his… He went on to tell me that I would be receiving a refund check in the mail and to keep checking back to see if they have gotten internet in my area we hung up… A couple weeks later when I should have been recieving my refund in the mail I received something from att only it wasn’t refund instead it was a bill saying that my services had been disconnected do to non payment and that I owed them 200 and some odd dollars if I didn’t want it to affect my credit… Mind you I recievedthe bill at the new address… I admeatidly got on the phone with them because i strongly felt I did not owe them anything… The woman I spoke with told me there was absolutely no record of me having ever called in… Not the two weeks I fault trying to have my service cancelled nor where I called and told them to disconnect the service yet some how they still had my new address… The woman was extremely rude and would not hear a thing I had to say so I ask to speak with someone over her she said she was the manager then hung up on we….. A week later I found a company to hook internet for me at my current residence so I could get started back on my schooling when they ran my credit check att had already sent their bill to collections making my deposit for the new company jump from 0 to almost 500$… So now I have student loans I had to put my schooling on hold because I have yet to be able to get internet at our current residence…I am a single mom of 4 I was just trying to create a better life for me and my kids… Att and their booboo bring that to a screeching holt..
sign me up!!!
I got a phone through ATT and they got me for 1,000 in one month.
Att disconnected us after lying about us keeping our roll over minutes. We changed numbers, expecting to keep everything else and we were jerked around with that and bundling and other things that they claim we owe them about 800 dollars, when THEY did the screw ups!!
Anyone know how to sign up for this ?
I’ve gone endless rounds with these crooks as well, unfortunately where I live is remote and they have the best available internet, so I don’t have options- not only are they consistently assholes on the phone, I once had a customer service person transfer me to a Spanish speaking representative.
They did this to me except it was for fees when you switch carriers and they didn’t even send me a letter they sent it directly to a collection agency and the collection agency didnt bother to send me a letter or anything they called with a recording when I tried to call back it was a recording and you stayed on hold forever no one was actually there so then they just put it on my credit report! Talk about a mess!!! I finally had to report them to the FTC it took months to get it off my credit and it brought down my score! *?$@?&!!*&!!** and a few more!!
Sounds a lot like our situation. We switched carriers from ATT to Sprint, with Sprint buying out our ATT contract for $1,340. ATT still demanded we pay them. We didn’t, and ATT sent it to collections.
They did the same thing to me on the debt collection and I reported it to the FTC and I got a call from WASHINGTON DC and the lady apoligized and said it would come off. att sent a credit through it didnt come off my credit report and still on there today!!! All a bunch of crooks!! That credit collection place has done that to people all over the country. they might take it off and come back years later and put it back on, I have seen storys about them on the internet. I’m up for a class action how about you???
Let me know and I’ll back you up!!