Posted on 07/07/2006 5:10:18 AM PDT by Flavius
SEATTLE (AP) -- Cingular Wireless Corp. promised to provide uninterrupted service to AT&T Wireless customers when it acquired that company in 2004, but instead it nickel-and-dimed them and degraded their reception in an effort to persuade them to sign new contracts, a federal lawsuit said Thursday.
The lawsuit, which alleges breach of contract and violations of consumer protection laws, seeks class-action status on behalf of the more than 20 million customers AT&T Wireless had at the time of the merger. Many paid $18 "transfer" fees to switch to Cingular plans and were required to buy new phones or pay other fees, said the complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle.
"Everyone who signed an AT&T contract had their service degraded," attorney Mike Withey said at a news conference Thursday.
Atlanta-based Cingular acquired Redmond-based AT&T Wireless Services Inc. for $41 billion in October 2004, and promised in advertisements and news releases that the customers of both companies would see uninterrupted and even improved service as a result of the "combined network."
Withey argued that instead, Cingular stopped maintaining AT&T Wireless network facilities. In addition to the accounts of his clients, he cited news articles in which industry analysts said Cingular appeared to be investing little or nothing in the AT&T Wireless network. That breached the contracts AT&T Wireless had with its customers, he said.
Cingular spokesman Clay Owen said Thursday the company had not had a chance to review the lawsuit. He acknowledged the company eventually plans to phase out the older cell phone technology used by the AT&T Wireless network, called TDMA, but insisted that it is still maintaining that system for now. The overwhelming majority of Cingular's 55.8 million customers use a newer GSM system, and many companies no longer make TDMA-compatible phones, he said.
Cingular spent $6.5 billion on network improvements and integration last year, and has budgeted the same amount this year, Owen said. He did not have figures for how much of that was spent maintaining the AT&T Wireless network.
One plaintiff, Amy Frerker, a 28-year-old Seattle architect, said that shortly after the merger she began noticing that she no longer had cell reception in areas she once did. Over the next year and a half, she said, Cingular told her she would have to sign a new contract; live with her current cell service, which was being phased out; or pay a $175 termination fee to get out of her contract.
Finally, last week, the company let her out of her contract without charge, Frerker said. She switched to T-Mobile.
"On my commute to work I started to notice I was getting more dropped calls," she said. "It's like purchasing a Mercedes and getting a Hyundai."
Last month, a California state appeals court upheld a $12.1 million fine against Cingular for signing up customers faster than it could provide service and for imposing hefty cancellation fees without a trial period. The court also said Cingular must refund up to $10 million to people who were forced to pay as much as $550 to cancel their contracts.
Five of the seven named plaintiffs in the Seattle lawsuit are California residents. The lawsuit, based on complaints received by the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica, seeks up to treble damages for fees and charges paid by the AT&T Wireless customers.
On the 'Net:
Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights: http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/
Cingulars internet tubes moved my furniture.
this same thing happened with me, but im not an old at&t phone guy, however, my phone came from the at & t subscriber and the service recently started to c/ap out.
wonder if its the same deal
Dang - I wish they'd been around yesterday evening when I was picking up that living room set. Could have used their help getting that old sleeper sofa out of the house.
I'm picking up a wood stove this Sunday - do you think they could help then?
I tried one of those $20 Tracfones.
It was ok, but my gosh, activating it caused a flood of Tracfone spam.
Every 2-3 days, I was getting 1-3 Tracfone 'offers' -- to my email, and to my landline, and to the cell phone.
I spent 31 years with Pacific Bell and SBC mostly in Special Services.
Makes sense to me. My previously-great AT&T phone was awful right after Cingular took over - and the detailed map at the Cingular store showed that there was no Cingular reception on my house's block! When I called to cancel, the Cingular rep told me that it would take a year to 18 months for all the AT&T towers to be integrated into the Cingular system, even though the advertising said that the services had already merged. I've been a happy Verizon customer since that time.
Same thing seems to be happening with me. I had a pre-pay plan (Simple Freedom) that was taken over by Verizon. I never had a dropped call before becoming part of "the network."
Every couple of months dial star228, press send, listen to the instructions, press 2 as directed, wait and listen. When finished your towers will have been updated. Also turn off your phone for a few minutes every month or so. All of that makes for better reception.
You may have already known this but perhaps it will help someone else.
Not one to deride technology but I miss the old 3 party bakelite phone. Life was much simpler then.
same exact thing happened to me. they lied to me repeatedly to get me to upgrade the phone. when that was even worse they told me more lies.
Ended up going to the Public utilities comission and they were able to get the contract voided.
I assume your a happy verizon customer
"I'm not sure that they allowed AT&T to degrade, they just upgraded them with the same sorry service they give their old customers."
They reduced the number of cell towers for the AT&T customers. That resulted in degraded service. Capacity for the remaining towers was also insufficient in many areas so your cell was unusable at peak times.
I used to have Cingular cell phone service. I was constantly droping calls, (including calls where I was calling 611 to complain about dropping calls!). I couldn't even use my phone at my house. No signal. I was being pressured by Cingular to get a new phone and sign a new 2 year contract. They assured me that my "old" Motorolla Star Tac was the problem.
Then I heard a radio ad about Verizon and a trial service they had. Buy a phone, and try it for 10 days. If I didn't like it, I could return the phone, get a full refund, cancel the service, and only have to pay for the air time I used.
Well, I liked the LG phone they gave me, it gave me great reception, including at home, and it was cheaper than the plan I had at the time. So, I'm now on Verizon, and I'm pretty happy with their service. And LG phones are GREAT!
Mark
Ahh, the good old days! We had chat rooms (party lines) before we had the Internet! (speaking as one whose Gramma was *given* a private line at the request of the others on her party line!
My Cingular service always sucked, so I let it lapse in November and haven't had a cell phone since. I have LOVED IT.
But I'm getting one before this festival season starts . . . too far to drive, alone and at weird hours, without one.
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