The California Attorney General entered into a settlement with AT&T Mobility (formerly Cingular) that will prohibit the cell phone company from charging customers for any calls made after their phones are lost or stolen.
The agreement requires the company to credit a customer’s bill or immediately investigate customer reports that the calls were made after the phone was lost or stolen. The company may only charge a customer if an investigation determines that the customer actually authorized the charges.
AT&T customers have:
- The right to have the case investigated within 30 days
- The right to provide information showing a customer did not authorize the calls
- The right not to pay disputed charges during the investigation
- The right to appeal the outcome of an investigation to the California Public Utilities Commission
The judgment requires AT&T Mobility to inform their customers in writing of their legal rights regarding lost or stolen phones. It requires AT&T Mobility to assist customers who disputed charges when their phones were lost or stolen. This judgment applies to disputed charges back to the year 2003.