Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Consumer Group Sues 2 Cell Phone Cos.

From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 12:37:45 -0400

Consumer Group Sues 2 Cell Phone Cos.
October 22, 2003 12:36am

LOS ANGELES (AP) A consumer watchdog group sued two cellular
phone companies on Tuesday, alleging the companies take advantage
of unwary customers and have violated state consumer protection
laws.

The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights filed a lawsuit
in Superior Court against Nextel Communications Inc., saying the
company stopped issuing itemized bills on Oct. 1, making it
difficult for consumers to challenge charges.

The foundation also alleged that Nextel sent four text messages
to all California customers on Sept. 12, charging them 15 cents for
each message. Without an itemized bill, consumers may not even
notice the extra charges, the foundation said.

"They're nickeling and diming consumers out of what could
amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars in overcharges and
they're making it impossible for people to discover they've been
ripped off," foundation president Harvey Rosenfield said.
The foundation asked the court to issue an injunction against
Nextel and is seeking to reimburse customers who were overcharged.
A spokesman for Reston, Va.-based Nextel did not return a call
seeking comment Tuesday.

The organization also filed suit against Cingular Wireless,
accusing the company of pushing for new customers through its
advertising but then providing inadequate service to them. That
suit seeks class-action status.

The charges echo similar ones levied against Cingular in
September by the California Public Utilities Commission.
The commission fined Cingular $12.1 million after concluding
the carrier didn't give new subscribers a chance to change their
minds during an aggressive expansion that resulted in shoddy service.
Atlanta-based Cingular, a joint venture between BellSouth Corp.
and SBC Communications, said it would appeal the fine.

The company on Tuesday called the latest charges "baseless."
"The organization's allegations about our business practices,
network and customer service quality are not true, and, in fact,
just mirror unproven claims alleged in the California Public
Utilities Commission's investigation of Cingular," the company
said in a statement.

http://www.hoovers.com/free/news/detail.xhtml?ArticleID=NR20031022140.6_6de90005a6925707

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