Sick and tired of bad service and bungled bills from your wireless carrier? Amazingly wireless carriers, anticipating discontent, covered their rear ends when you signed up for service. AT&T's contract stipulates: "You agree that, by entering into this Agreement, you and AT&T are each waiving the right to a trial by jury or to participate in a class action."
AT&T Wireless and T-Mobile include similar language in its wireless contract with its customers, according to an excellent BusinessWeek story "Cell-Phone Contract Disputes Heat Up."
According the report a case brought against AT&T Wireless by its customers was dismissed by a judge based on an anti-litigation clause in the customers' contract.
Disgruntled Win Small Victories
According the BusinessWeek story written by Olga Kharif, consumers wishing to take their wireless providers to court ? despite anti-lawsuit language in terms of service contracts ? are finding success. A California court ruled that AT&T's contract banning customers from banding together in class actions, "is unconscionable, and, thus, unenforceable."
The ruling, Kharif states, "could prompt an increase in the number of similar legal actions in other states." That could be good news for AT&T customers who purchased iPhones and are sueing AT&T and Apple because of the way it will handle iPhone batter replacements.
The bad news, according to experts cited in the story, is that an uptick in legal cases will likely translate into higher wireless service fees.
How do wireless carriers get away with this stuff?
?? Verizon's contract stipulates: "You agree that, by entering into this Agreement, you and AT&T are each waiving the right...
Why would Verizon's contract mention AT&T?