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LOS ANGELES – Attorney General Kamala D. Harris has announced settlements to resolve allegations that T-Mobile placed charges for third-party services on consumers’ mobile telephone bills that were not authorized by the consumer, a practice known as “mobile cramming.”
The California Department of Justice – along with the attorneys general of the other 49 States and the District of Columbia, the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission – reached the settlements with T-Mobile USA Inc.
The state of California received $834,782 in the settlement—the largest amount of any state.
“T-Mobile deceived its customers by adding unauthorized charges to their bills each month, in order to boost the company’s profits. This settlement puts an end to these bad business practices, refunds consumers and brings transparency to T-Mobile bills,” Attorney General Harris said. “I encourage Californians who were victims of T-Mobile’s cramming practices to file a claim immediately.”
Under the settlement, T-Mobile must provide each victim of cramming who files a claim under its Premium SMS Refund Program an opportunity for a full refund.
The settlement terms require that T-Mobile pay at least $90 million; of this sum, at least $67.5 million must be paid to consumers – a portion of which may be paid by forgiving debts consumers may owe T-Mobile.
T-Mobile also will pay $18 million to the Attorneys General and $4.5 million to the Federal Communications Commission.
Consumers who have been “crammed” often complain about charges, typically $9.99 per month, for “premium” text message subscription services (also known as “PSMS” subscriptions) such as horoscopes, trivia, and sports scores, that the consumers have never heard of or requested. The Attorneys General and federal regulators allege that cramming occurred when T-Mobile placed charges from third-parties on consumers’ mobile telephone bills without the consumer’s knowledge or consent.
T-Mobile is the second mobile telephone provider to enter into a nationwide settlement to resolve allegations regarding cramming; Attorney General Harris announced a $105 million settlement with AT&T in October of this year.
T-Mobile and AT&T were among the four major mobile carriers – in addition to Verizon and Sprint – that announced they would cease billing customers for commercial PSMS in the fall of 2013.
Consumers can submit claims under the Program by visiting http://www.t-mobilerefund.com .
On the Web site, consumers can submit a claim, find information about refund eligibility and how to obtain a refund, and can request a free account summary that details PSMS purchases on their accounts.
Consumers who have questions about the Program can visit the claims Web site or call the Refund Administrator at 855-382-6403.
The settlement requires T-Mobile to stay out of the commercial PSMS business – the platform to which law enforcement agencies attribute the lion’s share of the mobile cramming problem.
T-Mobile must also take a number of steps designed to ensure that it only bills consumers for third-party charges that have been authorized, including the following:
– T-Mobile must obtain consumers’ express consent before billing consumers for third-party charges, and must ensure that consumers are only charged for services if the consumer has been informed of all material terms and conditions of their payment;
– T-Mobile must give consumers an opportunity to obtain a full refund or credit when they are billed for unauthorized third-party charges;
– T-Mobile must inform its customers when they sign up for services that their mobile phone can be used to pay for third-party charges, and must inform consumers of how those third-party charges can be blocked if the consumer doesn’t want to use their phone as a payment method for third-party products; and
– T-Mobile must present third-party charges in a dedicated section of consumers’ mobile phone bills, must clearly distinguish them from T-Mobile charges, and must include in that same section information about the consumers’ ability to block third-party charges.
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NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – The Postal Service is reminding its customers that Post Offices nationwide will be open Christmas Eve, Tuesday, Dec. 24, and New Year’s Eve, Tuesday, Dec. 31.
However, most Post Offices will shorten retail lobby hours and close at noon on these dates. Regular mail delivery will be unaffected by the change.
Revised hours are posted at each Post Office and commercial customers are asked to check with their business mail entry units for specific information regarding holiday hours of operation.
Blue collection boxes having final collection times before 12 p.m. will not be affected by these changes. However, collection boxes with final collection times scheduled after that may be collected early.
Therefore, mail should be deposited into these mailboxes by 12 p.m. for early pickup Dec. 24 and Dec. 31.
Customers requiring postal services later on those days are encouraged to contact their local Post Office. Customers also may call 800-ASK-USPS for additional information.
Post Offices will be closed Dec. 25 and Jan. 1. Only Priority Mail Express will be delivered on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.
All Post Offices will be open and regular mail delivery will resume Dec. 26 and Jan. 2.
The Postal Service is also reminding customers that if they are planning to ship or mail any holiday items they should now use Priority Mail Express by Dec. 23 to guarantee delivery by Dec. 24 and in some cases, Dec. 25.
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LAKEPORT, Calif. – LakeWorks, locally created arts, crafts and products, will host two more events this December.
On Saturday, Dec. 13, from 1 to 4 p.m., Sandy Stillwell will offer a free class in memory bracelet making.
All materials are provided, and everyone will complete a bracelet during this fun class.
Talented local authors will be on hand at LakeWorks on Saturday, Dec. 20, between noon and 5 p.m., reading from and chatting about their works, and the writing and publishing process.
Authors will be available to sign your book purchases, while sales will go to authors on “Local Authors Afternoon.”
LakeWorks is located at 307 N. Main Street in Lakeport. For more information call 707-263-5787.
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SACRAMENTO – State Controller John Chiang has released his monthly report covering California's cash balance, receipts and disbursements in November 2014.
Total revenues for the fifth month of Fiscal Year 2014-15 were $6.4 billion, coming in below Budget Act estimates by $154.7 million, or 2.3 percent.
For the fiscal year to date (July 1-November 30), total revenues reached $34.3 billion, beating estimates by $1 billion, or 3.1 percent.
“California is experiencing a solid post-Recession upswing, which has brightened the State’s revenue picture,” Chiang said. “However, while the timing is unpredictable, history reminds us that booming economic times are always followed by painful lows. It is therefore critical for the State to take advantage of this window to smartly manage long-term fiscal risks such as deferred spending on critical infrastructure and unfunded retiree health care.”
Income tax collections for the month of November came in $259.5 million, or 7.3 percent, below estimates. Sales taxes fell short of estimates by $103.3 million, or 3.7 percent, for the month.
Corporate tax revenues were $163.8 million, or 205.3 percent, above estimates.
As of November, the General Fund accumulated outstanding loans of $18.5 billion, which was down $2.7 billion from what the State expected to need by the end of November.
This total was financed by $15.7 billion of borrowing from internal state funds and $2.8 billion of borrowing from banks and other outside investors.