Consumer Blog

Three promising developments for consumers in the cell phone world:

1. A class-action lawsuit is suing T-Mobile over high termination fees, and several California courts have ruled that the lawsuit can proceed. T-Mobile had argued it should be thrown out. Granted, any benefit from this lawsuit might only help these plaintiffs or Californians in general... but it could start a movement nationwide. These termination fees are a big source of consumer complaints to our office. This recent blog comment was typical of other consumers:

I signed my family up for the family plan,(3 lines), and then discovered that the service in our area was not good at all. US Cellular is charging me $150.00 early termination fee PER phone!!!

This is such a volatile issue for consumers that the federal government may weigh in on it. We blogged about that a couple of weeks ago.

2. Verizon has announced a major shift in policy: you can now make changes to your contract in mid-term without extending it. Most wireless contracts feature a little-known clause that triggers a lengthy contract extension any time a change is made to your service - more minutes, etc. Will be interesting to see if other celltelcos follow suit.

3. AT&T has settled with the California Attorney General over their handling of stolen cell phones. They have agreed to be a bit more consumer friendly when it comes to charging customers for calls after their phone has been stolen. The CA AG is calling on the other big phoners to step up and make the same agreement. Stay tuned - we will hear more of this kind of thing. Frustrated consumers and the threat of government regulation can lead to all kinds of concessions from the industry. We have seen that very recently with credit bureaus.