iPhone user Patrick Hendricks filed a lawsuit against AT&T last week alleging the cell service provider is intentionally overcharging customers for their wireless data usage. The suit also claims AT&T has been adding charging customers for data transfers that never actually occurred.
The lawsuit states “AT&T’s billing system for iPhone and iPad data transactions is like a rigged gas pump that charges for a full gallon when it pumps only nine-tenths of a gallon into your car’s tank.”
Mr. Hendricks claimed he has been forced to curtail his data usage to stay well below his 200MB monthly data cap in order to account for phantom data usage that will show up on his bill. He limited “his data usage to attempt to avoid incurring such fees, which prevented him from making full, or nearly full, use of the 200MB of data that he pays for every month.”
A consulting firm that Mr. Hendricks’s lawyers hired claimed data usage on a new iPhone they tested showed 2.2MB of usage in a month even though location services and push notification were disabled, no apps were running, and no email accounts had been set up.
In response to media questions, an AT&T spokesperson stated “We have only recently learned of the complaint, but I can tell you that we intend to defend ourselves vigorously. Transparent and accurate billing is a top priority for AT&T.”
Mr. Hendricks filed his lawsuit in California, and is asking for class action status.
[Thanks to Computerworld for the heads up.]