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Florida Attorney General Sues AT&T Over Alleged False Billing

Posted on: Saturday, 1 May 2004, 06:00 CDT

May 1--Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist turned up the heat Friday on AT&T Corp., charging in a lawsuit that the telecommunications giant added bogus $10 long-distance charges to consumer bills and then coerced people to sign up for phone service when they asked for a refund.

More than 500 consumers have contacted Crist's office since April 23 saying they were billed falsely. Many of them also have said when they contact the company for a refund, AT&T says they must sign up for service first, Crist said.

Crist's suit, filed in Leon County, charges Bedminster, N.J.-based AT&T with violating the state's Unfair and Deceptive Business Practices Act.

"This practice is outrageous," Crist said. "Consumers called AT&T seeking a refund, and instead of help, they were told they must sign up with AT&T to get their own money back."

Crist is asking for $10,000 for each billing incident. AT&T officials could not be reached for comment Friday.

More than 100 people also have called the Florida Public Service Commission and the Office of Public Counsel since January, when AT&T began adding a $3.95 monthly fee to its bills.

AT&T has blamed a computer glitch for the extra charges. About 1 million customers nationwide are believed to have been improperly billed. AT&T apologized for the incident in a statement last month and told customers they would receive a credit or a refund by June.

"It is important to note that these are billing errors only and AT&T has not engaged in slamming or unauthorized switch activity," the statement said.

Wellington resident Lorrie Miller began butting heads with AT&T when she received a bill for $8.77 after her son used his AT&T Wireless cellphone to make a call. Miller, 44, who uses Supra Telecom for her local phone service and calling cards to make long-distance calls, was told that she must sign up for an AT&T plan in order to not receive any more charges from the phone company.

"I remember telling her that this didn't sound right, and I felt uncomfortable with it," Miller said.

She said she then received a letter from AT&T confirming the company had changed her local phone service, and she began writing letters to AT&T.

"If I don't have to deal with them anymore, I'd be very happy," she said.

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(c) 2004, The Palm Beach Post, Fla. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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