Verizon was in a class action lawsuit recently and that pertains to their Family SharePlans. There were claims of Verizon overcharging their customers. Which people have been saying for quite a while that Verizon has been overcharging their customers, but we also know that there is a premium to be paid for being on the most reliable network in the country, and that right there is Verizon. Because of the Class Action Lawsuit, Verizon will be paying out $64.2 million to it’s customers that were affected and for legal fees.
Last week, Verizon filed a settlement with the US District Court in New Jersey, which was in response to a lawsuit filed in 2006. This lawsuit claimed that Verizon was charging for in-network calls on their Family SharePlan. Said calls were advertised as being free, for those on that billing plan. Which is why the lawsuit was for overcharging customers on the Family SharePlan only. These charges were made for about 4 years, from 2002 to 2006. The terms of the settlement point to Verizon not admitting any wrong doing, but they will be paying $36.7 million in cash to the customers that were on the Family SharePlan during that time frame. Additionally it’ll also offer $27.5 million in free minutes to those customers, while the remaining amount – $19.26 million will pay off the legal fees of the lawyers who represented the plaintiffs in this lawsuit.
It’s crazy that it took nearly a decade for a settlement to be reached. But nonetheless there is a settlement here. Maybe the FCC and other regulators need to enforce more rules to keep carriers from overcharging for stuff like this in the future? What do you think? As always, be sure to leave a comment down below with your thoughts. I’m sure Verizon will see that money coming back in from those same customers though, so it’s probably not a big deal for the largest carrier in the nation.