AT&T may be having a banner year financially, however, they will need that extra income to pay out the many recent fines levied against them, and if CrowdSuit has its way, there may be more fines down the road. Just two weeks ago the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) suggested that AT&T be fined $100 million for throttling data speeds on ‘unlimited’ customers, citing “insufficient disclosure” and “misleading marketing. The In a statement released by Tom Wheeler, the FCC Chairman, he said, “Consumers deserve to get what they pay for. Broadband providers must be upfront and transparent about the services they provide. The FCC will not stand idly by while consumers are deceived by misleading marketing materials and insufficient disclosure.”
While AT&T is disputing the claim, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is investigating them for the same issue. The Washington Post has estimated that AT&T customers have paid somewhere between “$300 million to over $1 billion” in unjust costs related to throttling practices. It appears that even on land AT&T is being fined, along with its former subsidiary Southern New England Telephone Co. (SNET) by the FCC for $10.9 million for abusing a Federal Lifeline Program…this was back in April 2015.
Up until now consumers had to complain to the FCC or FTC in order to make their voice known – there was no practical way to hold AT&T responsible for its actions. This is where CrowdSuit comes in to “combat the mandatory arbitration clauses and class action waivers in consumer protection, employment protection, and anti-trust cases.” A student directly out of law school founded CrowdSuit in 2013. He realized that the arbitration clauses and class action waiver in their AT&T contracts that we each must agree, afforded the consumer no practical recourse should AT&T breech their agreement with us. CrowdSuit fights for us by taking our place, if you will…with no risk or cost to you as an individual. If they succeed in court, after paying court costs CrowdSuit takes one-half of the winnings and donates it to the top charities that you selected when you become a member.
You may be asking yourself, “how does this benefit me?” The consumer benefits by paying a lower monthly bill once the unlawful fees are removed. Chances of an individual consumer winning a case is fairly slim…and expensive. The few dollars you would receive from winning your case would be eaten up by court costs, so you would actually lose money. With CrowdSuit, they take a large number of people and fight for them, forcing the company (AT&T) to stop its illegal practices. There is no cost or risk to you and if CrowdSuit wins the case, you are helping contribute to a worthwhile charity, such as Big Brothers Big Sisters, Greenpeace, Habitat for Humanity, Operation Homefront, and so forth. You still benefit by having the illegal charges removed from future billings, lowering your future monthly bill.
Check out CrowdSuit by clicking on our source – a few court cases going on now concern the AT&T Throttling charges, Verizon’s Administrative Charge and AT&T’s Administrative Fee. You can sign up and join these and more CrowdSuits.