Sprint And Verizon Will Offer Users A ‘Cramming’ Refund

If you are a subscriber for Sprint or Verizon, you are eligible for a “cramming” refund. Tech Times has the news.

“In the midst of the holidays and preparing for New Year’s celebrations, Verizon and Sprint customers shouldn’t forget to cash in on their refunds. Both companies have set a Dec. 31 deadline for customers to claim a refund through their respective refund websites, as reported by CNBC on Thursday. This comes after their joint $158 million settlement over mobile cramming this past May.”

Tech Times adds that a settlement was agreed upon seven months ago and came as a result of an investigation, which discovered that the mobile carriers charged their customers millions for premium third-party services with $9.99 monthly fees. Sports tips, celebrity news, and even astrology services were included in the small print for those monthly charges and most customers don’t read the fine print. It is believed that both Sprint and Verizon kept about 30 percent of the unauthorized fees they charged customers as part of those “services.”

According to CBS, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., a member of the Senate Commerce Committee, said the practice has become widespread and causes substantial financial harm to subscribers. However, this isn’t the first time Sprint and Verizon had engaged in class-action settlements.

“A settlement has been reached in a class action lawsuit alleging that Verizon Wireless improperly billed some of its Family SharePlan customers. If you subscribed to a Verizon Wireless Family SharePlan (FSP) between May 11, 2002 and May 10, 2006, you could be eligible for benefits from the class action settlement.”

The article adds that the controversy was based on different per-minute rates for the “after-allowance” minutes used by different phone lines. The lawsuit alleged that Verizon violated its customer contracts as well as state and federal law.

“Sprint had planned to shut down its aging WiMax network tonight at midnight, but after a last-minute emergency decision, that won’t be happening. A judge has ordered Sprint to keep the network up until a lawsuit brought by nonprofit groups can be resolved.”

The Verge added that the lawsuit accused Sprint of shutting down the network while making it impossible for groups to easily switch over to the modern LTE standard. Nonprofits who depended on the WiMax service secured a deal with the company Clearwire (who provided Sprint’s network) for affordable Internet access to places like schools and libraries. The nonprofits also claimed that when Sprint took over Clearwire and the WiMax network in 2013, data speeds were unfairly throttled.

Many considered the lawsuit suspicious, especially since Sprint has indicated since 2010 that the WiMax network would be shut down because the network was moving to their much-faster 4G LTE service. It’s important to note that regular Sprint customers hardly complained and easily switched over.

Unlike Sprint and Verizon, T-Mobile wasn’t involved in the recent cramming lawsuit, but T-Mobile has had their share of class-action lawsuits against them as well. It appears that lawyers foam at the mouth over the amount of money they can receive from lawsuits against Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon, but all three companies will likely continue to thrive for years.

[Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images]