«They are important cases because they represent the kinds of abuses that we anticipate will become increasingly common in the near future,» said Michael Shames, executive director of San
The lawsuit against AT&T was filed Wednesday in San Diego Superior Court. It accuses AT&T of improperly charging some business customers a «long distance federal carrier line charge» against federal rules. In its lawsuit against SBC filed last week, UCAN said the company misled customers by listing only its lowest international rates on its Web site. Customers who don’t subscribe to an international calling plan then were charged as much as 30 times the rates posted on the Web site, the lawsuit said. Representatives of AT&T and SBC said they need to review the lawsuits before they comment. In both suits, UCAN is acting as a «private attorney general» to enforce the law. «The companies have admitted their practices, and we’ve documented consumer complaints,» Shames said. «There are disputes about whether these practices are legal.» Michael Leonard of Dublin, near Oakland, said he became a victim of SBC’s pricing practice last month when he called Sweden. He said he ended up paying $2.88 a minute, or $104 for a «It’s outrageous,» Leonard said. When he complained to SBC, Leonard said he was told if he had subscribed to a UCAN’s lawsuit against AT&T arose after The Federal Communications Commission has said that particular fee may not be imposed on businesses with one phone line, according to the lawsuit. The suit said AT&T admitted it had mislabeled the charge. Instead of being a regulatory fee, AT&T said the fee actually was intended to recoup its own expenses and was, therefore, allowed by the FCC, according to the lawsuit. UCAN calls such charges «fake fees.» Shames said Frey’s billing dispute «just smacks of how fake fees have gone out of control.» He said UCAN is not seeking money. «We are bringing these actions to change company practices,» Shames said.