Does T-Mobile Owe You a Refund?

Attorney General Kamala Harris announced that the California Department of Justice—along with the Attorneys General of the other 49 States and the District of Columbia, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Federal Communications Commission—reached settlements with T-Mobile to resolve allegations that the company placed charges for third-party services on consumers’ mobile telephone bills that were not authorized by the consumer, a practice known as “mobile cramming.”

The state of California received $834,782 in the settlement—the largest amount of any state.

“T-Mobile deceived its customers by adding unauthorized charges to their bills each month, in order to boost the company’s profits. This settlement puts an end to these bad business practices, refunds consumers and brings transparency to T-Mobile bills,” Attorney General Harris said. “I encourage Californians who were victims of T-Mobile’s cramming practices to file a claim immediately.”

Under the settlement, T-Mobile must provide each victim of cramming who files a claim under its Premium SMS Refund Program an opportunity for a full refund.

Consumers can submit claims under the Program by visiting http://www.t-mobilerefund.com.

Consumers who have been “crammed” often complain about charges, typically $9.99 per month, for “premium” text message subscription services (also known as “PSMS” subscriptions) such as horoscopes, trivia, and sports scores, that the consumers have never heard of or requested. The Attorneys General and federal regulators allege that cramming occurred when T-Mobile placed charges from third-parties on consumers’ mobile telephone bills without the consumer’s knowledge or consent.

--Information from California Attorney General’s Office