Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist has reached a settlement with AT&T Corp. that will provide free telephone calling cards for Floridians currently serving in military duty overseas. Joining Crist at the settlement announcement was Maj. General John Castellaw, Chief of Staff of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) based in Tampa.
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The settlement agreement documents that Florida consumers have received more than $1 million in refunds or credits, and resolves the lawsuit in which the Attorney General alleged that AT&T wrongly billed consumers for services they neither requested nor received.
More than 86,700 Florida consumers were hit with an improper $3.95 monthly charge beginning around January 1, 2004. Under the agreement, AT&T will provide up to 8,000 prepaid phone cards to be distributed by the Attorney General to Floridians serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait.
The cards will go to each member of the United States military who is currently serving in those countries and who lives in Florida or whose family lives in Florida. All such personnel - including those in active duty, reservists and members of the National Guard - will receive phone cards for 60 minutes of calling time from Iraq, Afghanistan or Kuwait to the United States.
"We could not be happier with concluding this litigation on such positive terms," said Crist. "Improper billing and marketing practices have stopped and tens of thousands of Florida consumers have been compensated, and now our men and women fighting the war on terror will have more opportunities to speak with their loved ones at home. AT&T made a good call by agreeing to correct its mistake."
"Let me express our gratitude on behalf of the service members who will receive these phone cards," said General Castellaw. "Being able to talk with family and friends back home goes a long way towards boosting the morale of our deployed soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines."
Crist sued AT&T on April 30 alleging violations of Florida`s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. Florida`s lawsuit was followed by investigations of AT&T by the Federal Trade Commission and the New York Attorney General`s Office.
Under the Assurance of Voluntary Compliance, the company promises that it will prevent a recurrence of sales and marketing practices that led consumers to be improperly charged and then, when they called to complain, subjected to telemarketing sales pitches for AT&T services. An estimated 1 million telephone consumers nationwide were affected by the improper charges.
Three weeks after the Attorney General filed suit, a court ordered AT&T to refund improper charges. According to the agreement, AT&T has processed refunds or credits totaling $1,071,002 for Florida consumers affected by the improper charges. The company also sent letters of apology to affected consumers.
The agreement comes three months after a Leon County Circuit Court judge allowed the Attorney General`s lawsuit to move forward, denying AT&T`s request to halt the lawsuit and send the case to an administrative hearing under the authority of the Florida Public Service Commission.
In addition to providing up to 8,000 prepaid phone cards, AT&T will submit $250,000 to reimburse Florida taxpayers for the costs of the investigation and litigation.
