Cingular sued for breach of contract and violations of consumer protection laws

Cingular sued for breach of contract and violations of consumer protection laws

When Cingular Wireless acquired AT&T Wireless in 2004, they promised to provide the same level of services to the customers. However, a recently filed lawsuit claims that the company degraded the quality of service to these customers to lure them into signing new contracts.

This lawsuit is also seeking class-action status on behalf of the more than 20 million customers AT&T had at the time of the acquisition.

Most of these customers have now paid the $18 “transfer” fees to switch to Cingular plans but they were forced to buy new phones or pay other fees. The attorney behind this case Mike Withey said at a news conference: “Everyone who signed an AT&T contract had their service degraded.”

Cingular is yet to respond to these charges levied against them. A company spokespersons said that they have not had much time to study the lawsuit filed against them.