A new class action lawsuit claims that AT&T is overcharging its iPhone customers for its data plans. Venture Beat reports that the lawsuit, filed in Oakland, California, alleges that AT&T is boosting data charges by $10 to $15 a month and the rate is sometimes as much as 300 percent off what the company should be charging.
The people involved in the lawsuit claim that they actually brought in an independent firm to conduct tests on AT&T's iPhone data charges to the tune of $80,000. According to the story, "The tests involved buying new iPhones, disabling any applications that could trigger data usage, and letting it sit untouched for two weeks." The lawsuit claims that even with that kind of set up, the bills from AT&T still generated 35 separate charges for data usage.
One of the lawyers involved in the lawsuit, Barry Davis, said that all of the data transactions were overcharged and compared AT&T's billings to getting ripped off at a gas station with a rigged pump. He said that AT&T's billing was like asking "for a gallon of gas, but only get nine-tenths." The lawsuit is asking for unspecified damages.
AT&T quickly defended itself in a response to this lawsuit, saying that it is "without merit". It also said that "background processes" were the reason for the additional charges on the iPhone. However there is no word on what exactly was running in the background of those phones, which the lawsuit said they disabled, to cause the additional data charges.
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