T-Mobile USA nailed with class action over content charges

A class-action cramming suit has been filed against T-Mobile USA Inc. and others.
The complaint, moved this week from state court to federal court in California, accuses the defendants of charging wireless subscribers for various services without their consent. In addition to T-Mobile, other defendants named in the suit include Opera Telecom and Flycell Inc. The plaintiffs are Robin Moore and Crystal Butler on behalf of other similarly situated.
“Defendant T-Mobile caused plaintiff Moore’s cellular phone to include the unauthorized charge of $9.99 per month for Ringazza, and similarly caused plaintiff Butler’s cellular phone bill to include the unauthorized charge of $9.99 for Flycell,” states the suit. “In doing so, defendant T-Mobile omitted necessary information from plaintiffs’ cellular phone bills that was required by [California statute], including the means to contact the offending third-party company, such as a toll free number.”
The suit adds that the No. 4 mobile-phone carrier “has and continues to engage in this practice on the behalf of many other third party companies in additional to Opera and Flycell, and the defendant T-Mobile benefits from this practice by taking a share of the monies collected.”
T-Mobile could not be reached immediately for comment.
Similar suits have been filed against Sprint Nextel Corp., Alltel Corp. andVerizon Wireless.