AT&T has reached a settlement ending the “deferred equipment fee” class action lawsuit. As part of the commitments reached, AT&T will reward its more than 844,000 customers who were forced to pay the aforementioned charge between November 2018 and August 2019.
There will be two compensations: on the one hand, AT&T will return the amounts collected plus 20% for compensation through an “internet-data” exchange, according to what is read in the communiqué set with Prophet. That translates to 3GB for existing customers, data that will not have a time limit for consumption.
In second place, AT&T will pay compensation in the amount of 3,000 pesos to users who at the time gave their consent to join the class action lawsuit initiated by Profeco.
How to receive benefits
The statement establishes that with the signed agreement “the collective action trial promoted by Profeco since October 2020 is terminated“. The benefits listed may be requested until October 4, 2023 through the nearest Customer Service Center and for the respective compensation of 3,000 pesos, Profeco will contact AT&T customers directly.
Regarding compensation, in the event that the user is no longer an AT&T customer, the charge plus 20% will be returned. To do this, you must go to the AT&T CAC, express your desire to join the class action, prove that you were an AT&T customer by providing an account statement or telephone number where the charge was applied, and show official identification. The refund will be made through a payment order issued in the name of the consumer so that it can be collected from BBVA. The payment order will be delivered when the client signs the accession document.
For current users, the procedure is the same, but instead of a payment order, they will receive the 3GB without any validity.
If the user had any pending debt with AT&T, this will be deducted from the amount to be discounted.
The end of the collective action is historic due to the compensation that the company will give its users and will surely set the stage for other collective actions in telecommunications for Mexico. The announcement also coincides with the launch of the AT&T’s first commercial 5G plans.
In December 2020, Profeco released a statement to make a call for AT&T to respond to the class action lawsuit to initiate due to the annual charge to users of rental plans with equipment and, in the same text, they were invited to stop charging more users. AT&T until then had only said that it would analyze the legal arguments of the class action.
At that time, Profeco said that it would seek AT&T to compensate the damage caused to the 844,480 clients who paid at the time for the annual charge.