Former AT&T Wireless customers sue Cingular

Millions of former AT&T Wireless customers were deceived and overcharged in the months after Cingular Wireless acquired their cellphone company, subscribers claim in a national class-action lawsuit filed today in U.S. District Court in Seattle.

Subscribers were told that the merger would be seamless, that services would be improved and their network enlarged.

Instead, customers say they faced dropped calls, system-busy signals, more dead zones and excessive fees that the lawsuit claims were part of a campaign to induce AT&T Wireless customers to transfer to Cingular. Customers who complained were encouraged to pay fees to switch to Cingular or pay up to $175 to terminate their contracts early.

The lawsuit charges that Cingular engaged in false advertising, breached contracts with AT&T customers and violated consumer-protection laws in all 50 states. It covers all 22(million AT&T Wireless customers who were subscribers as of Oct. 26, 2004, when the merger with Cingular was completed.

Cingular executives said they had not seen the lawsuit and could not comment, spokeswoman Anne Marshall said.

The lawsuit seeks punitive damages and the repayment, with interest, of fees customers paid, including those to terminate contracts early and to upgrade or transfer service.