Skip to main content

Does Verizon owe you cash? It’s about to fork over $64 million to over-billed consumers

verizon customers orders never made storefront
Image used with permission by copyright holder
In the same month that courts slapped AT&T with a $105 million fine for throttling its subscribers in an unfair and deceptive manner, Verizon is catching some blow back from courts, too. Last week, Big Red quietly agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by Family SharePlan subscribers, to the tune of $64 million, in a court filing unearthed by GigaOm.

The lawsuit stems from Verizon over-charging subscribers by billing them for in-network calls that were supposed to be free, as well as billing them 45 cents a minute for exceeding the monthly allowance instead of the 25 cents that were advertised. This happened in a four-year period between May 11, 2002 and May 10, 2006.

Recommended Videos

Under the terms of the settlement, Verizon would have to pay $36.7 million to a settlement fund that would be distributed to those affected in the form of either cash or phone bill credits. Another $27.5 million would be used to supply those billed for in-network calls with PIN numbers that can be used for domestic or international calls.

Even though Verizon declined to comment on the settlement, one of the attorneys who filed the class-action suit, Peter Bezek, said this was an oversight on Verizon’s part. “I assume they legitimately believed in the billing practices they had,” Bezek told The Huffington Post. “Ultimately, when they were shown there were, in fact, billing problems, they acted responsibly and settled the case.”

The settlement has yet to be approved by the court, though once the settlement is signed off on, you can claim a piece of the pie, as long as you were one of the ones affected by the over-billing.

Williams Pelegrin
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Williams is an avid New York Yankees fan, speaks Spanish, resides in Colorado, and has an affinity for Frosted Flakes. Send…
Apple iPhone 16e pre-orders have begun, so grab yours now
Side view of the iPhone 16e camera lens

Apple has started taking pre-orders for its latest smartphone, the iPhone 16e, in the U.S. and elsewhere. The rather divisive budget-focused smartphone from Apple is a major evolution over the now-defunct iPhone SE and sits underneath the mainline iPhones with a bunch of similarities and some serious feature-trimmings, as well.

It starts at $599 in the U.S. for the 128GB storage variant, while the 256GB and 512GB variants will have you parting ways with $699 and $899, respectively.

Read more
First iPhone 16e benchmark test reveals mostly good news
A view of both long edges of the iPhone 16e

The iPhone 16e is now available for pre-order ahead of its release on February 28. As we approach this date, we are learning more about the device and how it compares to other models in the iPhone 16 series. So far, the news seems promising for anyone interested in an iPhone 16 series phone at a more affordable price.

First, a fresh Geekbench test has confirmed the new phone offers 8GB of RAM. This is the same number found in the regular iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max. Apple Intelligence requires at least 8GB to work, so this makes sense.

Read more
Is your OnePlus 13 battery draining too fast? You’re not alone
The OnePlus 13 and OnePlus Watch 3.

The OnePlus 13 is one of the newest phones on the market. Now, word is that some early adopters are having battery drain issues.

Many on Reddit have noted that this problem appears new. Unfortunately, there seems to be no quick answer for its cause or resolution.

Read more