How do I begin a Class Action Lawsuit?

[Dubyavee]

What is the name of your state? TEXAS

I am tired of getting screwed by Cingular Wireless.

A couple of years ago I was a cingular customer and they fabricated that I had verbally agreed to extend my contract with them for 2 years. I did not. They did eventually ding my credit with this lie and now I am in another situation with Cingular and i need some advice.

I started service with AT&T Wireless Jan 2004 and was very happy, until Cingular bought AT&T. My contract which included my wife's phone was set to expire on April 24, 2005. However my wife upgraded her service to extend her contract approximately 6 more months. I decided to move our phone services to T-Mobile at the end of my contract and on April 27th I did so. I expected to pay for a cancellation fee for my wife's phone, and that I would pay the bill off over a few months. However, I received a bill yesterday for the expected amount owed and for an entire extra month of service, which we only received 3 actual days of service.
I thought there had to be some mistake so I called to straighten it out, only to be informed that Cingular had decided to change their policy involving number portability.
It seems that if you cancel service with Cingular to take your phone number to another provider they feel they can charge you for an entire month of service even if they only provided a day or two of service. This is only for people that take their numbers with them apparently. Most people will wait a day or two to ensure the end of their contract has passed then they begin a new month expecting to be charged a prorated amount for the service they actually received, yet Cingular decided to just go ahead and screw us all for another month.
This seems to me to be exceptionally unethical and probably illegal. It certainly is not in the spirit of American capitalism and proper business practice.
Is there a case here for a Class Action Suit? How do I go about starting a Class Action lawsuit without money to pay an attorney? Is ther any advice anyone can give me in this?
All replies appreciated.

 

[lkjohns]

Having same problems with Cingular

MICHIGAN

If you receive a reply on how to sue Cingular I would be happy to join the law suit. They have done the same thing to me with regard to charging an entire month of service after canceling. I was no longer under contract and started having service problems after the merge. I canceled within one month of the merge because the service was horrible and was told by Cingular that they reserve the right to choose who they pro-rate service for. As AT&T customers do we not have the right to choose if we do not want to merge with Cingular?

 

[shortbus]

You don't need money. Class action attorneys work for a cut of the settlement, their services are no cost to you. Look around for a class action specialist in your area. Nothing gets a lawyer to return a call faster than the message "I'd like to talk to you about a new case"

 

[w98]

Wow, Cingular has been great for me at pro-rating their fees mid-month. Maybe it's the culture in California or something /shrug

 

[Dubyavee]

Wow, Cingular has been great for me at pro-rating their fees mid-month. Maybe it's the culture in California or something /shrug

Problems seem to start with Cingular when you make changes to your service in a way where they want you to extend your contract. I wanted a better phone and they arbitrarily extended my service for 2 years. In my opinion, you have to be a fool to sign a contract with a cellular service provider for 2 years, because the industry changes so much and you can always get a better deal, or have to get a better phone, so often.

That was Cingular's excuse for dinging my credit, they said I had agreed verbally to extend (which was a lie) and they never produced proof of that agreement. It is also my understanding that verbal agreements are not binding in Texas, so I was blindsided by a company that couldn't care less about what is moral and ethical and right.

You can do business with Cingular if you like, you'll be fine as long as you don't ever consider making changes that could benefit you and not Cingular.