Sprint, Cingular Complaints Filed

Sprint Corp. and Cingular Wireless were accused by a consumer group of improperly charging cellphone customers for unwanted services.

In complaints filed this week, the Utility Consumers’ Action Network asked the California Public Utilities Commission to stop Cingular, the largest U.S. cellphone carrier, and Sprint from charging for unwanted text messages and other services.

Sprint, the third-largest U.S. cellphone company, is charging its customers 10 cents for text messages sent by the company and that advertise Sprint services, said Michael Shames, executive director of the consumer group.

The complaint against Sprint was filed on behalf of one customer whom the company resisted adding to a “do not spam” list and was instead given the option of not receiving any text messages, he said.

Sprint spokesman Travis Sowders said the company was reviewing what happened in that customer’s case, and that he didn’t believe the practice was widespread. It’s not Sprint’s policy “to charge customers for information in text messages that we send them,” and customers can opt out of receiving Sprint messages, he said.

Cingular is violating California law by refusing to remove charges for unwanted text messages and data sent by other companies, Shames said.

Cingular has installed safeguards so customers understand any downloads they agree to buy from outside companies, Cingular spokeswoman Rochelle Cohen said in an e-mailed statement.