On June 20th, the California Court of Appeals started summer off in the nicest way by ruling that Cingular had to honor California's consumer protection laws. In a 3-0 vote,

A California appeals court yesterday upheld a state decision to fine Cingular Wireless $12 million for failing to tell customers that its network was overburdened and then charging them stiff penalties to get out of their contracts.

The case originated in San Diego when the nonprofit Utility Consumers' Action Network brought customer complaints about Cingular to the attention of the California Public Utilities Commission.

The California PUC imposed a $12 million fine in 2004 on Cingular, saying the wireless carrier was unreasonable in charging customers an early termination fee at a time when the company offered no grace period for a customer to try out the service. The PUC also found that Cingular failed to disclose network problems to prospective customers.

The Appellate Court ruled that the Public Utilities Commission could assess financial penalties against Cingular for misrepresentations about its service without intruding into the Federal Communications Commission's exclusive authority over wireless rates and infrastructure, said the Court of Appeal panel in Santa Ana.

The court also upheld the PUC's order requiring Cingular to pay reimbursement, plus interest, to customers who were charged early termination fees for ending wireless service contracts before they expired in one to two years. The fees were $150 to the company and, in some cases, up to $400 to its sales agent. It supported the CPUC ruling that Cingular and its agents had to refund any ill-gotten penalties that it imposed upon customers in the 2000-2002 time frame.

Perhaps most importantly, the ruling rejected the company's arguments that the PUC lacks authority to impose fines and that the financial penalties amounted to regulation of rates, an exclusively federal power.

To read the entire June 20, 2006 Court of Appeals Decision click here.

If you feel that you've been a victim of unsavory Cingular practices, please let us know. We are hopeful that the company will voluntarily clean-up its act. If not, UCAN is poised to take even regulatory or civil action.