AT&T, DirecTV Hit with Class Action Over Reward Cards

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AT&T and DirecTV’s use of reward cards as a means to sign up new customers is the subject of a proposed class action that alleges the telecom giant fails to adequately disclose the cards’ myriad restrictions and limitations, and makes it nearly impossible to redeem the advertised benefits. 

The 19-page lawsuit says that although AT&T heavily advertises that prospective customers will receive a reward card worth between $100 and $400 if they sign up for certain services, the company, in practice, delays sending these cards to customers once they’ve signed up. Rather than send the promised reward card immediately after a consumer has signed their contract, AT&T either never sends the card, sends it close to or after the card’s 150-day expiration period or tries to bait and switch the customer with a card of lesser value, the case alleges. 

As the suit tells it, AT&T will then refuse to honor or replace expired reward cards. 

From there, the lawsuit says the process by which a customer can redeem the benefits of an AT&T reward card can begin only after the company sends an email or mail notification. The case claims AT&T will delay sending the necessary notification until “at least a month or more” after a new customer has signed their contract. The AT&T reward card emails, the suit contends, are easily missed in a customer’s inbox, and notifications sent by physical mail are similarly “not readily distinguishable” from other junk mail.

Once the redemption process actually begins, a customer will run up against a variety of restrictions and usually have to re-send to AT&T documentation and information that the company already has, the suit alleges. One explanation for the allegedly arduous reward card redemption process is AT&T’s intent to “create hurdles” for new customers to receive the promised benefits because it’s only after the process is complete that the company will actually send the reward card, the lawsuit claims. 

“Once the redemption process is complete, however, the Reward Card is not immediately delivered,” the suit continues. “In many instances, the card is never delivered or is delivered near or after the 150-day use period has elapsed.” 

Even when an AT&T customer is able to activate their reward card, the company will often freeze the card if the consumer spends a “threshold amount,” the complaint says. 

“In each of the foregoing ways, AT&T reduces, if not eliminates, the promised value of the Reward Card and the new customer’s ability to fully utilize the card,” the case alleges, claiming AT&T’s motivation for doing so is to beef up subscriber numbers while minimizing the cost to do so.

The case looks to represent all AT&T customers residing in any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico or any other U.S. territory, and who, within the last four years, purchased bundled telecommunications services from AT&T and never received the promised reward card, received an expired reward card or received a reward card but were unable to activate it.

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