Cell phone firms reach deal to become more accountable

Thursday, July 22, 2004 | 11:10 a.m.

SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

Some of the nation's largest wireless companies have just become more accountable to consumers.

Verizon Wireless, Cingular Wireless LLC and Sprint PCS entered into an agreement with the attorneys general of 32 states, including Nevada, that will require full disclosure of service contract rates and conditions, more detailed coverage maps to consumers and a two-week grace period for new customers to terminate service without penalty. The carriers also agreed to be more transparent in their advertising.

"Under the agreement, consumers will have a trial period to find out if they have wireless service where they live, work and play," said Tennessee Attorney General Paul Summers.

Joshua Colaci, manager of Elite Cellular in Las Vegas, was unaware of the agreement Wednesday afternoon. He agreed that a few years ago there were significant problems with promised coverages and unhappy customers, but things began to improve more than a year ago.

"From a consumer standpoint, yes, it was a lot (four or five years ago)," Colaci said. "The coverage was worse and once you signed a contract that cell phone it was your."

Since then, however, major providers have adopted various plans giving customers trial periods to check the usefulness of the phone in their areas.

"The last couple of years, we've made a lot of progress," Colaci said.

John McGlamery, deputy attorney general with the Nevada Bureau of Consumer Protection, agreed. He said between 2001 and now, the state received 65 complaints from disgruntled customers of the three carriers involved in the new agreement. Few, if any, of those complaints have come this year, he said.

"The agreement is icing on the cake," he said. "The companies have been doing a much better job."

The agreements end consumer protection investigations in the participating states that focused on allegations of misleading advertising and a lack of disclosure on rates, terms and conditions, said Ken Salazar, the attorney general for Colorado.

Verizon Wireless is the nation's largest wireless carrier, with 38.9 million customers. Cingular has 25.4 million customers and Sprint PCS Group, a division of Sprint Corp., has 21 million customers. The carriers provide service to more than half the nation's wireless customers.

The carriers also agreed to the following:

They will allow customers to return phones during the three days after activation and receive a full refund of their activation fee.

Their marketing must be more specific about the costs and limits of services.

The carriers will pay the states a total of $5 million for consumer education and to offset the cost of the inquiry. Nevada will receive $106,666, McGlamery said.