Cingular Customer Says He Was Duped by Dropped-Call Ads

A man who claims he was duped into buying Cingular Wireless cell phone service by its "fewest dropped calls" advertisements has filed a class-action lawsuit against the company.

California resident Jonathan C. Kaltwasser says he was one of millions who were persuaded to sign up with Cingular after the ad campaign was launched in March 2006.

But, he says, two independent consumer reviews have ranked Cingular as the worst or among the worst carriers in terms of dropped calls throughout the United States.

According to Kaltwasser's complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Cingular misrepresented the findings made by Telephia, a data provider for the telecommunications industry.

Cingular conducted a widespread ad campaign based on what it claimed was a study by Telephia that rated Cingular as having the fewest dropped calls of any wireless carrier in the country.

In fact, Kaltwasser alleges, Telephia actually concluded that Cingular did not have the fewest dropped calls in several major markets, including New York, Chicago, Houston and Los Angeles.

Moreover, independent studies by two other companies, J.D. Powers & Associates and Consumer Reports, found Cingular to be the worst or one of the worst carriers in dropped-call performance, Kaltwasser says.

Kaltwasser says he was already a Cingular customer, but decided to renew his contract based on the "fewest dropped calls" ads.

He also bought new phones, paid an upgrade fee and continues to pay a monthly service fee, the complaint says.

Kaltwasser says Cingular reaped the benefits of its advertising not only from him, but apparently from others. Following its marketing campaign, Cingular's income for the second of quarter 2006 increase by 267 percent, the suit says.

The company reported an increase of 1.4 million new customers in the third quarter of that year.

Kaltwasser says there are thousands of Cingular customers in California who, like him, contracted for wireless services after the debut of the "fewest dropped calls" ads.

The complaint asserts causes of action for unfair business practices, violation of California's Consumer Legal Remedies Act and breach of contract.

Kaltwasser seeks compensatory damages and restitution for class members and an order enjoining Cingular from advertising that its wireless service offers the fewest dropped calls.