Verizon Wireless announced that it will issue refunds to about 15 million customers! According to Mary Coyne, Deputy General Counsel, Verizon Wireless, the refunds will be issued over the next two months:

In October and November, we are notifying about 15 million customers, through their regular bill messages, that we are applying credits to their accounts due to mistaken past data charges. We will mail former customers refund checks.

The excess charges stem from data sessions that were not initiated by the customer. In these cases, built-in software on the phone accessed the internet or the mobile network. Here is Coyne’s explanation:

As we reviewed customer accounts, we discovered that over the past several years approximately 15 million customers who did not have data plans were billed for data sessions on their phones that they did not initiate. The majority of the data sessions involved minor data exchanges caused by software built into their phones; others included accessing certain web links, which should not have incurred charges.

Verizon stated that they have corrected the problem, and that these charges will not be assessed in the future.

Despite Verizon’s efforts to make things right, the F.C.C. will investigate forcing Verizon to pay penalties for taking so long to reimburse customers (this goes back across the last few years).

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photo credit: cafemama