Verizon Wireless, writing to us this evening, has officially confirmed it will credit 15 million customers with $90 million in compensation for "mistaken past data charges."


Most customers should expect a credit in the $2 to $4 range, although some royally screwed customers will apparently "receive larger credits or refunds," the statement read. The credits will begin to flow sometime later this month and into November.

Additional explanation provided by Verizon, from their email:

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. These customers would normally have been billed at the standard rate of $1.99 per megabyte for any data they chose to access from their phones. The majority of the data sessions involved minor data exchanges caused by software built into their phones; others involved accessing the web, which should not have incurred charges. We have addressed these issues to avoid unintended data charges in the future.


Who among you Verizon-wielding readers was on the receiving end of a data overcharge? Anyone?