Sprint Class Action Lawsuit

Last week I received an email. It looks like a class action lawsuit was filed against Sprint alleging that "California law by locking cellphone handsets to make it difficult for customers to switch cell phone service providers without purchasing a new handset, and also by failing to disclose that such handsets are locked." This specifically appears all people with California billing addresses for personal or business accounts who purchased handsets from Sprint from August 28, 1999 through September 21, 2006.

I've been a part of class action suits before - like one for Blockbuster, and one for a credit card company. Typically the class settles before the case gets to court, but the settlement tended to be either coupons or insignificant service credit (that is, less than $10). But now that legal business is handled via e-mail rather snail mail, I think I will pay more attention to my participation in class action suits.

I can understand why the lawsuit was filed - I'm sure that a majority of Sprint consumers were not advised their handsets would work on someone else's network. On the flip side, I am a believer in "the buyer beware".

If you believe that you are eligible to be part of the Class or wish to be excluded from the suit, visit the official website www.sprintlockinglawsuit.com