How to Report Consumer Cellular for False Advertising

What is False Advertising?

False advertising is any form of misleading or false advertising by a business. It can have economic consequences hurting the consumers who purchase the product and can hurt competitors who are using honest promotional methods.

The rules about deceptive marketing and false advertising can be found in a collection of state and federal consumer protection laws. Most laws are governed by The Federal Trade Commission Act, which established the FTC in 1914, and has a section that has become known as “truth in advertising” rules. These rules give the FTC jurisdiction to respond to complaints about false advertising from individuals or businesses. Companies according to the FTC rules for false advertising, for example, have to:

Make sure that there are reasonable quantities of a product as advertised if it is on sale. A company can’t, for example, air a commercial on television saying they have certain products on sale for only $20 but in reality only have two products on sale for $20, the rest at the regular $40 rate.
Companies have to use product demonstrations that legitimately show how a product would be used under normal circumstances.

Note: No one actually needs to be misled for a court to find that an advertisement is misleading.

What Are the Different Types of False Advertising?

Sourced from the FTC with creative input from FairShake.

There are a lot of different categories for false advertising defined by the FTC and these can include simple things like mislabeling a product and making false claims about the manufacturing or the origin. If you are trying to purchase something that was manufactured in America, but you find out after the fact that the company used that label even though their products were made in China, you probably won’t be too happy about that.

Consumer Cellular False Advertising Scandals

Consumer Cellular has dozens of complaints about false advertising with the BBB to do with situations where, for example, Consumer Cellular claims no credit check will be done, but then a credit check is conducted, something that negatively affects a consumer credit score.

Other issues had to do with hidden fees or promotions that were not honored. For example, some customers noted that their ad offered unlimited talk, text, and data for $20 per month. Upon signing up, this was the first month of fees, but there after it jumped to $48 per month.

Another customer noted:

“On April 10th I called to take advantage of their advertised offer of porting all four of my numbers from **** for a fixed price of $40 for the main number plus $15 for each additional number, plus taxes. Ezequiel appeared to be a great representative, he promised: 1) To hold the porting of the lines from ****, until I called back. (Ezequiel LIED, see below). 2) He agreed to port all four lines. (Ezequiel LIED, see below). 3) He promised to send all four sim cards for my four mobile phones. (Ezequiel LIED, see below). 4) Requested that the first statement be paper, regardless of the $5 credit offered in my account On April 14th I called to claim that only three sim cards had been received and requested the fourth one to be sent. At this time I was told by (I believe) Sam (a lady), and she told me that: 1) The lines were set to port automatically on April 17th, against my consent. Porting was supposed to be on hold. 2) Only three lines were processed for porting. NOT agreed by me. ALL four lines must be ported at once. 3) Sam was unable to process the fourth sim card because of my credit report from Equifax. The solution offered was: A) To transfer three lines, B) Be compelled to be in “auto payment required” for 9 months C) Be able to port the fourth line after 50 days The above prompted me to check all three credit bureaus to see if there was anything that would prompt Consumer Cellular add me to a “risky customer pool” that required numerous restrictions and requirements. NO negative or derogatory information was found, and all 25 accounts had a long history of “paid as agreed”. I have recorded all calls and have a detail chronological account from 4-10-20 until 4-21-20 that exceeds 2000 character limit herein. All is available if you provided a way to forward to you and/or Consumer Cellular.”

What to Do If You See False Advertising in Action

So, what do you do if you see false advertising in action? Remember, the courts don’t require that you or anyone else actually be affected by the false advertising in order to convict a company of doing it.

This means that you can report false advertising as soon as you see it. The first step is to submit a consumer complaint to the FTC. The FTC wants to know about the situation so that they can investigate and take action against Consumer Cellular if possible. You can also submit a complaint to TruthinAdvertising.org where it will go public.

But if you have been wronged by false advertising, how you can get compensation will depend on your state’s laws related to Unfair and Deceptive Acts and Practices.

Affected by False Advertising? Here’s What You Can Do

If you have lost money because of false advertising, other than reporting them, you can try their customer service to seek resolution. But that is often a long and unfruitful process. Instead, you can use consumer arbitration.

Consumer arbitration is usually faster and less costly than going to court but it can still be a bit confusing because it is, after all, a legal process with a fair amount of paperwork. That’s where we can help. FairShake helps you navigate the consumer arbitration process, from filing your claim to getting the resolution you deserve.