In the case of AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, “the United States Supreme Court
ruled that the FAA (Federal Arbitration Act) of 1925 deters state laws that prohibit
contracts from banning class-wide arbitration, such as the law previously upheld by the
California Supreme Court in the case of Discover Bank v. Superior Court.
As a result, businesses that include arbitration agreements with class action waivers can
require consumers to bring claims only in individual arbitrations, rather than in court as
part of a class action.”
The Concepcions purchased AT&T service that was advertised as including free phones.
They were not charged for the phones but they were charged for sales tax based on the
phones’ retail value. The amount they were charged for sales tax was $30.22. Their
complaint was that AT&T had engaged in false advertising and fraud by charging sales
tax on phones that they advertised as free.
In my opinion, arbitration in this case would suffice! It was a small dollar amount and it
could have been settled at the lowest level via arbitration. I think that it’s absurd to sue a
company for $30.22. Even more bizarre is that they were suing for being charged sales
tax. I don’t think that it’s false advertisement that AT&T advertised free phones because
reading the case; they were not charged for the phones but only charged for the sales tax,
which is the right thing to do. The phones were free and they weren’t charged for the
phones and therefore it was not false advertisement. The sales tax is a totally separate
thing that every American should be paying when purchasing items. But then again, this
is MY own opinion and I am sure that other people might disagree with my opinion by
saying, well; the advertisement should have stated free phones, not tax-free. But I think
that it’s common sense or it should be common knowledge that there is tax associated
with anything purchased by anybody at any stores, businesses or companies. Even before
they had to pay the $30.22 for the sales tax, they could have backed off then and not get
the free phones if they didn’t want to get charged/pay for sales tax.