AT&T Consumer Service Agreement (Prior to September 17, 2022)

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General Terms

Your AT&T Consumer Service Agreement (“Agreement”) includes the terms and conditions for our products and services. By activating, using, or paying for any of these products or services, you’re accepting and agree to be bound by this Agreement. If you don’t agree, contact us immediately to cancel your order and/or service and return any products.

Please read this Agreement carefully. It requires us to resolve disputes through arbitration on an individual basis rather than jury trials or class actions. It also governs how we handle your information, including information related to your AT&T Account and your location.

The products and services covered by this Agreement are generally for consumer and certain small business use. If you intend to use them for any other purpose, it’s up to you to make sure that use is expressly permitted by your Agreement with us. This Agreement generally limits our liability to you to a refund of what you paid us for the applicable AT&T product or service during the period in which you’re experiencing issue, up to a maximum of 24 months.

Heads up: You are responsible for how you choose to use the products and services you purchase from us. We can’t guarantee the security of your AT&T Account, the internet, any third party-services you may choose to use or interact with through the services we provide, or any third-party devices or equipment you may choose to use to access our services. Please be careful with your personal information and online safety.

1.1 Our Agreement

The AT&T affiliated companies, assignees and successors (“AT&T”) offer many products and services. This Agreement contains the terms and conditions for the products and services listed below (“AT&T Services” or “Services”), including a set of universal terms (“General Terms”) and specific product terms (“Service Terms”). You are bound by the General Terms and the Service Terms for each AT&T Service you purchase or use. In addition, your Agreement incorporates and includes AT&T’s Privacy Notice (located at att.com/privacy), Acceptable Use Policy (located at att.com/legal/terms.aup.html), and any other documents specifically referenced in the applicable Service Terms. In the event of a conflict between the General Terms and the applicable Service Terms, the Service Terms control.

If you are an existing customer, this Agreement replaces the Wireless Customer Agreement, Terms of Service and Plan Terms for AT&T PREPAID, Data Services Agreement, AT&T Phone terms of service (VOIP), Fixed Wireless Service Terms, and AT&T Internet Terms of Service.

Please use the links below to view the General Terms and Service Terms for your products and services:

1.2 Your AT&T Account and Account Access

You may need to set up one or more accounts (“AT&T Account” or “Account”) in order to purchase or use products and AT&T Services. You are responsible for ensuring that any information you provide us in connection with your AT&T Accounts, including contact information and billing information, is accurate and remains current.

You are responsible for any activity that occurs on or through your AT&T Accounts. We do not guarantee the security of your AT&T Accounts, so please ensure that your credentials for accessing or using your Accounts, such as your passwords, personal identification numbers, social security number, or other personal information are secure. If you learn of any unauthorized use of any AT&T Account for any AT&T Service, please contact us immediately. The phone number for your AT&T Service may be found at att.com/contactus/index.html.

You may be able to authorize designated individuals (such as family members) to act on your behalf in managing your AT&T Accounts, including changing or adding to your AT&T Services (“Authorized Users”). You are responsible for all actions and changes made by such Authorized Users, including purchases of products and additional AT&T Services. If you are not present or do not identify yourself when an AT&T Service is installed, you authorize any adult present to act on your behalf, including to accept any related agreements required to install or activate your AT&T Services. Further, you expressly authorize us to provide information about and make changes to your AT&T Accounts (as well as to perform any credit checks on you that we deem appropriate to implement the changes or respond to questions) upon the direction of any person who provides information sufficient to identify you, even if this person has not been designated as an Authorized User. In addition, you agree that all users of your AT&T Services, regardless of whether designated as Authorized Users (and including minors), are subject to the limitations and obligations of this Agreement, including its arbitration provision and Privacy Notice. It is your duty to inform them of their limitations and obligations and to make this Agreement available to them.

You may have previously been given the option to combine credentials to log onto some AT&T Accounts and/or other AT&T or third-party accounts. In AT&T’s sole discretion, AT&T may end single sign on and separate your Account credentials.

1.3 Dispute Resolution by Binding Arbitration

Please read this carefully. It affects your rights.

1.3.1 Summary

Our customer-service department can resolve most customer concerns quickly and to the customer’s satisfaction. Please visit att.com/contactus/index.html to contact the customer-service team for your AT&T Service. In the unlikely event that you are not satisfied with customer service's solution (or if we haven't been able to resolve a dispute between us after attempting to do so informally), we each agree to resolve those disputes through binding arbitration or small claims court instead of in courts of general jurisdiction.

Arbitration is more informal than a lawsuit in court. Arbitration uses a neutral arbitrator instead of a judge or jury, allows for more limited discovery than in court, and is subject to very limited review by courts. Any arbitration under this Agreement will take place on an individual basis; class arbitrations and class actions are not permitted. For any non-frivolous claim that does not exceed $75,000, AT&T will be responsible for all costs of the arbitration. Moreover, in arbitration you are entitled to recover attorneys’ fees from AT&T to at least the same extent as you would be in court. In addition, under certain circumstances (as explained below), AT&T will pay you more than the amount of the arbitrator's award and will pay your attorney (if any) twice his or her reasonable attorneys' fees if the arbitrator awards you an amount that Is greater than the value of what AT&T offered you to settle the dispute.

1.3.2 Arbitration Agreement

1.3.2.1 Claims Subject to Arbitration:

AT&T and you agree to arbitrate all disputes and claims between us, except for claims arising from bodily injury or death. This arbitration provision is intended to be broadly interpreted. It includes, but is not limited to:

  • claims arising out of or relating to any aspect of the relationship between us, whether based in contract, tort, fraud, misrepresentation, or any other statutory or common-law legal theory;
  • claims that arose before the existence of this or any prior Agreement (including, but not limited to, claims relating to advertising);
  • claims for mental or emotional distress or injury not arising out of bodily injury;
  • claims that are currently the subject of purported class action litigation in which you are not a member of a certified class; and
  • claims that may arise after the termination of this Agreement.

References to “AT&T,” “you,” and “us” include our respective predecessors in interest, successors, and assigns, as well as our respective past, present, and future subsidiaries, affiliates, related entities, agents, employees, and all authorized or unauthorized users or beneficiaries of AT&T Services or products under past, present, or future Agreements between us. Notwithstanding the foregoing, either party may bring an action in small claims court seeking only individualized relief, so long as the action remains in that court and is not removed or appealed to a court of general jurisdiction. This arbitration provision does not preclude you from bringing issues to the attention of federal, state, or local agencies, including, for example, the Federal Communications Commission. Such agencies can, if the law allows, seek relief against us on your behalf. You agree that, by entering into this Agreement, you and AT&T are each waiving the right to a trial by jury or to participate in a class action. This Agreement evidences a transaction in interstate commerce, and thus the Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of this provision. This arbitration provision shall survive termination of this Agreement.

1.3.2.2 Pre-Arbitration Notice of Dispute:

A party who intends to seek arbitration must first send to the other party a written Notice of Dispute (“Notice”). You may download the Notice form at att.com/arbitration-forms. The Notice to AT&T may be sent by U.S. mail or professional courier service to Legal Department - Notice of Dispute, AT&T, 208 S. Akard, Office #2900.13, Dallas, Texas 75202 (the “Notice Address”), or, alternatively, submitted electronically by following the instructions at att.com/noticeofdispute. The Notice must include all of the information requested on the Notice form, including: (a) your name; (b) your Account number; (c) the services (if any) to which your claim pertains; (d) a description of the nature and basis of the claim or dispute; (e) an explanation of the specific relief sought and the basis for the calculations; (f) your signature; and (g) if you have retained an attorney, your signed statement authorizing AT&T to disclose your confidential Account records to your attorney if necessary in resolving your claim.

If AT&T and you do not reach an agreement to resolve the claim within 60 days after the Notice is received, you or AT&T may commence an arbitration proceeding. (If either you or we send the other an incomplete Notice, the 60-day period begins only after a complete Notice is received.) You may download a form to initiate arbitration at att.com/arbitration-forms. In addition, information on how to commence an arbitration proceeding, including how to file a consumer arbitration online, is currently available at adr.org/support. A copy of the arbitration demand must be sent to the Notice Address listed above.

1.3.2.3 Arbitration Procedure:

The arbitration will be governed by the then-current Consumer Arbitration Rules (“AAA Rules”) of the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”), as modified by this arbitration provision, and will be administered by the AAA. (If the AAA is unavailable, another arbitration provider shall be selected by the parties or, if the parties cannot agree on a provider, by the court.) The AAA Rules are available online at adr.org or may be requested by writing to the Notice Address. (You may obtain information that is designed for non-lawyers about the arbitration process at att.com/arbitration-information.) All issues are for the arbitrator to decide, except issues relating to the scope and enforceability of the arbitration provision or whether a dispute can or must be brought in arbitration are for the court to decide. The arbitrator may consider rulings in other arbitrations involving different customers, but an arbitrator’s ruling will not be binding in proceedings involving different customers. Unless AT&T and you agree otherwise, any arbitration hearings will take place in the county (or parish) of your billing address. If your claim is for $10,000 or less, we agree that you may choose whether the arbitration will be conducted solely on the basis of documents submitted to the arbitrator or through a telephonic, videoconference, or in-person hearing as established by the AAA Rules. If your claim exceeds $10,000, the right to a hearing will be determined by the AAA Rules. During the arbitration, the amount of any settlement offer made by AT&T or you shall not be disclosed to the arbitrator until after the arbitrator determines the relief, if any, to which you or AT&T is entitled. Regardless of the manner in which the arbitration is conducted, the arbitrator shall issue a reasoned written decision sufficient to explain the essential findings and conclusions on which his or her decision is based. Except as provided in subsection 1.3.2.6 below, the arbitrator can award the same damages and relief that a court can award under applicable law.

1.3.2.4 Arbitration Fees:

If AT&T initiates arbitration or if you initiate arbitration of claims valued at $75,000 or less, AT&T will pay all AAA filing, administration, case-management, hearing, and arbitrator fees, so long as you have fully complied with the requirements in section 1.3.2.2 for any arbitration you initiated. In such cases, AT&T will pay the filing fee directly to the AAA upon receiving a written request from you at the Notice Address or, if the AAA requires you to pay a filing fee to commence arbitration, AT&T will promptly reimburse you or arrange for the AAA to reimburse you for the filing fee and will remit the filing fee to the AAA itself. If you seek relief valued at greater than $75,000, the payment of the AAA filing, administration, case-management, hearing, and arbitrator fees will be governed by the AAA rules. In addition, if the arbitrator finds that either the substance of your claim or the relief sought in the arbitration demand is frivolous or brought for an improper purpose (as measured by the standards set forth in Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(b)), then the payment of all such fees will be governed by the AAA Rules. In such case, you agree to reimburse AT&T for all monies previously disbursed by it that are otherwise your obligation to pay under the AAA Rules.

1.3.2.5 Alternative Payment and Attorney Premium:

If you fully complied with the requirements above in subsection 1.3.2.2 and the arbitrator issues an award in your favor that is greater than the value of AT&T’s last written settlement offer made before the arbitrator was selected, then AT&T will:

  • pay you the amount of the award or $10,000 (the "Alternative Payment”), whichever is greater; and
  • pay the attorney you retained, if any, twice the amount of attorneys’ fees reasonably incurred and reimburse any reasonably incurred expenses (including expert witness fees and costs) that your retained attorney reasonably accrues for investigating, preparing, and pursuing your claim in arbitration (the "Attorney Premium”).

If AT&T did not make a written offer to settle the dispute before the arbitrator was selected, you and your attorney will be entitled to receive the Alternative Payment and the Attorney Premium, respectively, if the arbitrator awards you any relief on the merits. The arbitrator may resolve disputes and make rulings as to the payment and reimbursement of attorneys' fees, expenses, the Alternative Payment, and the Attorney Premium upon request from either party made within 14 days of the arbitrator’s ruling on the merits. In assessing whether an award that includes attorneys' fees and expenses is greater than the value of AT&T's last written settlement offer, the calculation shall include only the portion of the award representing attorneys' fees and expenses that you reasonably incurred pursuing the arbitration through the date of AT&T's settlement offer.

The right to the Attorney Premium supplements any right to attorneys’ fees and expenses you may have under applicable law. Thus, if you would be entitled to a larger amount under the applicable law, this provision does not preclude the arbitrator from awarding you that amount. However, you may not recover both the Attorney Premium and a duplicative award of attorneys’ fees or expenses. Although under some laws AT&T may have a right to an award of attorneys’ fees and expenses if it prevails in an arbitration, AT&T agrees that it will not seek such an award unless you have retained an attorney and one or more of your claims is determined to be frivolous or brought for an improper purpose.

1.3.2.6 Requirement of Individual Arbitration:

The arbitrator may award relief (including, but not limited to, damages, restitution, declaratory relief, and injunctive relief) only in favor of the individual party seeking relief and only to the extent necessary to provide relief warranted by that party’s individual claim. YOU AND AT&T AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN YOUR OR ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS, REPRESENTATIVE, OR PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL PROCEEDING. Further, unless both you and AT&T agree otherwise, the arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person’s or entity's claims and may not otherwise preside over any form of a representative, class, or private attorney general proceeding. If, after exhaustion of all appeals, any of these prohibitions on non-individualized relief; class, representative, and private attorney general claims; and consolidation is found to be unenforceable with respect to a particular claim or with respect to a particular request for relief (such as a request for injunctive relief), then the parties agree that such a claim or request for relief shall be decided by a court after all other claims and requests for relief are arbitrated.

1.3.2.7 Future Changes to Arbitration Provision:

Notwithstanding any provision in this Agreement to the contrary, if AT&T makes any future change to this arbitration provision (other than a change to the Notice Address), you may reject any such change by sending us written notice via U.S. Mail within 30 days of the change to Legal Department – Revised Arbitration Opt-Out, AT&T, 208 S. Akard, Office #2900.13, Dallas, Texas 75202. By rejecting any future change, you are agreeing that you will arbitrate any dispute between you and AT&T in accordance with the language of this version of the arbitration provision.

1.3.2.8 Puerto Rico Customers:

For Puerto Rico customers, all references to "small claims court" in this arbitration provision should be understood to mean the Puerto Rico Telecommunications Regulatory Board.

1.4 How We May Contact You

You understand and agree that on occasion it may be necessary that we contact you regarding your Accounts, your AT&T Services, and additional products and services that we, our affiliates, assignees, successors, or third parties may offer. Accordingly, you agree that AT&T and its current and future affiliates, assignees, successors, agents, and outside collection agencies may contact you using any method that you provide to any current or future AT&T affiliate, agent, assignee, successor, or outside collection agency, including by phone, mail, email, text message (SMS/MMS), RCS chat, push notifications, or other medium, as well as by including messages on or inserts with bills for your AT&T Services. You agree that notices provided to you using any of these methods are sufficient to be deemed to be received by you. You further agree that any calls or messages sent to numbers you provide us or our current or future affiliates, agents, assignees, successors or outside collection agencies (including wireline or wireless numbers) may be sent using an automatic telephone dialing system or artificial or prerecorded voices, and that you cannot revoke your consent to be contacted in this manner.

You agree to contact us promptly if any contact number we have for you has changed. You also agree that we can send you email or other electronic messages by any means, including an automated system that sends preset messages.

Please do not overlook the important messages section of your bill. Bill messages and inserts are a keyway we share information with you. If you have online billing, you are deemed to have received those notices when your online bill is available for viewing. If you get a paper bill, you are deemed to have received those notices three days after we mail the bill to you.

Communications from AT&T or its current or future affiliates, agents, assignees or successors or outside collection agencies may include emergency alerts, communications regarding payments or past-due balances, and information concerning promotions regarding any AT&T Service or by our third-party partners regarding their products or services. You are not required to agree to receive promotional communications to purchase any AT&T Services. You can unsubscribe from promotional emails, calls, or messages by following the unsubscribe options in the promotional communication itself or in the AT&T Privacy Notice.

For more information about your rights and choices regarding how we communicate with you, please visit about.att.com/privacy/privacy-notice.html#privacy-choices.

1.5 Termination or Suspension of AT&T Services

You may cancel or terminate one or more of your AT&T Services at any time. If you want to cancel an AT&T Service, please contact the customer-service department for that AT&T Service. The phone number may be found by visiting att.com/contactus/index.html or, for FirstNet individual users, firstnet.com. If you cancel an AT&T Service, you might lose any discounts you obtained from bundling together AT&T Services. And some of your remaining AT&T Services may not work (or work the same way) after the cancellation of one of the bundled services.

AT&T reserves the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue any function or feature of any AT&T Service, including your rates or charges, or to terminate your AT&T Service entirely, for any reason, which may include, but is not limited to:

  • any misconduct by you or any user of your AT&T Services (as defined below);
  • compliance with an order by a state or federal agency, court, or arbitrator; and
  • any interruption or loss of either your or AT&T’s rights to access any part of the network facilities required to provide your services, including the interruption or loss of any rights to access the land or buildings in which the facilities are located;

Misconduct includes but is not limited to the following conduct by you or any user or your AT&T Services:

  • any conduct that we believe violates this Agreement or AT&T’s Acceptable Use Policy;
  • any conduct that involves the use of abusive, threatening, or unreasonable conduct toward any of our employees or representatives, whether in person, over the phone, or in writing;
  • any abusive, fraudulent, or unlawful use of any AT&T Services;
  • providing us with false or misleading information about you, users of your AT&T Services, or your or their use of AT&T Services, including inaccurate information related to your creditworthiness;
  • any use of AT&T Services in a manner that negatively affects our or others’ networks, customers, or operations, or that infringes anyone’s intellectual property rights, violates others’ privacy, generates spam or abusive messaging or calling, or results in the publication of threatening, offensive, or illegal materials;
  • any reselling of AT&T Services (including selling of use of or access to AT&T Services);
    and
  • any failure to make all required payments when due or to maintain sufficient amounts on deposit or pay another form of credit security, as well as any change that we determine creates a risk of non-payment (such as a deterioration in your creditworthiness.

Regardless of the reason or whether your or we terminate your AT&T Services:

  • unless required by applicable law, there is no proration of charges and you are still responsible for the full month’s payment even if your AT&T Services are terminated in the middle of a billing cycle;
  • any Account balance or unused portion for the terminated AT&T Service (such as a prepaid service) will not be refunded or credited back;
  • your licenses to use any software associated with the terminated AT&T Service are terminated;
  • you are obligated to return any Equipment, as defined in this Agreement, associat