A Hale County woman has sued AT&T and DIRECTV in circuit court, alleging the companies billed her for phone services she never used and cut off her television service after failing to forward payments she had already made.
Mary Ruth Parr filed the complaint in Hale County Circuit Court on July 3, naming AT&T Mobility Services, AT&T Billing Southeast, DIRECTV and The DIRECTV Group as defendants, along with several fictitious parties who may be identified later. She is represented by Demopolis attorney Hillary Fisher and has demanded a jury trial. The suit seeks a total of $74,500 in damages, plus court costs.
According to the complaint, Parr has been a customer of the companies for about 15 years and had contracted with them for phone and television service for at least five years. She alleges that around June 2024 she noticed charges on her bill for services she was not using, tied to three telephone numbers she says she did not recognize and was never able to identify despite asking AT&T about them.
Parr contends she repeatedly asked AT&T to cancel the services and stop the charges, and that the company represented on several occasions that it would do so and that the matter had been resolved. Those representations were false, the complaint alleges, and she continued to be billed for services she says she never used and had no devices connected to.
In a second count, the suit alleges that AT&T handled Parr’s television billing through a bundled arrangement with DIRECTV and that she relied on AT&T to forward her monthly television payments. AT&T did not forward those payments, the complaint alleges, and DIRECTV in turn treated her account as past due, assessed late charges and eventually turned off all of her televisions without notice, even though, she says, DIRECTV representatives had confirmed her payments were made. The suit claims AT&T breached its contract with Parr and that DIRECTV wrongfully cut off her service.
A third count alleges intentional infliction of emotional distress, contending the companies’ conduct was extreme and outrageous and caused Parr severe mental anguish. The complaint seeks punitive damages, describing the alleged conduct as intentional and reckless.
The filing represents only Parr’s allegations. The companies have not yet filed a response, and none of the claims has been tested in court.
