Customers who had signed cell phone contracts with Verizon and AT&T, brought a class action against the collection agency that the phone companies hired to collect unpaid fees and charges. The complaint alleged that the agency, Collecto, Inc., violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and New York’s consumer protection statute and committed common law fraud by seeking payment of collection costs in addition to the unpaid fees owed to phone companies. Collecto moved to compel the plaintiffs to arbitrate their claims, arguing that the mandatory arbitration clauses in the agreements between the plaintiffs and the phone companies should also apply to Collecto.