Recurring Monthly Data Usage Charges

[n.franco]

I have been a customer of AT&T since 2005.  I noticed sometime last year that my phone lines were being billed $2 every month for data charges.  My husband and I share minutes (500, if I'm correct), and have an unlimited messaging plan that includes MMS messaging.  We are on the data-pay-per-use package.  At first I thought the $4 monthly charges were just a fluke.  I called AT&T, it was taken care of and resolved (so I thought).  The next couple of months I remembered to check for the $4 charge on my bill.  Sure enough, it was there.  Only this time I noticed that only my husband's number was being charged the $2.  My phone number is the main. 

I have lost count of the number of times that I have called AT&T reps and dealt with this issue.  I am sick of it.  I am happy to say they have been very helpful in issuing me a credit for the charges, but it is seriously getting old.  I am tired of explaining my story every single time, only to be told that the only way to avoid these charges is to have my internet service completely cut off, meaning I would not be able to receive picture and video messages, which I do not want.  I understand that every so often, phones and/or people accidentally log onto the web or access data usage by inadvertently pressing buttons or similar situations.  But for this to accidentally happen EVERY single month is quite simply ridiculous to me. 

Is anyone else in the AT&T world experiencing this kind of issue?  Or have you heard of anything similar?  Any help or comments would be appreciated.

[rjniles]

I had the same issues in the past 4 months that I have been an ATT customer. More random and not every month or both lines. The most recent bill had both lines billes the $2 minimum data usage fee. I called ATT, they gave me credit and I had them turn off the data feature (you cna do it yourself on line).

[meradoll]

Unfortunatly, it happens to a lot of people. The only way to really stop it is by blocking the internet completely, which would render your phone inable to send or receive picture messages....you could also get a $10.00 per month internet package, which in your case isnt worth it because it doesnt seem you actually use the internet. You can also go with smart limits to add the data restrictions...however that is $4.99 per month per line that you add it to. The only other thing is locking the keypad, which a lot of times doesn't really help much considering the phones are made with the internet button right where you would tend to hit it the most....thats about all that you could do to stop the charges.

[n.franco]

Pretty often, huh?  You would think AT&T would realize that enough people are complaining about this issue that it would be resolved somehow.  Appears to me like it is their secret way of scamming people who don't really inspect their bills.

[stclair49]

They are not scamming people.

It is the customers responsibility to check their monthly statement and call to CSS to report any discrepancies. Of course, to those who blindly write a check each month without looking, AT&T is making money off of.

Yes, it would be nice if AT&T could fix it where MMS was still usable with Data disabled, but it is not the case.
So, if you want to keep MMS, you will have to call each month to have the data charges removed. On some model's of phone's, you can reassign the Medianet button to a deadend, but not all allow that.

 Luckily, mine does so i can't accidentally incur these charges.

[tpdtpd]

Yes - this is so irritating that I had to "dumb down" my phone so that I could not accidentally hit a button that connects me to the Internet. ATT will remove charges but - what a hassle. It’s easier to remove some of the features I’m paying for than to deal with customer service every month. The standard reply from tech support is, “Don’t blame us; we don't make the phones."

Oh PLEASE!!! A giant phone company has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with the specs their vendors design into the phones they provide to their customers???? What kind of management is that? Also, the equipment producers don't make money every time we hit the wrong button, so why would they remove our ability to configure phones so that these accidents aren't possible?  It was easy to turn off these features and remove shortcut buttons on my old cell phones – only the new models are diabolical – but they are all we are offered today.

Follow the money to find who benefits from these user unfriendly features. ATT would do well to show a little more leadership and a little less greed. It's terrible when the only way to get ethical business practices is through a class action lawsuit.

CUSTOMER REQUEST TO ATT: Ask one of your vendors to make a phone that allows us to send photos through our text messaging but does NOT have the capacity to log onto the Internet . Market the phone with this as a selling point and watch all of these customer complaints over accidental data charges disappear. Customer satisfaction up - sleazy business practices down.

It’s not rocket science.

[n.franco]

Just got off the phone with an AT&T rep trying to get the latest month's charges removed.  I was told that they would NOT remove the charges for me anymore because it is a courtesy service and can only be performed once or twice at the most.  I was told once again, that I would either have to sign up for a $10/month data plan that I would never use, or completely block off all my internet.  She said she understood that the charges were not resulting from any activity on my part, but that we "had to take a proactive" measure now.  How is this proactive?  Seriously, AT&T?  This is the thanks that a loyal customer of 6 years gets? Good to know this is the kind of understanding and cooperation that your company provides.

[joelwnelson]

Interesting. I also had a lot of trouble this month getting a $2 charge removed for 1 KB of usage (which the phone rep insisted was from a picture message... even though I have unlimited MMS).  Last year I consistently was seeing under-10 KB use resulting in $2 billing on most of my family plan lines, and had no problem calling in and getting them removed.  Then for a few months, after the issue with Verizon doing the same thing broke in the news, no issues at all.  Then this month it almost sounds like it's a new practice.   

Unless we both just got the same phone rep who enjoys being this way over data charges...

[JFizDaWiz]

and honestly they shouldn't remove them. I understand you didn't mean to access the internet but you have to understand that you did. I never had a problem paying that on my cell phones with at&t in the past because: 1. I never thought it possible to remove a charge for something I did and 2. I DID push the button.

there is almost never a valid reason to call in for an adjustment. its always because the customer doesn't realize how services work when all the information is on the website and the ToS they signed when they started service.

[n.franco]

JFizDaWiz,

I understand that every so often it does happen that the internet/media button does get pushed, and I accept that I should pay for those charges.  But for it to "accidentally" happen EVERY SINGLE MONTH?  No, it isn't happening.

[JFizDaWiz]

I accidentally did it everymonth also. data block and forget mms is what I would do if I didn't want to pay it.

[n.franco]

I suppose in your case this did work.  In the meantime, I will hope that I can find more AT&T employees who are less obdurate. 

Thanks for your help!

[nottahappycamper]

Agreed N Franco! My phone also connects to the internet VERY easily - pretty sure they are designed that way! Pshaw...it might only be 2.00 but if you spread that out among even half the customers at AT&T and consider that atleast 1/2 of them don't even realize it that's quite a profit   I almost wish i'd have thought of it.

[vicki362436]

Why can't there be a second level of security before accessing the internet.  Oh I don't know...maybe something like "are you sure you want to access the interent?" then you can hit yes or no depending on the situation. I mean my phone asks me if I'm sure if I want to delete messages from my inbox and outbox.  It should ask us if we are sure we really want to go online, because I don't.  But if I'm not really paying attention, I will hit the button accidentally and away I go to being online, however I never make it online because I frantically hit the end browsing session to stop it and then I'm upset that I hit that button.  Because now I know the $2.00 charge is coming.  Well I have already decided that I will not pay for anymore of the internet charges.  My contract is almost up....ATT can suck it.  I pay the contract rate and that is it.  And they are now trying to charge me $5.00 a month late fee, but on the back of the bill it states that I should only be charged 1.5% of the unpaid charges because of where I live.  ATT likes to scam people. So let's see.  1.5% of $4.00 is 6 cents.  NOT $5.00.  I can handle 6 cents. 

And the other bad news is that I was planning on switching back to T-mobile when this stupid contract is up, but it turns out that ATT just bought T-mobile.  More crappy service from ATT.  Wow.  What a great day.

[vicki362436]

Why can't there be a second level of security before accessing the internet.  Oh I don't know...maybe something like "are you sure you want to access the interent?" then you can hit yes or no depending on the situation. I mean my phone asks me if I'm sure if I want to delete messages from my inbox and outbox.  It should ask us if we are sure we really want to go online, because I don't.  But if I'm not really paying attention, I will hit the button accidentally and away I go to being online, however I never make it online because I frantically hit the end browsing session to stop it and then I'm upset that I hit that button.  Because now I know the $2.00 charge is coming.  Well I have already decided that I will not pay for anymore of the internet charges.  My contract is almost up....ATT can suck it.  I pay the contract rate and that is it.  And they are now trying to charge me $5.00 a month late fee, but on the back of the bill it states that I should only be charged 1.5% of the unpaid charges because of where I live.  ATT likes to scam people. So let's see.  1.5% of $4.00 is 6 cents.  NOT $5.00.  I can handle 6 cents. 

And the other bad news is that I was planning on switching back to T-mobile when this stupid contract is up, but it turns out that ATT just bought T-mobile.  More crappy service from ATT.  Wow.  What a great day.

[n.franco]

I completely agree with your idea of having an extra level of security for internet usage.  Why hasn't someone at AT&T (or one of the phone companies) thought of this before!??

[wingrider01 ACE - Geek]

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n.franco wrote:

I completely agree with your idea of having an extra level of security for internet usage.  Why hasn't someone at AT&T (or one of the phone companies) thought of this before!??

---

Not sure what phone you are using, but it does give a warning message on my daughters

[Preacherman_1]

IT is basically a scheme (some would say scam) to sneak extra into our bills.

Here's the deal - most phones, smartphone or not, are configured the way AT&T wants them.  This usually includes a prominent (and easy to hit/bump/press on accident) button that immediately and without  warning connect to the network.  You cannot stop it once you have pressed or bumped the button.  You are connected with at least 1k of outgoing data - and you are then automatically tagged for $2.  

There is no real easy "fix" for this on the user's end.  AT&T will tell you to "block data" on the phones.  But this actually causes you to lose part of the service you are paying for (MMS).  While you can still send and receive text - pictures and other multimedia will be blocked - even though you are PAYING for it.

The "scam/scheme/whatever you want to call it" is pretty simple - You specify that phones you sell have a prominent and easy to press/bump/contact key and assign that to connect to the data network.  Then you rake in literally $millions every month from these "incidental" data "usages".  Consider this - with over 100 Million customers - how many don't use data?  Probably well over 2/3.  But lets say that only 10% even don't use data (intentionally).  That would be ~10 million lines.  Now - lets say that most of those at some point each month have "that" button bumped/pressed/or whatever.... even if that is the only time it gets bumped - guess what????  That is some $20 million per month being billed out to customers that didn't intentionally use data (and many of which don't even realize they were being billed for it because they do auto-billpay and/or paperless billing.

[Preacherman_1]

StClair49- I am one of those customers who DO check their bills.  Calling makes no difference.  The "customer service" folks are now told to defend the billing no matter what.  The young lady I spoke with yesterday accused my wife of downloading wallpapers and ringtones (umm.... with a few 41k and two 1k data -OUTGOING- hits???).  They were completely unbending and the ONLY options presented:  buy a data plan, or block data and lose MMS.  This is nuts.  I'm gonna have to quit reading these posts or I may "take the lead" and open an investigation with our state attorney general's office (they have a good record of taking on these anti-consumer scams and charges.)

[Preacherman_1]

JFizDaWiz   So - 'you did push the button".  Well what about those phones that you discover (by this immoral practice of billing for accidental data) - that that big "home" key-like button that sticks out and is active, even when the keypad is locked - gets "pressed" by your pants pocket, your purse (in the case of my wife), or even sometimes gets activated while in the carry-case when you lean on something....???  

Who stipulates to the phone manufacturers the layout of buttons/keys?  The carrier.  Who encourages the most prominent key to be one that immediately (and without warning or a chance to prevent it) connects to the network?  The carrier.

I had a phone in the past (cannot remember which one) that when you pressed or selected something that would connect you to the 'net, it warned you first - and you had the opportunity to NOT connect.  What happened to that feature?  OH - that's right, it didn't make money for AT&T (or Verizon, since it appears they have pending lawsuit(s) regarding this very issue).

[jslayton70]

Hello Meradoll,

I am a new ATT customer and just paid my first bill (OUCH).  I have an Iphone and I do love it.  I am concerned over the same issue as this morning I received a message from ATT that I am over 65% of my dataplan.  I am not sure how this could be since I do not use streaming video or music at all/limited.  I do see on my data billing a couple of really large files being sent on 5/6/11 at 11:04p.m. at 27,380kb and again on 5/7/11 at 11:26p.m. at 28,179KB.  Is there a way to tell what was 'sent' during this time?  I use the internet to look up information, and to check baseball scores.  I also use email to check emails from family.  I use texting to keep in touch with family and friends, rarely texting pics.  Can you help?  I am worried I will go over my plan and I really cant afford to pay more than I am now.  Thank you in advance for any help/advice you can give.

Jslayton70

[jasonarch68]

JFizDaWiz,

You are absolutely wrong. AT&T should remove these charges. Further they should not be occurring in the first place. I do agree with you that if I hit the wrong button and access the internet I should have to pay for that. However, I did a little experiement with my daughter's phone recently and have proven conclusively that AT&T is applying this charge to peoples' accounts completely bogusly. The first month my daughter had her phone (her first phone) we got hit with this charge. I was angry with her, and she was really sorry and said she didn't mean to access the internet and would be more careful. The next month, same thing. She was sure she didn't do anything to access the internet. The third month she hardly touched the phone because she was scared about accidentally getting hit with the charge. So the fourth month I actually took the phone, shut it off completely, and put it in a drawer. Guess what? The same $2 charge showed up. Just to be sure I left the phone in the drawer, completely shut off. Month 5... I got hit hit with another $2 charge.

Applying these charges to a customer's bill is a win-win for AT&T and is completely fraudulent in my opinion. By applying the charge to customers' bills, many will just pay it (they have already received an additional $6 from me). But here's the best part for AT&T.... they charge state and federal taxes on top of the $2 charge. When you call in to get a credit, they only credit the $2, not the associated tax. Each quarter, AT&T reconciles its tax accounts, and sends its tax payments to the various states and the federal government. Because of this $2 charge business every quarter they are going to have extra money left over in the account that just appears magically as extra revenue. AT&T has approximately 90 million wireless customers. If they apply this logic to only 10% of those (to keep the relative number of complaints low enough to not cause too much of a stir) then every month AT&T is fraudulently billing $18 million... EVERY MONTH! Assume half of those charges are reversed, so AT&T is netting an extra $9 million each month. They are also keeping an extra $540,000 or so in the form of tax money that never should have been charged, either. The complexity of the data system is the only thing that (so far) has kept AT&T from being sued on this issue, although I can guarantee you it is coming soon.

Sadly, as many people have already stated there is currently nothing you can do about the charge being applied. When you call to get it reversed, be firm about it. Do not let them tell you they can't do it. Talk to the next level supervisor until the charge is reversed, and make sure to tell them to credit you back any associated taxes as well.

[n.franco]

Kudos to JasonArch!  I feel so hopeless with this situation.  I don't think anyone can argue with the results of the experiment you tried, and it confirms AT&T's scam!

[BenJF3]

I agree with you this is fraud. [Per Guidelines:  Keep it Relevant and Appropriate] I have tried the FCC route, but AT&T apparently gives enough money to the powers that be to sweep the complaints under the rug. If AT&T doesn't correct this issue by the time my contract is up, I'm dumping them.

[BenJF3]

[Per Guidelines:  Keep it Relevant and Appropriate] Bull! They want to keep a lid on this scam as long as possible!!!!!

[blaccjesus]

Hi all, Good work on keeping up the good fight against this monster.

I have made some progress and wanted to share it with you.  At some point it was quite easy to get these charges reversed, now they fight you tooth and nail.   Let's not mince words, this is EXTORTION.  When someone tries to coerce you into a more expensive to avoid bogus ones, then that is illegal.  You have every right to complain to the FCC, the better business bureau and your local representatives and local consumer protection agencies.   I don't know what happens to those FCC complaints but I think it is worth making them just in case they need a certain amount to cause action.  Every case I've brought to the BBB has won in my favor, just make sure you take notes when talking to these people!

So since the recent changes in AT&T's customer service its been difficult to get your $2 per line charge refunded. 

Step 1: call 611, hit 0 a few times and eventually you get to talk to someone.  Ask for a supervisor.  Even if they say they can help you, they can't.  So it is just a tactic to waste your time and get you to hang up.  Refuse to speak with anyone but a supervisor because they have the power to overturn the charges.

Step 2: be curteous, don't yell at them or they don't have to help you.  

Step 3:  Explain that the charges are illegal, a form of extortion, and that you don't have to pay them.  You have to state clearly that you will not accept anything but a refund for past charges and a credit for this month's $2.  If they start talking about you hitting the browser button, then explain that you have not (though, don't lie if this doesn't apply to you).  State clearly that you should not be coerced into getting a data plan or receive a block on all texts just because AT&T sends a forced update to and from your phone that requires data usage that is outside your texting plan.  Such a signal is beyond your control and not bound by any contract you may have signed.  This should do the trick.

Step 4:  If you are having trouble with that fat button that makes the browser pop up, you can get a block on certain types of data that does not mess with media texts.  Also make sure you texts with media are under the current limit ( I think it is around 750kb or 1mb maybe).  Because I have done all of this I can now verify that it is AT&T and not me who is doing the data sending.  I have also spoken with a senior AT&T tech who confirmed all of this.  It is a trick to get you to sign up for an expensive data plan.  They may also try to get you to sign up for DATA BLOCK, which blocks even some text messages, this will cause you to be annoyed and then they suggest you again buy the data plan.  Don't fall for it! 

Step 5: Keep complaining. Tell other customers, spread the word online, post on Facebook.  Never give up. It is your money!  

[blaccjesus]

Update!

One of AT&T's lawyers called me last night regarding my FCC complaint.  Accused me of lying about hitting the button!  She clearly didn't understand that I had all sorts of data blocks on on my phones and it still doesn't stop the illusive data packet that orignates from them to cause the 2 dollar charge.  They must be freaked out now that we're catching on and spreading the word!  

[RicoLX]

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blaccjesus wrote:

Update!

One of AT&T's lawyers called me last night regarding my FCC complaint.  Accused me of lying about hitting the button!  She clearly didn't understand that I had all sorts of data blocks on on my phones and it still doesn't stop the illusive data packet that orignates from them to cause the 2 dollar charge.  They must be freaked out now that we're catching on and spreading the word!  

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blaccjesus: you are kidding, right? and let me guess... iphone?

[mawby1]

I've had the same issue. My brother and I are on the same account but the $2 has consistently altered between the Primary and Secondary number on the account (AT&T switched them for some reason on my Nov-Dec Bill). It's a crap charge and an obvious mistake (if a button was really mistakenly hit at all). Of course AT&T can't disable it with it effecting whether you send and receive photos. That's convenient for them. I'm wondering how many people without data plans get charged this $2 fee and don't complain about it. I know I've only complained once and they'll credit you for the charge alright but you have to spend your time and wait on hold just for them to credit it. It seems they could fix the issue if they really wanted. How about if there's an internet connection for less than 5 seconds...don't bill for it. I'm not a programming wizard but that should be easy enough to automate for billing?

That's too crazy to put a policy/action like that into place when ATT stands to make significant money off of nickel and diming people. There's too much to gain from them not fixing the issue. That's $2 per accidental connection adds up...not just for me but across everybody who has similar issues! Now it's become worth my time to make more of an issue out of it. I'm going to find every outlet that I can to post my complaint.

[word filter avoidance]

[Jewellri]

I have a family plan with 700 minutes a month and unlimited MMS/ text messaging with unlimited mobile to any mobile. One of the phones is a basic Samsung phone that has been accruing data charges randomly. It hasn't been consistent though- this months bill does not reflect a pay per use data charge. However, for the past 18 months or so there has been a data charge on the basic phone line. There has NEVER been an accidental "hitting of the Internet button" as the numerous customer service reps I spoke to suggested. I was also told by numerous reps that the charges were for picture messages BUT how can that be when we have an UNLIMITED MMS/ TEXT MESSAGE plan???? After calling for a handful of months about the charges, the reps eventually denied me of any credits toward my bill. (WHAT?) and I was told to either block data or get a basic phone data plan (I REFUSE TO DO EITHER!)

So today I called a rep with proof. I pulled up last months bill and asked about the time stamped "data usage" that occurred. They occurred at random times in the middle of the night when the phone would either be off or charging. OBVIOUSLY, there could not have been an accident hitting of the Internet button nor was it from picture messages (since this month there were no charges, and there was sending/ receiving of picture messages)

I had to literally ( and nicely) tell the rep that she was not resolving my issues near the end of the phone call (especially since she asked me if she was). She finally credited my bill $4 for two months worth of charges BUT as far as I'm concerned, AT&T OWES ME FOR NUMEROUS CHARGES THAT OCCURED OVER THE PAST YEAR.

AT&T has the nerve to deny crediting of my account for charges that I am able to prove are not my responsibility. AT&T: you LIMITED my "Unlimited" data plan and now you won't serve the customer who has patronized your business for almost 4 years. Please, AT&T you must take care of this. This is obviously an ongoing problem with hundreds if not thousands of people.

[drumn_bass]

Reports are done at night for actual usage earlier that day.