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johnray's profile

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29 Messages

Saturday, January 21st, 2012 7:01 PM

At&t let a third party charge me $9.99 without my consent

I got a spam SMS from 31850 asking me to sign up for some quiz, I just ignored it, I've always heard not to reply 'STOP' to spamers because then they know your number is real and being spammers they don't care what you reply. I've seen messages on this board where people reply 'STOP' and it does no good.

 

Anyway, I just got my bill and AT&T let this "third party" (it's in quotes because they have to be in cahoots with at&t for this to happen) charge me $9.99 for their subscription. I don't have time to deal with it now but I'll probably have to take time out of my day monday call At&t.

 

I usually don't get upset over stuff but I can't believe that AT&T lets someone sign me up for a  $9.99 a month charge without consent, without a password or pin or an email or anything.

 

By the way, you are all now signed up for my subscription service.  Please read this sentence to confirm.

 

Mentor

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29 Messages

12 years ago

I found some more info online about this, it's called cramming, they've been doing it on landlines for a while and now they're doing it to cellphones and the provider doesn't have to confirm it with you when they are going to add third party charges to your bill, they do it because they get paid to. One article is here. 

 

all the bad guys seem to need is your phone number and your service provider will be glad to betray you and add charges to your bill without asking you first. At this time it's our responsibility to look at the bill and hope the charges aren't hidden to well, instead of the service providers responsibility to confirm it first, so wrong. I've read about several class action suits as well as the FCC trying to change rules so maybe everything will change.

 

here is another article with a video

 

 

anyway, i'll call customer service tomorrow, I'm sure it will all work out for me

 

[Edited to comply with Guidelines]

Expert

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12.2K Messages

12 years ago


@johnray wrote:

Thanks wingrider01,

 

That looks like what I got hit with except I didn't participate in any quizzes or anything, they got my number from somewhere else, I did sign up for facebook so I could see some pictures my cousin took in Mexico but I never used facebook since, and I certainly never entered my phone number in any site.

 

Reading those articles I didn't see where anyone's service provider  asks the user for confirmation, all they need is the phone number, which is wrong in my opinion.

 

In a few of the articles it reminded me of the service where you text a certain code to a charity and they charge your phone bill, you know like after an earthquake or something. when that happens does at&t confirm with the user? maybe that's what this is, a $9.99 text message they are fooling at&t with saying I replied to and signed up for.

 


for this type of billing the 3rd party puts the agreement page in, it maybe worded in the vaguest possible form but once they get it, itis pass to the carrier and it is all weel and good. What you want to do is request a Purchase Block on the line in question, it is free

Mentor

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29 Messages

12 years ago

here is a video and an article some guy wrote explaining exactly what happend to me, and how some guy got to be rich scamming people doing this. I got a text asking me to sign up for someting, I didn't reply STOP, so they automaticaly signed me up, I really didn't have time to reply before the premium text came.

 

 

 

AT&t let this happen, and AT&t sent me a bill for it without my authorization, even if I authorized a third party to bill me, which I didn't, at&t should check with me first, I should authorize it with AT&T because at&t is the one billing me.

 

I've read articles and other things I can't mention here because my last post got ediited for it, were people didn't even get a text, they just started getting charged out of the blue, It's a scam, I'f I had you're phone number I could send at&t a bill and they'd bill you without asking you.

 

 

 

Expert

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12.2K Messages

12 years ago


@johnray wrote:

here is a video and an article some guy wrote explaining exactly what happend to me, and how some guy got to be rich scamming people doing this. I got a text asking me to sign up for someting, I didn't reply STOP, so they automaticaly signed me up, I really didn't have time to reply before the premium text came.

 

 

 

AT&t let this happen, and AT&t sent me a bill for it without my authorization, even if I authorized a third party to bill me, which I didn't, at&t should check with me first, I should authorize it with AT&T because at&t is the one billing me.

 

I've read articles and other things I can't mention here because my last post got ediited for it, were people didn't even get a text, they just started getting charged out of the blue, It's a scam, I'f I had you're phone number I could send at&t a bill and they'd bill you without asking you.

 

 

 


last post for me here, you need to understand that you authorized it in some way shape or form, the companies that do this build the end user agreement for the charge so that if the end users does not full understand what is going on they tend to agree - there has beeon one case where the 3rd party built the agreement so that if you responded to the text message that was randomly sent you agreed to the subscription. This issue occurs not only at att but on just about every carrier in existance. What you explain is the classic example, another is offiering "free" downloads of ringtones, wallpapers and other items for the phone, download one and you have agreed to their ,omtly subscription

 

Is it underhanded by the 3rd party - you bet it is and very poor business practice, but they don;t really care, a lot of times the customer does not even realize it. All carriers will work with you to reverse the charges after the fact but unfortunately there is no regulations in place to prevent the 3rd parties from continuing. Talk to ATT CS, explain the situation then put a purchase block on your account.

Mentor

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29 Messages

12 years ago

Thank you for all your comments wingrider01. I hope none of my posts sound like I'm too mad or anything, I just didn't know this could happen, and I can't imagine it happening to anyone and they not being surprized, I'm absolutly sure AT&T will handle this when I get a chance to call them, their customer service has always been helpful to me.

 

aparently you can authorize the charges by not doing anything, It's what happened to the guy in my last post. I got a text saying sign up for a quiz $9.99 or reply stop, before I even finished reading I got another text saying how good I did on the quiz. so by not doing anything I was subscribed, but I didn't care, there was no way he could get my money right? he didn't have my credit card number, my only concern was if he was going to keep spamming me, I never thought AT&T would give him my money but By not doing anything apparently I authorized it in the eyes of the scammers and AT&T accepts that as authorization to charge me. I can't understand why anyone would think that is right.

 

another customer in this thread did reply stop but he was still charged $9.99, .

 

that's not my biggest gripe, my problem is AT&T and other service providors lets the third party charge us without our consent. If some third party app tells apple that I bought some smurfberries, apple asks me for my password they don't just automatically charge me without consent.

 

even if I wanted this subscription and asked the third party for it, AT&T should confirm it with me.

alot of the articles you posted were people entering their phone number into a website and didn't read the fine print that was too small to read, you could argue they authorized the charges with the third party but they didn't authorize it with their service provider.

 

then the third party sould send us the bill not the service provider, then you could just ignore it not pay the bill and it would go away, the subscription would stop, I can't ignore this, I have to call at&t and get my money refunded, some poor saps get talked into autopay and probably never notice their bill.

 

It's like if I went to pay my car payment and the bank charged me $20 extra dollars because some mechanic claimed he rotated my tires, my bank would be on the phone with me first even if he did the work.

Expert

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12.2K Messages

12 years ago

call and have a purchase block placed on the line

 

you really want a carrier or a charge company to call you every time that a 3rd party charge is attempted on your account? As with online credit card tranasctions if the retailer has all the information needed to process the charge the online retailer will not contact you to verify that you actually authorized the charge, unfortunatley all the information is avaialble to the disreputable firms that practice this via public domain search sites. I can take a phone number, do a RNL (reverse number lookup) on it and find out exactly what carrier the number belongs to, the geographical location that the number block is issued to and if I had a subscription or was willing to pay a one time charge the billing address of the number in question

Mentor

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29 Messages

12 years ago

What I really want is a carrier that doesn't allow third parties to charge me without my permision, It's only happened to me once so I wouldn't mind if they called me every time but an email confirmation or a password would be fine, just like with apple or every other honest company, you can't even sign up for a free email newsletter without a confirmation. or an internet forum. I don't remember but when I signed up here I probably had to confirm by email.

 

as for online retailers, I generally use paypal I have to give them my password and then I get an email receipt instantly. My credit card number isn't as available as my phone number. Amazon does have my credit card information but they ask for a password if I buy something.

 

AND I DON'T GET CHARGED FOR SOMETHING FROM A TOTALLY DIFFERENT COMPANY I DIDN'T ASK FOR OR IT'S FRAUD. but in AT&T's case they think it's perfectly fine.

 

Someone did get my credit card info once and tried to charge me for some Girls Gone Wild videos they sent to my house, they also signed me up for a Disney movie club and some book club. My credit union blocked it imediatly and never charged me. and on two other occasions a purchase out of the ordinary they called me to confirm.

 

 

here is what the contract states.

 

'I understand that wireless devices can be used to purchase goods, content, and services (including subscription plans) like ring tones, graphics, games, and news alerts from AT&T or other companies. I understand that I am responsible for all authorized charges associated with such purchases from any device assigned to my account, that these charges will appear on my bill (including charges on behalf of other companies), and that such purchases can be restricted by using parental controls available from an AT&T salesperson, at att.com/wireless, or by calling AT&T.'

 

notice it says "all authorized charges" I would take this to mean I authorize them somehow with at&t, not 'anybody in the world that has my phone number can authorize them' . if that's going to be the case, purchase blocks should be opted out of, not in, you should have to call to have it removed, not added.

 

If AT&T is going to let third parties charge us they should vet them the way apple does AND require us to put in a pin or password.

 

there are two more  customes in this thread this has happend to without them doing anything to authorize it. I'm not the only one who doesn't like this practice.

 

Guru

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641 Messages

12 years ago

 


@johnray wrote:

 

AND I DON'T GET CHARGED FOR SOMETHING FROM A TOTALLY DIFFERENT COMPANY I DIDN'T ASK FOR OR IT'S FRAUD. but in AT&T's case they think it's perfectly fine.


 



Noone likes 3rd party charges, but they exist and until they are gone the only way to prevent them is through the purchase blocker. AT&T doesn't condone these charges, please stop trying to imply that. Every carrier has to deal with these third party subscriptions, I have verizon and have had one show up on my bill. I've had cricket and had one show up on my bill. These exist and who knows how long they will continue to exist, this is old news.

Mentor

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29 Messages

12 years ago

I'm not trying to imply anything, I'm stating as a fact that at&t could set up a system to send me an email so I can confirm a third party charge before they apply it to my bill. I'd be happier if they didn't let a third party charge me at all, the third party can bill me, that way if it's a scam I just ignore it and not pay instead of having to call at&t, and I wouldn't have people telling me I did authorize it and then tell me it's just fine if at&t lets some third party claim they sold me a product and then at&t bill me for it without my authorization.

 

if for some reason there is some strange law that says they have to let third parties bill us, I can't imagine that the law says they can't confirm it with us first.

 

I don't care that every service provider does it, that doesn't make it right.

 

why does it have to be a purchase blocker? why can't it be a purchase confirmer, and be there from the begining?

 

 

I bought a phone from at&t's website a long time ago and had it added to my bill, I had to enter my password for that and I don't remember but they probably emailed me a receipt instantly.

 

 

Expert

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12.2K Messages

12 years ago


@johnray wrote:

I'm not trying to imply anything, I'm stating as a fact that at&t could set up a system to send me an email so I can confirm a third party charge before they apply it to my bill. I'd be happier if they didn't let a third party charge me at all, the third party can bill me, that way if it's a scam I just ignore it and not pay instead of having to call at&t, and I wouldn't have people telling me I did authorize it and then tell me it's just fine if at&t lets some third party claim they sold me a product and then at&t bill me for it without my authorization.

 

if for some reason there is some strange law that says they have to let third parties bill us, I can't imagine that the law says they can't confirm it with us first.

 

I don't care that every service provider does it, that doesn't make it right.

 

why does it have to be a purchase blocker? why can't it be a purchase confirmer, and be there from the begining?

 

 

I bought a phone from at&t's website a long time ago and had it added to my bill, I had to enter my password for that and I don't remember but they probably emailed me a receipt instantly.

 

 



it is a confirmation - to accept the charge and allow it to go through to your phone bill you need to enter a PIN that you get  for confirmation, they just call it a "purchase blocker" for the simple fact it blocks the purchase unless you confirm it.

 

Why is it not there? Who knows, why do you have to activate a number of features that carriers supply at no charge, becuase that is the way things work, companies will drop it to the lowest common denominator to make it easy for the end user to do something.

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