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ntx1kbb's profile

Contributor

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1 Message

Tuesday, April 17th, 2012 8:34 PM

Evil 3rd party Subscriptions!

Why isnt it illegal for these 3rd party companys to get your phone number and start slapping $9.99 charges on your bill? I think I finally got it blocked on my 3 lines so this will stop happening but how many people dont catch these charges? These companys must be making millions off unathorized charges on cell phones bills. I hope ATT is trying to get laws passed for this because it has to be expensive for them to constantly get customer service calls to remove these charges. I just wanted to climb up on my soap box! Hope noone is paying for these ridiculous charges! Good Luck

Accepted Solution

Official Solution

ACE - Expert

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13.1K Messages

12 years ago

You can put a purchase block on your phone that would stop those type "subscriptions". It doesn't cost anything, just call customer service and they will put the block on your phone.

Former Community Manager

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5.2K Messages

12 years ago

Thanks for the feedback. These things can be extremely frustrating and is one of the reasons why I made a sticky post in this board about that topic. 

 

I'm glad you were able to take care of it on your accounts!

Tutor

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3 Messages

12 years ago

I concur. I was offered a $4.99 service to not be billed 9.99 a month for something I didn't sign up for ... TWICE!! Finally found a rep to add "parental controls" to my account. Hope this works. I still get the annoying texts that I'm billed for. I hope I don't go over my monthly allocation because of these creeps.

Contributor

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2 Messages

12 years ago

Is there a way to identify which applications are doing this before getting hit with subscription fees?

Former Community Manager

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5.2K Messages

12 years ago

The challenge is that these subscriptions come from text messages, not applications you install on your phone. 

 

We are actively working to combat spammers but applying the purchase blocker as kdfederer suggested is the first defense and a great (FREE!) step you can take to prevent unwanted subscription charges. 

 

Here's a link with more information: http://forums.att.com/t5/Wireless-Billing/3rd-Party-Subscriptions-amp-Purchase-Blocker/td-p/3095123

Contributor

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2 Messages

12 years ago

Thanks!  Any info would be great.  I had this happen to me yesterday.  My concern is that a large HMO I work for recently purchased a bunch of iPhones and iPads.  I'm sure that what happened to me is likely to happen to someone else in our company, but they probably won't notice it since they never see the bills.  Anything I can do to proactively block these applications or to educate our user base would save a lot of headaches down the road.

Former Community Manager

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5.2K Messages

12 years ago

Happy to help and welcome to our community. 🙂

Tutor

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2 Messages

12 years ago

My AT&T phone bill shows a monthly charge of $9.99 for Words/Definitions ale, provider: Mobile Plus, Inc.

Why is their not a Federal investigation into Mobile Plus, Inc.?

I have never sent or received a text from them or accepted any subscriptions.

Master

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7.1K Messages

12 years ago


@user2212 wrote:

My AT&T phone bill shows a monthly charge of $9.99 for Words/Definitions ale, provider: Mobile Plus, Inc.

Why is their not a Federal investigation into Mobile Plus, Inc.?

I have never sent or received a text from them or accepted any subscriptions.


Not really sure but call ATT and get that amount creditd back and get the service blocked from your account.

Teacher

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5 Messages

12 years ago

I just found one of these on my spouse's phone. My spouse is autistic and simply ignored the spam texts because we all know you're not supposed to respond to spam. So now we've been told that $1.29 out of $9.99 is being refunded. If AT&T doesn't give a 100% refund for a service we did not request or authorize or grant consent to, that will be the end of my relationship with AT&T. You don't get to disclaim responsibility for your actions; you are the ones who decided to let third parties charge us money without our consent, and you should eat those costs. (You should probably also NOT DO BUSINESS WITH SCAMMERS. You may not know this, but they will not stop scamming just because you speak sternly to them.)
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