Check Your Cell Phone Bill - You May Be Paying Third Party Vendors for Services You Didn't Use!
Posted: Sunday, August 21, 2011
by Lorrie Davids
Our cell phone service has been provided by AT&T since it was Houston Cellular many years ago. Back then we had one cell phone and it was only used for our convenience to make calls and be available in an emergency. Times have changed and now cells are used for everything from checking your blog stats on this site to facebook and even sometimes to make or receive a phone call. With all this, the opportunity for fraud pops up often and we can't pretend it doesn't exist - any cell phone plan is fair game. Here's what to look for:
Check your cell phone bill each month. You are looking for charges from third party vendors going under any immaginable name. In our case, the charge is listed under a heading of "Mobile Purchases & Downloads Charges" from a company called Thumbplay. It is listed as a music/games/graphics company. For months we have been charged $10.81 because they tell AT&T we have downloaded something they provide. Because cell phone companies don't question the billing of third party vendors, they just add it to the bill.
Shortly after we got our Smartphones, we blocked all Internet and downloads for our phones because we were being charged for so many things we weren't sure we had used. We decided our phones are just that..phones. After seeing this charge I called AT&T who first suggested we had downloaded something and didn't remember. I asked them to check our service and they saw we have a block and cannot download anything. AT&T said they cannot go back and delete charges for all the months we were charges, but did give us a credit covering 2 of the months of bogus charges. They told us they have no jurisdiction over third party vendors and this is a common practice. This month the charge was there again, so I called and got another credit for this billing cycle. I was assured by Chris Ti I would not be charged again. I hope he is right.
You can be sure part of this week will be spent looking into Thumbplay and why they are billing my cell number.
This practice is not only found at AT&T, but every cell phone company. Check your bill - you could be paying out hundreds extra each year for something you never purchased. I'd like to hear from you if you have been scammed this way. Tell me what you did and what you have found out. We can all help each other stay informed in these lean economic times.
Shortly after we got our Smartphones, we blocked all Internet and downloads for our phones because we were being charged for so many things we weren't sure we had used. We decided our phones are just that..phones. After seeing this charge I called AT&T who first suggested we had downloaded something and didn't remember. I asked them to check our service and they saw we have a block and cannot download anything. AT&T said they cannot go back and delete charges for all the months we were charges, but did give us a credit covering 2 of the months of bogus charges. They told us they have no jurisdiction over third party vendors and this is a common practice. This month the charge was there again, so I called and got another credit for this billing cycle. I was assured by Chris Ti I would not be charged again. I hope he is right.
You can be sure part of this week will be spent looking into Thumbplay and why they are billing my cell number.
This practice is not only found at AT&T, but every cell phone company. Check your bill - you could be paying out hundreds extra each year for something you never purchased. I'd like to hear from you if you have been scammed this way. Tell me what you did and what you have found out. We can all help each other stay informed in these lean economic times.
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Top-level comments on this article: (7 total)This is excellent. I am on the family Verizon and never see the bill. But I know as with the electric billings, phones have tacked on charges on top of charges. Some are miniscule and others are bigger. All add up. This is timely!Hey Heidi, This seems like fraud to me, but people will do it as long as people will pay it. Hopefully, the person receiving your bill looks at it - I really didn't before, but you can bet I will now! Thanks for reading and commenting.
Oh, oh, will actually have to look at the bill this month! So far it is the price they quoted plus taxes and nothing more. Good head's up Lorrie - how are you? Was just looking at the picture we had taken while you were in CS and wondering if you'll be back this year?
E-hugs, Marijo
Hey Marijo, I noticed my bill was a little higher, but since we don't have a plan with free texting and people text us, our bill fluctuates a few dollars a month. I am surprised I didn't notice sooner. A news report mentioned something about extra charges on bills and I started checking them. Nope, no CO trip planned this year, but looking at April possibly for 2012. I'll let you know if we go. Thanks for reading and commenting.
Taxes. Extra charges. Surcharges. Who knows what else. What choice do they give you. Really informative article.
I hear ya, Heidi - we are surcharged out the backside! Thanks for reading and commenting.
i just got off with customer service. i have been getting $9.99 charges since april and the last 2months $19.98 extra. i called and found out this was happening to me almost $100 accumulated worth of "download" charges i didn't know about. they refunded most of it but it's scary that they can do this. i have an iphone so there's no way i could've accidentally pressed anything to download. i was told i might've gotten a text message and if i didn't respond stop to it then it was assumed i agreed to the service. very sneaky.
It is sad that they cannot monitor this abuse, but since they are third party charges, they just have to believe them. I guess it is good to be vigilant and monitor our own accounts. In our society, we have become lax, expecting someone else to do it. Technology makes fraud easier. I just wish the phone companies would press charges against frauds, once revealed. Thanks for reading and commenting, Jeanne! Have a great day!
I too have been a victim of this phone fraud. I noticed on our bill that we had been charged $29.97 this month for 2 ring tone Co. And another called Bid something. TMobile said pay it a we will credit you. We said No! They also said we should call the Co. Ourself. I said that's like calling a murderer to ask them why they killed you. The phone Co. Should protect us. The crazy thing is the TMobile agent said I didn't have authority to make changes on the account...yet some crook has free rein. I wish someone would file a class action law suit.
As you can see I 'm pretty fired up about this right now.
CaroleThanks for reading and commenting, Carole. I don't blame you - it is so frustrating! We have not had a third party charge on our account since this article was written. Now, if we could only truly block solicitors and those texting me saying I have won a Wal-Mart gift card. Hmmm...sounds like another article. I hope you get it all straightened out quickly.
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