Unauthorized Charges on Credit Cards

Unauthorized Charges on Credit Cards

The following explains unauthorized credit card charges.

• What should I do if there are unauthorized charges on my account?
• What is an unauthorized charge?

What should I do if there are unauthorized charges on my account?

It is best to notify the bank in writing about unauthorized charges. Notice may be given to the bank in writing or orally. The bank should have provided you with information on how to contact it in the case of loss or theft of the card. This information may also be on your account statement. This address may be different from where you send your payment. The bank will undertake a review of your claim and notify you of the results of their investigation. It is important to notify the bank promptly upon discovering unauthorized charges. [Note that if the charge was authorized, but you are disputing the amount of the charge or other billing error, the credit card company must receive your letter within 60 days of its sending you the first statement on which you noticed the error.]

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What is an unauthorized charge?

"Unauthorized use" is defined as the use of a credit card by a person, other than the card holder who does not have actual, implied, or apparent authority for such use, and from which the cardholder receives no benefit.
If the bank seeks to impose liability for the charge when a claim of unauthorized use is made by the cardholder, the bank must conduct a reasonable investigation of the claim.
Actions that a bank can take in reviewing a claim are:

• looking at the transaction in light of other purchases,
• reviewing if the goods were delivered to the residence or place of business,
• comparing signatures,
• requesting a police report,
• requesting documentation to assist in validating the claim,
• requesting a signed written statement from the cardholder or authorized user, and
• requesting information about the cardholder's knowledge of the person who allegedly used the card or of that person's authority to do so.

The bank will notify you of the results of their investigation.

CRAMMING

CRAMMING
Unauthorized, Misleading, or Deceptive Charges Placed on Your Telephone Bill
Background
"Cramming" is the practice of placing unauthorized, misleading, or deceptive charges on your telephone bill. Entities that fraudulently cram people appear to rely largely on confusing telephone bills in order to mislead consumers into paying for services that they did not authorize or receive.
In addition to providing local telephone service, local telephone companies often bill their customers for long distance and other services that other companies provide. When the local company, the long distance telephone company, or another type of service provider either accidentally or intentionally sends inaccurate billing data to be included on the consumer’s local telephone bill, cramming can occur.
Cramming also occurs when a local or long distance company or another type of service provider does not clearly or accurately describe all of the relevant charges to the consumer when marketing the service. Although the consumer did authorize the service, the charge is still considered "cramming" because the consumer was misled.
Cramming Charges: What They Look Like
Cramming comes in many forms and is often hard to detect unless you closely review your telephone bill. The following charges would be legitimate if a consumer had authorized them but, if unauthorized, these charges could constitute cramming:
Charges for services that are explained on a consumer’s telephone bill in general terms – such as "service fee," "service charge," "other fees," "voicemail," "mail server," "calling plan," "psychic," and "membership;"
Charges that are added to a consumer’s telephone bill every month without a clear explanation of the services provided – such as a "monthly fee" or "minimum monthly usage fee;" and
Other charges from a local or long distance company for a service that it provides but, like the other examples, could be cramming if unauthorized. While cramming charges typically appear on consumers’ local telephone bills, they may also be included with bills issued by long distance telephone companies and companies providing other types of services, including cellular telephone, digital telephone, beeper and pager services.
The FCC's Truth-in-Billing Rules
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has rules that require telephone companies to make their phone bills more consumer-friendly. These rules enable consumers to more easily determine, when reading their bills, what services have been provided, by whom, and the charges assessed for these services. Telephone companies must also list a toll-free number on their bills for customers with billing inquiries.
Such basic information empowers consumers to protect themselves from cramming and other types of telecommunications fraud. It also helps consumers make informed choices when they shop around to find the best telephone service to meet their needs.
How to Protect Yourself and Save Money
Carefully review your phone bill every month. Treat your telephone service like any other major consumer purchase or service. Review your monthly bills just as closely as you review your monthly credit card and bank statements.
Ask yourself the following questions as you review your telephone bill:
Do I recognize the names of all the companies listed on my bill?
What services were provided by the listed companies?
Does my bill include charges for calls I did not place and services I did not authorize?
Are the rates and line items consistent with the rates and line items that the company quoted to me?
You may be billed for a call you placed or a service you used, but the description listed on your telephone bill for the call or service may be unclear. If you don't know what service was provided for a charge listed on your bill, ask the company that billed the charge to explain the service provided before paying the charge.
Make sure you know what service was provided, even for small charges. Crammers often try to go undetected by submitting $2.00 or $3.00 charges to thousands of consumers.
Keep a record of the telephone services you have authorized and used – including calls placed to 900 numbers and other types of telephone information services. These records can be helpful when billing descriptions are unclear.
Carefully read all forms and promotional materials – including the fine print – before signing up for telephone services or other services to be billed on your phone bill.
Companies compete for your telephone business. Use your buying power wisely and shop around. If you think that a company’s charges are too high or that their services do not meet your needs, contact other companies and try to get a better deal.
Actions You Can Take if You Think You've Been Crammed
Take the following actions to dispute the unauthorized charges listed on your telephone bill:
Immediately call the company that charged you for calls you did not place, or charged you for services you did not authorize or use. Ask the company to explain the charges. Request an adjustment to your bill for any incorrect charges.
Call your own local telephone company. FCC rules require telephone companies to place a toll-free number on their bills for customers to contact with billing inquiries. Explain your concerns about the charges and ask your local telephone company the procedure for removing incorrect charges from your bill.
If neither the local phone company nor the company in question will remove incorrect charges from your telephone bill, you can file a complaint with the regulatory agency that handles your particular area of concern:
For charges on your telephone bill for non-telephone-related services, your complaint should be filed with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Call 1-877-FTC-HELP, or use the FTC's online complaint form at https://rn.ftc.gov/dod/wsolcq$.startup. (An example of non-telephone related services is "content" services such as psychic hotlines.)
For charges for telephone-related services provided within your state, you should contact your state regulatory commission. This information may be listed in the government section of your telephone directory.
For charges related to telephone services between two states or internationally, you should contact the FCC. Complaints about these issues may be filed with the FCC in writing, by phone or by e-mail. You may contact the FCC at:
Federal Communications Commission
Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau
Consumer Complaints
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, D.C. 20554
Phone: 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322)
TTY: 1-888-TELL-FCC (1-888-835-5322)
Fax: (202) 418-0232
E-mail: fccinfo@fcc.gov
Information provided by the Federal Communications

Save a Bundle on Telecom Services

Cable, phone and Internet packages dangle attractive prices.

Tying up your telecom services in a single package is the lure many local telephone and cable companies are casting in selected areas around the U.S. For about $100 a month, you can get cable or satellite TV, local and long-distance telephone service, plus high-speed Internet service. In addition to paying just one bill, you have just one company to call if you have a technical or billing issue. Then again, this one-stop-shop approach can backfire if your vendor's customer service stinks.
Many bundled deals (often marketed as "triple plays" or "triple packs") are limited-time offers ranging from three to 12 months. The Comcast Triple Play, for instance, includes Internet, phone and cable service for $99 per month for one year. After the year is up, will the hammer fall -- and the price skyrocket? Not necessarily. You can expect Comcast's package to cost "about $130 per month," says company spokeswoman Jenni Moyer.

Patrick Matters, who lives in Indianapolis, signed up for Comcast's Triple Play about a year ago. He pays $100 to $110 per month ("a little more if my daughters buy a movie"), a savings of more than $50 over his previous a la carte plans. At $130 per month, he'd still be ahead.
The Triple Play is for new customers only. But current Comcast subscribers can also get discounts if they add new services. For example, a Comcast cable-TV customer can sign up for the company's phone service for $33 per month for one year. If you're already a subscriber, check your vendor's Web site for bundled discounts.
Some vendors are offering quadruple plays that add wireless phone service. AT&T's Quad Pack, for instance, bundles Internet, telephone, Dish Network satellite TV and Cingular Wireless service for $123 per month. Its Triple Pack -- Internet, telephone and wireless -- costs $95 per month.
Regional offers. Bundles vary depending on where you live. For example, in Qwest's 14-state region, the starting price for a package including Internet, phone and DirecTV is about $90 per month. In southern California, bundles from Time Warner Cable with Internet, phone and cable start at about $100. And in areas of Massachusetts and other states where Verizon has wired homes with its FiOS high-speed fiber-optic service, subscribers can get Internet, telephone and nearly 200 digital cable TV and music channels for $105 per month. Verizon offers bundles with satellite TV in other markets.
Although price is a big draw, a bundle isn't worth it if it excludes services you want. The AT&T Quad Pack, for instance, allows only 100 minutes per month of direct-dial calls from your home. More long-distance minutes cost 9 cents each.
And there may be other drawbacks. If a single high-speed line brings all communications to your home, you could lose your phone, cable and Internet service at the same time if the line goes down. Some digital phone services that use the Internet for voice calls don't support faxing -- a significant shortcoming for home-based businesses.
And bundles make it more difficult to change providers for a specific service -- for instance, switching from cable to satellite TV. Of course, from a telecom company's perspective, that's the whole idea.
Still, the convenience and relatively low prices make bundled services appealing. And there should be plenty of competition as telephone and cable companies duke it out.

Saying Goodbye to Your Cellphone Carrier Just Got Cheaper, Thanks to a California Ruling: Why the Court's Decision was Correct, but Is Only Part of a Longer Story

Saying Goodbye to Your Cellphone Carrier Just Got Cheaper, Thanks to a California Ruling: Why the Court's Decision was Correct, but Is Only Part of a Longer Story

By ANITA RAMASASTRY

Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2008

If you have a cellphone, you are probably familiar with the fact that if you cancel your contract with your carrier prematurely, you may have to pay a whopping termination fee – up to $200. If you have a family plan, that fee might be even larger. So, you often find yourself locked into a particular cellphone carrier’s service for several years at a time. However, this situation may change, thanks to a recent judicial decision that will offer cellphone users at least temporary relief.In late July, a California court issued a preliminary ruling holding that cellphone carrier Sprint Nextel was illegally imposing early termination fees on its customers. The judge ordered the wireless carrier to repay former customers around $18.2 million in early-termination fees, and to stop trying to collect an additional $54.7 million from customers who had refused or simply had not yet paid these fees.
The ruling is only a temporary ruling, and the judge will hear additional arguments and entertain additional evidence. Still, it represents a major blow to Sprint and other carriers.
In this column, I will discuss the basis of the lawsuit and explain why, under state law, the judge’s ruling was likely correct. At the same time, I will explain why this is probably not the end of the story: Cellphone companies may push for federal regulation allowing the early-termination fees or may simply raise the cost of the phones they sell.
The Cellphone Termination Lawsuits
In 2006, cellphone users commenced a series of lawsuits again the major cellphone companies including Sprint Nextel, AT&T, and Verizon, alleging the carriers violated California’s unfair business practices law. More specifically, the plaintiffs claimed that the early-termination fees constituted an illegal penalty, rather than a lawful fee.
Cellphone carriers, in contrast, defend the fees as necessary so they can recoup the cost of cellphones which they offer to consumers at a low, subsidized price. (AT&T offers the iPhone for $199, for example, but requires customers to subscribe to AT&T’s service for two years.)
In the California case, a jury found that Sprint customers had breached their contracts by terminating their service early, but the judge’s ruling mooted the jury’s finding – for the jury found (at least as a preliminary matter) that the term of the contract that imposed the fees was illegal.
Verizon Wireless agreed to pay $21 million to settle all claims against the company in a separate lawsuit. Moreover, in light of the initial decision against Sprit, we may see other cell phone carriers settle as well.
Why The Court’s Decision Was the Correct One
Although the judge has reserved the right to reverse her initial decision, she shouldn’t; it was the right one.
Under California law, contracts may contain a “liquidated damages” clause stating the damages one side must pay if it breaches the contract. But the amount stated, under the law, must represent a reasonable estimate of damages – not what the law calls a “penalty.”
A penalty is a fee that fails the test of bearing some relationship to actual or expected damages. And according to the judge’s initial ruling, Sprint Nextel’s fees failed that test. According to the ruling, the contracts were "implemented primarily as a means to discourage customers from leaving" – not to liquidate the true costs of a customer’s leaving early. Indeed, the judge wrote, "[t]here was no evidence at trial that [Sprint Nextel] did a damage analysis that considered the lost revenue from contracts, the avoidable costs, or Nextel's expected lost profits from contract terminations.”
Early Termination Fees May Be Replaced By Other Cost Hikes
Is this the end of the story? The answer is no. For one thing, the California ruling is certain to be appealed. In addition, even if the California ruling stands, and other courts in other states rules similarly, the cellphone companies have a variety of options short of simply giving up the imposition of early-termination fees.
First, they may get relief from the federal government. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is currently reviewing a proposal put forth by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin that would give the FCC authority to regulate these fees. Reclassifying the fees as “rates” could allow them to be regulated by the FCC as part of the telecommunications sector. Martin has proposed a sliding scaled for termination fees – with fees diminishing the longer a customer retained her cell phone service.
In June 2008, the FCC held a hearing on the proposal. Consumer groups and peeved customers complained about the steep early termination fees. Still, if the proposal is adopted, it could permit early-termination fees – and even attempt to do so retroactively, preempting state laws like California’s as applied to past as well as current and future customers.
Even without FCC intervention or a federal law in their favor, the cellphone companies still have options. They could stop offering low-priced phones with their contracts. They could also do their homework and assess the actual costs of early cell phone termination (including non-recoupment of the discount for the low-priced phone) and set their early-termination fees accordingly.
One step toward showing the fees are not a “penalty” would be to prorate them so that customers who terminate later in their contract pay less. Verizon Wireless was the first to offer pro-rated early termination fees. Now AT&T and T-Mobile plan to do the same, and Sprint Nextel said it will do so later this year. While customers may still feel the fees are unfair, at least the companies – prompted by the recent litigation – have made a move in a fairer direction.

A judge in California has ruled that Sprint Nextel's early termination fees are illegal

A judge in California has ruled that Sprint Nextel's early termination fees are illegal and said the wireless operator should pay back $18.2 million in collected fees to consumers, a decision that could help sway decisions on similar cases throughout the country.

The preliminary decision released earlier this week is a major blow to Sprint and to other phone companies in their battle to defend themselves against angry consumers who say the fees imposed on them when they leave the companies' services are unlawful.
Verizon Wireless, which was also being sued in California, has already settled its case, agreeing to pay $21 million to settle all claims against the company. And after the decision against Sprint, there's a chance that cases against T-Mobile and AT&T could also be settled.
Early termination fees have been around almost as long as cell phone service. Wireless operators impose the fees, which can be as high as $200 per line, on customers who cancel service before their contracts have expired.
Phone companies say they must impose these fees to recover the cost of subsidizing handsets and for guaranteeing low monthly service charges. But consumer advocates don't buy that argument, and they say the fees are excessive and restrict customers' ability to switch services.
Lawsuit divided
Cell phone users fed up with these fees took their complaints to a California court and formed a class in a lawsuit against the four major carriers in 2006. The court separated the cases and has been dealing with them individually.
Sprint initially won the first battle in its courtroom war. Alameda County Superior Court Judge Bonnie Sabraw had further split the case leaving a jury to answer the question of whether customers had in fact broken their contracts with Sprint. In June, the jury found that indeed customers had broken their contract with Sprint. The jury found that Sprint customers had paid $73.8 million in early termination fees, while the company had lost $225.7 million.
But it was the judge, herself, who decided whether or not the contracts were even legal. And earlier this week, Sabraw issued a preliminary finding that stated these contracts were not legal. She ordered Sprint to pay $18.2 million to customers who had already paid these fees. And she ordered the company to stop trying to collect the $54.7 million from other customers who haven't yet paid the charges they were assessed.
But it's still unclear if Sabraw's preliminary ruling will stand. Both parties in the suit have an opportunity to file additional arguments to sway the judge before she issues her final opinion.
"We are disappointed by the judge's tentative decision," Matt Sullivan, a spokesman for Sprint said. "But we are now focusing on our response to the court."
Legal experts say that even if she stands by her initial opinion, it's likely that Sprint will appeal the decision.
Sprint may also get relief from the federal government. The Federal Communications Commission is currently considering a proposal by chairman Kevin Martin, which would give the FCC authority to regulate these fees. It's also unclear how a move by the FCC might affect the current litigation.
In June, the FCC held a hearing in which unhappy customers and consumer advocates railed against the companies for their business practices. Chairman Martin said he believed the fees were excessive.
But Martin's proposal could retroactively exempt carriers from legal challenges at the state level. And in this case, it could potentially even void any decisions handed down in California.
Consumer advocates agree that something needs to be done to protect consumers from these fees. But Jay Edelson, a managing partner at the law firm KamberEdelson headquartered in Chicago, says that even if the federal government regulates the fees, wireless operators should be held accountable. Edelson, whose firm has represented clients trying to reclaim fees paid for erroneous charges on cell phone bills, was not involved in the early termination fee cases, but he has been watching the outcomes closely.
"Early termination fees are hurting consumers and they're illegal," Edelson said. "If the federal government takes jurisdiction and preempts states' authority, then there should be a federal law that replaces it and protects consumers."
Wireless operators say they are adapting their practices to customers' concerns, and they've begun adjusting their fees to prorate them so that customers who terminate later in their contract pay less. Verizon Wireless was the first to offer pro-rated early termination fees. And now AT&T and T-Mobile offer prorated rates. Sprint Nextel said it will offer prorated fees later this year.

FCC fines calling card companies for deceptive marketing

By Brendan Sasso - 09/01/11 04:48 PM ET

The Federal Communications Commission announced on Thursday $20 million in fines against four prepaid calling card companies for allegedly using deceptive marketing practices.

According to the FCC, STi Telecom, Lyca Tel, Touch-Tel USA and Locus Telecommunications scammed consumers by claiming that they could make hundreds of minutes of calls to foreign countries for only a few dollars. In fact, because of hidden fees and surcharges, consumers could only use a fraction of those minutes, the FCC said.

The FCC fined the companies $5 million each.

In one case the FCC investigated, consumers would have to make a single 13-hour phone call to receive the advertised number of minutes. If the consumers made more than one call, they would receive a smaller fraction of the card value. In another case, a card that promised 1,000 minutes was exhausted after a single 60-minute phone call.

According to investigators, the companies targeted primarily low-income and minority communities.
“Every day, people — many of them from our most vulnerable communities — rely on prepaid calling cards to connect with friends and family around the world," FCC Enforcement Bureau Chief Michele Ellison said. "The orders released today detail the misleading practices — from illegible fine print to impossible-to-calculate fees — that some companies appear to use to sell their cards. We hope that these cases lead all prepaid card providers to reexamine their marketing practices to ensure that they are treating consumers fairly.”


The FCC also released an enforcement advisory on Thursday to raise awareness about deceptive prepaid calling cards.

Source: http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/179301-fcc-fines-calling-card-companies-for-deceptive-marketing

Unwanted Charges on Your Local Phone Bill?

Unwanted Charges on Your Local Phone Bill?
Find Them, Eliminate Them & Get Your Money Back!

Overview - If your business still gets its phone service through the old "Ma Bell" local phone company (as opposed to one of the newer competitive phone providers) then you need to double check your phone bill each and every month for charges you did not authorize. You may not know it but the local phone company allows other companies to bill you through your local phone bill. And while the local phone company allows other businesses to bill you through your local phone bill, the local phone company does not verify that the charges being billed to you by the other company are valid. When these unauthorized charges fraudulently appear on your phone bill it's called "cramming". Unfortunately you as the business owner or manager are the only one that can spot the unauthorized charges and if you don't comb over your bill every month to spot these unauthorized charges - you'll pay for them.
Why does the local phone company allow other companies to pass charges onto your phone bill? "Third-party billing" is supposedly a great convenience in that you only have to pay one bill instead of separate bills for obvious authorized phone related charges like yellow-page advertising in the "real yellow pages", 411 information calls and long-distance calls from your chosen long distance carrier. Over the years though, some less-than-scrupulous companies have realized that most businesses rarely scrutinize their local phone bills. To take advantage of this, these companies have come up with elaborate schemes to place unauthorized charges on your phone bill that you'll end up paying for without even thinking. Unauthorized charges you can end up paying for include charges for unwanted (and unused) email accounts, web sites, directory information calls, directory advertising in obscure publications, voice mail accounts and other services.
In theory, before these charges can be placed on your phone bill, the company that is originating the third-party billed charges is supposed to have a verification of the order like a voice recording. In reality though, all the company needs to do to initiate the charge is submit your name and phone number to the billing entity. The verifications are only required to be produced if a complaint is filed.
To prevent these charges from appearing on you business phone bill it's helpful to understand the four parties that make unauthorized third party phone charges a costly reality. Party number one is any employee who can answer your business phones. The unauthorized charge is rarely random and it usually happens after one of your company employees gets a telemarketing call. Employees should be instructed to document and report any overly aggressive telemarketing calls they receive. Party number two is the telemarketing company that originates the unauthorized charges by trying to get your employee to accept some service for which you'll be billed through your local phone bill. Party number three is the third-party billing company that has billing agreements with your local phone company. The name of the third-party billing is the one that is prominently displayed on your phone bill. After the third-party billing company's name is the name of the company that is originating the unwanted charges. Party number four is your "Ma Bell" local phone company that collects the unwanted charges (keeps a share for "Ma") and then passes the rest to the third-party billing company (who keeps a big share) and then passes the balance on to the company that initiated the unwanted charge.
Following are some of the top third-party billing names and unauthorized charge originators you'll find on your phone bill. If you see these names on your phone bill you'll want to call the toll free number listed next to the charge to confirm it's a charge that's been properly authorized to be placed on your bill. Following are actual examples that we've recently found while auditing business phone bills.
Important note: Third-party billing companies like the ones listed below simply bill you for the products of others. As such, it's not the third-party billing company that initiated the charge you did not authorize - they simply pass on the charge from the initiating company to your phone bill.

Top 5 Unwanted Charges
1.  VOICE MAIL - Enhance Services Billing Inc. (ESBI), VoiceXpress & CoolSavings.com
We found a $12.95 per month charge on a client's local AT&T phone bill for non-AT&T "VoiceXpress" voice mail service. When we called the listed phone number for VoiceXpress of 800-367-8006 we spoke to a VoiceXpress customer service rep who said a specific person "ordered" the voicemail service almost 15 months ago. When I asked that he give me detailed information about what kind of voicemail service was ordered he quickly stated that the voicemail service was ordered through the website www.CoolSavings.com. He stated that when people go to that website to download free grocery coupons that some of the fine print states that they will be charged $12.95 per month for the voicemail. Before I could even begin to take issue with the whole situation he said that I would be refunded all the money - at total of $194.25 on the phone bill within the next bill or so.
I was actually kind of surprised that they were so anxious to refund all our money without a fight until I started Googling ESBI, VoiceXpress & CoolSavings.com. I quickly found that my client was not the first to end up being billed for a service they did not want. Click the following links for more information  Complaint Site 1  Complaint Page 2  Complaint Page 3  Complaint Page 4  Complaint Page 5  ESBI Lawsuit  ESBI Lawsuit 2

2.  DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE - ILD Teleservices, "10 15 15 800", Calling10.com & TelSeven.com
We found ILD billed our client $21.42 for three separate "directory information calls to the phone number 10-15-15-800. Unlike with ESBI above, ILD was a little stingier before finally relenting to a credit. They were quite insistent that an employee did indeed dial 10-15-15-800 for directory assistance at a cost of over $5 per call. I quickly challenged them by asking, "Who in the world even knows to dial 10-15-15-800 for directly information unless they were mislead to do so?". The customer service person I complained to issued a one time $21.42 "courtesy credit" and said a check will be mailed out right away. Surprisingly, the check arrived just a few days later.
Click one of the following links to read Internet posts from others about unauthorized 10-15-15-800 directory assistance calls. Complaint Page 1   Complaint Page 2  Complaint Page 3  Complaint Page 4  Call10 WebSite  TelSeven WebSite
Unfortunately, unless you are able to block your phone system from dialing 10-15-15-800 or other 101xxxxx "bypass codes", t hese unauthorized charges can be very difficult to stamp out. While an employee my indeed be tricked into dialing the number as is alleged on some of the web links above, it's likely that an employee is dialing these numbers out of ignorance or malice. Tell them that if they want free directory assistance to dial 800-GOOG-411 or 800-FREE-411.

3.  INTERNET DIRECTORY LISTING - OAN Services, Inc., USdirectory.com, & Xacti
We found $49.95 per month being charged for a non-AT&T online yellow page listings at www.USdirectory.com. When we contacted the customer service number for US Directory we were assured that someone at the business did indeed place the order. The business disputes that the charge was authorized. US Directory said a credit of $149.85 for three months of the charges would be issued.
Click the following links to view information about others who feel they did not authorize what was charged or to get additional background information about US Directory. Complaint Page 1  Complaint Page 2  Complaint Page 3  Complaint Page 4   USdirectory.com    Xacti  Robert Osterlund
The only way to stop this sort of unauthorized billing would be to contact your local phone company and ask them what your options are to block all third-party billing. You may or may not want to pursue this option depending on how many authorized third-party billing vendors you are already paying through your phone bill. Many of these vendors (like the real yellow pages) will only do business with you if you allow them to bill you through your phone bill.

4.  DIAL AROUND - USBI & MCI
We found a total of $84.31 billed by USBI on behalf of for MCI long distance calls. When we called the listed customer service number the rep assured me that either the line was PICed to MCI or that someone was using an MCI dial-around code to make the calls. I assured the representative that the line in questions was confirmed to be PICd to Sprint and that no employee needed to dial any long distance bypass code on the line because the line had a working long distance carrier. After a couple minutes the representative granted the "one-time courtesy credit".
Like the "10 15 15 800" directory assistance dial around problem noted above, other than blocking your whole system from being able to connect dial around attempted calls there is not a good way to block these sort of calls.

5.  UNAUTHORIZED PHONE LINE - Sprint
We found about $35 worth of long distance charges for a phone number that no one seemed to think belonged to the company. In going back through many back bills it seemed the number had been added to the companies Sprint long distance phone bill over a year and a half ago. We called Sprint to ask them who added the phone number to the account and why. Sprint responded that their records didn't go back that far. We then stated that we wanted to initiate a fraud investigation. Sprint issues a credit of $304.80 for all the billing on the phone line since it was added to the account. They also blocked the phone line from the Sprint network. I called the line in question and it was some residential phone customer who had no relation to my client.
The obvious way to stop this sort or unauthorized phone line problem is to check the list of all phone numbers billing to the account every month to make sure every number is authorized to be billing on the account.

5 Ways to Eliminate & Prevent Unwanted Charges
1. Switch to a Competitive Local Phone Company - Only "Ma Bell", the old local phone company allows other companies to add charges to your phone bill. If you switch your local phone lines to one of the new competitive local phone companies, the only charges that will ever appear on your local phone bill are the charges you have authorized in a signed contract. How refreshing!
2. Have a "Phone Cop" Review Every Bill Every Month - Designate an inside employee or an outside consultant with the responsibility of knowing what phone services you're subscribed to and why. Then have that person scrutinize every phone bill every month to ensure that only contracted prices are being charges to authorized services. Have them report and track all discrepancies. Have them keep detailed records of all promised refunds so it can be confirmed when the refunds have been received. Have them Google the customer service contact phone number of any company that unexpectedly places charges on your phone bill. You may quickly find that the company has many Internet complaints published against it.
3. Have a Phone Service Inventory & Expansion Plan - Every year the local phone company sends their customers a "customer service record" or CSR for every phone bill they get that explains in layman's terms what they're being billed for. Since the annual CSR is not an invoice, many businesses simply discard them - don't! Use the annual CSRs to bounce against the service inventory that you create in house to make sure the phone company is correctly billing you for what you think you have.
In theory, the phone services you currently have are the result of some well thought out plan. Who's the originator of that phone plan and where is it now? It's important to understand the original "phone plan" and to constantly be updating it so as to properly plan for inevitable expansion. More money is wasted because often anyone in a business is allowed to order phone services. In every business, only one person should be authorized to order phone services - the keeper of the phone service "expansion plan".
4. Keep a Phone Order Diary - If a phone service is important enough to order, it's important enough to document. Most every phone order is followed up by the phone company with a written confirmation (which you may or may not ever see). Immediately follow up every "MAC" (move, add or change) order with an email to yourself documenting what was ordered, what was the quoted price and all other relevant details. by emailing yourself a note you create a "breadcrumb trail" that you can follow up on later if something goes wrong by simply running a search on your email.
5. Just Say "No" and Hang Up - Many unauthorized phone charges originate with a telemarketer calling into the business. If the telemarketer is able to keep you on the line for any period of time they are going to naturally think you want the service and then contrive some reason to place the order for you. Just say, "No thanks & good luck with your next call." Then hang up.

Getting Refunds
We found that getting refunds is easy but making sure the refunds were actually issued was hard. Some of the companies issued and mailed refund checks within just a few days. Other companies said the refund would show up on our phone bill in "one to two bill cycles".
Keeping a scrupulous diary of conversations and promises is the only way to guarantee refunds will be received. Document the full contact information of everyone you speak with and email them a summary of your conversation and request that they email you back a confirmation that that's what they agreed to do.
When the company representatives know you're keeping good notes on them (documentation for a FCC complaint) your refunds are more likely to be received quickly.
ALWAYS ASK, "So if I don't get what you say I'm going to get by the time you say I'm going to get it, specifically who should I follow up with? What is the name and contact information for your supervisor?"

Answerstop Voicemail Monthly Fee - voicemail you didnt sign up for!

Answerstop Voicemail Monthly Fee - voicemail you didnt sign up for!

If you see the words “Answerstop Voicemail Monthly Fee” on your phone bill for $16.48, you may have a service you didnt sign up for.

My colleague in my office started getting this on her phone bill and I have to sit across from her. I’ve heard her yelling her head off at these people trying to get this service removed.
The number for these people is +1-866-928-1093 and apparently, the people in charge are Mike and Christina.
Services they illegally put on your phone bill include:

• Answerstop Voicemail
• Privacy Plus Voice Mail
• Voice Express
• VoiceXpress
• Antivirus Email

It’s hard to pinpoint who is perpetrating the crime here, but the companies involved and allowing it to happen are below. If you know any other names, please post them in the comments, and I will add them here when I can:

• Enhanced Services Billing, Inc.
• ESBI
• Billing Concepts
• BSG Clearing Solutions Gmbh (why is a company in germany getting away with screwing americans?)
• Zero Plus Dialing, Inc.a
• ZPDI
• USBI
• OAN
• HBS
• ESBI Spec Serv & Prod

Various addresses for these people include:
PO BOX 15624
CLEARWATER FL 33766
PHONE 1-888-523-3724
Enhanced Services Billing, Inc.
7411 John Smith Drive, Suite 200
San Antonio, TX 78229-4898
HBS Billing Services
4242 Medical Drive, Suite 2100
San Antonio, TX 78229
Other Resources

• FTC Website mentions ESBI
• ESBI Website - to submit a complaint!
• ZPDI - Behind the screen
• A little self-promotion from Billing concepts

I hope this little blog helps someone. I hate scams & if anyone has any information on how to deal with these scumbags, please share it with the rest of us to help get rid of this scourge on society.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 24th, 2006 at 3:28 pm and is filed under Billing Concepts, Dishonest, ESBI, Rip-off, Scams. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Enhanced Services Billing Inc.

Enhanced Services Billing Inc.

. . . is a company involved in all kinds of crap. I was all energized when they screwed me over the first time. Figured I would slam them here where no one would see it. Did some research. Actually slammed them on a Citysearch page for San Antonio. Unfortunately, either they don't post the reviews, or I can't figure out how to access them, and I didn't save it. When I called, and they're only open during business hours, so I had to call them from work, they said they would correct the situation. It seemed somewhat acceptable, so I dropped the whole thing. You did know I'm a lazy bastard, right? But why was I so hot? What was the situation? Let me go back a little.

My phone bill comes every month. Since I hardly call anyone, it is always the same basic amount. Until October's bill. I noticed I was being charged $14.95 for a service called "Total Protection Plus Vmail Monthly Fee" and $.45 in Federal taxes on this service. As mentioned, when I called Enhanced Services Billing Inc, I got a message telling me they are only open during their business hours. Once I'm home from work, they're closed, and I leave before they're open. So I did the next best thing. Even though I knew I needed to call Enhanced Services Billing Inc, I went ahead and called Local Phone Corp to express my righteous indignation.

I was duly informed that I would in fact have to call Enhanced Services Billing Inc in order to have this situation resolved. My contention was that I had been a victim of what some have called cramming, in which services you don't order are charged to your phone bill by this or that unethical company. An unethical company such as Enhanced Services Billing Inc.

A careless bill payer might pay for this or that service without realizing it. If my bill hadn't happened to be the exact same amount for the last several months, I wouldn't have noticed it. It was the sudden extra fifteen bucks that caught my eye. What if I was in the habit of calling information a lot, and letting them dial it for me, making my bill fluctuate? This could have gone on for a while before I caught it. Fortunately, I did catch it.

Back to Local Phone Corp. Yes, I understood I would have to call Enhanced Services Billing Inc. Fair enough. My question for her was . . . well, let me dialogue it for you (you'll forgive the imprecision of recall, but this is extremely close):

Me: How can they attach this charge to my bill when I haven't ordered it?

Local Phone Corp: As a public utility, we are required to attach charges to my bill when requested to do do by companies such as Enhanced Services Billing Inc.

Me: So even though I had nothing to do with this process, you went ahead and decided to attach this to my bill?

LPC: We're a public utility, and we're required to accept charges regarding utilities when submitted to us.

Me: But don't you verify that a company, such as Enhanced Services Billing Inc, that submits the bill actually has a service contract with the person you are forwarding the bill to?

LPC: We don't have a process for that; we just attach the charges to the bill.

Me: So you're saying that anyone can just call you, say they have a bill for someone, and you'll pass it along, process the payment, and send the money back to them, and there's no confirmation anywhere in this process?

LPC: (Something about being a public utility and regulations, and blah blah blah) . . . yes.

This was not a conversation that elevated my confidence in Local Phone Corp or federal regulations. I'd just have to wait til the next day to call Enhanced Services Billing Inc.

And who are these guys? I did a little bit of research while I was stewing in my own juices, waiting for the next day to get here. I guess I have a couple of tidbits of info. For example, here's some company details from November 2002 listed in a sample contract form:

Enhanced Services Billing, Inc. (“ESBI” or “Company”), a Delaware corporation, whose principal address and telephone number are 7411 John Smith Drive, Suite 200, San Antonio, Texas 78229-4898, (210) 949-7000

The San Antonio Citysearch linked above (probably more recent) gives this info:

Enhanced Services Billing, Inc., 10500 Heritage Blvd Ste 200, San Antonio, TX 78216-3631, (210) 949-7000

Different street addresses, but same phone number, and coincidentally, the same suite number. Of course, this local number for Enhanced Services Billing Inc is not the same as the toll free number 1-888-298-3724 that is provided for customer service.

And I found this site about cramming to be helpful. It even led me to this pdf file here. While I was there, I could read all about Enhanced Services Billing Inc, and the settlement agreement they signed. More specifically, I might note that it was a "Stipulated Final Judgment and Order For Permanent Injunction and Other Equitable Relief." This enjoins the defendants (including Enhanced Services Billing Inc.) from "violating Section 5 of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. [some squiggly "S" looking symbol I can't type] 45(a)." Where all the relevant parties have signed, I can see that a man named Joseph W. Webb, at the "John Smith" address above, is the president of the company. The agreement was likely signed by him either May 9th or May 10th of 2001, a date which also seems to fit with the "John Smith" address. You'll see his signature on Page 34 of the pdf. So thanks, FTC, I feel my tax dollars were put to good use.

The FTC comes through again with this article, also from 2001, about how the scam works. Turns out Enhanced Services Billing Inc is a billing aggregator. I'll let the FTC tell you what that is:

ESBI and BCI each served as "billing aggregators." Billing aggregators open the gate to the telephone billing and collection system for vendors, and act as intermediaries between the vendors and the local phone companies, contracting with the local phone companies to have charges on behalf of their client vendors placed on consumers' telephone bills and to have the local telephone companies collect those charges from consumers. Once the charges are collected by the phone companies, the billing aggregators, after taking their fee, pass the revenues back to their client vendors.

Referencing the pdf noted above, to which Enhanced Services Billing Inc stipulated, the FTC asserts the following:

-that ESBI falsely represented that consumers were legally obligated to pay charges on their telephone bills for web sites and other items they had not ordered or authorized others to order for them;

-that ESBI unfairly attempted to collect - or arranged for local phone companies to collect - payment of charges from consumers for web sites and other items they had not ordered and that consumers were unable to prevent ESBI from causing such unauthorized charges to appear on their phone bills;

Sounds familiar. Of course, government can't bear all of the burden. We have roles as citizens as well. Just ask Dr. Leonard Saltzman, whose eight year odyssey against Enhanced Services Billing Inc ended with an October 2005 settlement agreement from the company. To summarize, the fraudulent billings began in 1997. Enhanced Services Billing Inc got a claim for restitution dropped in August 2000. In October 2001, summary judgment was granted in favor of the company, because "knowingly receiving benefits from someone else's fraud was not covered under section 2 of the Consumer Fraud Act." Dr Saltzman appealed, leading to a reversal in June 2004. A fairness hearing for the proposed settlement was held on October 21, 2005. This information is from an attorney/law firm involved in the proceedings. I didn't find any more recent information. I'll keep checking.

Well maybe that was more than a couple of tidbits, but I was fired up. I did manage to call Enhanced Services Billing Inc the next day. The woman I spoke to was happy to credit my phone bill for that charge, and the next charge that was likely to have gone through since the time of the previous bill and my call to her. I asked her the same question I put to Local Phone Corp. How could this happen if I didn't order the service? Well, she says the order is placed not by name, but by telephone number. Chuck Somebody, who actually had ordered the service, must have accidentally given my number. When Enhanced Services Billing Inc sent the charge to Local Phone Corp, they identified the account by telephone number. The faulty phone number Chuck gave them meant I got billed. I was highly tempted to call BS on this, but the lady was crediting my bill. And I thought the matter was over and pretty much forgotten.

Forgotten, that is, until I opened my phone bill tonight. And there it was, right there in black and white, both credits do appear on my bill, $14.95 twice. And ninety cents back from the feds. Unfortunately, two lines below that was another charge, $14.95, and 45 cents to the feds. They billed me AGAIN!!!!! Well you can be sure I'll be calling them, and you'll hear the results here. And no holiday weekend is going to keep me from following up on this, even if I am a lazy bastard.

Permalink posted by Lord Floppington @ 6:56 PM

Comments:

Hello, found your post searching for similar info as I was billed similarly in March. So far I haven't decided between calling them and filling out their online "customer service" form (which might give them even more info on me)... I'll bookmark your site and try to remember to post an update.

# posted by  Kat : 10:06 AM, May 09, 2006

 

I too have been scammed by ESBI. They started in October and continue through December. I have contact my phone company, ESBI and FTC. I have filed reports with everyone and have not received my credit. I did give the phone company hell for allowing unauthorized charges as this is a violation of Federal Regulations, but they assured me ESBI would credit my account. So far I'm out 24.69. Supposedly when someone is on your computer and clicks on an "Ad", you authorize this service from ESBI. Where's the authorization? Where's the email or telephone confirmation? I'll post an update next month...

# posted by  Anonymous : 5:38 PM, December 28, 2006

 

ESBI placed a charge in November and December 2006 on my AT&T phone bill for "Members Edge Voicemail Monthly Fee" and there is NO VOICEMAIL on that phone nor did I order it! AT&T has removed the charges and said they would block them from charging me again. In the meantime, I have filed a formal complaint with the FTC, the Texas, Delaware, & Ohio (where I live) Attorney Generals as well as AT&T and Rip-Off Report.com.

Pam

# posted by  Pam : 8:51 AM, January 27, 2007

 

I was billed also from ESBI also called my phone co.I was told charges had been removed.I did not order the viocemail on my phone. I was told by AT&T thay could not put a block on my phone it was agianst the law so thay can bill me again.My daughter called the 1800# that was charging me said anyone clicking on a add on the computer and giving a name and phone# that is where it is coming from it may say free but you are signing up for something else warn your chidren not to ever put there name or phone# for anything on the computer cause it is not free. It is being charged to your phone bill Do not put any personal info when it ask you.. Bad choices for kids to be doing and also for adults to on line to be doing this.I am calling our attorney generals.So if our kids are clicking on something and it is being added to our phone bills without a parents consent over the phone who is at fault here?We do not have a voicemail added to our phone line.And if I did I would like to know how to use this.This is just wrong for a phone co. to allow billing without consent from that phone number that is being billed.

# posted by  Anonymous : 11:07 AM, March 08, 2007

 

I also was billed by ESBI in november 2006 was told i would get a refund after they insisted that i did authorize the charge well once they checked there telephone recording they heard that i did not authorize it they billed the wrong number i was told i would receive a credit which has not happen and it is march 2007 now.
the telephone operators are also very rude there

# posted by  Anonymous : 5:45 PM, March 09, 2007

 

Well, now this company is charging everyone it seems, because they started charging me in February and I didn't read my bill until April so they are trying to get me to pay for two months and htey never answer thier phones. I had my local pphone company at&t (btw) block all third party charges which means no more crap companies trying to scam me. But my question is where is hte damn service?

# posted by  Tracie : 5:36 PM, April 16, 2007

 

I too was fraudlently billed by "Enhanced Services Billing inc". I looked at my at&t bill, and noticed that I was illegally charged $15.85 for a residential email service which I had never ordered. I called at&t and they conveniently said that this was a separate company, and that I would have to call them. I called, and they argued with me and insisted that I orderd the service. They said that they would cancel the service. This month, to my surprise, once again I am being charged for a service which I never ordered. I called to cancel again, and they have no record of my call to cancel the month before. They said that they will put in a request to cancel my service, and I should see a credit on my bill in 2 billing cycles, which is 2 months.
I'm surprised that At&t will allow such activity to take place. Is it possible that they are part of the scam that is called cramming?

# posted by  Anonymous : 12:28 PM, April 30, 2007

 

How could this happen? I received the charge on my april bill and paid because i did not paid attention. They sent it again on my may bill. Do I still have to pay even though i am challenging the charge? Consumer protection really sucs.

# posted by  Anonymous : 9:39 PM, May 28, 2007

 

I think your best bet is to call Enhanced Services Billing Inc. and advise them that you did not order this service. When I did that, they went ahead and removed the charges by placing a credit on my phone bill. I would go ahead and pay the phone bill, and get the credit later, just so you don't get marked as being late on your bill, which can damage your credit rating. Good luck.

# posted by  Lord Floppington : 9:53 PM, May 28, 2007

 

Oh no. I had a major eye opener today when for the first time in nearly two years I looked at every single charge on my phone bill. Suprise, ESBI has been charging me since Oct. of 2005 for 12.95 a month for VM. This is what I get for just paying my bill without so much as looking at it.
I made the mistake of filling out the information on their website, I hope I don't get scamed further. I did call their customer service and was told I'd be credited $244.00 in four or five installments. It turns out the name of the person who authorized my service was a name I'd never heard of?
How is this happening nationwide and NOTHING is being done about it. I really want to file a lawsuit against EBSI for an astronomical ammount of money! Bar none they should be put completely out of business. This is scary.

# posted by  Anonymous : 12:52 AM, June 07, 2007

 

I have had the same happen to me with this enhanced billing and members edge voicemail that I didn't order. Ever since I got my computer in december this has been happening. i called AT&T and was told that they could not put a block on these companies putting their charges on the bill and someone said that they were told from AT&T they could.I have been credited finally after 4 months and then the next month I open my bill and there is yet another charge. Now I have a balance of $60 from all of this. I am only paying my current bill that comes in because those are the services I signed up for. something has to be done. These companies should have their own seperate billo! Why are they allowed to be added to AT&T's bill? This needs to be stopped!

# posted by  Anonymous : 12:34 PM, June 30, 2007

 

i just opened my bill and was charged 12.95 for Enhanced Service Billing Inc 888-298-3724...ESBI....how did this happen and what can we do????

# posted by  Anonymous : 12:15 PM, July 22, 2007

 

i just opened my bill and was charged 12.95 for Enhanced Service Billing Inc 888-298-3724...ESBI....how did this happen and what can we do????

# posted by  Anonymous : 12:15 PM, July 22, 2007

 

Your first step is to check your last few phone bills, to see if this is the first time you've been charged. Find out how far back these charges have been going on. These guys count on the amount ($12.95) being small enough that most people will think it is the normal fluctuation of their phone bill and not notice they are being charged for this service.

Once you know how long you've been billed for this, call the toll free number you have there. You may have to wait for normal business hours to do so. Tell them that you didn't order the service, and they will most likely unsubscribe you and credit back the chargers on your phone bill.

Don't deduct the charges on your own, and send in a payment to the phone company for less than your total bill. Then, you may end up looking like you're making late payments or incomplete payments on potential future credit reports, especially if you let it go past thirty days. Make the payments, and get it credited back.

When you call the company, they will probably tell you that the service must have been ordered by someone with the same name as you. They might also say that when they were setting up a subscriber they must have gotten two numbers backward, like they meant to put in 555-1234, and instead, they put in 555-1243, which just happened to be your number.

There should be no problem with getting your money credited back on your bill. If they fight you, they risk bad publicity. Bad publicity makes other people check their bills. Some of those other people may have been cluelessly paying $12.95 for months now.

They give you your money back, you are satisfied, you are very unlikely to go through the hassle of filing some sort of complaint with your state Attorney General or Better Business Bureau, and these guys can go on sneaking money off of other people's bills. Plus, as you can see from some of the other comments, some people have made these complaints with nothing to show for it. I think it almost has to be a hobby, or a calling, or a second job, if you really want to ultimately see action.

As you might note from the comments, there is some question about whether or not the phone company can block these sorts of third party charges, or whether they are required to accept them. Perhaps this varies from state to state. My understanding from my experience was that they were required by law to accept them.

Good luck.

# posted by  Lord Floppington : 12:46 PM, July 22, 2007

 

I opened my bill today and found a $48.61 line item from this scammer company. I called the 1-888 number which connected me to an India call center. The double talk was unbelieveable and the rep took advantage of a slip I made about my wife recently being in the hospital. So the rep made me think this was a hospital room phone charge of some sort. Further, that this charge would appear only one time. After reading these comments I now know it is certainly not a single time charge and it certainly had nothing to do with her hospital stay. I figured that my wife while on a game playing website must have supplied the name and phone information via one of those deceptive ads.

# posted by  Anonymous : 6:06 PM, July 27, 2007

 

These people are still at it. I received a bill for $14.95. I called a number listed with my bill. They said someone who's name I could not pronounce signed up for their service with my telephone number. HA. Anyway they said they would give me a credit.

# posted by  Anonymous : 1:37 PM, October 02, 2007

 

It does seem like a common practice. I don't think I trust them that they actually had that sort of mix-up, especially when these same sorts of mix-ups seem to keep happening over and over.

At least you are getting the refund. I think the prompt refund is what keeps these guys under the radar. Anyone who notices the secret billing gets a refund, and they don't feel the need to complain any further. They company keeps ripping off the dupes.

Pretty cheesy, but I just don't have it in me to go on a crusade. Someone else will probably do it, write a book about it, and get interviewed on all the cable talk shows.

# posted by  Lord Floppington : 4:16 PM, October 02, 2007

 

Guess what they got me and it wasnt even my phone bill. This was billed to my mother-in-law's phone because they said I called and set up VM. Who can I call to rectify this situation? Because our Missouri phone co. said it would take 3 months to come off the bill and I am telling them Bull#$%^ they are taking it off or I am calling a lawyer.

# posted by  Anonymous : 9:51 PM, October 09, 2007

 

Rules may vary by state. I'm in California, and my local phone company said I would have to contact ESBI and deal with them to get the charges removed. There may be different rules in Missouri.

On your phone bill, you should see a toll free number listed along with ESBI. On my bill, that number was 1-888-298-3724. My local phone company had me call that number. When I did, ESBI said it was a mistake, and they would remove me and refund the charges. Those charges ended up appearing as credits on my phone bill.

However, because of the timing on billing cycles, and when charges are submitted, the charge was already put through to my next phone bill. I ended up being charged for a second month, before seeing both the first and second month charges credited back on the third month's bill. That might be the three months they are talking about.

I am not a lawyer, but I would advise you to keep making those payments, just for the sake of your credit report. You may get short term satisfaction by not paying, but when your next car loan application shows a three month delinquency, you might regret not paying.

As for hiring a lawyer, unless it's a friend willing to send a nasty letter for free, it seems like it would cost much more in legel fees than you will be paying over the next three months, and those charges will be refunded to your bill.

Unless you are super riled up and want to make this a class action, going the lawyer route just seems like more trouble than it's worth.

Good luck.

# posted by  Lord Floppington : 10:36 PM, October 09, 2007

 

I just read the copy of the judgement/settlement they reached with the FTC when the FTC sued them. The US DIstrict Court judge ordered that they have 2 months to refund or credit you. I will be faxing a copy of this in with my letter to them. I discovered today that I have been billed since July by ESBI and USBI (for Voicenet Telephone) and ILD Teleservices Inc (for Enhanced Voicemail and for PBA Services). I have never heard of any of these places. I have had Bellsouth (now AT&T) Memory Call for years and can access it from anywhere. It seems like AT&T would have some kind of flag in their system for this. Plus, ILD didn't seem to notice or care that they were billing me for TWO voicemail services. These places ned to be put out of business but it will take some people really rising up about it.

# posted by  Anonymous : 9:47 PM, October 28, 2007

 

MyIproducts is based in Minnesota. I filed a complaint against MyIproducts, ESBI, and AT&T with the Minnesota Attorney General; and the Attorney General secured for me a full refund.

In addition to the complaint I filed with the Minnesota Attorney General, I filed complaints with the Minnesota, Texas, and Indiana Better Business Bureaus; and the Texas and Indiana Attorney Generals; and the Federal Trade Commission; and the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.

In order to protect ourselves and others from future victimization from companies such as MyIproducts and ESBI (aka USBI) we've got to get LOUD. Further, we've got to make companies like AT&T and Verizon accountable for their part in the fraud which they have allowed others to perpetrate against us via our phone bills.

Please file your own complaints with the agencies I have mentioned (including your own state's Attorney General, Utility Regulatory Commission, and the BBB).

# posted by  Anonymous : 6:30 PM, December 05, 2007

 

Enhanced Services Billing Inc scammed me as well with Voice Mail express - which I never ordered. Boy am I pissed off they are closed today - waiting to call tomorrow. Thank you blog host for doing the research. I'd like to send cousin Guido to their office to discuss "misunderstanding"

# posted by  tomato : 2:46 PM, December 16, 2007

 

Me too - I just got off the phone with my ATT cust rep. and she called the bastard company. They are cancelling the service and my rep got a confirmation number and the operator's ID number. ATT took the charge off even before we got in touch with the Devil company (yes I am pretty mad about this). Rep also said she is handling a lot of these complaint calls but until enough people call ATT cant do much else. So complain like hell to your phone company.

# posted by  Anonymous : 12:26 PM, January 10, 2008

 

My last comment suggested this has been going on for 10 years--sorry--it's been going on for at least two and a half years.

# posted by  George : 5:34 PM, January 18, 2008

 

Thank you all for providing information on this. Like many of you, I opened my phone bill this evening to find it $50 more than usual- a huge jump for someone whose bill is always under $70 TOTAL. It looks like the same company is scamming me. After calling every number possible to find out what was going on, I finally got ahold of someone at Intelicom Messaging- only to be told that since it's my boyfriend's name on the bill, and not mine, she couldn't disclose any information to me. Huh. Really.

By the time I got off the phone with her my local AT&T (gotta love 'em) customer service was closed. Until tomorrow! Thanks for arming me with information, and letting me know that I'm not crazy.

# posted by  Mindi : 8:09 PM, January 28, 2008

 

For 'search' purposes...A couple of lines that showed up on my AT&T bill this month of January 2008...

Enhanced Services 14.95
1 888 301-3724

TRAVELLER INFO SVCS-
TECH SUPT MTH FEE 14.95

I'm not looking forward to my own personal journey into resolving this crummy, or should I say crammy issue. Unfortunately, I have only seen one positive post of AT&T actually being of service in helping a customer get rid of this charge. Wish me luck...and good luck to you too.

# posted by  KGB : 8:05 PM, February 05, 2008

 

I just got the same crap on my phone bill. One charge from ESBI and another from ILD Teleservices both for "voicemail services" that I know that I did not order. They both said that I signed up online and they could trace the order back to my IP address. I think this is crap, I did not order anything from these people and I don't have any voicemail on my phone much less two of them! ILD agreed to credit me the charges and gave me a cancellation number but ESBI refused to credit me saying that I ordered it so I have to pay for it. I threatened to call a laywer but the woman seemed unfazed by my threat. They did cancel any further charges but refused to credit back the charges already made. I called AT&T(in Michigan) and they put a block on all 3rd party billing effective immediately so hopefully that will stop this from happening again. If anyone has anymore detailed info on how to file a complaint let me know. I have never been so frustrated in my life!

# posted by  Anonymous : 1:12 PM, February 14, 2008

 

Hi, Just got off the phone with AT&T and Enhanced Sevices both stating that I signed up for this voicemail etc...etc..etc.. I have never seen this web site. I never signed up for this.I have never heard of this. They refuse to credit back the money saying that I ordered the service through email. I said when someone orders a service they ask for a mothers maiden name or the last 4 digits of your ssn something I would think.I have been charged for 3 months now of 14.95. Is there a class act lawsuit? If so please let me know. I am switching my service from AT&T tomorrow.

# posted by  Anonymous : 9:47 PM, February 25, 2008

 

This company is still at it and I just went through AT&T to have the charge removed. I'll see if this worked on the next statement. Next call will be to the Texas Attorney General's office.

# posted by  Anonymous : 7:49 AM, March 10, 2008

 

The following text is my complaint filed today with the Ca. Public Utilities commission, directed at AT&T.
.......................
A fraudulent charge was included on my monthly telephone bill. "Enhanced Serv Billing Inc." is a scam company that posted a $14.95 monthly charge. I called their number(+18882983724) and asked to have the charges dropped and they cooperated, although the reversal of charges is still pending. I believe these are the bad guys but the problem I have is a process deficiency with AT&T. My complaint stems from my calling AT&T to ask that no third party charges get added to my bill. I was told that they could not do this. If I had an automatic bill pay established I may not have recognized the fraudulent charges. I have seen numerous complaints on-line that this is happening. Here is one link reporting the scam that has occurred in Florida: http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/204/RipOff0204904.htm The problem is the openness of my bill to a company that has my phone number. Apparently it is very easy to use AT&T to bill me fraudulently and there is no way to prevent this beforehand. The action I would like is to be able to request that no third party charges get added to my bill without my consent. I would like it to be harder for fraud to find me. I am mystified why AT&T would not consider my request. I presume it needs to be elevated to a higher priority. I would appreciate it if you could help me do this. Regards, John Hoag. It was an easy e-mail form and you are welcome to copy and paste it if it helps you word your complaint. Good luck to all- John
............
A fraudulent charge was included on my monthly telephone bill. "Enhanced Serv Billing Inc." is a scam company that posted a $14.95 monthly charge. I called their number(+18882983724) and asked to have the charges dropped and they cooperated, although the reversal of charges is still pending. I believe these are the bad guys but the problem I have is a process deficiency with AT&T. My complaint stems from my calling AT&T to ask that no third party charges get added to my bill. I was told that they could not do this. If I had an automatic bill pay established I may not have recognized the fraudulent charges. I have seen numerous complaints on-line that this is happening. Here is one link reporting the scam that has occurred in Florida: http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/204/RipOff0204904.htm The problem is the openness of my bill to a company that has my phone number. Apparently it is very easy to use AT&T to bill me fraudulently and there is no way to prevent this beforehand. The action I would like is to be able to request that no third party charges get added to my bill without my consent. I would like it to be harder for fraud to find me. I am mystified why AT&T would not consider my request. I presume it needs to be elevated to a higher priority. I would appreciate it if you could help me do this. Regards, John

# posted by  Anonymous : 3:29 PM, March 12, 2008

 

I too was RIPPED off!! I like many don't read every line of my AT&T phone bill. Enahanced Billing Services, Inc. has been charging me since July 07--( I will now read every line every month!!)
I called ESB and also talked to someone from India...She was reading my account info to me and advised that a Kimberly Acorn had ordered the service---Now that is not my name nor do I know this person...They advised that Kimberly ordered on-line and transposed the numbers and entered mine....This customer service Rep advised that she would be crediting my account in the next 7-10 working days, and I would see the credit within the next two billing cycles...
Come to find out she was only going to credit me for the month--I advised that they were going to credit back to July--Right??? I was put on hold and she had to talk to a supervisor....Yes in fact I was going to get credit back though July...OK NOW I am fire mad and demanded that credit coming within two billing cycles was not enough..I wanted them to cut a check ($109) and send it to me..I kept getting canned Customer Service word tracks...blah blah blah...So we'll see if/when I get anything...
I called AT&T next...I advised them what was happening..I was told they had no control, BUT they put a flag on my account and advised me to make payment deducting the ESB chages and I would be flagged as " past due " ( again we'll see " They also shared that I can BLOCK 3rd parties from charging to my line..BUT advised not to put add the block until you recieve the credit--You guessed it..If you put the block on before the credit is issued--The credit will be blocked.....SO I appreciate everyone sharing info here..I wish I would have read this before I made the calls...This is a bunch of CRAP and it needs to be stopped..They haven't heard everything from me yet...I still have energy..I want my credit and then I am going hunting!!! Let's Get Em'
Good Luck to all!!!

# posted by  Anonymous : 10:19 AM, March 15, 2008

 

I too had actually 2 unauthorized charges, luckily caught right away! One for the enhanced voice mail and the other for an email address. My phone company gave me credit for these charges, $27 and put a block on third party after I threatened to do away with a land line as my family all have cell phones and I could get my internet elsewhere. I became angry at ESBI so I am posting their toll free number everywhere for people to call. I hope it ties up their lines and racks up a big phone bill. Maybe go to pay phones and call them then leave the phone off the hook!

# posted by  Anonymous : 7:36 PM, April 06, 2008

 

I used the consumer complaint form at http://www.ftc.gov/ to lodge the following complaint:

(Product Name: fraudulent cramming charges) Despite its settlement with the FTC requiring it to get out of the cramming business, ESBI made fraudulent charges of $14.95 to my Verizon landline bill (for two consecutive months). When contacted about the charges, ESBI claimed to be unable to find them, even when provided with 100% of the information on my Verizon bills that showed the charges. Finally, when I called back with a Verizon representative on the line, after double and triple checking ESBI "found" the charges (claiming they were authorized by someone whose name is unknown to me) and agreed to initiate their reversal. This is shameless fraud, in violation of the spirit of ESBI's settlement with FTC, and it's going on very widely (http://sharingthesecretoflife.blogspot.com/2005/11/enhanced-services-billing-inc.html). It's time to shut down ESBI.

Please, if you're being ripped off by ESBI, take the trouble at least to fill out the online FTC form, which will just take a couple of minutes. (Unfortunately, the FTC hotline set up to deal with ESBI seems to be defunct, or at least I only got a busy signal.) Several state attys. general are on this as well, if you have more energy to pursue this.

# posted by  Anonymous : 8:31 AM, May 06, 2008

 

Look's like we are all in the same boat.Inhanced Services Billing Inc.must have a license to steal.The Federal Trade Commission had these crooks in court in 2001(http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2001/08/billing3.shtm)I filed a complaint with the FTC on 05/07/2008 and it look's like more than afew of you have also.(since 2006)I also have filed complaints with the Attorney Generals office in every state that i can link them to.Here is some info that i have not read about here,this is from http://www.bankrupt.com/tcr,the last paragraph states that the company had revenues of 141 million as of 12/31/2004 the 2 paragraphs abve that states that "THE COMPANY MAINTAINS CONTRACTUAL BILLING ARRANGEMENTS WITH LOCAL TELEPHONE COMPANIES THAT PROVIDE ACCESS LINES TO,AND COLLECT FOR SERVICES FROM,END USERS OF TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES",so you can forget about getting any real help form your local phone co.My next step is to file a complaint with the UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GENERALS office for wire fraud,ISBI meets the definition@http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/eousa/foia_reading_room/usam/title9/crm00941.htm.I am also trying to locate an attorney online that will do a class action on these low life scum,my email address is lagrangjack@peoplepc.com this is an invitation for anyone that would like to join me in this attempt at a class action suite.

# posted by  jack benbrook : 7:49 AM, May 13, 2008

 

I just caught this, too! This is for some MP3 download service and they told AT&T I gave them my birth date when ordering it. Funny, I started getting billed for this service before I even rec'd an MP3 player for my birthday. They had already billed me for one month prior to that??? So far have only been billed twice and I have to call the service rep tomorrow. I am happy I have your blog to refer to when I begin the battle. Gee, if I knew I had ordered such a service I wouldn't have wasted my time plugging in so many Diet Pepsi codes for free MP3 downloads. I told my husband I had wanted an IPOD! Thanks again for the information and the ability to vent!

# posted by  Anonymous : 8:58 PM, May 13, 2008

 

Another victim! This is the second time Ive been charge for a service I did not authorize. Again on my AT&T bill (amazes me that theres no recourse against them) by the ESBI billing service for voicemail on a second line I own. First time I went to the Better Business Bureau and had the matter resolved immediately. This time I will do so again! Thanks for all the posts, its quite the eye-opener!

# posted by  Anonymous : 12:49 PM, May 18, 2008

 

Wow, we haven't checked our phone bill for a while... VoiceXpress Voicemail /Enhanced Services Billing, Inc. what a fraud! Thanks, i'll be taking your advice on this crammin' case! grrrrh!!!!

# posted by  Anonymous : 9:36 PM, May 25, 2008

 

same here I was getting biled for voice mail when I called the company to have the charges taken off they added some more charges to my bill. I am not understanding why At&t is letting them add charges to me bill either. I wil be call the Better Business Bureau to have them investigated for the charges they are putting on people phones. This is ridiculous. I have argued with At&t and Enhance Services and it's not seeming to do any good. So I am going to let the Better Business Bureau handle this situation.

# posted by  Anonymous : 1:49 PM, May 27, 2008

 

Who is Joseph W. Webb is what I want to know.

I googled the name and found a man with the same name that seems to be a big wig in telecommunications. I dont know if it is the same guy, but wouldnt surprise me.

# posted by  Anonymous : 9:08 PM, June 04, 2008

 

Seems like this is an ongoing problem since the early 2000's I have found a charge on my bill for 14 bucks and it seems as if it is the first one. I am angered by this whole thing and also with the fact that AT&T is allowing this even after numerous complaints about this company!!!! I have seen posts all over the net as far back as 2002!

fightin mad in Florida...oh no I am not letting this go....first the gas prices now....STEALING FROM MY PURSE?!

# posted by  Anonymous : 6:21 PM, June 05, 2008

 

I live in Chicgo, IL. and just opened my bill and found a charge of $32.19 for the first time from ESBI. What right do these people have billing us for costs we are not aware of. I am going to talk to my phone company AT&T and have them put a stop to this immediately. Then call the number for ESBI and let them know my feelings on this also. This is an outrage!

# posted by  Anonymous : 11:56 AM, June 07, 2008

 

This is ridiculous. I too noticed a bogus charge of $12.95 on my bill. I called Verizon and got referred to ESBI. They said someone ordered voicemail on my account. I asked how this could have happened without my authorization, and they asked if I knew "John Smith". I said no. Now I find out that John Smith is part of their address! We are going after these scammers too!

# posted by  Anonymous : 9:00 PM, June 09, 2008

 

Same thing just happened to us. Their action in our case is in violation of the FTC vs. USBI settlement. Don't forget to use the FTC complaint assistant (www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov) as well as your state attorney general, and state BBB. With enough complaints perhaps a criminal investigation will be initiated. I imagine that the number of posters here is only the tip of the iceberg.

# posted by  Anonymous : 11:55 PM, June 09, 2008

 

Someone named John Smith also supposedly signed me up for MYIProduct Imail Voicemail - $14.95. I missed it last month, but caught it this month. I called the 800 for ESBI - they said they would take the charges off. Then I called AT&T - gave me the same line that they had to charge me. AT&T did tell me to take the charges off my bill, which I did. Can't believe this has been going on for so long!

# posted by  Anonymous : 3:23 PM, June 10, 2008

 

I just noticed today that I was charged by the same company on my att land line. What worries me is that I called att wireless last week to have charges they claim my daughter authorized on our cell number. She's 13 and all her phone will do is text. Strange that she was able to access with web and sign up for services huh! I will try again to call tomorrow. This is not the first time something like this has happened. I suppose we should just all cancel our services!!!

# posted by  Anonymous : 6:30 PM, June 11, 2008

 

How consoling to discover this page. ESBI crammed $15.37 onto my Verizon fax bill for "1Email A Day Mnthlyfe" (no, I did not order email service from anybody!). Fortunately, when I called Verizon about this, a very pleasant agent told me I could remove this charge from the bill, as Verizon has sent it back to ESBI. Which doesn't necessarily mean it won't reapper inanother guise, but I can be just as persistent as those who are unjust. Every little bit helps to protect us all.

# posted by  Corky : 3:08 PM, June 19, 2008

 

I was billed also from ESBI also called my phone co Verizon.I was told charges had been removed.I did not order the viocemail on my phone. I was told by Verizon they could not put a block on my phone it was agianst the law so thay can bill me again.This is just wrong for a phone co. to allow billing without consent from that phone number that is being billed. I have just copy paste from this forum, how bad is that.

# posted by  Anonymous : 7:27 AM, June 25, 2008

 

Additional charge on bill for $39.95 for My Local Reach SEO MOFEE through Enhanced Services Billing Inc. They took advantage of my mother. A recording of the conversation appeared to get her to agree to services that she did not even understand.

They played back a recording and I verified that it was my mother. I spoke with my mother. She remembered the telephone call, but she had no idea what she was agreeing to or that she had agreed at all.

The Enhanced Services Billing Inc. representative was nice enough, but it took a long time to resolve. Pretty pathetic that people resort to this trickery to rip honest people off.

Scammers.

# posted by  Anonymous : 2:08 PM, July 03, 2008

 

I too have been charged 19.99 by ESBI. When I called them they said that I fill out a free survey online and signed up for their service. I do remember filling out a survey online but do not remember seeing anything about them billing my phone bill for INET BUS advisors-ISP/Webhost. She did tell me that she has now cancelled that and put my phone number on the do not call list so I will see if that is on the up and up next phone bill. I am usually very careful about what I do online but I guess they are just waiting for their opportunity to charge someone. All I can say is be careful and watch what you do online. Hopefully I'm done with ESBI.

# posted by  Anonymous : 11:16 AM, July 07, 2008

 

i just noticed that i have been charged $14.95 for the last
3 months from a company called MYIPRODUCTS for some voicemail service i didn't sign up for. at&t told me to call them and cancel. i canceled and got a full refund, as well, i had at&t notate the account. the only excuse they would give me is that someone who actually ordered the service must have keyed in the wrong number. i think they are slamming this on people and betting on them not noticing .

# posted by  Anonymous : 11:58 AM, July 07, 2008

 

Have had same problem twice in six months. Have emailed congressman. Wanted to mention at&t has a form you can fill out to block any further charges from ESBI. I have asked for this and hope it works.

# posted by  Anonymous : 8:53 AM, July 09, 2008

 

i was told i would be refunded and i was but then they charged me twice as much the next month and then the following month i cannot get this charge off my phone i am thinking of cutting out at&t just to get this charge to stop at&t has to stand behind this it is rediculous

# posted by  janell : 9:43 PM, July 09, 2008

 

Portland, Tennessee Blog
We hope you will use this blog to exchange ideas to make Portland a better place!
« City girl with another hay question.... | Main | New building »

November 02, 2005
Scam

I just noticed a $16.67 charge on my BellSouth bill from a company called "My Info Guard" providing me with "Voice-mail service with ID theft protection."

Since I have never heard of this company, I called BellSouth. After a 15-minute wait, they told me that they "partner" with various companies who can automatically submit charges to BellSouth. BellSouth has no control over what their "partners" submit.

It was up to me to call My Info Guard and tell them to cancel. I did, and they said they cancelled the charge. However, they also said I now have to call BellSouth back and get them to set aside the charge so I don't have to pay it.

This brings up a couple of issues:

1. Others in the Portland area may be part of this scam. I suggest you check your phone bill carefully.

2. It seems bizarre to me that BellSouth can say it's not their responsibility to correct this sort of thing. After all, it is a BellSouth bill, and BellSouth sent the bill to me. Bellsouth should be ashamed.

Posted by admin at November 2, 2005 10:33 AM

Comments
Just read this entire page and I am sick! I was going over my Embarq phone bills online to see if there might be a way to lower my bill, anything to try and cover the price of gas these days. I went back one year and found this BOGUS charge from ESBI for $13.70 a month.. for an entire year!!! I opted sometime ago to turn off paper bills and now I regret that decision as I would have found this much sooner. I am out $191.80 as of this months billing due to the unethical business practices of ESBI!!! Today is Sunday so of course I can't get hold of them or Embarq, but you can bet tomorrow morning I will be burning up the phone lines with this rip off!!! I will also complain to the BBB, the Attorney General, FCC, and anyone else I can think of! I am going to demand a FULL & TOTAL refund and if Embarq isn't willing to assist me I will cancel my service with them. I have been a loyal customre with Embarq (formerly Sprint) for 30 years and can not believe they would allow any company to randomly bill me to their bill without checking for authorization. We all need to band together and think about a Class Action Suit or something. I am sure there are hundreds, probably thousands of others out there with the same issue.. and some may not yet even be aware. We need to get the word out to family, friends.. everyone we know and watch this company sink to the bottom of the ocean!! Talk about unethical business practices and the fact the supposedly reputable phone companies allow third party vendors such as ESBI to attach charges to our bills. Anyone interested in pursuing a suit against this company? I reside in Central Florida and I am PISSED and ready to take these guys down!!!

# posted by  Anonymous : 4:31 PM, July 13, 2008

 

I just got this same crap on my phone bill. Almost $90 worth of "services" (in total) from EBSI and ILD -- which, of course, I never ordered!

Maybe I'm lucky it was such a large amount. Of course, I noticed it!

There were six separate "companies" I had to call -- all of which agreed to cancel the service and credit my phone bill.

(I also got either cancellation emails from them or a cancellation number.)

I also got my phone company, Verizon to put a block on my account -- no more billing from third parties!

It burns me up though, that they put these charges on my bill in the first place -- without any authorization from me!

# posted by  Anonymous : 9:47 PM, July 16, 2008

 

Our company was being billed for these charges. As the telecom specialist i called, and spoke to their customer service dept. Told them we didn't order service, and they said someone, whose name sounded like "akrjdgnk ajbvlrkaejb" (but with fewer vowels) ordered it. I told them we wanted it taken off, and were told we'd be credited from December to June. You can call AT&T and ask that your phone be blocked from all 3rd party billing companies, and these things "shouldn't" happen, but it is AT&T so...

# posted by  Matt : 3:32 PM, July 28, 2008

 

I also just noticed this "cramming" on my bill from Verizon and was told the same crap as you guys. I called the scam com and got a foreign speaking person who I could hardly understand. I hope some govt agency gets them for these crimes.

# posted by  Donna : 6:02 AM, August 01, 2008

 

Me too got 2 of $14.95 charges by thie Enhanced Billing services through ATT on my June bill. ATT told me that they must charge customers for anyone who can post charges to use, by law. If such law exists, it is too ridiculous, especially in America. It seems so many people have been their victims for many years, and this business practice is still on going. I'd really want to do something to stop this if I know how.

# posted by  Over South : 2:38 PM, August 07, 2008

 

Charlie said. I billed for for $15.25 for SBO-online org. Survival kit monthly fee + $14.95 for Intelicom MSG LLC-Voicemail Monthly fee + $2.56 Gov. Fees and Taxes; ALSO $9.99 for Uncredidfind-Credit Repair SVC Mo. Fee + 85c Gov. Fees and Taxes. How can this happen after AT&T already knows that this is just a ripoff. I had a letter signed at BellSouth for NO ONE to credit me on my phone bill unless it was in writing qnd signed by me. I'm rasing the devil with AT&T about the situation. My email address is cpmassey@gmail.com. I believe there should something be done about this. It no telling how many older people went ahead a paid this.

# posted by  Charlie : 3:58 AM, August 09, 2008

 

Well I have just opened my AT&T bill and it is $37.35 higher than normal.
ESBI got me for $13.73,The Billing Resource also for $13.73, and ILD Teleservices,Inc.for $10.59!
My first call was to AT&T to have my land line cut off,and just vent my anger at them for alloying these charges to be added without my consent.But while I was being told how they couldn't stop such actions I realised that AT&T must get a percentage for their part in these scams.

# posted by  Anonymous : 9:09 AM, August 09, 2008

 

try contacting the attorney general,state of Florida,file a cyber fraud complaint .
https://complaint.ic3.gov/default.aspx?
also contact the BBB for state of florida
http://data.westflorida.bbb.org/index.php?A=pf_login&SA=login&alt=1&PID=26e8206403&bbbid=0653&bid=0090040838.
i contacted AT&T,they tell me they can not block 3rd party billing! good luck

# posted by  jim : 12:49 PM, August 11, 2008

 

AT&T has to accept the charges and it's up to you to call the internet company and request that they send a credit.

.....However, I just called AT&T and asked if I could block all third party charges from now on and they said YES. I asked if this will prevent the credit from coming through and they said no (I hope that was accurate).

.....So with my AT&T account, blocking future 3rd party charges is possible.

# posted by  Anonymous : 6:02 AM, August 14, 2008

 

hope you are right,i asked them on two different occasions, and the answer was no!(under the current law they can not block 3rd party). these rats are busy scamming people,here is another site!

http://blogs.mcall.com/bill_white/2005/08/cramming.html

# posted by  Anonymous : 7:02 AM, August 14, 2008

 

For what it's worth, I actually asked the person on the line from EBSI where they are located. She informed me that they have an official base in Texas but that they are physically located in the Phillipines.

Took the charge off, or at least said she did, and I'm following up with the BBB.

# posted by  Anonymous : 2:18 PM, August 14, 2008

 

They locations in Florida ,here's one:


Email Discounts, LLC - Enhanced Services Billing, Inc.
Phone: 800-410-5781
Fax:

8201 Peters Rd., Ste, 1000,
Plantation, Florida, 33324
U.S.A.

# posted by  Anonymous : 8:09 AM, August 15, 2008

 

I got the same billing on my At&T account that I did not request. I did convince them to take the charges off while I was on the phone. Who in the world allows customers to be taken by these dishonest companies?
Marilyn

# posted by  Anonymous : 8:42 AM, August 21, 2008

 

I am also a victim and got similar responses from Verizon. So far I have been hit for 16.92 from EBSI. I think the phone companies are getting kick backs from these scam sites...that is why they do not assist their customer.

# posted by  Donna : 8:15 PM, August 30, 2008