Learned a new meaning for the word: cramming
Yesterday we got a phone bill for the phone at my studio/gallery which I haven't visited for more than a month. The phone bill is always the same since there are no long distance calls made on that phone and I haven't been there to use the phone. So it should just be the basic phone bill. On opening the bill I noticed that it was almost double the usual amount. On looking through the bill, I found a fee of $45 and change for a "service" that I'd never heard of before. I'd never heard of the company. I certainly hadn't ordered any additional service.
There was a phone number listed on the page where the fee was itemized and a note to call that number for questions related to billing for that service. I called the number. The man who took my call told me that someone must have called my number and that someone might have ordered their service. I asked him what the service was and he said that it was website design and hosting. I informed him that there was no one at my number there to answer the phone or to approve any order. That my place is locked up. That no one had ordered any service. I asked him how this could happen. He had no answer to that. He said that the "service" would be canceled although it could appear on my bill for one or two more billings. He gave me a confirmation number for the cancellation.
I was astounded that a company could manage to put a charge on my bill for service that I had never heard of, approved or ordered. I then called Verizon to tell them about this and ask them what was going on. The customer service person at Verizon said that they do not check into whether their customers actually order the services for which they are billed by other companies on Verizon's bills! So other companies can tell Verizon that they should bill their customers for services, whether or not the customers ordered the service! This is outrageous!
The CS rep also said that I can put a block on my account so that these third party companies can't do that without my permission. However, she said it was inadvisable to put the block on yet until I receive the credit to my bill as the credit might not go through if I put the block on now. Yuck! So it might take two months before I can put the block in place!
After getting off the phone with Verizon, I checked the FCC site for how to file a complaint. That appears to be something that a consumer only should do if the bill isn't corrected. I did a search on the company name on Google and got a huge number of hits regarding the problem. That is where I learned that it is called "cramming". I subsequently did another search of the FCC site and found a page there specifically on the issue of cramming: Unauthorized, Misleading or Deceptive Charges Placed on Your Telephone Bill: Cramming.
Here are the results of the search on the specific company name that tried to bill us for unauthorized "service". (BTW no service of any kind was provided. Nothing was approved, ordered or provided.): Search Results for ILD and cramming.
I find this amazing that no one is being arrested and put in jail for this. I feel sure it is a very profitable activity. How many businesses and individuals just pay the amount owed on their phone bills without checking to see what it is they are being charged for?
If someone picked your pocket, they'd be charged with theft, no matter if they returned your wallet. But in this method, a company sends a bill out using another company's billing services like AT&T or Verizon. The section of the bill where the customer is charged for "services" looks absolutely legitimate. But Verizon and AT&T don't check to verify that the customer ordered any service. They just put the charge on the bill.
If you pay the bill without noticing that you are being charged for something you never bought, then you are out the money unless you notice it at some point and fight it. The company that said you owed them money is not charged with theft. The police don't show up to arrest them. They might even give you your money back once you notice and call them. But all the rest of the money that they collected that no one noticed as being on their bill without a service order stays in their pockets! That could amount to a tremendous amount of money! They don't even have to use a gun! They don't have to be violent. All they have to do is ask the telephone company to bill you for service and no one checks to see if you ever bought a thing! Then the company must pray that you don't notice and that you write out a check and send it to them like the very nice billpaying person that you are!
Watch your phone bill!
Ginny
There was a phone number listed on the page where the fee was itemized and a note to call that number for questions related to billing for that service. I called the number. The man who took my call told me that someone must have called my number and that someone might have ordered their service. I asked him what the service was and he said that it was website design and hosting. I informed him that there was no one at my number there to answer the phone or to approve any order. That my place is locked up. That no one had ordered any service. I asked him how this could happen. He had no answer to that. He said that the "service" would be canceled although it could appear on my bill for one or two more billings. He gave me a confirmation number for the cancellation.
I was astounded that a company could manage to put a charge on my bill for service that I had never heard of, approved or ordered. I then called Verizon to tell them about this and ask them what was going on. The customer service person at Verizon said that they do not check into whether their customers actually order the services for which they are billed by other companies on Verizon's bills! So other companies can tell Verizon that they should bill their customers for services, whether or not the customers ordered the service! This is outrageous!
The CS rep also said that I can put a block on my account so that these third party companies can't do that without my permission. However, she said it was inadvisable to put the block on yet until I receive the credit to my bill as the credit might not go through if I put the block on now. Yuck! So it might take two months before I can put the block in place!
After getting off the phone with Verizon, I checked the FCC site for how to file a complaint. That appears to be something that a consumer only should do if the bill isn't corrected. I did a search on the company name on Google and got a huge number of hits regarding the problem. That is where I learned that it is called "cramming". I subsequently did another search of the FCC site and found a page there specifically on the issue of cramming: Unauthorized, Misleading or Deceptive Charges Placed on Your Telephone Bill: Cramming.
Here are the results of the search on the specific company name that tried to bill us for unauthorized "service". (BTW no service of any kind was provided. Nothing was approved, ordered or provided.): Search Results for ILD and cramming.
I find this amazing that no one is being arrested and put in jail for this. I feel sure it is a very profitable activity. How many businesses and individuals just pay the amount owed on their phone bills without checking to see what it is they are being charged for?
If someone picked your pocket, they'd be charged with theft, no matter if they returned your wallet. But in this method, a company sends a bill out using another company's billing services like AT&T or Verizon. The section of the bill where the customer is charged for "services" looks absolutely legitimate. But Verizon and AT&T don't check to verify that the customer ordered any service. They just put the charge on the bill.
If you pay the bill without noticing that you are being charged for something you never bought, then you are out the money unless you notice it at some point and fight it. The company that said you owed them money is not charged with theft. The police don't show up to arrest them. They might even give you your money back once you notice and call them. But all the rest of the money that they collected that no one noticed as being on their bill without a service order stays in their pockets! That could amount to a tremendous amount of money! They don't even have to use a gun! They don't have to be violent. All they have to do is ask the telephone company to bill you for service and no one checks to see if you ever bought a thing! Then the company must pray that you don't notice and that you write out a check and send it to them like the very nice billpaying person that you are!
Watch your phone bill!
Ginny
