If you have received charges on your wireless cellular phone bill for mobile content (i.e., for ringtones, premium text messaging services, ring tones, joke a day programs, wallpaper, screensavers, text alerts, etc.) that you never authorized from your wireless carrier, aggregator or content provider, tell us your story.
–Report Unauthorized Cell Phone Charges–
This entry was posted on Thursday, August 16th, 2007 at 5:10 pm and is filed under General Cell Phone Complaints. 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. By using this blog, you agree to the Terms and Conditions. Under the Terms and Conditions, you agree and understand that your use of this blog does not create an attorney-client relationship, and that the contents of the blog does not constitute legal advice. This blog should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed attorney in your state. Note: We DO NOT send SMS text messages or charge you for third-party mobile content services. We have simply created a forum for consumers like you to share your cell phone billing issues with others. If you were charged on your cellular phone bill for mobile content services (i.e., ringtones, text alerts, games, etc.) you never order or authorized, you may also contact an attorney at www.ClassActionConnect.com.
My cell company is Sun COm and I have been billed for unauthorized charges for ringtones and wallpaper. I do not know how they can bill me from Bilco and I never authorized this. I am soooo fed up and dont know what to do. Two months in a row. I have contacted them by email, no response. I am sending a registed letter and contacting the FCC and BBB and the atorney generals office.
September 27th, 2007 at 9:39 pm
I do not want any of your service and I want these text messages Stopped immediately on my cellular phone. You people are a rip off
December 22nd, 2007 at 10:53 pm
my father, ricky started receiving text messages and due to him being older and disable; he would receive them. they sent them everyday for a week untill we noticed it was a scam after he got his bill. the alltel rep would not help by removing the charges; instead she aggreed to call the CSW co. and have them stopped(she refused to give me the # to call myself)needless to say he still gets them EVERYDAY but knows not to accept. this needs to be STOPPED!!!!u would think this type of thing is illegal.
January 24th, 2008 at 11:57 pm
ido not want any of your service and i want these text message stopped immediately on my cell phone. i don’t pay unauthorized charges.
February 15th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
I am being charged uneccesarily for txt alerts from this company when i have already txt stop.
February 24th, 2008 at 10:48 am
i want to know who is calling me from private
March 8th, 2008 at 8:24 am
I am Chinese-American. I do not speak great english but try. I called Sprint 30 days before contract was over as I was switching companies. They either did not understand me, or took advantage of me. I told them I wanted to let them know I will be not coming back and in 30 days my contract was over so instead of continuing the contract, I was being dilligent and notifying them as I wanted to keep the same phone numbers. They cancelled me right there, but I did not know it, until I got my bill in the mail for $800 for early termination fees, for 8 lines at $100.00 each. Any law to back me up? PS: My American friend is writing this for me so there is no confusion.
I am 3 way calling with her so they cannot pull it over me again. PLS Help me asap. In 7 days it goes to collections.
Xie Xie (Thankyou in Chineses, say shay shay)
March 20th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
I don’t know why I am getting these stupid jokes for and being charged. I didn’t agree to any of this “stop” sending these to me.
March 23rd, 2008 at 6:13 pm
i am billed $39.94 this month that my company has asked that i pay. it is for charges from 71769 Csw jokes/horoscope and 69999_Txclub_Alerts.
i have not agreed to either of these. could you please help me stop this. my cell# 850-694-4494.Thank you.
June 17th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
I called Sunny Singh, a tmobile agent to get a connection on 19th June, 2008. He told me that it is a 6 months contract with 600 minutes as any time minutes.It is an individual postpaid plan and the activation fee and the cell phone fee will be waived off upon receipt of my first bill. And addition of 6.99 dollar will make tmobile calles free. He asked me my first,last name, dob, visa type,card no and cvc no and asked me to send scanned visa copy. Friday he gave me some invalid tracking number.They have deducted USD 56.25 from my bank a/c and have not sent any thing. On monday when I asked them about the status, they were very rude while talking and they told me that they will call me back shortly.I have neither received any call back from them nor any replay to my email.
I became fedup and called them again in the morning when I came to know that on thursady night, suddenly tmobile changed the policy and hence they stopped shipping though they deducted the money and have not informed me anything about it. I called tmobile agent Megan with ID 1048942 at the number 18777278778 addressing this issue and she gave me a complian no 0721583. She tried as well to call Sunny and he was not speaking properly to us and moreover asked not to call him back again. When I wanted my money back, he told it will be done in 48 hours.But I am apprehending that the same thing will again happen where they will only say that they will refund the money, but they will not do that actually.Please help me to get my money back.I am terribly upset regarding this.
June 24th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
I CAN’T EVEN PAY MY CELL BILL ON LINE! BUT YOU CAN CHARGE ME! WHAT’S UP WITH THAT CRAP!!! GET THE $19.95 OFF MY BILL!
July 18th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
unwanted calls
August 4th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
We have been sprint customers for over 10 years with minimal problems over the years. I even did an article with the NY Times about Sprint’s hidden fees. We recently purchased a new phone for one of my 3 daughters and when they set it up, everything went wrong. I started getting bills in excess of $500.00 to $900.00. They still have not fixed it. Now, 2 of my daughters wanted out of the service, they could not stand the service any longer. Now sprint is charging me $200.00 per phone, I know there is a class action suit and a Judge has declared this illegal. What is my recourse on having them reverse the fees? I tried once and they still won’t do it saying that because we signed the contract prior to the law we are still responsible to pay it? I am almost willing to shut all 5 of my phones off if I have to to get them to change their fees? Can you help?
September 6th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
I saw this as an ad on Facebook – “Secret Admirer”. Verizon removed this for me. It is a scam ad that appears on Facebook and probably many other sites as well.
September 24th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
STOP FUCKIN TEXTING ME U STUIPED FUCK
October 4th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
I DID NOT SUB TO NOTHIN STOP TEXTING ME
October 4th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
Who the hell are you? How dare you charge me for a service I did not request? I demand a refund immediately and will be calling the police to investigate you. This is fraud!
October 29th, 2008 at 9:49 am
I am writing on behalf of my parents who are NOT AllTell subscribers but who continue to receive annoying automated calls from ALLTELL to the land line they have had for 42 years. These daily calls are looking for folks who are delinquent in paying their bills. Interestingly, the calls they receive are for several different AllTell customers … not the same person. I have contacted AllTell customer service on behalf of my aging parents to try to resolve this matter. I made the seventh call today and must say that AllTell has now reached an impressive level of incompetence. Not only have they been unable to stop these calls, every customer service representative reads from the same script and gives me the “your paremts will not receive another call” line. And then, the calls continue. I am not an AllTell customer and will never be an AllTell customer. I am so frustrated in trying to get this resolved that if AllTell were the only cell phone provider on the planet I would opt for using pigeons. Can anybody at AllTell resolve this matter? Is it that hard? Have seven or more different people really falsely submitted my parent’s land line when they signed up for their service? I can assure AllTell that my parents are not harboring the fugitives they are looking for. My goodness, they would not be able to feed them all. So, come on AllTell. Get it All Together and resolve this problem.
January 5th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
MAKING US SERVICE PERSONNEL PAY FOR EARLY TERMINATION FEE WHEN cAL HAS NO SERVICE AREAS
February 4th, 2009 at 7:17 pm
i texted 75714 and never even got one ring tone and apparently have been getting charged $20 a month for absolutely nothing!
February 19th, 2009 at 12:18 am
Daughter took a “survey” online and voila…multiple text messages and a $10 fee. Luckily she knew the STOP code..but verizon would not remove charges. What is this company? She never authorized or purchased any ringtones…this was setup as a survey after “click her to help send 7,000 grains of rice to the hungry” Shame on this company for suckering teen (facebook) that actually care about others.
February 20th, 2009 at 2:04 am
I had someone from AZA text me and when I responded to stop texting me, I got charged $12.00 for it! I never requested a thing from them. Don’t even know how they got my cell phone #.
February 22nd, 2009 at 3:39 pm
Company: Ringaza or 75714. Company phone# 1-866-616-6076 I feel like I need to report them to the BBB and also report them to the Internet Fraud Task Team. This company lures unsuspecting people into signing up for premium text messages by using lies in advertisements on facebook. I was charged $9.99 (so far). As soon as I realized what I had done, I quit the subscription, however I am still receiving messages. I called my phone company and put on a “premium” text message block (everyone should do this). This company needs to be closed down and charges should be brought against them in a court of law.
February 24th, 2009 at 9:59 am
same problem as most everyone else. was tricked into this by a free ringtone offer. I followed all their instructions to stop but to no avail. I am no longer sending any STOP texts as this I believe just tells them the number is still valid and then conyinue billing. These maggots will never get rid of me until I get every dime back!
February 25th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
I also took the 7 grains of rice survey linked to the games on greenopolis.com. I started receiving text messages in the middle of the night. I’m not sure if I’ve been charged yet, but called the 1.866.616.6076 and it said I had subscribed to a hip hop update. I never signed up for this. It was also Ringaza text 75714.
February 25th, 2009 at 11:17 pm
I am with T-Mobile and when I received my bill I have extra chrage from Ringaza Wallpaper. I had never signed up for.
February 26th, 2009 at 1:25 pm
I am with verizon and I was charged $9.99 and was not authorized. I did not sigh up for anything and was charged for service that i didn’t receive. I would like for this to stop and get my money back.
February 27th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
This is crazy – I really feel I didn’t sign up for anything, does anyone have a solution?
March 3rd, 2009 at 9:54 am
We didn’t authorize 4 charges in feb09 for a total of $39.96. After tracking down the two companies (ringaza and m-qube) I was able to contact them for a refund.
Steps to ensure a refund:
1. Explain that you flat out “didn’t authorize the charges”.
2. They’ll explain their “double opt-in” policy and say that it ensures that the phone must be in hand before a charge is authorized. Let them talk, it makes them feel better, like they are bottom feeders. Then explain you understand that process but you are still confident that you didn’t sign up for their service.
3. They’ll say “it’s not possible” even though it is.
4. Deny again authorizing the service and ask for a refund, they’ll say “no”
5. Ask for a supervisor
6. They’ll say one isn’t available but will offer you a partial refund
7. Say you’ll hold for a supervisor.
8. They’ll say that one isn’t available but they are going to go ahead and offer you a full refund.
9. Thank them, hang up and report them here https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/FTC_Wizard.aspx?Lang=en
don’t just take your refund and think you won. They need to pay for these practices. The more people that report them to the FTC the more chance something will get done. It takes time but it’s worth it.
also, be sure to contact your carrier and put a “premium text message” block on your account to prevent it from happening again.
March 3rd, 2009 at 2:30 pm
75714 keeps texting me useless music information that i no longer want nor need. its charging up to $30 extra on my bill. please remove me from the calling list
March 20th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
my verizon bill has charges for premium TXT messages that I did not subscribe for a cost of $19.98. contacted Verizon – they would not reverse the charges but did off to Block Preium text messages for 4 cell phones I own. This is such a scam to be billed for services and have no recourse. Not a happy Verison Customer – will be scrutinizing next month’s bill very closely.
March 27th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
I am in the same situation as all of you! And when they sent me a message saying if you like to stop text “stop” and i texted “what?” they wrote back “were sorry we did not understand you, for further help call this number 18666166076″ and I don’t know if it’s a further scam but if we all call and tell them that they are headless sons of bitches who are going to hell maybe we can get something out.
(good luck)
March 28th, 2009 at 10:08 am
WOW! I was having trouble with my Verizon wireless Aircard when the Tech looked at my bill and found that my Primary line had been receiving a $9.99 Premium Text service fee from RingAZA? I have never allowed the service but because it is a 3rd party, Verizon can only block the billing and not refund the amounts. They gave me the number to Text stop so they could no longer bill. thanks to the tech that took the time to look at the bill. It will save me a little bit of money during a tough financial year.
April 4th, 2009 at 12:42 pm
Me too I just got riped off….My phone comp. tells me it is because i gave my phone number on a IQ TEST get your result by phone and if you don’t make sure to uncheck that F…!! service of quotes, jokes or alert S…!! Yes they can and yes they do with out autorisation(s’cuse my frensh) And the phone(cell) comp. cannot stop it…Alll you can do is if after asking to stop…they don’t…Well change number!!!!!!!!!!???? I’M GONNA CHANGE MY SEVEN YEAR CELL NUMBERE FOR SOME FFFFFF INTERNET SCAM ??? No problem to force us on some cell contract but no damn service to protect us from that kind of fraud where is the logic in that????? ME too I’M having finance limits with two kids the phone is only for emergencies and now no money and ne more time and stuck with the bill…I’ll tell you I will be telling on line and everywhere I can about this scam and that is the only power we have…DESCRIMINATE DISCRIMINATE AND SREAM FRAUD ON EVERY SITE POSSIBLE…
April 6th, 2009 at 9:38 am
Ok. Here is the only way you can put a complete stop to this third party text Billing..
Submit a complaint form THRU THE FCC!!!
The link is below:
http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm?sid=d1e408&id=d1e470
April 6th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
I did a IQ test online and had to enter my cell number to get the results. Next thing you know I am getting charged $9.99 plus .25 for every text. I canceled right away, but Verizon wouldnt refund the money to me and just blocked future text’s to my phone. I justed called the company and spoke with Sue W. and she said they dont offer refunds. Everyone should be wary of this scam and someone should put a stop to it. It was at Ringaza I believe and the link is PREM_SMS 75714 MEDIA BREAKAWAY. This is such a scam and should be stopped dead.
April 9th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
My kids have been hit with this, and because they did not text STOP, they kept receiving text messages and of course we were billed.
I’m contacting the State Attorney General to stop this illegal practice.
April 11th, 2009 at 4:33 pm
We at Mobile Messenger would like to assist you with your concern or complaint. If you need assistance in regards to being unsubscribed or other related issues, please do not hesitate to contact us. Please call 1-800-416-6129 Monday to Friday 0600 – 1800 US Pacific Time or email escalationsus@sms-helpdesk.com
April 13th, 2009 at 9:16 am
hey Mobile Messenger why don’t you check to see how, despite your alleged double opt-in process, it’s possible for people who didn’t sign up for any of your services to start getting charged for it.
fyi, after 6.5 weeks we have received a full 100% ($40) refund from both the companies that started charging us. Don’t take no for an answer from them and ask to speak to a supervisor when you call. Then if necessary mention you’ll be talking to your state’s attorney general.
April 13th, 2009 at 10:25 am
Call 18004166129 for a full refund!!!!! I think the company has finally realized they are in big trouble if they don’t give people thier money back! It was quick and easy…
April 21st, 2009 at 12:08 pm
I was receiving messages and called 18004166129, I got a really nice rep and he removed my number and explained everything to me.
May 21st, 2009 at 3:00 pm
i have a problem which i think you can help me with. my problem is that i’ved sucribe by mistake so i’ll appriciate if u can remove my subcription from your system and stop sending me sms’s and also stop charging me when i load airtime cause i haven’t buy anything from you. i wil highly appreciate it if you coul stop the subcreption for me please.
May 25th, 2009 at 6:59 am
I have AT&T wireless. I noticed a charge for a subscription service because they updated their online bill pay and actually had a section for subscriptions. I never subscribed to anything so I called AT&T to get it canceled. Without my asking for a refund I was given one and AT&T canceled the subscription, all during a 5 minute phone call. They were great! Service has improved leaps and bounds.
May 26th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Predicto and RingAZA both showed up on my verizon bill as Premium Text! Thankfully verizon gave me a credit for the charge and was able to set up a Premium Text block on on my phones! Who Hoo. Had they not done this it would have been time to cancel Verizon.
May 28th, 2009 at 9:17 am
My daughter’s line has 11 calls from various premium SMS services including 75714 – all with unauthorized $9.99 charges. I called verizon to dispute & have the charges removed. They won’t remove, and could only give me contact phone numbers (that don’t get results) for 9 of the 11 services. VZW told me that if we didn’t respond to the txt msgs to cancel then the charges are valid. if they don’t have contact info, then how can they pass the charges through? It should be illegal to have to opt out to not get charged. My daughter did opt out of several msgs, and they continued anyway. The ones that we were charged for didn’t have that option. I now have a prem.msg.txt block, but can’t get the current charges removed.
Should be illegal to charge without authorization. The kids have all been told for years by authorities not to respond to unknown callers/e-mailer/txters so they don’t get targeted … this flies in the face of all their teachings. How do I get refunds for all of this? I’m on furlough and can’t afford to be paying all of these unsolicited charges.
May 29th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
I, too, have been hit with these charges & Verizon claims there is nothing they can do about it. I filed a complaint with Verizon & will also be filing one with the FCC about these unauthorized charges. It’s not right that we have no recourse. The 1-866-616-6067 line is always busy & the 1-866-616-6076 line is only recordings. Their email address of mbmobileinteractive.com is not valid. Verizon gave me these to try: Support@mblox.com
suppurt@ringaza.com
support@bigtimecrush.com
Good luck & file your complaints! Voice your concerns!
June 5th, 2009 at 1:18 pm