KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Landline users say they have another reason to cut the cord as customers complain about services on their bills that they never agreed to pay. Think it can't happen to you? Call For Action Reporter Jenn Strathman opened her bill Tuesday morning to find she'd even been crammed. We took the problem to the Missouri attorney general and even Kansas Attorney General Steve Six is alerting consumers about these unauthorized charges that appear on your phone bill. There is slamming and cramming. Slamming happens when your telephone service is switched without your permission. Usually, you find out when the fees show up on the bill. According to the Federal Trade Commission, cramming happens when a company adds a charge to your bill for a service you didn't order. There is a growing number of cramming complaints in the metro.
Again and Again
Michelle Provin says she's been crammed repeatedly. Mysterious $14 and $15 charges are showing up on her bill. "I never heard of these companies and each one of them said that I had ordered it through the Internet," Provin said.
Provin says she asked for proof of the order, and the information sent from one company doesn't match her home or e-mail address. "It didn't come from an Internet provider I had or ever used. It came from Virginia not Missouri," Provin said.
While cramming and slamming are different, it appears the charges are appearing the same way. In 2007, Call For Action reported on two metro women and their battle with Horizon attaching itself to their bills. It's a long distance company that markets its service online. "They informed me I requested this service with an email I don't own," Kim Dunn told CFA in 2007.
How to Spot Cramming Charges
The FTC says cramming charges can be spotted by looking for generic sounding services like Min. User Fee, Activation, Member Fee, Voice Mail or Web Hosting.
Typically these charges show up on a separate page of your bill.
The FTC says these fake charges can be added to your bill if you join a club that appears free. The number you call to join may require you say "I want the service." The FTC says that may actually enroll you in a service that has a monthly fee that's added to your phone bill. You can also get these charges if you call a 900 number to claim a prize.
Or, you may get the charges if you enroll in a contest. While you think you're signing up for a chance to win a prize, the FTC says you're actually giving your information to strangers who may be up to no good. Make sure you read the fine print, because sometimes that entry form is permission to enroll you in a service.
That's how Robert Gibson thinks he was enrolled and charged for one service. "I signed up for some kind of contest and it was in the small print. They were pretty straight-forward about that. I don't know what I signed up for. Apparently I had read that small print," Gibson said.
AT&T Responds
AT&T says substantially less than 1 percent of bills with third party charges result in cramming complaints. AT&T's spokeswoman Marisa Giller wrote, "We can and will discipline any vendors that bill inappropriate charges to our customers -- including imposing fines, remedial programs, or even termination of the billing relationship."
We found dozens of complaints for Enhanced Services Billing and USBI filed with the Missouri Attorney General. While they put the charge on bills, consumers often have to call the vendor who issued the charge.
Most of the charges on the bills provided by Gibson and Provin were for voicemail and website offers. While individual companies are named for each charge, they're put on the bill by a billing service like Enhanced Services Billing, USBI, and HBS Billing Services.
"I wrote to the Attorney General and he said he couldn't be my personal attorney. I'm asking him to be the attorney for the people of Missouri." While the letter speaks about not personally representing Gibson, it also added that the office would try to help by contacting the company and get an explanation of the matter..
We asked Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster about these cramming complaints. "The question from your television station will cause me to go back we'll look into it," Koster added.
It's welcome news for consumers who are tired of spending countless hours fighting these companies.
To protect yourself, you can have 900 numbers blocked from going through on your phone line. Also, make sure your computer has up to date security software so malicious software programers can't download what the FTC calls "dialer programs" to your computer. The FTC says these programs redirect your modem and cause it to call a 900 number.
Call for Action Reporter Crammed
After sitting on hold for 10-15 minutes, Strathman finally got through to a representative for the company that crammed her bill. The customer service representative gave me a name of a man and asked if I knew him. The representative explained that this individual filled out a form online for this product and in error put Strathman's phone number into the form. This is alarming considering Strathman pays a premium fee to have that number unlisted. Without any hesitation, the representative removed the charge but mentioned it would take 2-3 billing cycles to be credited to my account. Plus, the company already went ahead and billed for November so it will be on the next bill as well.
Make sure you get a cancellation number when you get the charges removed, then call AT&T and let them know that number and that you will not be paying that portion of your bill.
Removing the Charges
While working on this story we discovered the state's complaint Web site called Know Mo is being revamped. At one point, there were 58 complaints against Enhanced Services Billing. Those complaints were more than cut in half when we checked just before airing our story. The AG says the site is intended for open cases only and his staff is going through and removing old cases that were resolved. If you've been crammed, file with your State Attorney General. Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster says he's looking into it after we brought the issue to his attention. In Kansas, the AG has received more than 100 complaints in the last year and is currently conducting an investigation. The attorney general wants to hear from you if you've been crammed. We contacted the vendors and third party billers. Enhanced Services Billing says it's a billing clearinghouse and processes records brought on by other companies. You'll see both company names on your bill. The biller is typically at the top and the individual vendor is listed next to the charge. You need to call the vendor to request the charge be removed. As for the customers in our case, through their diligence calling the individual companies and Call for Action's help working with AT&T the billing issues have been resolved. While Provin got rid of her landline service, Gibson still has AT&T and wonders what charge he'll see every month he opens his bill.
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