.....wohl ein Grund (u.a) für die leichten Kursverluste---unter ganz dünnem Volumen
Every few years I get calls about cramming. Then the complaints die down. Well, they're baaaaack.
Cramming is the term used for unauthorized charges on phone bills. These charges appear under the heading "third-party providers."
Howard Boyar, 71, of Cape Coral recently sent me a copy of his phone bill with the $14.95 charge from ESBI "on behalf of TriVoice International."
The next day I talked to Thomas Lehne, 79, of Cape Coral, who also was charged $14.95 by ESBI.
Both men were able to get CenturyLink - their phone company - to remove the charges. But neither was satisfied and both wondered if there were unsuspecting victims who hadn't taken a close look at their bills.
ESBI is a division of the San Antonio-based Billing Services Group (bsgclearing.com). Spokeswoman Leslie Ausburn said the company bills on behalf of smaller companies for services such as subscriptions, web hosting and data services. The charges run through phone bills instead of credit cards or PayPal.
Ausburn said customers can dispute the charges and receive a credit on their phone bill in one or two billing cycles.
The same thing happens if you call CenturyLink. Which is why CenturyLink customer service advised Boyar and Lehne to pay the entire bill and wait for the credit refund.
Lehne did that, reluctantly. Boyar subtracted the $14.95 from his bill, paid it and canceled his CenturyLink service.
"I'm not waiting two months to get my money back," Boyar said. What if thousands of people paid $14.95 and then waited two months? CenturyLink could "live off the float," Boyar said.
Federal law requires CenturyLink to permit companies to bill through phone bills. The law was set up to foster competition, allowing small companies to sell digital services and use the phone company's established billing system.
But I think it makes the customer's phone bill a conduit for scams.
CenturyLink screens third-party vendors, said spokesman Brian Hamman. If a vendor engages in fraudulent billing, Hamman said, their agreement is terminated.
Ausburn said Billing Services has few complaints considering the millions of bills that go out. She said most of the time, when investigating claims of unauthorized charges, they find someone had buyer's remorse or didn't want to admit to signing up for a service.
But I've seen how some online sellers work. Often it's not clear you're agreeing to a monthly charge when you answer a survey, take a quiz or enter a contest.
If you have a third-party charge on your phone bill and it's not something you ordered, call CenturyLink and the number listed for billing inquiries for the third party. Tell them you want an immediate credit.
Then report the third-party billing company to the FTC. You can do that by calling 877-382-4357 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 877-382-4357 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
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