Semper Fi

PLEASE DON'T DELETE OR MOVE THIS THREAD-IT MAY CONCERN YOU!

Hi everyone,
Sorry this is a little long, but very important! I have Verizon for my home phone. Last year and part of this year I was charged $12.95 every single month from an outside "vendor" on my Verizon phone bill. I called Verizon and they referred me to call the number on my bill, so I called the company and they said they were going to get the charges removed...well, they did only partially.The company claims that I filled out a form online and that's how I have their service- which is total B.S. My neighbor alerted me to this scam and we come to find out that 10 (yes 10) of my neighbors were also getting charged and never signed up!
Now the company has changed names and the $12.95 is back on my bill! The bill says ESBI charges and the company name is Rocket Communication. Now I have to call this company again and get the charges removed. Verizon said they can put a block on all other charges on my bill, which they should have done in the first place.

This is a total scam and I would venture to say that Verizon is (1) getting a piece of the $12.95 per month or (2) they actually own this company doing the erroneous billing.

Regards,
Gerard

ljsmith1

Gerard,

Read this http://www.ripoffreport.com/viewsimi...SBI&ref=332783

This is obviously not an isolated case. I would contact Verizon, and ask to speak to a supervisor. Tell the supervisor that if the charges are not completely taken off (and prevented from appearing in the future) you will call the Department of Utility Control and the state Atty General's office and file a complaint. This usually results in compliance.

There is also your local news...now that the election is over, they are probably looking for stuff to report!

Good Luck!

Semper Fi

Thanks for the response. I have ties to the local media and I'm already working on them to hopefully make the public aware of this scam. I think I will contact the state atty generals office now also.

vagrant

I know a director there at V. I just sent this to him. Hopefully he will have a answer.

mikes280

BDiggity

Thats why you never send a text to any service to get ringtones, etc. Most people dont check the T&C's & realize they are opting in for a monthly charge.

Semper Fi

I have NO respect for Verizon. It's their phone bill and allow an erroneous charge on their phone bill- therefore they are allowing thier customers to get scammed!

I wouldn't doubt if Verizon owned a part of Rocket Communication or at least they are getting paid for allowing this to happen, otherwise- why would they allow it on their bill?? Either way, my goal is to let as many people know about this as possible

Semper Fi

Not a text, this has to deal with land lines ONLY, so texting isn't an issue here. They claim that you have to fill out a form on the internet for service..... $12.95 per month for what service????????????????????????

McGary911

Sounds like just another form of Slamming.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_slamming

Happened to me once. The phone companies will remove the charge, but it's a big PITA.

waterbum

There's another scam involving SJA Mobile Alerts. Sprint allows this company to send charges to them and Sprint puts in on the invoice. Somehow this company gets valid mobile numbers and sends a text message. The user does not even have to open the text (my wife is a cell phone novice and doesn't even know how to open text messages). The company then starts invoicing for 19.95 per month through the Sprint monthly invoice. This happened for 2 months before I noticed it. Called Sprint and they said I would have to a refund from the company. Gave me an 800 number and it was disconnected. Their website had a "Discontinue subscription" email process. The email was returned as undeliverable. I finally got Sprint to credit the charges but only because I have been with them for more than 10 years and my average montly bill is in excess of $150. They were very reluctant to do this and only happened when I went through several supervisors.

These third party vendors are hiding behind the telco companies raking in serious cash. The telcos are obligated to put them on the invoice as valid charges and they don't want to give credits. When I did some research there are a ton of people getting hit by this same scam. I have had to block all 3rd party vendors from being place on my bill. Which is OK since I never order or charge anything to my cell phone anyway.