I am with Verizon and had this happen last month, I don't remember the company. It was a text deal, I don't text much. I now have block on premium texts and they gave me a credit.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Watch your AT&T bills for "LoveGenieTips" scam
- Thread starter StevenT42
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
My story is with online sites that I purchased from. Verizon told me about a advertisement charge on my phone, because I gave out my phone number to one of the online retail stores I bought from a while ago, and they started sending out texts advertisement to me on my phone. It was only about .20 cents per message, but they added up. So I called VRZ and they put a block on. Pays to pay attention to the bill each month. 
They do get a percentage for collecting the money, so there's a good incentive to allow the scams.
I posted this on another thread. Do two things:
1) Forward the message to 7726 - that's teh AT&T SPAM reporting tool
2) Go to this link:
http://www.fcc.gov/guides/spam-unwan...ages-and-email
The FCC takes a dim view of spammers and goes after them. I wouldn't sign up for the stupid AT&T service.
And I agree with your statement. AT&T is happy to get more money. They've never really been concerned with it being at the expense of their users. I'm more temped to open a BBB complaint against AT&T for not protecting their customers.
----------
Technically this is illegal - called cramming. I'd see if threatening to contact your state AG, the BBB and the FTC/FCC gets you anywhere. But I'm also persistent - as in, I'd actually do it. It's not that much of a pain, and if you don't stand up and make it painful for these jerks - in this case AT&T is allowing this to happen, then it will never stop...
AT&T won't bother taking the high road on their own
The BBB is no longer reliable or even useful. If you are a company and get complaints you can buy "advertising" at the BBB and suddenly all your complaints disappear.
I have called AT&T on last three iPhone bills to get them to remove bogus $9.99 service charges generated from unwanted text messages. And I always reply, "Stop" when i receive one. The last agent promised to set me up where there can be no purchases on my phone (except from iTunes) and then again I get a new one from Walmart (WTH?) yesterday. This is a totally annoying scam and AT&T needs to put a stop to it!
Thanks for the tip. I went through this a few years back, but sure enough, they're back.
What really got me super annoyed is one of the items in question was on my son's account. And he's the one we had blocked a few years back. Anyway, all four lines are blocked now. If any future purchases show up, I'll have no regrets demanding a full refund regardless of if it's in their 60 day window or not.
The other annoying thing is the AT&T woman kept telling me there was nothing AT&T could do about it. I listed to that about three times before I finally told her that was nothing but a lie and that AT&T could stop doing business with any companies who pull this crap. It's not like third-parties are simply adding stuff to our phone bill without AT&T's knowledge or permission. The ONLY way for them to add charges to our bills is if the company and AT&T have a business relationship established. Otherwise, I'm going to start throwing $10/month charges on everyone's bill and retire early! Being screwed is bad enough. To be treated like an idiot while they do it is a different matter entirely! Obviously it fell on deaf ears, but I felt better.
What really got me super annoyed is one of the items in question was on my son's account. And he's the one we had blocked a few years back. Anyway, all four lines are blocked now. If any future purchases show up, I'll have no regrets demanding a full refund regardless of if it's in their 60 day window or not.
The other annoying thing is the AT&T woman kept telling me there was nothing AT&T could do about it. I listed to that about three times before I finally told her that was nothing but a lie and that AT&T could stop doing business with any companies who pull this crap. It's not like third-parties are simply adding stuff to our phone bill without AT&T's knowledge or permission. The ONLY way for them to add charges to our bills is if the company and AT&T have a business relationship established. Otherwise, I'm going to start throwing $10/month charges on everyone's bill and retire early! Being screwed is bad enough. To be treated like an idiot while they do it is a different matter entirely! Obviously it fell on deaf ears, but I felt better.
Thanks for the tip. I went through this a few years back, but sure enough, they're back.
What really got me super annoyed is one of the items in question was on my son's account. And he's the one we had blocked a few years back. Anyway, all four lines are blocked now. If any future purchases show up, I'll have no regrets demanding a full refund regardless of if it's in their 60 day window or not.
The other annoying thing is the AT&T woman kept telling me there was nothing AT&T could do about it. I listed to that about three times before I finally told her that was nothing but a lie and that AT&T could stop doing business with any companies who pull this crap. It's not like third-parties are simply adding stuff to our phone bill without AT&T's knowledge or permission. The ONLY way for them to add charges to our bills is if the company and AT&T have a business relationship established. Otherwise, I'm going to start throwing $10/month charges on everyone's bill and retire early! Being screwed is bad enough. To be treated like an idiot while they do it is a different matter entirely! Obviously it fell on deaf ears, but I felt better.
Vote with your dollars. Leave AT&T. That'll get them to stop.
Do not respond to them. It doesn't work. The reason I got charged $9.99 one month is because I responded to one with "stop". Just get AT&T to block third-party charges (and it sounds like you've done that).
yeah because if it never happened to you it doesn't happen. I've never had it happen to me and I'm on at&t...... it all must be a lie!
After calling AT&T and getting this resolved, they sent me a survey. Ok, I can do a survey.
Q1: How likely are you to recommend AT&T from 1-10
A1: I gave them a 3.
Questions 2 & 3 dealt more with the representative I spoke to and how things were handled. Not important.
Than the dumb asses asked why I gave those ratings! LOL So I answered...
"I'm tired of AT&T allowing crap to be placed on my bill with no warning or notice. It's deceptive, dishonest and makes me feel like nothing but a source of income, not a valued customer. Then you LIE and say there's nothing AT&T can do. That's complete ********. Third party vendors aren't adding charges to YOUR bills without your knowledge or consent. Don't insult my intelligence and lie to me about that. It honestly makes me feel like switching to another carrier. Also, I had to have charges removed from a phone that had the purchase block in place already. And it was for AT&T Navigator! Another lie (that you have no control) since it says AT&T!!! That line shouldn't have had ANY additional charges. Or so I was told 2 years ago. Quit lying to me, treating me like an idiot and cheating me. You already take an INSANE amount of money from me. There's no need to add theft on top of that. You suck and after typing this all out, I'm changing my first answer to a 1. I'd kick a friend while they're down before recommending AT&T. At least that would be an honest move and less painful."
Q1: How likely are you to recommend AT&T from 1-10
A1: I gave them a 3.
Questions 2 & 3 dealt more with the representative I spoke to and how things were handled. Not important.
Than the dumb asses asked why I gave those ratings! LOL So I answered...
"I'm tired of AT&T allowing crap to be placed on my bill with no warning or notice. It's deceptive, dishonest and makes me feel like nothing but a source of income, not a valued customer. Then you LIE and say there's nothing AT&T can do. That's complete ********. Third party vendors aren't adding charges to YOUR bills without your knowledge or consent. Don't insult my intelligence and lie to me about that. It honestly makes me feel like switching to another carrier. Also, I had to have charges removed from a phone that had the purchase block in place already. And it was for AT&T Navigator! Another lie (that you have no control) since it says AT&T!!! That line shouldn't have had ANY additional charges. Or so I was told 2 years ago. Quit lying to me, treating me like an idiot and cheating me. You already take an INSANE amount of money from me. There's no need to add theft on top of that. You suck and after typing this all out, I'm changing my first answer to a 1. I'd kick a friend while they're down before recommending AT&T. At least that would be an honest move and less painful."