Background
As the economy worsens, billing overcharges will rise. There is a direct relationship between the two. Therefore, the consumers should all the more be watchful of what is going on with their bills or statements. The State Attorney General offices, the Federal TradeCommission, and the Better Business Bureaus all across the nation are receiving an avalanche of customer complaints on this or other similar issues.
The Case for T-Mobile
In January of 2008, as part of a settlement reached, T-Mobile USA agreed to payout close to $2.2 million to resolve allegations of overcharging its customers. Under the deal, the company will reimburse class members with a net recovery of the full amount of un-refunded billing overcharges. Sources close to the case stated that counsel fees, which were also paid by T-Mobile as a condition of the settlement, totaled $1,097,808. [LAW.COM: BILLING OVERCHARGES]
The Case for Verizon
What if you are being charged for services you do not have? It is bad enough when companies and providers overcharge you for the use of their services.And because Verizon charges a fee for a printed bill; most customers never even bother to look at their e-bill. But some Cleveland-area residents did bother to take a look, and they didn’t like what they saw (Cleveland.com).
At a minimum, thousands of customers apparently have been charged $1.99 per month for Internet “data usage” even though they had not tried to go online. In some cases, customers were charged when their phones were off, the batteries were dead, and the phone’s Internet access was blocked or even when the phones didn’t have the software to go online.
One reader said his mom’s phone was charged for Internet access – weeks after the mother had died and her phone sat idle in her empty home.
Karen Fullerman of Twinsburg is typical of customers who complained to The Plain Dealer.
Fullerman has three phone lines; two are for her 23-year-old twin daughters. Fullerman has been charged $1.99 on one or two phones every month. And sometimes there’s an extra $9.99 download fee. Fullerman, who recently lost her job, said every dollar counts these days. She insists that none of the three has gone on the Internet. And she said Verizon has told her repeatedly that the company has blocked the phones’ ability to go on the Internet – yet the Internet charges continue.
The same is true for James Grega of Brunswick, whose four phone lines with Verizon have been getting charged sporadically for about four months.
“The phones are still being charged after I had them blocked,” Grega said. “Their assurance that the $1.99 charges would stop has been a joke.”
Source: http://www.google.com/
Other Cases of Overcharged and Unauthorized Billing
Penn Hills sewage customers overcharged in billing switch glitch. (www.yourpennhills.com)
DirectTV made an unauthorized withdrawal to a customer’s account for $180.00 instead of $40.00. (www.measuredup.com)
A customer signed up with Foxtel under the $10 installation promotion, with the first month on Platinum only $10. After a little over a month, hi credit card gets debited for $329.95. (http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies-archive.cfm/479173.html)
