Consumer Smarts: Dispute puzzling charges on your cell phone bill
EVER NOTICE a mysterious charge on your cell phone bill for ringtones, premium text messaging or other mobile content you didn’t authorize?
Last week, AT&T Mobility announced it would settle a group of class-action lawsuits and refund consumers who were billed for unauthorized third-party mobile content, such as text messaging, daily horoscopes and wallpapers.
Like many cellular companies, AT&T doesn’t provide the content but bills its customers on behalf of third-party vendors.
Consumers nationwide have been fighting back against such “cramming” and have filed multiple lawsuits against the nation’s major cell phone carriers and third-party mobile vendors over charges placed on their phone bills that they didn’t sign up for.
Q: What should I do if I get charged for content I didn’t authorize?
A: Review your phone bill carefully each month. Dispute any charge that you did not authorize, even small ones for $3 or $10. Contact the third-party vendor or your cell phone company and ask them to remove the charges.
Sue Macomber, with the Utilities Consumers Action Network, a nonprofit group in San Diego, advises consumers write a letter to the cell phone company so the complaint is officially logged. Send your letter by certified mail and request a return receipt, Macomber said, and include in your letter a deadline for when you expect a written reply or for the charges to be dropped.