Miserable Effing Phone Company!

Discussion in 'Politics and other "Messy" Stuff' started by Minidave, Sep 4, 2010.

  1. Minidave

    Minidave Well-Known Member
    Lifetime Supporter

    Dec 22, 2009
    5,559
    4,419
    113
    Male
    Overland Park, Ks
    Ratings:
    +5,003 / 1 / -0
    #1 Minidave, Sep 4, 2010
    Last edited: Sep 4, 2010
    I was paying some bills today online, and we noticed that the phone company bill had an additional page on it. Took a look and I'll be damned if we didn't get slammed somehow. The bill was completely normal last month, yet this one had two months worth of this "service" at $14.95 a month. A quick internet search identifies this company as one of those nefarious underworld types who prey on unsuspecting folks.

    We called AT&T and they swore they had written authorization to start this service. Considering I pay everything online I asked them how they might have gotten such a document and he proceeded to give me a long song and dance about filling in information online somewhere that gave them the OK - which is total BS of course.

    Bottom line, they reversed the charges, and they have now blocked ALL third party charges "written authorization" or not and of course have now tried to upgrade us to more features from them! Never miss an opportunity I guess......

    Bottom bottom line, check your bills carefully, you never know when someone's gonna sneak something like this in on you!

    This bunch goes by the name MDVM Connect LLC, also associated with TRSCN Clearing - which probably stands for Trans scam clearing! Watch out for them....

    When you Google this name you get this hit right at the top of the list:

    From Clark Howard's site...

    Criminals after trying to reach your wallet through your phone bill again. 3rd party aggregators have been posting bogus collect call charges to phone bills issued by the monopolies AT&T, Verizon and Qwest. First, a little background: Let's say Clark's Collect Calling Phone Company decides to charge $5/min for a collect call made from a pay phone. His goal is to bill that charge to the recipient of the call. But first he has to find a billing company that -- for a cut of the action -- will take that charge and then go to a monopoly phone company and get it on the customer's phone bill. The monopoly, of course, also gets a cut for its role in the transaction. As bad as that sounds, at least it's a legitimate business model.

    But the rotten thing is that some 3rd party aggregators have been issuing charges for calls that never took place. The FCC rightfully should have put a stop to this, but they've been sitting on their hands doing nothing about these fraudulent activities. So the FTC had to step in and fine the 3rd party aggregators. One company managed to steal $35 million from people with phony charges!

    The real message here is that you've got to vet your phone bill page by page every month looking for bogus charges. Businesses are a major target because their phone bills can be pages and pages long. Shame on AT&T, Verizon and Qwest for aiding and abetting the criminals. The cop on the beat is asleep, so it's up to you. Call up your phone company and get a credit if you're stuck with a phony charge.
     
  2. Minidave

    Minidave Well-Known Member
    Lifetime Supporter

    Dec 22, 2009
    5,559
    4,419
    113
    Male
    Overland Park, Ks
    Ratings:
    +5,003 / 1 / -0
    More information has come to light - I'm not sure if they're in cahoots or what, but MDVM Connect seems like a legit company, I just never signed up for their services.

    So, either they work this scam with the second company TRSCN Clearing or Trscn just uses them as a portal. I've never been to either of these company's sites and I never signed up for anything - so how did they get my phone number? Well, that's pretty easy - I'm in the book for one thing. But then how did they get the supposed written authorization?

    Simple, they didn't.

    Asswipes.
     
  3. yellowbritishrocket

    yellowbritishrocket Well-Known Member

    May 16, 2009
    618
    277
    63
    Ratings:
    +277 / 0 / -0
    which is why i stay away from anything att and i use magic jack as a voip service...only because it would be more expensive to implement a cisco architecture like the one i work on at work
     
  4. Squirlz

    Squirlz New Member

    May 4, 2009
    67
    4
    0
    Ratings:
    +4 / 0 / -0
    That's ATT for you. Lying is SOP for anything and everything they do.
     
  5. Johngo

    Johngo New Member
    Supporting Member

    May 18, 2010
    1,671
    200
    0
    Art Director
    Sugar Hill, GA
    Ratings:
    +200 / 0 / -0
    ATT sucks... They aren't called the Death Star for no reason.

    We are going through a similar scam with them over Uverse right now. Never again will I use them.
     
  6. lotsie

    lotsie Club Coordinator

    May 5, 2009
    3,922
    401
    83
    stagehand/part time detailer
    Right here
    Ratings:
    +401 / 0 / -0
    This post, and every other internet/phone/cell/TV thing we do is with ATT, works fine.

    Mark
     
  7. rkw

    rkw Well-Known Member

    May 7, 2009
    1,253
    443
    83
    San Francisco
    Ratings:
    +449 / 0 / -0
    AT&T has been caught doing sneaky things before. They did market research on how to design envelopes and fee notices to maximize the chance that consumers won't read them (e.g. bolding certain words and phrases, like "you don't need to take any action"). They were sued over it and the notices ("contracts") were voided because there was a paper trail documenting their process and intentions.
     
  8. Johngo

    Johngo New Member
    Supporting Member

    May 18, 2010
    1,671
    200
    0
    Art Director
    Sugar Hill, GA
    Ratings:
    +200 / 0 / -0
    I have a buddy in Florida who had several company phones and they would add services to his bill every month to the tune of over $200 (Adding back in texting and internet on all the phones, for example). He would have to go into the store every month and waste over an hour yelling and pitching a fit because after the first couple of months, he vowed to make as many of their customers walk out of the store as possible because he had to take the time out of his day to go in and get it straightened out EVERY MONTH.

    The only way we have even gotten them to be at all receptive is by filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. And even then, AT&T has not called us back.

    It is also their policy to NOT do anything in writing... Why would any company do that?

    I will reiterate my previous comment: AT&T SUCKS.
     
  9. Minidave

    Minidave Well-Known Member
    Lifetime Supporter

    Dec 22, 2009
    5,559
    4,419
    113
    Male
    Overland Park, Ks
    Ratings:
    +5,003 / 1 / -0
    It just galls me that a third party can come to them with a supposed bill for services and they don't even question it - they just tack it onto your bill and pass it along - of course, they get a cut of everything they collect on the third party's behalf I'll bet.

    This could get interesting for us.

    We put a block on all third party billing thru AT&T, which means they won't be collecting anything from us, but the company that billed us thru them still claims (to AT&T - I haven't spoken to anyone from the third part company) they have a written contract with us. I've asked for a copy that shows my or my wife's or even my dog's signature.....we'll see what they come up with.
     
  10. Johngo

    Johngo New Member
    Supporting Member

    May 18, 2010
    1,671
    200
    0
    Art Director
    Sugar Hill, GA
    Ratings:
    +200 / 0 / -0
    My response from AT&T when I asked for the document I signed was that "It is not AT&T's policy to show me those documents." Jerks...

    It is not my policy to keep paying for a scam either. :frown2:
     
  11. Minidave

    Minidave Well-Known Member
    Lifetime Supporter

    Dec 22, 2009
    5,559
    4,419
    113
    Male
    Overland Park, Ks
    Ratings:
    +5,003 / 1 / -0
    In my case, AT&T has pretty much washed their hands of the situation by blocking any further billing from ANY third parties on our account, their position now is that I need to deal with the company that billed us - which I will if they dare to contact me.

    We'll see what happens from here......needless to say I'm glad we caught this when we did and they didn't get any scam-money from us, cause I know we wouldn't be getting it back. Now I wonder if the scam company has the balls to ask us for the money they billed and didn't get?
     

Share This Page