A lesson in futility (6652 hits)
Category: GeneralRating: 2 on 33 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Monkeyswithguns (View user info) at 2009-10-15 17:48:51 EDT
Outrage is the first feeling to hit.
"How could they do this to me?"
"Is this legal?"
"I want their heads removed, eyes gouged out with wooden spoons, and their bodies impaled on my front lawn!"
Unfortunately, nothing ever happens to corporate giants, they're protected by powerful legal teams, boundless wealth, and corrupt politicians.
I was alerted today by my wife that we'd been getting billed for a voice-messaging service that we never applied for. To the tune of $8.23/month since January, a scam company named "Agora Services" has been having AT&T bill us for services that they ficticiously assert we've applied for online.
Apparently, by simply opening an email, you are automatically subscribed to their services. This apparently applies to all customers of AT&T or it's subsidiaries, meaning essentially, if you are their customer, you can never, ever open emails ever again, or you run the risk of being billed unknowingly for the privilage.
In the end, we had to jump through hoops trying to discontinue a service we never applied for in the first place because AT&T gives out your personal info to over 2000 3rd party billers.
We were robbed of $82.30, but the biggest loss was the illusion of security and the small comfort that it provided.
I don't think I delude myself into believing that the world is a feel good/friendly place, but I don't really put out much personal information (knowlingly), and I definitely don't go clicking on suspicious links or putting personal information into spam emails.
Regardless, if you use ANY PHONE COMPANY, check your bills to be sure you aren't also getting dicked around. We probably wouldn't have noticed if we hadn't also been billed for a modem we didn't order, thus increasing our bill by around $100.
I'm including an unusually large picture below, so if your see a big gap at the bottom, that's why.
User Reviews
Submitted by Ducky (user info) at 2009-11-16 00:58:53 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
wooooooooooooooooooooooooooot...something i submit finally makes it :)
Congrats on B@W
Submitted by antluvdog (user info) at 2009-11-11 22:20:55 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
http://local.ubersite.com/m/28001
Submitted by simple_catalyst (user info) at 2009-10-20 13:01:03 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Epic Win.
Submitted by Average_Dan (user info) at 2009-10-19 18:29:40 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Assholes
And I was just thinking of switching to AT&T. Thank you for disuading me.
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2009-10-19 15:42:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
This one time, at my house, I noticed that my bill was abnormally high so i looked at the detail and found i was being billed $30 a month for some gay ass subscription services that I never touched or looked at or had even heard of. My twelve year old son on the other hand, needing more points for whatever facebook game he was playing, had provided his phone number on three sites thereby initiating service.
THIS is the tact you should have taken/story you should have told. It's actually true in my case but as soon as i said "twelve year old son signed up" they agreed to cancel the service and refund me the prior months to current. bastards.
Submitted by monkeyswithguns (user info) at 2009-10-17 10:36:55 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by X54 (user info) at 2009-10-17 10:13:58 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Don't let'em get away with it. The only reason Agori is still in business is because most people can't be bothered to deal with them. As much as I hate to say it, because I really fucking can't stand them, you might want to find some sleazy lawyer to file a class action suit against the phone company. They're the ones holding all the cards; if it costs them more to do business with Agora than they're making off them, they'll drop'em. Trying to sue Agora would probably be hopeless since they're probably not even a legitimate company.
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You should check out the site I linked to below, it's basically a method the FCC has for essentially fining the phone companies so that it becomes unprofitable to do business with these types of companies.
The problem with a lawsuit is that going up against BellSouth/AT&T is like trying to fight a battle against any other large company.
1st, you have to find a decent lawyer who is WILLING to go up against them and their Montgomery Burns-esque legal team(s).
2nd, you need to have some method of contacting a minimum of around 100,000 other scam victims to even count as a class action lawsuit.
3rd and finally, you have to have the money to retain the lawyer, and fight the legal costs, and courtroom battles, as well as switching your phone/internet companies. (I have one other option where I live, Satellite internet/magic jack, both of which have provide worse service, as well as problems of their own.)
As much as I hate it, I just don't have that kind of time or money.
Submitted by orphelia (user info) at 2009-10-17 10:17:14 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by X54 (user info) at 2009-10-17 10:13:58 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
"Either way though it's an undeserved hassle. I'm just glad they didn't take more of it and we caught it soon."
Don't let'em get away with it. The only reason Agori is still in business is because most people can't be bothered to deal with them. As much as I hate to say it, because I really fucking can't stand them, you might want to find some sleazy lawyer to file a class action suit against the phone company. They're the ones holding all the cards; if it costs them more to do business with Agora than they're making off them, they'll drop'em. Trying to sue Agora would probably be hopeless since they're probably not even a legitimate company.
Submitted by monkeyswithguns (user info) at 2009-10-16 22:27:17 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
As it turns out, we called up Ma Bell, and told the fat old bitch to give it up.
We ended up getting them to take care of closing out our never applied for account, and upon contacting the scam company, was told by them that they'd "reimburse us for the last 2 billing periods....within 3-4 billing cycles..."
I seriously doubt that we'll be able to recover our money from them, or that we'll even see the 2 months of billing they said they'd give us back.
I am in the process of finding out if my situation applies to the process known as "slamming", and am currently filling out a complaint form with the FCC regarding these little practices, which they have a fancy-schmancy site about here:
http://www.fcc.gov/slamming/
Either way though it's an undeserved hassle. I'm just glad they didn't take more of it and we caught it soon.
Submitted by X54 (user info) at 2009-10-16 21:21:37 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Excellent! Berty's right, though. Your only recourse is through AT&T.
Submitted by GroundHorse (user info) at 2009-10-16 19:18:58 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I wouldn't mind seeing this at that b site.
Are you listening, bart?
Submitted by CaptainThorns (user info) at 2009-10-16 18:58:32 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Picard auto+2!
Submitted by lungfish (user info) at 2009-10-16 18:38:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by paxilliona (user info) at 2009-10-16 17:56:19 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I would never pay money I dont owe. Why would you?
Submitted by joedaddy (user info) at 2009-10-16 15:36:21 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Soyware (user info) at 2009-10-15 20:10:50 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I used to work for verizon and gave countless people the same hassle you went through.
***
i fucked that company out of $170.00 and a few others who have tried to fuck me
how do i do it ??
i'm old, wise and can fuck harder than any punk who trys to take my $
Submitted by apollo88 (user info) at 2009-10-16 13:42:50 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
hhahah
i've tried to cancel a sprint wireless card I bought two years ago that never worked yet I've been billed $60 every month for two years.
I even cancelled my card at one point but somehow they just started billing the new one.
I've still not figured that out unless they are in cahoots with amex.
Submitted by august_sobriquet (user info) at 2009-10-16 08:52:51 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Reviews, excellent
Post, WTFin'H is that all about?
Submitted by Berty (user info) at 2009-10-16 08:48:30 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
After doing a smidge of reading, the legal term for this is aquiesance. This is different from consent as, basically, you have not given your express consent. My understanding of the law (which is very crude) is that if the company were to do something to your account, say they were to change your billing schedule, that affected them but not yourself directly then that is fine but there are issues involved in doing something that directly affects you.
Now I've owned shares in companies that have been taken over and offered deals which would be put through unless I specifically objected, however in those situations that was because the broker whom I traded through was consenting the deal on my behalf. It may be a similar case with AT&T and yourself with AT&T acting as an intermediary, but I do not know. I'm not an expert.
Basically, I reckon you should call AT&T and get very, very, bald with them and they will probably give you your money back.
Submitted by SgtHartman (user info) at 2009-10-16 08:45:11 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Dude, fucking pure awesome.
Submitted by F.J.Bell (user info) at 2009-10-16 08:42:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Bastards.
Submitted by BranDo (user info) at 2009-10-16 05:15:52 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
We had a nice encounter with BT International over the last weeks.
They are being billed for services we provide for them and those bills were going through Amsterdam.
We then received the invoice back stating we should now use their office in Brussels, okay no sweat.
That invoice came back too asking for the use of their Prague office, we can do that too.
No no no, send it to the Prague office but use the Brusels office as the billed party, WTF?
10 minutes after that message the phone rang and we were asked to re-send our bill to Amsterdam...
At least we're getting paid, we think.
Submitted by pandora (user info) at 2009-10-16 02:37:12 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I'm too drunk to read right now; +2 for the pics
Submitted by cheerios (user info) at 2009-10-15 23:37:01 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
fucking scammers.
Submitted by Ducky (user info) at 2009-10-15 21:21:25 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I loved this so much.
Submitted by TuTs (user info) at 2009-10-15 20:47:53 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
For asshole phone companies. I just got charged $170 for using the internet on my mobile.
Submitted by Shlongy (user info) at 2009-10-15 20:35:38 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
That looked like a lot of work.
I made it almost halfway through before I lost interest.
I won't ruin your rating...for now. I'm feeling nice.
Submitted by Soyware (user info) at 2009-10-15 20:10:50 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I used to work for verizon and gave countless people the same hassle you went through.
Forgive me flying spaghetti monster, for I have sinned...
Submitted by forensicgirl3 (user info) at 2009-10-15 19:57:19 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Borg
Submitted by skrapmetal (user info) at 2009-10-15 19:41:15 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Perhaps if you read through your username, you may find an appropriate course of action.
Submitted by HurtByTheSun (user info) at 2009-10-15 18:22:53 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Win.
Submitted by JonnyX (user info) at 2009-10-15 18:09:12 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
what's next, a rant about the high price of Metamucil?
Submitted by GroundHorse (user info) at 2009-10-15 17:59:15 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Uber is dead. lol
Submitted by AshK (user info) at 2009-10-15 17:58:32 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
well that sucks a bunch of rancid cock
the bill, not the post
the post in no way blew
...that i noticed,