AT&T gets slapped for deceptive third-party charges
By Chris Ziegler 
posted Mar 3rd 2008 9:31AM
posted Mar 3rd 2008 9:31AM
Suffering a rash of complaints after allegedly free ringtone downloads from shady random companies started showing up on AT&T subscribers' bills, the state of Florida stuck it to the carrier -- and they've agreed to pay up. AT&T and the state have jointly announced that as much as $10 million or more could ultimately be refunded to customers, depending on how many folks file claims, in addition to a $2.5 million fine payable to the state itself and $500,000 for educating consumers on "safe internet use." What's really funny about the whole deal is that Florida's attorney general has flat-out admitted that they went after AT&T only because the actual offenders -- the fly-by-night shops operating the free ringtone schemes -- were too difficult to round up and sue. The carrier has said that it has since made unauthorized charges more difficult to rack up, and is quick to point out that other carriers have been just as guilty of allowing the shady dealings; indeed, Florida says there are other investigations underway.
This may sound ridiculous, but go after the hosting companies and shut them down or fine them, that will definetly send a message to these fly by night operation's.
yeah okay, and arrest all the crack dealers on the street while you are at it...that seems to have stopped people from selling drugs...
When are customers actually going to be held responsible for the T/C's they actually sign on for/agree to? These companies always almost always have double opt-in policies, a warning statement at the top of the page that state they'll also be signed up for a $9.99 subscription, etc.
Oh, wait - I forgot. No one's held responsible for their own actions anymore.
ATT's view is that they will pay out now... make them look like the better company. then make it all back by charging over inflated prices for the services they provide
lol yes...this settlement will have some 'Rollover' into the Gov't Fees section of my bill...
Top you mean bottom of the page in size 0 font yea the top of the page giant whatever.
Then on the tv you can't read it at the bottom of the screen these companies shouldn't be allowed to charge you and they all say free they don't vivdly say there gonna charge you for a service.
no stiffskin, I was referring to my AT&T bill, not the small type on the screen that apparently a ton of morons and their kids are taking part in such as "text FUTURE to 2383672893293 etc to see your horoscope!"
I mean what kind of idiot is going to think they arent getting billed for that? Oh, wait, we're in America, that's right.
I miss the days when cell phones were a luxury item and never had to see a douschebag wannabe on his bluetooth headset or some loud woman on her break from mcdonalds talking about some fat man she likes and how "he so fine" to her other girlfriend that is on her break from burger king or quite possibly Sbarro. THESE are the types of people (along with 12-16 yr olds) texting this garbage and getting billed, assuming they arent on prepaid.
i think that is just a little bit of stereotyping. although i completely understand the arguement of people being held responsible for their own actions, i do agree that this happens to be an area that is plagued with misleading advertising.
if someone tells me to send TONE to 12345 for a free ringtone, then why should i be charged? the problem is that the ads focus on the free item but dont mention any charges. they should instead tell you about their service & charges, then position the value of the free item, i.e. send TONE to 12345 to sign up for our monthly 9.99 ringtone service and get a free bonus ringtone.
the problem with that is they know they wont make any money. all their profits are coming from tricking people. that is deceptive and therefore illegal. these people are entitled to their refunds. if the businesses can't be tracked, the carrier is responsible for allowing these businesses to make charges to their clients' bills. that is the position you put yourself in when you allow a third party to bill to your clients' accounts. if the charges were billed to a credit card or bank account, then there would be no one else involved except the third party companies.
i worked for a personal assistance company before that made charges on behalf of its clients. for example, a client could've called us and to say they wanted us to order flowers and have them sent to their mother for her birthday. many times our clients were not satisfied with the service the third parties provided. lets say the flowers were a day late so the client wanted a refund. well if the flower company didn't provide refunds and refused to give one, we ate the cost.
carriers have two choices. dont be involved in third party transactions. or, tighten control on charges because if they get involved then they are putting themselves in the middle.
youngcalihottie-
I think that sums it up perfectly.
when i was still working at ATT it was ridiculous how many people came in with these charges. At my store we would look to see if they came in previously with the same issue, if so they it was their fault and the charges were valid...
but usually it was their first time and we would credit the charges back (1 time courtesy credit) and if we were slow help unsubscribe them.
the worst part of the whole thing was that as soon ans the charges appeared on the bill these fly by night companies already got their money, and the courtesy credit came out of ATT's pocket
also just before i left ATT implemented some parental controls that allows them to assign a PIN to the account, and the PIN is required if there is to be any charge to the account.
At the very least ATT should have a process that a vendor has to get approved before it can place charges onto someones bill
As an employee of AT&T, I see this issue a little differently. The charges customers are incurring are not from AT&T, they are from third party companies. And while I agree that telco companies need to tighten the rules or restrict 3rd party companies from pulling these schemes, what the State of Florida did was wrong. They admitted that it was not AT&T's fault, but sued anyway. If that is not the "American Way" then I don't know what is.
If the State of Florida was going to be fair they would have gone after all the cell phone companies, because they all do this. Or better yet, they wouldn't have gone after any telcos at all. With the attitude that it is too hard to go after the culprits themselves, this issue will never go away.
Stuff like this happened when I was working for Alltel, and my cousin who works for Sprint says it happens all the time. And to top it off, did anyone see how much AT&T has to pay the State of Florida?
What a joke.