Reader Sean writes:
Hi Ben -
I see your name attached to stories regarding Sprint…and I really appreciate your site posting the executive customer service number! It actually got me past the inner circle of hell that is general customer service.
I received a $10k bill from them for one month of service for what I learned to be ‘premium texting’ done by my disabled 18 year-old daughter. This whole ‘service’ is such a huge scam, yet Sprint acts as if they’ve done nothing wrong. In fact, one of their finance people actually asked me last week why I would give my disabled daughter a phone!!
So, thanks to the number you guys posted, I reached someone that I could actually talk to civilly. They have offered a 50% reduction, which still borders on criminal, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to do much about it. If you have thoughts to the contrary, I sure would love to hear from you or anyone else at your site!! J
You all are doing great work!!
Regards,
-Sean
Ahh, premium text messaging. According to the Seattle P-I there are some parents in California who are suing Jamster for misleading their children with their advertising.
Meanwhile, parents in California are suing Jamster, alleging that it targets children on Nickelodeon and MTV with misleading advertising, said Robert Thompson, the parents’ attorney. Kids who texted a number in the ad thought they were getting free ringtones, but later discovered they had signed up for subscription plans, he said. Once enrolled, it was very difficult to cancel, Thompson said.
Since it’s not really “Sprint” that’s billing you, you’re probably going to have a difficult time with this dispute. It might be a good idea to talk to an attorney.
Anyone had any success disputing a text messaging bill of this magnitude?
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This is all on the phone company here.
They are allowing those premium text services that provide no value to their customers.
I would not be suprise if the phone company gets 50% of the bill for those services to allow those companies on their network. It would make sense why they would drop down to 50%. Its probably in the conflict resolution plan.
@duncanfj:
Well, not a majority, just you.
As for a descrition of premium texting ….
From the article
“I received a $10k bill from them for one month of service for what I learned to be ‘PREMIUM TEXTING’ done by my disabled 18 year-old daughter.”
I just feel like if she signed up with a ton of premium texting services, won’t that show up in your general statement, the one that doesn’t detail each and every call and minutes logged? I know when I get my bill I have a basic rundown of my total for this month and under that, a breakdown. It’ll be one big sum for my minutes, my regular charge for texting and then taxes and fees. If there’s something that I don’t recognize (like premium texting) with a lot of money after it, darn right I’m going to investigate. Did this guy just not investigate? Or is this all in one month? We need more information.
So how does one determine that it’s a “premium” texting service if you don’t get the fine print from a commercial or whatever? Does the premium texting mean anything you send/receive from one of the shortened 4 or 5 digit phone numbers?
@duncanfj: The article DIDNT describe premium texting, it just said it was premium rather then standard texting. I guess Ben just assumed people knew what that was. And if you didnt all you had to do was read the comments to understand. My point still stands, you made a huge leap calling us all out and saying she may have been deaf.
Also, I knew a couple kids who played ball at Gallaudet and their families. Ive never heard a deaf person being referred to as “Disabled” by a parent.
If this man is utilizing his daughter’s disability as traction or sympathy, that’s deplorable. But I’ll play Devil’s Advocate here and say that because of her inability to distinguish between right and wrong, the rack up of charges occurred.
I was about to say I questioned how disabled one can be if they know how to order these services via text message, but I just recalled my disabled little brother ordering about $500 worth of pay-per-view porn on accident, so I can see how this is in the realm of possibilities.
That being said, I think the fault lies solely with the parent. What if this girl wasn’t an 18-yr old disabled girl, but rather a 6-yr old “normal” girl. How would the argument change then?
@DojiStar: Uh, if you’re there in the house with the kid….why does the kid need the cell phone?
Take the phone away while you are with said child if the child may not be able to make the right decisions with the phone.
I don’t know how sprint does there billing but I have Cingular (AT&T now). If you go online you can check out how much data (texting or mms) or calls that you have used so far, everyday.
I was wondering how disabled this 18 yr old was too. She must not be to disabled if she knows how to watch tv and be able to text a number or if she was just texting someone. If you’re 18 and don’t understand that the cell phone companies nickel and dime you for everything then you don’t need a phone. Those stupid businesses that sell the ringtones and whatever else do the same thing.
I for one will not buy my kids a cellphone. I didn’t have one when I was growing up, what the heck do my kids need one for? if it comes down to it that they absolutely need one it will be pre-paid.
@pinkbunnyslippers:
That must have been a hell of an educational day for you little brother
There isn’t enough information given in the OP for me to take a side.
@ry81984: So I assume they should not allow 900 numbers either? these companies are providing a service.
it’s not like this girl was billed $10,000 for nothing.
she received $10,000 with or flirts, horoscopes, jokes, etc.
I don’t pay for phone sex either, but if you’re going to utilize a product… you’re liable.
Same as saying “my idiot son spent $10,000 on phone sex and we’re not paying because Sprint is evil!”
@Greeper: I would agree, but in this case it appears to be a mental disability. But if it is not a mental disability, then it is just for sympathy
Citibank won’t even let you charge gas more than once a day or so without calling you. The cell company had an obligation to check for fraud can call the billed party once the bill exceeded a rational amount like $300. They have realtime billing tracking for fraud detection and they need to use it instances like this.
@Crazytree: That’s basically it; these are the new generation of 1-900 numbers and kids need to be warned appropriately by the parents just like I was warned when I was growing up.
@many others, parental responsibility doesn’t come from 24/7 supervision, it comes from imparting the ability to ‘be not stupid’ to your children.
The real joke is that alot of the stuff these joke premiums send are public domain jokes anyway; you’re just paying for the ‘service.’
Oh and if the kid was deaf it could be argued that the closed captioning occluded the contract terms.
I see the ads on TV for these services all the time… “Text WIN to 80808 to be entered in the contest!” (Small print at the bottom: $0.99 per message, 1 message per day, text STOP to 80808 to cancel).
My fave has to be the Joke service which advertises with “Let our joke of the day be your joy of the day!” Yeah, I’m sure all the people paying $0.99 for each crappy joke really appreciate it. What a joy.
@Skeptic: Sprint typically has a balance limit depending on the account. When I first opened my account it was $125 and now it’s 800ish, but I have no idea if it applies to premium messaging because I have never actually used it.
@radleyas: LOL I think he was trying to order pro-wrestling. Too bad it wasn’t the type of wrestling he was looking for!!!
When I was six, there was an ad for a 900 number you could call to talk to Santa. I remember calling one time and talking to him about what I wanted for Christmas…. and then over the next few days I called approximately 20 more times and would hang up as soon as “Santa” answered. “Ho ho ho!” -click-
Ahhh, good times when my parents got THAT bill.
But I was six.
Just sayin’.
If the child is mentally disabled, then it doesn’t matter if she’s 18, she could still be considered a minor unable to enter into the implied contract right?
I would think that if that were the case, the poster would have mentioned it…..seems there’s something missing from this story.
@radleyas: not all moms & dads can take calls at work or even have fixed break schedules, so for some, the only to be reached during business hours is via text.
cell phones are like any other tool – used responsibly, they’re a boon. used otherwise, they’re a p.i.t.a. at best.
(1) How does the fact that the daughter is disabled have anything to do with the situation? Why did the guy even include this fact? It’s completely irrelevant. And why did The Consumerist highlight it by including it in the headline?
(2) Disabled could mean so many things, so it’s questionable that he used this vague term without any clarification. Is she developmentally disabled, as in she has Down’s Syndrome, etc? Or is she deaf? Or is she paralyzed from the waist down? But regardless, it has no bearing on the story anyway.
(3) Our state and national legislators NEED to do something about this problem. How are these companies allowed to continue to operate? Clearly what they are doing is fraudulent. Also, why do networks like Nickelodeon and MTV show these commercials? It’s completely unethical of them to promote this scam on children.
I think perhaps a letter-writing campaign to networks that show these commercials is in order. Parents around the country should write in and say that they will boycott the network if they continue to play these commercials.
Ok, here’s the deal…
Thanks to Consumerist, I’ve been able to REALLY get some sh*t done. I’ve had a $1,400 roaming bill turned into $300, had an early termination fee taken off, gotten free internet on my phone, free picture mail, free… I’ve just gotten a ton of things.
My advice: Call the CEO’s office. Script out your exact talking points before you call. Tell him that when you’ve tried to call customer service, you were told that your daughter shouldn’t have a phone because she’s disabled, and you’re thoroughly offended. Also say that you’ve reported this to the website Consumerist.com already, and they want to do a follow-up story as soon as possible. Make sure you tell the story as succinctly as possible.
It will probably be in a voice mail, but who knows. Just make sure you have your entire message and conversation scripted out so you don’t sound like a dumb a$$ and ramble on for 20 minutes in a voice mail.
If an assistant picks up, don’t ask to speak with the CEO, just say you’re having an issue with Sprint/Cingular/Whoever it is, and since customer service won’t help you, you were hoping he/she could help you out instead. I’m sure he/she would be happy to hear your story.
Hope it’s a voice mail, because then the CEO will listen to it himself.
I think your hook is that your daughter is disabled, and customer service is insulting you by saying she shouldn’t have the right to a have a cell phone.
.
.
.
HOPE THAT HELPS!
@Draconianspark: These thing arent billed like a phone call. Sprints per-message charges are, but the bill from the outside vendors usually come in a batch. So it could be 30-45 days later when they get a full accounting. Its like roaming if you wander onto a smaller carrier, those minutes show up months later sometimes.
@legotech: There is no implied contract on this. The parents have an actually contract. The childs usage is covered under that. Just cause she is “unable” to make a rational decision to enter a contract doesnt keep her from making purchases. This is like saying if your child goes into the store and buys a pack of gum and chews it before you know about it, you can go back and demand they refund your money because she didnt have the ability to make a rational purchase.
@brookeln: See, I think that it’s so vague helps! You don’t know what disabled means, but if you’re trying to get this taken off…. It’s a pretty good way to be like “oh, see! Wasn’t my fault! She’s disabled…” Then you can cue the violin and begin a monologue of how difficult it’s been raising her, and you just want to…… you just wanted to give her a normal life and let her have a cell phone. Can’t you see? Is that too much to ask?! Please…. Take the 10k off my bill………… for her little Disabled Daisy?
…sold
I was looking on youtube to see if I could find any of the commercials (what few there are the fine print is illegible, BTW) and I came across this:
[www.youtube.com]
Apparently Sprint has a series of instructional videos for their services, including premium text messages.
“A few weeks ago I subscribed to premium text messages from a third party provider using one of those 5 digit codes. It was absolutely great! But now, I want to UNsubscribe, and I’ll show you how to do it in 2 easy steps!”
This guy looks like he just stepped on a nail or something.
@radleyas:
Indeed, we have had conversations with her about acceptable uses of the cell phone, and the demise of the “phone fairy”. But… the point I was making is that teenagers, by their very nature, are trusting souls who see something fun, impulsively pursue it if there is not cost cited (never mind the 3 point font at the bottom of the screen), then are surprised when bad things happen. Things like this are teaching opportunities, but there’s a lot more than when us old folks grew up. Back in my day, we didn’t have internet, cell phones, only three tv channels, etc. Yes, we could get drunk and drive our car into a rock and kill ourselves, but there’s a lot more temptations and diversions now than before. I just get irritated when traps get set, then everyone gets all fired up and screaming “Oh, it’s YOUR fault your child is so bone crushingly stupid to fall for this”.
I gotta agree with the personal responsibility someone elce asked about. I don’t see how this is sprints fault. Is it verizons fault if your kid sits at home and calls a bunch of 1900 numbers? Or is it mastercards fault if you give your kid a copy of your credit card and they buy a bunch of porn off the internet with it?
While I don’t like these premium texting scams it is the guys fault. He gave his daughter the phone. It is not like the phone was stolen and these charges were ranked up.
I gotta say that somewhere in this whole complaint is a rotting fish. $100 or even $1000 in premium charges is possible. But $10,000? Did the child signup for “Dress up like Mary had a little lamb and squish worms” premium p_rn?
And IF, and that is a key assumption, IF the child is disabled, then what in hades is the child doing signing up for premium kinky p_rn?
At the same time, most companies perform a self adudit on their billing cycles. Hells Bells, my dinky little city checks water bills…. any bill that exceeds the prior months bill by a large percentage are automatically checked for errors.
As much cellphone bashing that takes place, I suspect the cellphone providers also perform some basic checks, and I bet those checks are done every day or even every hour. Much of those checks are for system safety, but at the same time I would expect the cellphone provider to watch for skyrocketing charges being racked up on an account …. I know my creditcard issuing bank watches out for unusual charges, so why can’t a cell company as well?
Even if the cell company let the bill pass without verification and cross checking, how about the Consumerist editorial staff doing some due diligence and perform some basic fact checking? This post just screams for a closer evaluation and verification of the facts.
@mike1731:
I was a teenager not so long ago. I was a cynical as they come. I find it hard to believe that other teens aren’t the same as I was.
@the_wiggle:
Gee, what did people do before text message?? If your that spoiled .. I just don’t know .. meh
My teenager will have a cellphone.
It will have five buttons.
“Mom”, “Dad”, “Home”, “911″, “Hangup”
@ad8bc:
You, Sir/Madam have a damn good head on your shoulders! It’s nice to hear a little sense around here.
Hmm, $10k – that’s like $20 an hour, every waking hour (~16), of every day in the entire month. How about we get to see a scan of the bill?
If the girl has a diminished mental capacity then she may not be able to enter into a legally binding contract, this may be a means to have the fees waived.
However it turns out, get a credit limit put on the account, most carries offer this service which should provide at least some protection.
@BensAngel: Agreed
10k Bill? Thats pretty unbelivable at that.
Sprint “Eating” 5k of the bill out of the goodness of their hearts? Sounds like a BS story to me almost. As much as I come off as a jackass, I would like to see a scan of this bill. I work for a cell company and see customers bills all the time. Once had a customer with a 1700$ bill for 1000+ long distance minutes, quite a bit of unsubscribed data and a few hundred texts (with no text plan)… Don’t know how you can hit 10k…
Plus maybe its just sprint, but most companies will cut off your service when it reaches a certain cap, even if you dont request it, how did this hit 10k?
Thats an average of 333 dollars a day (including rate plan etc.), which, saying most subscription services run at 1$ a day, that would mean around 330 services would have to have been sending her texts. Are there even 300 of those services around?!
I used to work for a major cell phone company that had an AIM feature. I am not lying when I saw $40K bills. Anytime you send/receive you are charged. Many people were leaving their phone signed in to AOL all day. You could join chat rooms too. And it was the same thing, you are charged for anything sent/received from EVERYONE in the room. Now, the usual story was “I had no idea it charged me.” Guess what? IT’S IN YOUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS. It disturbs me the number of people who sign contracts without reading them. And for the record, these were rarely credited because it is spelled out clearly in the contract.
@radleyas:
Seriously. I’m just trying to remeber, and I don’t believe I’ve ever actually fallen for a scam. Other than a back-of-Popular-Mechanics lockpick kit, which turned out to be crap. Oh well, ten bucks down the drain and a lesson learned.
Seems like if they checked their options, they could have gotten a sprint ip relay plan for 29.99 a month and say something along a bb since that would included unlimited messaging. This is an optional plan for the disabled.
Excuse-me, but isn’t a contract (aka free ringtones in exchange of paying text messages) illegal, if entered by someone who’s NOT legally an adult?
Can’t she file a complaint with BBB?
@justcuase: It doesn’t include premium texts ( premium texts are independent of Sprint and are provided by a different company).
Premium text messaging is a service that the cell phone company carries but doesn’t provide. It’s sort of like signing up for a monthly service charge for a website or something on your credit card–yeah, your credit card is sending you a bill each month, but they’re passing your money along to the company who’s initiating the charges.
I’m wondering why Sprint didn’t catch potential fraud or something. Your credit card company would call you up if you purchased something huge and way out of the ordinary or ran up lots of small charges in a couple days–why can’t your cell phone company call you and say, “hey, we noticed $250 of charges in the last few days and this is a little unusual, are you aware of these charges or has your phone been stolen or something?” Since the money is NOT going to Sprint, there’s no reason they couldn’t watch for something like this.
I don’t know whether the issue is that parents need to watch their teenage/young adult children more closely (disabled or not) but that everyone needs to read contracts carefully, learn what their responsibilities and rights are, realize that no one wants to give you something for free or cheap (even ringtones!) and understand how to deal with technology in today’s world. If you can’t do that, get out of the race, keep your landline, or get a prepaid phone.
@eblack:
Well, I suppose it all depends on when you were a teen. I turned 18 in 1996. My generation is sorta known for it’s cynacism and apathy … meh …
@radleyas: You, sir, are a pompous jerk.
(I realize this isn’t the most erudite post ever, but some people deserve such scorn.)
If I had a kid that rang up $10k in one month on their cell phone, if they weren’t physically disabled before I got the bill, they certainly would be after.
@rjhiggins:
I Sir/Madam, am not a “Sir”. I believe the correct term for someone like me is “uppity bitch” or “snobby cunt”. I’ll have check with my people on this one. However, I’m pretty sure “Sir” is not what you’re looking for.
All in all, I disagree with your assessment. However, you might as well have the gender correct, shouldn’t you??
I have Sprint service and put my younger 15 year old brother on my plan. He subscribed to one of those “free ringtone” ads and I ended up with an extra $9.99 charge on my account. After explaining to him that he’s responsible for that charge because I’m not paying it, he got on the phone with Sprint customer service and explained the situation. The charge was removed immediately with no questions asked. I think Sprint handled it very well and my brother learned his lesson.
I am rather confused by the relevance of the daughter’s disability as well.
@Tonguetied: If she’s mentally disabled, she might have a hard time understanding the difference between calling her father on the phone as acceptable use, and accidentally signing up for “Free ringtone” subscriptions as not acceptable.
Not saying it makes it free, but that could be what he means.
I personally have disabled all incoming and outgoing messaging on my phones because people I don’t know or barely know will send me messages thinking everyone and their mother has a texting plan. I have no idea how much those texts I didn’t ask for cost, so I simply blocked any from coming in. He should have Sprint disable texting on the phone if he doesn’t want to play for it in the future.
I can’t find the original post now, but I just wanted to point out that cell phones are legally REQUIRED to be able to make emergency calls, even deactivated ones without a SIM card and so on. So the person that said, “here’s the problem with prepaid phones, what if they text so much they run out of money and can’t make an emergency call?” was clearly wrong. So that was a dumb argument.
@youwantedahero:
You’re right about the ability to call 911 on a phone w/no minutes, etc. The problem is, with kids involved, the average parents definition of “emergency” can differ from the 911 operator/local police definition.
“Mom, I lost my key and the only neighbor that’s home is Brenda” (the neighborhood drunken psycho-bitch) when it’s below freezing qualifies as an emergency in my book. 911/cops won’t want to hear about it, but I need to know that ASAP.