David writes:

Long story, short:

Bought 2 (brand new) Instinct phones from Best Buy. One of them turned out to be used. I know this because it had scratches on it, and already had personnel locations stored in the GPS. Found an email address using Consumerist. Hours after sending the email out they call me up and offer me a $50 gift card for my inconvenience. I say 'no', and will talk to them further via email when I get back to town, as I'm on vacation. Email a lot back and forth... and finally get a $120 gift card (the price of the new phone). I used the gift card to pay for the broken phone. Happy endings all thanks to you. I also have to admit, that besides the ass hats that actually work in the store, Best Buy really handled this well.

Hey, that's great to hear!

Here's the email David sent to Best Buy:

Dear Mr. Anderson,

My wife and I just purchased two "brand new" Samsung Instinct phones from the Best Buy in Pentagon City, VA. We were told that even though one was missing the plastic, and had some small defects, that it was brand new, never used. It became clear once it was activated that it was used. In fact, it had addresses stored in the GPS. I am a long time Best Buy customer, but I will be returning the phones and I will buy them directly because I was blatantly lied to.

Sincerely,

David

Best Buy responded with an offer of a $50 gift card, to which David responded:

Thank you for responding to my concern and offering me the $50 gift card. However, at this time I cannot accept this offer. I cannot accept because I do not believe these terms corrects the situation. Let me explain briefly what I have to do because Best Buy has lied to me and my wife: I have to use up my Saturday morning to go to the metro, pay $5 (round trip) and ride the metro approx 30-45 minutes to Pentagon City, walk to the Best Buy - approx 15-20 minutes, and return the used cell phone Best Buy sold me ( who know how long that will take). Then, hopefully the Best Buy is Pentagon city will have another Samsung Instinct (we bought the last one the previous time we were there, which probably explains why they sold us the used one) for us to purchase. And then, I have to get ahold of Sprint to port the number from the previous account to the new cell phone which took 2.5 hours(!) last time. Then return home via walking, and metro.

So that will be my Saturday morning August 23, 2008.

I understand that you had no fault in this matter and that you are only trying to help. I believe that a credit of $120 (the amount I paid for the phone) to my credit card account would right this wrong. It is not all about the money. It's about Best Buy lying directly to my face, causing unneeded stress, and wasting my time and money.

I thank you again for helping.

Best Buy responded:

Thank you for taking the time to follow up with me. I am so sorry that the situation transpired in the manner it did and am still working internally with the Pentagon City store management team to find out why a store associate provided you with incorrect information regarding the phone.

Given the circumstances, I would be happy to send you a $120 gift card to cover the cost of the phone. You can still opt to return the phone to the store within the thirty day return and exchange period to acquire a refund to your credit card, or if it's easier, you are welcome to mail the phone to my attention at the address referenced below and upon its receipt, I will credit your account. I will still send you the gift card given the inconvenience this issue continues to cause you.

Way to go David! We're so proud.

For more information about launching your own EECB, click here.

Here's part of the pseudo-congratulatory email.

Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:20:31 -0400
Subject: You've earned a new phone

UPGRADE TODAY!
Call 1.888.333.0047 or visit your local Verizon Wireless Store today

Upgrade today to any one of our advanced phones or PDAs we carry. Plus, for our exclusive customers, we've added an additional discount on one of our most popular devices, the LG enV2TM. All of this brought to you by Verizon Wireless, with the nation's largest 3G network and most reliable wireless network.

LG Dare Bold touch screen, fearless features, 3G speed capable.

$249.99 2-yr. price
-$ 50.00 Mail-in rebate
$199.99 Your Price

(New 2-yr. agreement required on a new Nationwide Calling plan.)
LG enV2 Full keyboard gives you two ways to text or email.
EXCLUSIVE OFFER for our loyal customers.

It goes on like that for several models. Verizon gets special bonus points for including mail-in rebates as part of the "deal."

(Photo: Getty)

The sales rep did his song and dance and insisted that I test out the phone service for 2 weeks. I said no a few times but he wouldn’t hear it. Well, he gave me 2 phones and 2 phone numbers. No credit check, no money whatsoever. I walked out of the store with 2 free phones and some paper work.

Now Rob can't give the phones back. After several fruitless visits where the store manager told Rob he had to talk to the original salesman (who was never there) to return the phones, Rob simply left them on the counter. A few days later, they arrived at his doorstep via FedEx—along with a photocopy of another customer's driver license.

Here's the full story of what happened after Rob brought the two phones home back in July:

Seven days later we returned to the same store to drop the phones off. They hadn’t been opened or anything. Previously in the week I was cleaning and probably threw out a white piece of paper with what phones we had.

...I had to speak with the exact rep because I didn’t have the all important white piece of paper and there was no way to look at what I had. The rep was not working that day and was told to return Tuesday during the afternoon. I refused because I don’t drive and I'm not taking a bus to a mall from the southern part of the twin cities to the northern part just to drop phones off.

We return that next Sunday (27th) and again were told we can’t give back the phones because the rep isn’t working. I demanded to speak with a manager. I tell him my story, and he finds it interesting about how I got the phones and service. I made a point to say "I said no," and he said, “Yeah he does that a lot.” He mutters something about letting him go and says he can’t do anything because I don’t have the piece of paper.

Flash forward to August 11th, almost a full month after getting the phones, my fiancé and I finally have time to go back to the mall (she works nights I work days). I walk in with the phones. The manager sees me, throws his hands up in the air and says "Not you people again." He tells me to stand over out of the way while helping people. We wait for 15 minutes. Only one person approaches us, some sales rep, and I explain the story and he’s dumbfounded. Finally I walk up to the counter and put the phones on the counter and explain again what’s going on and all I want to do is drop them off. I was assured that it would be taken care of.

Later that night my fiancé and I went to a real T-Mobile store and purchased our phones and service.

On August 15th, a Fedex box is sitting on my door step. Not expecting anything, I open it—what do you know they sent the phones back to me! But whats this, there is more then just two cell phones. The missing piece of white paper they said they don’t have, the whole reason I couldn’t return the phones. But wait there is even more! Two other identical pieces of paper but with others people’s phone information / plan information and a copy of someone’s drivers license!

So I quickly called Mobile Solutions HQ and talk to some girl in California. I explain the situation and she says, “Well we need those phones back. I’m shipping you out some prepaid UPS labels.” I asked what about me getting other people’s identification information. “Well I’m not there so I don’t know what to do.” I look at the address of the license, and it turns out the woman on the license only lives about a mile and half from me if that.

My fiancé and I get in the car and we drive to her house. I knock on the door, ask her if she is so and so on the card she says yes. I asked her if she purchased a phone from the Mobile Solutions in Northtown Mall in Blaine? Again she says yes. I then ask, “Does this look familiar?” showing her her license. Her jaw is on the floor. She exclaimed, "How in the world did you get that?" I explained to her how it came in a Fed Ex package and she was very grateful and thanked me several times, and she was also upset and said she would call Mobile Solutions promptly.

So now I’m still stuck with 2 phones, 2 lines of service that I’m sure still runs if I cared to try and other people’s information. What should I do now?

If Mobile Solutions doesn't have any of your personal information where they can't ruin your credit, return the phones via the UPS labels and promise us you'll never step foot in that store again.

If they have a copy of your drivers license or other important personal info, it's time to make it very clear to Mobile Solutions that you have no intention of being their customer, no matter how hard they make it for you to return the unopened phones. This is a funny story, but it sounds to us like they're trying to force a sale on you, which is criminal rather than incompetent.

Contact Mobile Solution Corporation's main office in San Diego and file a complaint against the Blaine store. Make it clear that you have tried three times to return the phones, and that they are refusing to accept your return. You should also make it clear that the only acceptable resolution for this issue is for Mobile Solutions to accept your return and promise to leave you and your credit history alone. Look at our various EECB posts for more information on how to effectively communicate with a business.

Mobile Solution Corporation
3030 Plaza Bonita Rd
National City, CA 91950
(619) 472-1018
(619) 479-1648

You may also want to contact the Office of the Minnesota Attorney General and file a formal complaint against the store for its business practices, even if the corporate office in San Diego is able to resolve the problem for you. We suspect the Blaine store has some rotten apples on staff and you may help future customers by sounding an alarm now.

Update: Rob sent the following information to us after we posted the story.

As an update I called back the corporate # and [they] didn’t find it cool I wanted to sell the phones. There is some sort of investigation being done and the original salesmen has been fired. After reading some comments I could have been more clear. The only info they got was a copy of my State ID which had my current address on it. I also signed a piece of paper saying “You have two weeks if you don’t return them the phones in two weeks we can charge you blah , blah, blah.” Well, they never took money or a credit card.

Anyway people have been in contact with me. I took the phones because the guy kept insisting and I wanted to be nice. At best I thought what's the worst can happen? I keep the phones for a week bring them back unopened and that will be that.

We still think you should make sure the company accepts a full return and absolves you from that signed agreement, because even without a credit card they may still try to bill you, then eventually send the bill to a collection agency.

He writes:

OK, so here we go! On or about July 25th, I called Sprint to complete a simple ESN swap. And for those who might not be of the gifted mind to understand what that is, it's simply a Phone Swap...going from one phone to the other. Now keep in mind that I already own both phones.
A Motorola Razr-2 and a SANYO 8400.
That means that I previously purchased them, and have decided to swap between one and the other.

Now I am already expired as of May 1st, 2008.

So after deciding that the RAZR-2 was utter garbage that I could not stomach any longer, I called Sprint's NO Customer Service, and informed that rep that I'd like to perform an ESN swap. Now keep in mind that this unintelligent rep never asked if it was a new or already owned phone. Just said ok....and proceeded to ask for the information.

So...needless to say... I went from the Motorola RAZR-2 TO the Sanyo 8400, which Sprint no longer sells, so it's not a NEW phone!

Lo and behold, just a few days ago, I received a letter from Sprint in the mail that says: "Keeping you in the know"...you've recently made some changes...etc..yadda yadda yadda. And along with that, on the right side of the letter , I notice that My CONTRACT has been extended.

Now keep in mind, I am ALREADY EXPIRED AS OF: MAY 1, 2008! So, what this excellent, educated and "well-trained" Sprint rep did was, RENEW my agreement, without telling me, without asking pertinenet information to make a decision as to renew or NOT renew. Just went ahead and got themselves a nice fat commission that I'm sure Sprint won't do anything to reprimand her for!

Just keep them exployed and working tirelessly, renewing unknowing customers all the time to get themselves false commissions!

I've stuck with Sprint since 20000, defended them against all kinds of craziness and even gone thru it previously with their "well-trained"reps, and I still stayed, but this is the last and I MEAN THE LAST GAWD DAMN STRAW!

My Account Number is: XXXXXXX
My Phone Number is: XXX-XXX-XXXX

I have already been assigned a few different case numbers, of which I have yet to have ANY of them resolved. I am tired of waiting to speak with someone. As quick as it took to extend my contract is as quick as it should have taken for it to be rolled back, but of couse they never help, or the reps never know what the hell they are doing, except for: giving mis-information and extending contracts falsely!

I want this issue resolved and I want BOTH lines on my account to be without contract for this hassle. I want some type of compensation that clearly and truely says I am sorry, and not from someones mouth.

If not, then let me out without obligation, financial or otherwise and I'll take the business to a more Realiable CORPORATION who knows how to run a business, called Verizon, T-Mobile or AT&T!

And to think I canceled my AT&T line to bring that over to my Sprint account, just to take advantage of the old SERO offer.

The only problems with at&t WAS THAT THEIR PRICES WERE HIGH AS HELL. Other than that, they beat Sprint in terms of Customer Satisfaction every step of the way. TIP TO SPRINT: Get these ghetto, non-educated, can't read, add, or subtract, low life people out of your company!

Sprint shouldn't hesitate to dissolve the unilateral contract extension if you call the special hotline they created for Consumerist readers at: (703) 433-4401.

(Photo: The Consumerist)

Now that the California Courts have ruled that ETFs are illegal, does Consumerist have any advice for consumers, like me, who have an outstanding ETF debt with a non-Sprint carrier?

I ask because I canceled my 2002 Cingular (at the time) service due to horrible coverage, terrible customer service, and that I had to routinely call every stinking month to have bogus text message spam charges removed. I switched services, and after doing so, Cingular stuck me with a $270 early termination fee, failed to inform me of the fee or that it was going into collections, and next thing I know, I'm in collections for $580. I didn't find out about this until recently, as I am about to purchase a new car and needed a copy of my credit report.

I initially refused to pay because my cancelling my service was completely justified on my part; the service and coverage I was told I would receive when I signed the contract was NOT at all what I actually did receive. I also refused because their raising of text message fees was a materially adverse change to the contract. Neither Cingular nor their collections drones care.

You can imagine my excitement to hear that ETFs are illegal. I would like to file a suit in small claims against the collections agency and ATT (as successor in interest to Cingular) to recover damages incurred as a result of their sending my account, erroneously, into collections over the ETF AND for attempting to force me to pay a fee which is now known as illegal.

Any advice or leads for advice would be greatly appreciated.

You should obviously talk to a lawyer for real legal advice, "Jurgis," but for now you might want to break your problem into two separate issues:

1. You have a collection on your account that you are disputing;
2. That collection is an ETF, which may end up being illegal banned/voided in your state.

Forget about the legality of the ETF for now; you should file disputes with all three major credit reporting agencies over the $580 collection. The original problem exists regardless of what happens in state or federal court, which is that the company didn't honor their side of the agreement, then failed to notify you that they were sending it to a collection agency.

As to last week's news that ETFs are "illegal" in California, Sprint Nextel will almost certainly file an appeal. Additionally, the ruling might not stand if the FCC moves ahead with its industry-backed plan to step in and say states can't regulate carrier fees. (And if they do, then that might be overturned if states take the FCC to court.) Update: according to outphase, this court's ruling isn't binding upon any other court, or even on itself.

Find a local lawyer to ask whether you can take advantage of the ETF ruling, but our guess is for your immediate needs it won't matter.

That doesn't mean you can't try small claims court anyway, though, if you want to claim that Cingular didn't honor its agreement and that their text rate increase meant you were given the opportunity to legally get out of contract. (Here's a story of a reader who took this route with a subcontractor and won.)

(Photo: Getty

But in this first real slowdown of the wireless age, consumers seem to be saying that home-based telephones are expendable luxuries, like Starbucks lattes or Coach handbags. And it makes sense. Confronted with high inflation, soaring energy costs, and stagnant wages, millions of households are facing choices about which monthly bills to pay and which commitments to maintain. And if it comes down to one or the other, the mobile or the home-based land line, it's clear which is a necessity and which is an option.

It's not just tight budgets, though. Slate speculates that foreclosures are also having an effect, because as people move into rentals or in with relatives, they shut off existing landlines and don't bother reconnecting.

I haven't had a traditional landline since 2002. At first I moved to Vonage, then a DIY SIP setup that I never could get working correctly. Finally I realized it was both cheaper and simpler to just forego a home line entirely.

"Phones Without Homes" [Slate] (Thanks to SpiderJerusalem!)
(Photo: Getty)

[Full disclosure: I bought the N95 the day it came out in the U.S., so I'm not pretending to be immune to gadget lust. On the plus side, there were only, like, six customers in the Nokia store at the time.]

"Are some lives so empty that an iPhone 3G will fill the void?" [Wisebread] (Thanks to Chris!)

As far as the other policies go: AT&T and Verizon have similar pro-rating plans, (for each month that goes by they deduct $5 from the ETF) but Verizon starts discounting earlier than AT&T, according to Consumer Reports.

When you look at 1 year contracts, T-Mobile's plan looks a lot better. Their discounts beat both AT&T and Verizon after 6 months. Also, if you cancel T-Mobile in the final month of either a 2 year or a 1 year contract, you'll have to pay either $50 or your monthly fee — whichever is less.

Something to watch out for: T-Mobile's trial period is only 20 days, while AT&T and Verizon both give you 30 days.

T-Mobile announces pro-rating of termination fees [Consumer Reports]

• AT&T - mymessages.wireless.att.com
  Preferences
• Verizon - vtext.com
  Text Messaging > Preferences > Text Blocking
• Sprint - www.sprint.com
  My Online Tools > Communication Tools > Settings & Preferences
• T-Mobile - www.t-mobile.com
  Communication Tools

"How to Block Cellphone Spam" [New York Times] (Thanks to Melinda!)
(Photo: justinbaeder)

Another way to retain users is to offer lower service prices. In fact, here's one way competitors may have a leg up on AT&T, which has raised service prices for iPhone buyers as it tries to recoup the higher subsidy cost. "The operators are going to get very aggressive with pricing in the second half of the year," says Walter Piecyk, an analyst with Pali Research. "We could see 30% to 40% price cuts in the industry, [possibly led by Sprint]. If people are paying more for gas, saving $50 a month for wireless will be compelling."

"The iPhone's Impact on Rivals" [BusinessWeek]
(Photo: Getty)

From the New York Times:

Walter Rolandi is founder of the Voice User Interface Company, which designs and assesses interactive voice response systems for companies. As part of his job, he hears how people use the systems.

“I’ve listened to thousands of people interacting with machines,” Mr. Rolandi said. “You hear sighs of resignation. You hear people swear. If businesses knew what I knew, they would not design them this way. Many people do not take into account the emotional state of the customer. When you call someone for customer service, you’ve got a problem and you’re probably in a bad mood. You hear someone telling you your call is so important that we won’t let you talk to a human. Then they slap people with too many options, and eventually, you’re in a fight with the system. When you do get a customer representative, you’re loaded for bear.”

So the next time you're stuck in an endless "press 2, press 3, press 4, say your name" hell, be sure to say "hi" to Walter.. just in case.

Far From Always Being Right, the Customer Is on Hold [NYT]
(Photo: Getty)

From LiveJournal:

Robert Dotson, President
T-Mobile
12920 SE 38th Street
Bellevue, WA 98006-1350

Dear Mr. Dotson:

I am writing to inform you of the appalling service I have received from your company as well as your employees.

I received a Sidekick Slide for a Christmas present on December 25, 2007 from [X person]. Upon some thought, however, I decided I didn't want the phone and asked X to return it. [X person] having bought the phone as present, assumed with the Christmas season that there would be no problem returning the phone, only to find out that since he had bought the phone in advance, the 14 day period had expired and he was now stuck with a $350 dollar phone.

I, for one, thought he must be mistaken, and asked him to send the phone to me in [redacted] from where he lived in [redacted]. Upon receiving the phone along with the receipt of purchase, I called T-Mobile customer service and explained my problem to two people. Both representatives basically said, we're sorry, but since you're not a T-Mobile customer, we can't help you, but you're welcome to write to our customer service department and we suggest you sell the phone on eBay.

I have to say that this is the first time that a company has ever conveyed the message that since I'm not a subscriber I am not valued as a consumer. It was also the first time I'd ever been told, "too bad, sell it on eBay."

I'm sure you can appreciate I was a bit dumbstruck by this suggestion and thought by writing a letter to your Customer Service Department I might receive a bit more satisfaction, but of course this was not to be. I received a letter back with my name misspelled (is it really that hard to check the letter I sent for the correct spelling?) and was told the same story, "you're not a customer; you are not valued even as a potential customer. You deal with it."

Since I clearly wasn't going to be helped by T-Mobile in any way, I put the phone up for sale on eBay. It was bought by a nice man in [redacted], who three days after he received the phone, e-mailed me to say he'd taken the phone to the T-Mobile near his home to have it activated only to be told that a brand new phone, which was still in the box and had all the accessories in plastic, was broken and couldn't be repaired. You can imagine our collective shock.

I apologized and asked him to send me the phone so I could refund him his money. When the phone arrived I took it my local T-Mobile store, where one of your representatives X actually attempted to help me with my problem for a change.

It seemed that there was something blocking the Sim card outlet and thusly the phone couldn't be used, but X recommended an outside vendor to repair the phone and gave me his business card.

As helpful as X was I still waited to speak to the manager, because surely there had to be something that could be done. At the very least the phone could have been exchanged for a model that worked; it didn’t have to be new it just needed to work.

After waiting 30 minutes for the manager to come back from lunch, however, the manager then told me the same thing your customer service reps told me over the phone — that since I didn't have your phone service, I wasn't under warrantee and thusly he wasn't obligated to help me, or even attempt to do so and I was out of luck.

At this point I decided that my best course of action was to run the offending phone over with my car, take photos of it with my camera phone and post the entire business to YouTube as a reason to stay away from T-Mobile. First, however, I decided to visit this outside vendor to see what he thought about the entire matter. He confirmed what I already knew that the phone was brand new and nothing was wrong with it, the catch however, was that since all the prongs in the Sim slot didn't retract when you slid the Sim card in, the phone was worthless. In short, the Sim slot was simply too small to be fixed, and I was the proud owner of a $350 worthless phone.

And to date, this is what your company has provided me with – nothing. I would say thank you, but I don't tend to thank people for trash.

The continued antipathy of your company towards potential customers is astounding. If I was a customer, I assure you I would have switched to another carrier by this point, and any and all consideration I've had for ever switching to T-Mobile in the future is dead. In fact, I now plan to go out of my way to urge people not to use your company, because I know how your company has treated me and I'd hate for that to happen to someone else.

No love,
[insert me giving the the finger here]

ETA: I'm sure you are all wondering where the video for the phone is now, well, I did what any good capitalist would do with a worthless piece of junk — I sold it for parts.

What a clusterf*ck. If there's one thing this job has taught me, it's this: Give people cash gifts.

(Thanks, CH!)
(Photo: Flyguy92586 )

Want to pay your wireless bill in an AT&T store? That'll be $2 extra for the "privilege" of handing it to a clerk. Want to pay your credit card bill over the phone? That will be $15.

The disparate impact of policies designed to discourage consumers from paying in cash—like the AT&T's in-store charge—falls squarely on the poor, many of whom do not have bank accounts. (Bank accounts are not particularly useful if you never have any money to keep in them.) AT&T says the poor should just suck it up and get pay-as-you-go phones.

But these policies are also an indication of how many companies really make their money these days: not from providing the service they purport to provide, but by nickel-and-diming customers with fees at every turn. Heck, some credit card companies have chucked all but the pretense of lending money and turned entirely to generating fees.

Maybe AT&T was just frustrated with its customers who paid their bills on time, and decided this was a good way to squeeze a bit more money out of them, too.

By comparison, the PC World columnist points out a recent AT&T letter he received that announces how AT&T will be using his account data for marketing purposes unless he jumps through some opt-out hoops online or by mail. "An opt-out (versus opt-in) policy is a lousy way to gain approval for using private data," he writes, "and frankly it ticks me off." Hooray for Loopt for recognizing privacy on some level.

"First Location-Based Cell Phone Ads Get Privacy Thumbs-Up" [PC World]

RELATED
"Loopt"

When a strange person calls you on the telephone claiming to represent a company you do business with and asks you to give them sensitive personal information, tell them that you'll call them back on the regular customer service number that you usually use to contact them.

From CBC:

Ottawa police Sgt. Mike McCormick said fraudsters are now calling customers claiming to be from the fraud department of their credit card company.

"We know as a general public that there's a lot of fraudulent activity on credit cards and debit cards, so when we start hearing ... your financial institution calling you ask you for specific information and providing information that nobody else should know, it brings down our wariness," said McCormick, who is with the organized fraud section.

He said investigators are seeing a steep increase in reports of a scam in which a caller names an unusual big-ticket item and asks if the customer has recently purchased it.

When the customer says no, the caller says the company involved has been cropping up in a lot of suspicious transactions.

The caller provides a reference number for the customer's file and give the customer a 1-800 number to call.

He or she also asks the customer to confirm that they still have the card by providing the three-digit security code marked on the back.

Fraud investigators say no legitimate credit card company will ask you for that code.

McCormick said the fraudster typically already has your address and credit card number, usually from dumpster diving for receipts and bills.

Callers use fake fraud to gain credit card security codes [CBC]
(Photo:Reznicek111)

From TechCrunch:

We've noted problems with the service in the past, but never a general outage. The site is down. The service is down. Everything appears to be offline.

If you want to be a phone company, and get your users to rely on you to manage all of your incoming calls, this simply cannot happen.

Google has yet to release a statement or give any indication when GrandCentral will be back up and running—though it better be soon. Google's starting to make Verizon look good, and that's simply intolerable.

If You Wanna Be A Phone Company, You Can't Go Dead [TechCrunch]

"AT&T to pro-rate early termination fee" [Seattle PI]

RELATED
"Carriers Promised Congress They'd Pro-Rate ETFs; Senator Asks Them, 'When?'"

Because the issue doesn't implicate Verizon's subscriber contracts, the plaintiffs claim the carrier's arbitration clause isn't enforceable.

"Suit alleges Verizon Wireless text service amounts to illegal gambling" [RCR Wireless]
(Photo: Jeff Kubina)

Hello Consumerist! I'm writing in because I just had an experience with something called "cramming" and I thought your readers should be informed. I handle my parents telephone bills because of all of the shady stuff these telephone companies do. While reading this months bill I notice an extra charge placed by a company called Enhanced Services Billing Inc. (I'll call them ESBI for short) for 13.27. I've had lots of trouble with telephone support in the past and I really didn't want to call up the customer service number just yet so I started searching on the net for anything regarding this company and it's services.

What I found disgusts me. First I stumbled across this blog "http://sharingthesecretoflife.blogspot.com/2005/11/enhanced-services-billing-inc.html". That blog post was very informative and introduced me to the term "Cramming". The FCC has a good description of what cramming is at this web page "http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/cramming.html"

"Cramming" is the practice of placing unauthorized, misleading, or deceptive charges on your telephone bill. Crammers rely on confusing telephone bills in an attempt to trick consumers into paying for services they did not authorize or receive, or that cost more than the consumer was led to believe.

ESBI was the one pushing charges onto my account for another company called Total Enhanced Services Billing Inc. Confused? Let me try and explain. ESBI is a middleman, they have contact with your local phone service provider (in our case it would be AT&T). In my case, Total Enhanced Services Billing Inc got a purchase request for whatever its service is (I think this is their service http://www.mytppv.com/) they forwarded that request to ESBI which forwarded the request to AT&T and charged it to our bill.

Cramming happens without consent from you, if your phone company gets a request to add charges to your bill from a company like "Enhanced Services Billing Inc." then they will add the charges no problem. With such shady tactics I thought that getting the charges off of the bill might be a real hassle, but I called the number on my bill and was transfered a few times to a representative from ESBI. The woman asked for my phone number and the exact date the charges were placed on the bill, I tell her and she informs me that she is going to transfer me to the company that actually placed the charge, Total Enhanced Services. I'm transfered over and tell her about the situation, she gives me a name that the order was placed under, "Chris". I deny that we ever ordered such a service and that I do not know anybody named Chris, she quickly offers to remove the service, credit our bill, and gives me a confirmation number.

Why would they be so quick to resolve the issue? If they resolve the issue quickly there is less of a chance that you, the consumer, would complain or write to the FCC or whoever else. Bad publicity means more people checking their bills for these phony charges which means less revenue for them. I advise everyone to check your bill and make sure everything is in order, we can't let these sneaky snakes get away with stuff like this.

She's also threatening to place caps on fees for SMS services and data plans if carriers don't cut their rates.

Compare that to the U.S., where as recently as last week a lone congresswoman had to ask three national carriers when they were going to honor their promise to pro-rate ETFs, and AT&T Mobility wouldn't even answer her.

(Thanks to Sanjay, who says that in France there are already some carriers offering per-second billing.)

"EU wireless regulatory body looks into mobile phone billing - European Commission wants per-second mobile phone billing" [IntoMobile]
(Photo: World Economic Forum)

I have been reading your site almost daily for a few months, and have seen where "insiders" give useful info to help get problems solved - and I have also noted where your site has advised readers having problems with their cell phone provider to contact the retention department...having been in the retention department for a small regional cell phone company for the past year, I wanted to share with your readers some tips to help them get what they are looking for. (I tend to get long winded, so feel free to edit out unneccesary content)

Basically, there are two reasons that people call retention, they either A) actually want to cancel, or B) want something, and feel that we will give it to them.

If you're in group A, a few things to make the transition go easier...

1 - Please be aware that the annoying questions that I'm asking about why you're canceling, and what carrier you're going to are obviously not for my good health. You are not required to answer the questions, but if I want to keep my job, I am required to ask them. If you don't want to be asked the questions, it would be best to port your number to your new carrier, in which case you don't even need to speak to the carrier you're porting from, just bring your account number, and password on the account if there one, to the new carrier, and we'll be done. Anybody else - this is your opportunity to air any greivences you have, and have them heard by the higher ups...however, if you are leaving, don't expect any courtesy credits for past inconveniences, etc.

2 - If you're wanting the ETF waived, please be advised that we are well trained and versed on the contract, so if you're arguing breach of contract, please have the copy of the contract with you, and be specific as to what you're fighting. As a rep, I'm required to basically argue the contract with you until you ask for a supervisor. So, if you don't like the answer, you can either ask to speak with the supervisor, or ask the rep if they can ask the supervisor on your behalf. Depending on your situation, either method has the possibility to get the fee either waived or prorated - note, though, if you want to talk to a supervisor, your best course of action is to call between normal business hours, b/c the appropriate supervisor may not be available otherwise.

(Ed. If you are trying to avoid the ETF, read our scripts for using materially adverse changes to escape your contract.)

3 - Even if you're not trying to fight the contract, you may want to take a look at it before you cancel - I know our company has a statement very visibly in the contract stating all cancellations occur at the end of your bill cycle. My advice would be to check on these things before you call to cancel, or port your number out so there are not unexpected bumps in the road.

Now, if you are calling because you want something, a few things to keep in mind.

4 - Your actual situation has little effect on the decision made. We look at multiple things, but I would say that the equation is a little like this: 40% account history/ARPU (average revenue per unit), 40% the actual request and 20% would be your situation and/or demeanor/attitude. Now, I know from reading this site, that most consumers feel like their attitude/deamenor, and the way they treat the rep should not have an effect on the outcome. In a perfect world, my friends, it wouldn't, but as much as reps may seem like robots, they're not. They, like you, do not react well when somebody is swearing and screaming at them or telling them what they will do. Be straight to the point - a long drawn out story about how the phone got busted is not really helpful, although saying "I broke my phone, and don't have insurance, and buying a new phone is more costly than the cancellation fee" will probably get you far since it is honest, and makes sense not only in terms of the business, but for you as well.

5 - Call retention only when you really need to. We're happy to help you, however, we do keep good notes of when you call, and what we did for you. Calling retention consistently when you want something or when something goes wrong will get you branded a frequent flier, and our management may note the account that no more retention efforts can be made on your account. That being said, there are other options out there.

For legitamit billing issues, try the general customer care staff, or your local retail store first. Escalate if need be, but honestly, there are of course times that people make mistakes, and these need to be fixed. Please try with the responsible party first, then, if there's no resolution, even after escalation, then retention is the place to go. But don't jump there first.

For upgrade fees/rebates, try asking your salesperson when you go to purchase the phone. Yes, we know the upgrade fees suck, however, if one company does it, and is making money off of its customers with it, then other carriers have to follow in order try to stay competative, so please don't ask why would we charge you the fee - it's nothing personal, we're just trying to stay in the game. Ask your sales rep about waiving the upgrade fee. This, like other things will come down to account history, and ARPU. If the sales rep declines, tell them that you'd like to cancel, so you can bring your service to another carrier, since most carriers waive the inital activation fees to attract new customers. At this point, they can put you in contact with retention - expect a little bit of a fight from the rep, though, since these fees are industry standard, though ultimately, it should not take much to get done. This may not work every time, and is most effective when the account is in good standing.

If your carrier has a payment services department, or a branch of billing allows you to make payment arrangements or get extensions on your bills, they may be able to get you onto a plan that's no longer offered to new customers. Just tell them that you're having a hard time paying your bill, and you were wondering if they had any older plans that might fit them better, or be less costly. They may, or they may not. This also works if you're paying for text/pictures or data access, but don't need the unlimited packages that most carriers are switching to, but still don't want to pay per use.

6 - Do your homework. We understand that there are people who call who are really not interested in canceling, but want to get something out of the carrier. Just do us a favor, and be direct. There's nothing worse than somebody calling in saying "what can you do to keep me as a customer?" The reason that's so highly offensive, is mostly because it is a time waster. You're wasting your time, and mine...because if you say that, I'm left guessing at what you really want. Do you want a phone for cheaper? Do you want your bill lower? Do you want a different phone, but don't qualify for an upgrade yet? If I don't know what you want, I'm left offering you things you don't really want. Please do us a favor. Indulge us. Be direct. If you want the phone for cheaper than what it's offered at, you could say something like "I really like the razr (or whatever), but can't see myself paying the ______ for it" Please don't say that it is free with Carrier X, especially if it isn't. If it is, we will usually try to get on their site, and explain how free once can cost you over the course of the contract - this isn't what you wanted to acheive, you want the phone for free, regardless of whether or not you'd pay more monthly with Carrier X. If you want the bill lowered, and find a better deal, and want us to match, let us know, if you want the bill lowered, but have done your homework and the plan you're on is at or lower than other carriers, don't make up a deal that's too good to be true. It's better to just say that it's too much monthly or something to that extent.

7 - If you don't want to sign a contract, your options on equipment are much more limited. You have a couple options from this point, though: You can go on a prepaid service, no contract, and often with carriers that do postpay services as well, the monthly rates are close to the same, you could see if we can give you the two year pricing on a one year contract, if you're okay with a shorter contract term, you could also see if they'd be willing to credit you a portion of the phone, (but don't expect it free without a commitment to stay with the company) or, you could ask the rep if they can find how much the company pays for the phone, and offer to pay that amount. Contracts are basically how ensure that we make up the discount given on the price of the phone and a given line (especially a shared line) doesn't become profitable until we've made that subsidy back - which can sometimes be over a year into a two year contract. If you're offering to pay what we pay, even if you stay only 3 months, it is essentially pure profit, and a pretty good business deal. You can also ask about refurbished phones, but we usually have to buy those, too, and for more than you think, so a lot of times, those won't be done if you're out of contract since we can't be sure we're not losing big sending it to you.

8 - Be reasonable - and be willing to negotiate. We are a for profit business (duh). To that end, we will try to find a course of action that fits both the customer and the company, but if you're not profitable, asking for something that's over the top, or have a history of escalating/calling retention to get what you want, then expect that your options may not match what you want to acheive - but we might be able to work something out with you. Also - with this one, admit fault when you're at fault - what I mean is, if you or your kid sent and received 3,000 text messages, but you didn't have a plan to cover it, it will go a lot further to say, we did this, we did not realize it was not covered, I can't keep the service if I have to pay for that - rather than trying to say it was a problem with the phone, or that the texts were not sent or received - those types of answers will only be met with resistance and the rep trying to explain to you how it happened - same goes for roaming charges, minute overages, or anything else that typically is unable to be credited as it is presumed to be in the control of the customer.

9 - Be aware of the return period. If you don't like the phone within the first 14 days, return it and find one you like, if you don't, please don't call us 8 months down the road saying this phone is a piece of junk it doesn't do anything, etc...you chose the phone. If it's broken, lost or stolen, or if you are at least a year through the contract, we may be able to help you with a replacement, but we don't often upgrade early in the contract because you don't like the features of the phone you chose. Also, please be aware if the phone is lost/stolen/damaged, that we are under no obligation to replace equipment, so if you're hard on phones, as much as it might be a ripoff, insurance might make things easier on you.

I'm sorry if this is too long winded, but hopefully, some of the information might assist your readers.

"Carrier ETF plans targeted" [RCRWireless News]
(Photo: Getty)

Saw your GoPhone post. I work with AT&T Corporate Communications, and wanted to clarify our policy related to this.

There is no activation fee with GoPhone. Customers can buy the GoPhone and activate but they cannot use service until they add airtime to their account. Customers can buy airtime for as little as $15 in over 200K locations. We do offer a promotion where if you buy $25 worth of airtime to start we will give you $10 in bonus airtime.

Customers also have an option if they are looking for a replacement device for postpaid to buy a Nokia 2610 for $39.99 in COR and not sign a contract extension. That program launched in mid-January.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks,
Brad

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"AT&T Says They'll Charge $25 'Activation Fee' To Move SIM From A Broken Phone To A GoPhone"

My daughter's AT&T phone went bust yesterday. We went to the AT&T store in Palo Alto, CA to either fix it or get a new one. Apparently the only option open to us (according to the sales rep) without either canceling her plan for $175 or extending her plan another 2 years was to buy a "GoPhone".

However, even though we just needed to swap the sim card from the old phone to the new phone we would still need to pay the $25 "Activation Fee".

Either the information we received was inaccurate or AT&T is again playing monopoly. But it really doesn't matter. I still smell a rat and I'm glad I personally made the switch to Verizon.

Your other option is to bypass AT&T and buy your daughter an unlocked phone—I can move my SIM to any network-compatible phone I like as often as I like, and AT&T is cut out of the loop. Of course, freedom like that comes with a price, and it'll probably be more than the price of a GoPhone and a $25 activation fee—but AT&T won't be able to tell you what to do with your phone anymore.

(Thanks to Dave!)

Fortunately, Jason was able to resolve the issue. He wrote a detailed, very civil email to T-Mobile's executive support department—

I received a call this morning from Timothy in the Executive Response dept - they are going to issue a full refund as a "one time courtesy". :)

He admitted that the 2-3 day number that they give for batteries is a very over-the-top estimate. "The manufacturers charge the phones, and leave them on a desk until they die. There is zero usage during that time. Phones like the Sidekick are very well known for having only about 24 hours of battery life, because they are constantly sending/receiving data - whether you are actively using them or not."

Howard Forums is a great place to look for this information if you can't find it on an official carrier's website—here's T-Mobile's policy, for example. You should still verify the policy with the carrier at the time of purchase (from a printed document or a CSR, not a salesperson), so you're certain to have the most up to date information.

RELATED
"Buyer's Remorse AKA Trial Period for T-Mobile"
(Photo: Gizmodo)

One member of this forum posted a response he received from a Sprint CSR explaining why Sprint does this:

I understand your frustration. I also have a Touch and when I send pictures, I have to use the same method as Mary O outlined below.

Understand that Sprint uses CDMA technology to provide cellular and data usage to our customers. So, even though the phone may have been designed to send pictures a certain way, the phone had to be altered by HTC to work on our network. You may be able to send pictures as text messages on other networks, but the speeds of your data and the quality of your phone calls would not be as they are with Sprint.

We hear your feedback loud and clear. A lot of employees here at Sprint have the same phone as you and I and have to send pictures the same way.

Again, I am sorry for any inconvenience that this causes you on a daily basis. But please understand that if this feature was altered in some way, it was for the benefit of customers, not to aggravate them.

What's even more ridiculous is that the affected customers are paying for the same multimedia messaging plan that every other customer has—yet they're being artificially restricted from using MMS. One frustrated Sprint customer writes,

Sprint has started blocking the messages from their end and now claim that the feature isn't intended for these devices. It's a shame that they have taken this stance because a lot of people bought these expensive devices precisely because they are capable of all sorts of functions like multimedia, messaging, and web browsing.

The issue a lot of us have is that

• The devices are capable of sending MMS messages
• The same devices on other carriers can send these messages
• My plan includes these messages
• The device was advertised as being capable of multimedia messages
• I was sending the messages until recently
• The ability to send the messages is now blocked

(Cage photo: Getty)

Within five years, Pizza Hut aims to earn half its revenue from orders placed via computers and mobile phones, he said.

Pizza Hut is not the first to offer mobile ordering services, but the Dallas-based company says its service is the broadest and most comprehensive.

Domino's in September gave customers with Web-enabled phones the option to place mobile orders at nearly half of its 5,100 U.S. restaurants.

"Pizza Hut rolls out nationwide mobile ordering" [Reuters]

Customers might tap a button to order their favorite drink, say a double-shot mocha, as they stroll up to the nearest coffee shop. When the drink is ready go to, the device—such as an iPhone—would chime or blink to let the thirsty one know it's time to scoop up the order at the counter.

The patent puts Apple's partnership with Starbucks in a new light. The technology promises to morph Apple from the business of simply selling gadgets and music and movies that can be played on those devices into an intermediary in all kinds of exchanges.

"Apple's Piping Hot Innovation" [Forbes via Dealerscope]

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Patent Application For "Wireless communication system" [US Patent Office]

It would be maps of shopping malls in your metro area, downloadable to your cell. But that's just the start of it. I would then envision participating shopping centers being outfitted with technology that could hone in on your cell signal when you activate this application on your cell. If you are looking for a specific store in the mall, you would then enter a voice command: such as "Wet Seal."

Your request would go to a database located on a server in the mall. The server would then retrieve Wet Seal's location in the mall from the database, and then compare that location with where you are at present. Optimally, this information could be derived from triangulating the source of your cell signal. More practically, your location could be obtained by you reciting the name of the nearest store to your current position.

Using your current location as Point A, and your desired destination within the mall as Point B, you would then receive a set of directions on your phone. You then should be able to play them back as talking directions. Just like your larger-world, outside-the-mall GPS or navigation system may be able to do right now.

Shaw thinks one way the service could pay for itself is as "a value-add for carriers, who might charge shopping malls a modest participation fee for being in the database"—but we think that's a very 1990s business model, and we'd prefer carriers be cut out of it completely since they don't play well with others. Much better is his idea that "individual retailers who would like to be in their mall's geolocator database could pay for ads" that would appear within the application. (Yes, we know, more ads. Someday you'll be able to pay for surgery with ads, and for the rest of your life your femur will broadcast little text messages to any RFID-equipped device that passes within 15 inches.) Even better than that, we think, is a model that doesn't tap the consumer for payment, whether in cash or ad views—if the service was helpful enough to increase shopping activity for a retailer, it should pay for itself.

"The best mobile application idea I can think of..shopping mall geolocation services!!" [ZDNet]
(Photo: Getty)

Intuit has designed the product to appeal to younger consumers, people who may have used online banking for most of their adult lives, but do not use software to track those transactions.

"Our first mission is to make sure we are solving the needs of people who are not currently using a personal finance solution," [Intuit senior vice president Rick Jensen] said.