3 On Your Side: Bogus Phone Bill Charges
By Jim Donovan
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- They're charges that she didn't agree to and wanted removed from her bill. But it was easier said than done. Exactly who is ultimately responsible for what appears on your phone bill? 3 On Your Side Consumer Reporter Jim Donovan explains.
Back in July a mysterious $1.89 charge for a security app began showing up on Denise Kwan's phone bill. Sprint told her to complain to Lookout, the third party company behind the charges, but she hit a dead end.
Lookout told her she'd have to create a new account -- in order to close the one she says she never opened. According to Kwan, "I can't cancel my account because I never created one." adding, "I'm not going to fall into that trap."
So Kwan went back to Sprint which finally agreed to remove the charge. But it continues to show up month after month after month. When she took to the Sprint message boards - to join others complaining about the same unauthorized charges, it seemed Sprint didn't like some of what they were saying. Kwan says, "They delete our posts."
Lookout, the security company behind Kwan's unauthorized charges says "We take the customer experience very seriously and are currently working diligently to get to the bottom of this issue."
"Phone companies are required to get the authorizations," according to Ken Abbe of the Federal Trade Commission. He says it's Sprint that is ultimately responsible for the unauthorized charges that appear on its bills. Abbe says, "The consumer has to know what they're signing up for."
Kwan and others contend they never intentionally signed up for anything and they just want Sprint to make the charges stop.
By the way, the Federal Trade Commission sued both AT&T and T-Mobile over similar cramming charges, but can't comment on whether Sprint is next.