Baffled by Bogus Billed Items?

There's a good chance this has happened to you or is happening right now. Ever wonder what all those "miscellaneous" charges are on bills from say your cell phone carrier? There's a good chance they're fraudulent. Think somebody like AT&T wouldn't do that? Guess again! And they're not the only ones.

Right now if you have an AT&T cell phone you probably started getting a $20 monthly charge for "Visual Voice Mail" also called "VVM". This IS a bogus charge and you can make AT&T take it off.

Here's how:

The law: 47 CFR § 64.2401 - Truth-in-Billing Requirements

Telephone bills shall be clearly organized, and must comply with the following requirements:

Charges contained on telephone bills must be accompanied by a brief, clear, non-misleading, plain language description of the service or services rendered. Do you know what "Visual Voice Mail" is by looking at your bill? No? Then it's breaking the law.

If you call AT&T they'll try to tell you "that's the line charge for your phone". Then the term "Visual Voice Mail" is mis-leading and it's breaking the law.

Carriers shall not place or cause to be placed on any telephone bill charges that have not been authorized by the subscriber. Did you request to have any additional services or options added to your telephone account? If not, it's breaking the law.

How to fix the problem:

Call customer service and get tough. Ask for an explanation of EVERY charge on your bill. The key to success here is TELL them what to do, DON'T ASK !

- If what they tell you doesn't match the description on the bill, TELL them to remove it immediately.

- If there's a service you didn't request, TELL them to remove it immediately.

- Lastly TELL them to refund you any and all charges for bogus items. 

Also make it clear that if they don't do what you tell them:

1. You'll turn them into the Federal Trade Commission

2. You'll turn them in to the FCC

3. You'll drop them as your phone provider.

You'll likely get your problem resolved. If you do or don't there's still some important things to do:

1. File a report with the Federal Trade Commission at this link: FTC.GOV

2. If it's a phone or Cable TV issue, file a report with the FCC at this link: FCC.GOV

   Yes, turn them in anyway - They broke the law at your expense !!!