Cingular and Verizon have already been sued regarding allowing an unauthorized Roadside Assistance Fee by Asurion to their customers. Share your experiences with and thoughts about this fee below!
Lawsuits Target "Mystery" Cell Phone Fee is an article showing cramming charges against Cingular and Verizon for Asurion's unauthorized Roadside Assistance Fee charges. If there are multiple pages to your wireless bill, it's very difficult to notice this $2.99 per month charge. Asurion is a wireless insurance company that replaces your lost, broken or stolen phones. In addition to this Roadside Charge, account holders that opt for insurance on their cell phones will also be charged a monthly fee for replacement. Wireless carriers contract with Asurion and other companies as third party vendors to handle cell phone replacements and should be responsible for third parties with which they have agreements to represent their customers. Another article from 2007 is http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16875928
FYI: Cramming is the result of unauthorized charges on telephone bills. You will want to immediately file an on-line complaint with the California Public Utilities Commission if you are a victim of cramming. If you live in another state, file an on-line complaint with your public utilities company. All victims should also send certified return receipt dispute letters to the company. The correct dispute address is located on your wireless bill. You can find sample dispute letters on the UCAN website by typing in "sample dispute letters" in the search function.
To review the Asurion website, go to http://www.asurion.com/partners/partners.html. Don't forget----Complain to the carrier in writing and file an on-line complaint with the public utilities commission.
sam
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Cingular Roadside Assistance Fee
Cingular is enrolling customers in asurion roadside assistance program ($2.99/month) without permission. There is no charge on the first bill, when customers are most careful. The typical bill my wife and I get (two-phone family plan) is 16-pages long, so it is REALLY hard to find the charge. I called Cingular to go over charges on the first bill, but of course it was not listed then. We only found out we were being charged after receiving a cryptic notice about "Important information concerning your new Roadside Assistance service" - again, you have to read the fine print to find out you are being charged.
This is a form of cramming and must be stopped. Cingular is behaving shamelessly. I called and got the service cancelled, no charges, so I don't need any $$ from Cingular, but I am certain that there are thousands of customers who do not know they are paying for this. If you have Cingular service, call them and express outrage about what they are doing. At the least, you can get a credit (unless you want this rip-off) - hopefully, they will stop scamming their customers. Yeah, right.
AT&T Roadside Assistance Scam
In May of 2008 I added my dad for a second line under my AT&T wireless account. The roadside assistance was added to this account without my knowledge or authoization. My dad did not even drive. Now in Feb of 2010, I suddenly realized that I was being charged $2.99 a month for this service. When I asked for refund, I was told, I have only 100 days to complain about a past charge. I shot an email to the President Mr. Stephenson Randall's office (randall.stephenson@att.com). This is not the first time I have complained. Apparently, they have a team who monitors this address for complaints. I got a call the next day from his office and was promptly refunded for this service. They also acknowledged that it is likely that the AT&T store guy did not explain the this service properly to me, as the first 30 days are free. After 30 days you are hit with $2.99 a month, until you realize it, and it is too late by then. They should actually have criminal penalties for such scams. That is the only way, these guys will learn.
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