Cingular and Verizon Roadside Assistance Fee - Cingular, Verizon sued for Asurion unauthorized Roadside Assistance Fee charges

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 [1] 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 [2]

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 [3]. Don't forget----Complain to the carrier in writing and file an on-line complaint with the public utilities commission.

sam