We are being billed 13.60 a month on our Verizon bill by ESBI for Voicexpress VMail. We did not order this. When I called them I was told that someone registered us. They had my email address and phone number. Told them we did not order this and have never used it. They told us we would receive a credit on our next phone bill. We will see.
Spoke with Verizon and apparently they are getting a lot of complaints on this company doing this. Verizon did say they would credit our account for all three months. Told us how to get in touch with ESBI to cancel the service.
1. Written by Jay Draiman, Utility Auditor, on 18-05-2009 03:23
Unauthorized Charges on Your Local Phone - Utility Bill?
How to Find Them, Eliminate Them & Get Your Money Back!
If your business still gets its phone service through the old "AT&T and Verizon, etc" local phone company (as opposed to one of the newer competitive phone providers) then you need to double check your phone bill each and every month for charges you did not authorize. You may not know it but the local phone company allows other companies to bill you through your local phone bill. And while the local phone company allows other businesses to bill you through your local phone bill, the local phone company does not verify that the charges being billed to you by the other company are valid. When these unauthorized charges fraudulently appear on your phone bill it's called "cramming". Unfortunately you as the business owner or manager are the only one that can spot the unauthorized charges and if you don't comb over your bill every month to spot these unauthorized charges - you'll pay for them.
Why does the local phone company allow other companies to pass charges onto your phone bill? "Third-party billing" is supposedly a great convenience in that you only have to pay one bill instead of separate bills for obvious authorized phone related charges like yellow-page advertising in the "real yellow pages", 411 information calls and long-distance calls from your chosen long distance carrier. Over the years though, some less-than-scrupulous companies have realized that most businesses rarely scrutinize their local-phone bills. To take advantage of this, these companies have come up with elaborate schemes to place
unauthorized charges on your phone bill that you'll end up paying for without even thinking. Unauthorized
charges you can end up paying for include charges for unwanted (and unused) email accounts, web sites,
directory information calls, directory advertising in obscure publications, voice mail accounts and other
services.
In theory, before these charges can be placed on your phone bill, the company that is originating the third-party billed charges is supposed to have a verification of the order like a voice recording. In reality though,
all the company needs to do to initiate the charge is submit your name and phone number to the billing
entity. The verifications are only required to be produced if a complaint is filed.
To prevent these charges from appearing on you business phone bill it's helpful to understand the four
parties that make unauthorized third party phone charges a costly reality. Party number one is any
employee who can answer your business phones. The unauthorized charge is rarely random and it usually
happens after one of your company employees gets a telemarketing call. Employees should be instructed to
document and report any overly aggressive telemarketing calls they receive. Party number two is the
telemarketing company that originates the unauthorized charges by trying to get your employee to accept
some service for which you'll be billed through your local phone bill. Party number three is the third-party
billing company that has billing agreements with your local phone company. The name of the third-party
billing is the one that is prominently displayed on your phone bill. After the third-party billing company's
name is the name of the company that is originating the unwanted charges. Party number four is your "former Ma Bell" local phone company that collects the unwanted charges (keeps a share for "Ma") and then passes the rest to the third-party billing company (who keeps a big share) and then passes the balance on to the company that initiated the unwanted charge.
Following are some of the top third-party billing names and unauthorized charge originators you'll find on
your phone bill. If you see these names on your phone bill you'll want to call the toll free number listed next to the charge to confirm it's a charge that's been properly authorized to be placed on your bill. Following are actual examples that we've recently found while auditing business phone bills.
We recommend customers should review any utility bills issued by deregulated utility companies. (In most instances today, consumers are paying higher charges to the deregulated gas and electric supply companies).
All Utility - Energy, gas, electric and water bills should be reviewed for proper reading and tariff.
If you suspect that you have been overcharged ask for detailed explanation and or file a complaint with your State Utility Commission.
Compiled by: Jay Draiman, Utility & Telecom Auditor
Call this number United Comm Link 800-367-8006. I just got off the phone with them because I discovered I had the same thing on my AT&T phone bill. Turns out a family member went ON LINE and signed up for this! I had NO trouble canceling this and getting a partial credit back from United Comm. Maybe they were helpful because that did get into trouble recently? Guess I will have to see if what they told me is true and they due cancel it and give me some money back? I did put a line block on my phone with AT&T so this doesn't happen again.
3. Written by United Comm Link Voice Mail?, on 09-02-2009 12:44
Call this number 800-367-8006. I just got off the phone with them because I discovered I had the same thing on my AT&T phone bill. Turns out a family member went ON LINE and signed up for this! I had NO trouble canceling this and getting a partial credit back from United Comm. Maybe they were helpful because that did get into trouble recently? Guess I will have to see if what they told me is true and they due cancel it and give me some money back? I did put a line block on my phone with AT&T so this doesn't happen again.
I, too, have been scammed by this company. I called in June to have them remove May & June charges I DID NOT AUTHORIZE. I also emailed them. They said it would be reflected on my next statement. July bill from Embarq arrives and another charge. August bill did not have any new charges but also did not have the refund they promised. Same for Sepmember. Each time I contact them (all via email so I have documentation) they say it will show up on my next bill. I have now notified them that if I do not receive a refund check by the end of September I will file a claim in Small Claims court. It's gonna cost me $50 to get $40.02 from them but it will cost theme ven more to have to deal with the claim. I will also be filing a complaint with the FCC.
I called verizon too and was given the nonsense about calling the number on my bill under the ESBI section. Wouldn't you think verizon would be a bit concerned about this seeing they aren't the only phone company 'game' in town?
Anyhoo, thanks to all your comments, here, I simply called the number and stated very plainly that I'd like the fees credited and for the so-called 'service' to stop.
I was also able to find out where the bogus registration occurred online. The date and time of which somebody signed me up, their username and the site on which they used my phone number. Probably all pretty useless info to have. HOWEVER, something that could be interesting is that I thought to ask if there was an IP address associated with the 'sign-up' and they gave me the IP! Is there any way to track something like that down?
I just noticed a billing from ESBI on my AT&T bill that I did not order. I called the company, cancelled the account, got a confirmation number and told them that I am refusing to pay for their service. I then notified AT&T about the billing and let them know that I am disputing the $16.00 charged. I will keep an eye on my phone bill to make sure they cancel it, but I am not paying ESBI a dime!
We were charged $42.85 last month and $27.90 this month's bill from this scammer ESBI which we never signed up for. My father called embarq and they said that my husband approved the said transaction but that's a total bogus. I will call them tomorrow to get things straight or else I'll do the same as what you guys are doing... send a letter to attorney general.
My husband noticed a new charge on our current Verizon bill. We immediately callled ESBI, and was told I authorized it. All the contact info was correct, except for my mother's maiden name (thank goodness!) We were told it would take 2-4 billing cycles to correct it. In this age of Internet speed, we didn't think it should take that long. We notified Verizon that we were subtracting the $$$ from our bill, and they agreed. Now we'll see how long it takes ESBI to issue the credit. I wonder how much $$$ they're making in interest while they're holding our $$$$??? Hmmmm?? Tell everyone you know to thoroughly peruse their bills for bogus charges!!
My Grandmother had a voicemail charge on her bill. When my Aunt called to find out about it she was told because I use a computer that I must have signed up for it in one of the many surveys I take daily. That was a lame excuse for a charge being added to someone else's phone bill. In all the surveys that I do in a day not one is unreputable and none have ever required my phone number to complete a survey. It was just one more way this bogus company was telling Verizon how the charge was added. Since I have no authority where my Grandmother's phone is concerned how can this be legal? Verizon was very understand and told my Grandmother that the charge will be removed and only phone her regular phone bill. She is on a fixed income as it is and there is no way I would do such a thing to her or any other family member or friend.
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