Complaint Review: Alyon Technologies

I have been billed by Alyon Technologies for services not authorized which are referred to on the bill as Premium Web Content - Adult. The dollar amount is $162.41, and the time is 31 minutes. The alleged service date was 9/18/02 at 02:54:43 eastern time.

From reading through the other reports on this company, I have noticed a pattern: many of these calls seem to be for 31 minutes. This might be a way to show the authorities that the calls were made by dialer programs and not by people. It can't be a coincidence that so many people were online for exactly 31 minutes. I think we should include the number of minutes billed for when we write to the various agencies with our complaints.

Here are my letters to and from Alyon:

October 28, 2002

Alyon Technologies
PO Box 923299
Norcross, GA 30010-3299

Re: Account Number: XXXXXXXXXX
Invoice Number: XXXXXXXXXX
Phone Number: (612)XXX-XXXX

Dear Sir or Madam:

I am writing in regard to a bill that I received from you recently. The bill is for charges in the amount of $162.41 for adult services. I did not access these services. The only computer connected to the phone number listed on your bill belongs to my 17-year-old son, whom I did not authorize to access these services.

According to chapter 325F, section 692, of the Minnesota Statutes:

Subd. 2. Unauthorized information service charges;
liability. A telephone service subscriber is not responsible for information service charges for calls made by minors or vulnerable adults as defined in section 626.5572, subdivision 21, unless expressly authorized by the subscriber or spouse.

Based on this statute, I am not responsible for paying these charges.

Sincerely,

Bethany XXXXX
--------------------------------

January 22, 2003

We have received your correspondence regarding the above referenced account and its specific reference to access by a minor under your care. Although you refer to the access by a minor, you have not provided proof of a minor living with you.

If in fact a minor child has accessed the content and you wish to dispute a charge or charges based on that premise, you must provide proof of a minor child living with you and include that proof with your dispute. Alyon will review the documents and, if appropriate, make an adjustment accordingly.

Though Alyon reviews all claims of access by a minor, it makes no guarantees of any specific adjustment amount. However, should your documentation provide reasonable proof of a minor child living with you and the times of connection be (sic) determined to be during times which one can reasonably expect a child to have access to the internet, or an age which is reasonable to acknowledge a potential interest, sufficient knowledge and ability to navigate through the process in order to connect, then Alyon will adjust the first connection charge.

In any case, all subsequent charges will remain in force and those amounts shall be due to Alyon upon written notification to you of the completion of the review.

Please note that Alyon Technologies strongly encourages the use of parental control software on every PC in your home. However, no parental control software can replace the role of the parent in monitoring their childs (sic) computer/internet use, and in instilling in their children a clear understanding of responsible internet use.

Sincerely,

Alyon Technologies
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February 20, 2003

Alyon Technologies
PO Box 923299
Norcross, GA 30010-3299

Re: Account Number: XXXXXXXXXX
Invoice Number: XXXXXXXXXX
Phone Number: (612)XXX-XXXX

Dear Sir or Madam:

I received your January 22 response to my letter of October 28, 2002, in which I contested charges of $162.41 for 31 minutes of unauthorized adult information services.

I am enclosing a copy of my original letter along with a copy of my minor sons drivers license, which shows his date of birth and address.

Information about my son and me is not to be sold, rented, shared, or otherwise provided to any other person or company without my written permission.

Sincerely,

Bethany XXXXX
Enclosures
-----------------------------------

Before mailing the letter, I used a magic marker to cross out my son's photo, identification number, and name from the copy of his state identification card.

My son says he did not access these services. Before this ever happened, my former husband had explained to him how these dialers worked. My ex told me about pop-ups he has encountered that ask if you want to download or view something, and when you click no, another pop-up box appears, sometimes with "yes" and "no" reversed so you can't just click "no" in the same place as you did on the previous box. Sometimes the pop-ups are in a foreign language so you can't even tell which place to click for "no," and you have to reboot your computer or risk downloading something you don't want.

My son tells me he has started disconnecting the phone cord from the computer when he is not online.

I have ordered a service called "Dial Block" from my phone company, which will require that we dial a code before dialing long distance calls. We have had calls to international and 900 numbers blocked on our phone for several years.

For Minnesota residents: I found the applicable laws for Minnesota online at http://www.revisor.leg.state.mn.us/stats/325F/692.html .

Bethany
Minneapolis, Minnesota
U.S.A.

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