CellFlirt.com - Verizon Wireless - FaceBook.com Unauthorized Charges by Cellflirt.com to my VERIZON Wireless Bill Internet
Charges are appearing on my bill from a company called CELLFLIRT.COM Apparently CellFlirt.com is associated to Facebook and this authorization is tied to an online quiz or survey of some sort without revealing in a fair manner exactly what the "service" will be. A call to customer service @ Verizon found that this company has a "STOP" command txt message to stop the service and the charges.
Verizon claims they have no control over the service or their charges and that we must send the txt directly to CellFlirt.com to stop future charges.
On June 15th, 2009 @ 10:35a.m. I sent the txt as instructed and received a confirmation from CellFlirt.com that the service had been stopped.
Today, July 16th, 2009, my wife calls to inform me that the charge is still appearing and that Verizon continues to take the same stance and claims they cannot do anything about it. Once again we are instructed to txt 44123 and write "STOP" in the box which I did and this time I receive a confirmation from CellFlirt.com that I am not subscribed to their service.
There are no telephone numbers to a live person (888-801-6720) and the only reference is to an email address: support@cellflirt.com
Obviously the carrier, Verizon, authorized this company to allow them to charge and receive funds and Obviously Verizon will not do this for free so I see both as being fraud and theft.
Pthompson
Acworth, Georgia
U.S.A.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Bikebryan
Alexandria,Virginia,
U.S.A.
Why you saw charge again
#3
Mon, September 14, 2009
Premium SMS services bill for their services in arrears - in other words, they bill for the month that just passed. So if you get a bill dated 10 Jun, then the charge for that service would be for the month on 11 May - 10 Jun. They also do not prorate their charges; they will always charge for a full month.
So if you got the last bill, then sent the STOP command, you can expect to see the charges on the next bill as you have already entered a new month. The reason your second STOP message got a "You are not subscribed" message is because you already unsubscribed. So you were correctly charged.
Please take the time to learn how something works before you criticize a company that had nothing to do with those charges. VZW just passes them on; you did something to sign up for it in the first place or the charges would not be there.
tired of customer complaints
Winchester,Indiana,
USA
Premium SMS
#3
Sat, September 12, 2009
Sir/Mam,
You have fallen victim to what is known as a Premium SMS download. Regardless of your wireless phone service provider, you can fall victim to this scam. As far as I know, Verizon, nor any other company, authorizes these companies to bill you. However, if you elect to participate in the service (even if you were tricked) then your wireless carrier has the right to bill you for charges you incurred. Is this fair? I don't think so but it does happen.
Here is a number to the Nation Short Code Hotline that should be able to remove you from any of the subscriptions services you may or may not have signed up for: 1-800-235-7105.
You may want to google Premium SMS scam. I have seen several articles and heard reports of class action law suits being filed against these companies. I am not sure if you can get in on the action or not but it may be worth looking into!
I hope this helps you out as well as anyone else who may read this. I must advise you not to send a text message to anything you see on TV. In addition, refrain from putting your phone number online unless it is a trusted site.
Good luck