Liberty Online Services rip-off Phone Bill Cramming Miami Florida
Charges showed up on our qwest phone bill for a "web site" that did not even exist. Claimed we authorized the services on DEC. 26, 2002. Our business was not even open!.
Clerk was less then helpful, but finaly agreed after a "talk with her supervisor" to remove the charges.
Can you say "CLASS ACTION".
John
Grants Pass, Oregon
U.S.A.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
David
Youngstown,Ohio,
U.S.A.
HBS in violation of Court Order (Permanent Injunction)
#2Consumer Comment
Fri, March 14, 2003
A little research turned up the following:
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US District Court for the Western District of Texas (San Antonio Division); Federal Trade Commission v. HBS Inc. (among others); Civil No. SA-98-CA-0629-FB.
Pursuant to the 'Stipulated Final Judgment and Order for Permanent Injunction ...', HBS and other defendants in this case were permanently restrained and enjoined from: Making any express or implied misrepresentation of material fact, orally or in writing, including but not limited to:
1) Any misrepresentation that a Line Subscriber is legally obligated to pay for the purchase of any good or service that the Line Subscriber did not expressly authorize;
2) Any misrepresentation that a Line Subscriber is obligated to pay any charge on the basis that the good or service was purchased or accessed from the Line Subscriber's telephone, unless the Line Subscriber expressly authorized the purchase;
and 3) Any misrepresentatin that a Telephone-Billed Transaction has been authorized by the Line Subscriber.
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The recent spate of complaints against Liberty Online Services, as billed on some telephone bills by HBS Inc. would appear to be in direct violation of this court order (though this conclusion is _not_ expressed as a legal opinion).
The 'Complaint for Permanent Injunction' can be found at http://www.ftc.gov/os/1998/9807/hold2cmp.ct.htm
The 'Stipulated Final Judgement and Order for Permanent Injunction ...' can be found at http://www.ftc.gov/os/1999/9910/holdbillingstipulationastoholdbillingservices.htm
The FTC Press Release 'Crammers Settle FTC Charges' can be found at http://www.ftc.gov/opa/1999/9910/holdbillingfinal.htm