Complaint Review: PollText

I'm a tech-challenged senior and a prime candidate for this kind of consumer scam. Check your cell phone bill and be careful when you download any "free" app.  I recently found a mysterious, recurring $9.99 charge on my T-Mobile cell phone bill.  I have a large, multi-phone plan and our bill is large so it was easy to miss this.  T-Mobile said they didn't know anything about it but it was some service I was getting from an outside vendor that can bill on a cellular phone bill.  I got a phone number off a "rebuttal" post on this site and called.  The agent told me that I had apparently downloaded what I thought was a free app called "Battery Guard" which apparently alerts the consumer that his battery is low via text message.  When the consumer initializes the app he confirms via a text message.  When the consumer confirms there is apparently also a sneaky opt-in that subscribes the consumer to a $9.99 per month service that is described as "a fun text message subscription service."  Their web site says this, "Every week you will receive new unbelievable facts on your cell. Each alert will also award you Reward Points that you can use to redeem great gifts from our catalog."  I don't ever text so I never even look at my text message in-box..  When I did, I assumed these goofy "tech tips" were some form of spam, which I ignored.  An example of a PollText Tech Tip is "To date, over 400 million Android devices have been activated. Txt Balance 4 points."  Apparently, a consumer gets "points" when they open and read the text.  

Amazing Consumer Rip-Off!

I asked the agent to cancel and to give me a refund.  She said that PollText does not give refunds but she went off-line to talk to her "supervisor".  She came back and agreed to give me a "complimentary" refund of $9.99 (even though I had been billed for $9.99 for 16 straight months).  I pressed her for a full refund and she went back to her "supervisor" and got approval for a refund of 3 months.  She said that was the company's limit.  She gave me a confirmation# PL68308220.