Brian
Charlottesville,#2Author of original report
Wed, February 05, 2003
A few days ago, we received a response to the registered letter we sent Alyon informing them that we did not use their services and to remove the charges. Of course, our letter was much more detailed than that. Their response sounds like the same one that others have received. It was a three page form letter informing us how they claim it is impossible to receive a bill without using their services.
It then goes on to cover every possible excuse that someone might have as to why they should not be billed and gives their reasons why you still owe.
What it didn't do is address one single thing that was in our letter i.e. fraudulent billing practices, criminal activity, etc. The first bill stated we had 30 days to respond in writing to the bill to dispute it. This form letter now tells us they will ONLY consider disputes that are submitted on THEIR dispute form which must BE DOWNLOADED FROM THEIR WEBSITE!!!! I hope no one is planning on doing this!!!!!
DO NOT GO TO THEIR WEBSITE, even the customer service section, unless you want more Trojans implanted in your computer or to be billed again for the time you are there. I'm sure there would be more hoops to jump through after that, anyway. Our plan is if we receive another bill, to again send a registered letter stating exactly what they did again. This will be for OUR purposes of documentation only - to provide a paper trail. (We do not expect these (censored) to remove the charges as they are ripoffs, remember?) We will never pay them.
I suspect it will not make it to a credit report as they are probably just going to try to screw as many people as possible and disappear when the authorities turn up the heat. Anyway, we have never had anything go to collections before, but I got some info from a friend who had a similar situation and here is how she handled it. She was billed for months by AOL even after she cancelled her service with them. Her bill is about $200 and even after several years, they still refuse to remove the charges. Of course, she refuses to pay it. It ended up on her credit report. It came up when she went to buy another house. All she had to do was contact the credit reporting agencies and give them the info of what happened to her. They did not remove it, but marked it as 'in dispute'.
Then she showed her file documenting her dispute to the bank and they understood what happened and approved her loan. So it is not the end of the world. This may be a hassle, but Alyon is hoping you will think so and go ahead and pay them. Even though we have good credit and this may be a future problem for it, my conscious could never allow me to pay them.
And think about this: IF YOU PAY THIS FRAUDULENT BILL, IT IS AS GOOD AS AN ADMISSION OF USING THEIR SERVICES. ARE YOU CONFIDENT YOU WILL NOT THEN GET FUTURE FRAUDULENT BILLS, GENERATED FROM THEIR 'SUCKER LIST'?
Their defense would be 'you used our service before, you used it again!!! How credible would you look in court or to the agency you complain to then?
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE DON'T PAY AND FILE YOUR COMPLAINTS TO THE AGENCIES SUGGESTED IN SOME OF THE OTHER REPORTS! (And keep good records!)
Brian
Charlottesville,#3Author of original report
Sun, January 19, 2003
Just asking that everyone who has been victimized file a complaint with the Internet Fraud Complaint Division of the FBI as recommended in one of the other complaints. I have and it is very easy to file online. Go to www1.ifccfbi.gov. As others have stated, the more people from across the U.S. complain, the more attention we might receive. I filed under the category "Computer Intrusion/Hacking". Also, be sure to file a complaint with your state attorney general and anyone else who will listen. It is important that everyone do this! Let's get Diane Sawyer's attention!