prem_sms 42222 Blinko
We recenlty tried to get a free ring tone from Blinko, but instead got billed for $9.99 with nothing to show for it. We tried to get Verizon to remove the charge, but instead they gave me a customer service phone number for Blinko which is worthless. I will not pay this charge! Is there a class action lawsuit against Verizon for this scam? I would live to participate. Verizon has just lost a loyal customer.
Angry in CA
[ May 7, 2006 ]
m-Qube and now m-Blox
I am a victim of this scam. I have called Cingular several times. They attempted to cancel the "subscription" twice. However, it is not stopping. Actually it is getting worse. I called Cingular customer service to cancel the m-Qube subscription in March. I asked for DISABLING any media/internet interactions. It continued to charge me and therefore I called Cingular customer service again. The rep called m-Qube and told them to cancel while I was on the phone. Now I see another "subscription" charge on my April bill instead of "cancellation". Not only do I still get charges from m-Qube, I have new charges from m-Blox after I told Cingular to DISABLE any media/internet functions.
ky
[ May 7, 2006 ]
Fight Back...I Am
Register a complaint with the FCC, the State atty's office in your state and in Massachusetts for MQube, and the BBB. Make sure you're heard. Include links to this site in your complaints. You're not alone.
MQube
311 Arsenal Street
Watertown, MA 02472
customersupport@m-qube.com
Attn: Molly Man (or her replacement)
(617) 673-2400
Office of the Attorney General
Consumer Complaint and Information
Section One Ashburton Place
Boston, MA 02108
(617) 727-2200
http://www.ago.state.ma.us/sp.cfm?pageid=1135
For MQube, address your e-mails to Molly Man (thanks MQube Rep) or her replacement (in case she skipped town) via the subject line of your messages to the support e-mail account for MQube. Someone in that lousy company knows how to reach her. So make it clear who you want to reach, so there's no excuse for them to hide. I intend to make the $ they refuse to refund me more trouble than it's worth. When you find out anything that will help find these creeps, post it here so it's easier for other victims to get to them and get answers. They're obviously hiding for a reason. They do BAD BUSINESS.
jme999
[ May 5, 2006 ]
Cingular Pre-Paid
I've used Cingular pre-paid (pay as you go phone) since July 2005. I've noticed that my credits go down very fast. A few months later I stopped using it, but the credit kept going down, so I started calling Cingular to check what my last transactions was. As I suspected, I have been charged $7.99 on a monthly basis by Blinko.
If you are also using pre-paid, you can now monitor/check all your phone charge transaction online at https://www.paygonline.com/websc/index.jsp. After numerous calls to Cingular, they refunded me all the charges for the past 6 months and they told me I'll have to call and get the rest of the refund from Blinko myself.
I just relocated from Asia and this is extremely ridiculous and amazes me. I thought Cingular was one of the reputable carriers in the U.S. How could they let some third parties charge us something without our permission? After all, I'm only signing the service agreement terms with Cingular. Whatever issues arise, I should only need to deal with Cingular. Cingular should hold full responsibility if they allow scam companies like Blinko to steal money from their customer through them. After numerous complaints to Cingular, I did finally get an e-mail from Blinko customer care (care@blinko.com) stating they are going to refund me the rest between 4-6 weeks time, but it has been past 6 weeks and I have not received a dime from them nor any reply from them after a few follow-up e-mails. I'm sure they have stolen millions of dollars so far from cell phone users, especially those who never check their monthly bill.
Bibi
[ May 5, 2006 ]
Don't Accept That "...Were Not Liable..." BS from Your Wireless Carrier
m-Qube's number is (703) 234-4200. When you get billed through your wireless carrier for services that you never authorized, they are required to provide the name of the company that posted the charges and someone (a contact phone #) for you to call to resolve the issue. If not, they have to remove the charge from your bill, until they can verify the legitimacy of the charge.
This m-Qube nonsense has gone far enough. It's time for the FCC to regulate third party data charges somehow. Cingular opens every account with access for billing from m-Qube, by default. So by doing nothing more than subscribing to Cingular, your phone is enabled for mMode charges to be billed via m-Qube. I think from the number of complaints chimed in on just this site alone, m-Qube's business ethics should be questioned and investigated.
Anyway, demand from your wireless carrier that the charges be removed AND demand that m-Qube send you your money back by check. Do it in writing so you have a record. E-mail them so you have an electronic date and time stamp...that's even better. BTW (for those that haven't been able to get it) m-Qube's number is (703) 234-4200.
jme99
[ May 2, 2006 ]
Blinko and Sprint/Nextel
After several months and numerous calls to Sprint's call centers in India and Southeast Asia,
I finally was able to rectify the Blinko $9.99 per month premium text messaging scam.
Call Sprint's Tech Support department and tell them you are going to be part of the Class Action Law Suit against Blinko and Sprint for fraud if they don't block your cell from the unconsented fees. They will block the premium text messaging and charges and send an e-mail to these scaming companies on your behalf. Once tech support has blocked these charges, Sprint will issue credit for the unsolicitated charges. I received a credit for the last 3 months for about $140.00. This will work.
C Davis
[ April 27, 2006 ]
Blinko's Scam
I received some daily horoscopes via text msg. Read and deleted them, only to have a $20 charge on my T-Mobile bill. They said they might help, but it's up in the air. The phone company should stop these on their end. I'm didn't pay and don't plan on it. Damn jerks!
Another Victim
[ April 26, 2006 ]
M-Qube Slam (Maybe from Blinko.com)
It appears I too have been slapped on the back of the head by M-Qube. I received a text message on 3/28/06 that reads: From: 42222 U have 7 credits! Go 2 blinko.com 2 download new content or txt MORE for promos and discounts. blah blah blah date a time stamped on 3/28/06. Oddly enough, this is the date of my "E-wallet" charge. What the hell is e-wallet? Never knew they had the service. Anyway, my battle begins today. Wish me luck!
Concerned in Dallas
[ April 12, 2006 ]
Blinko Scam Is Very Similar to the Jamster Scam
A company called Blinko (www.blinko.com) is fraudulently charging people's cell phone accounts (cramming) in the amount of $9.99 per month, plus text message charges. From what I've read on this web site, the two scams are the same, with one major difference... the people who are being scammed by Blinko did not enter our cell numbers into any web site (or sign up in any way whatsoever). We simply got charged. I believe Blinko is 'cloning' our phones and signing us up for the service, obviously without our knowledge or consent. Or, they are simply using our cell phone numbers as others have stated on this web site. Either way, they are signing us up themselves without our knowledge or consent. Other than that difference, everything is the same... can't unsubscribe, Blinko customer service doesn't exist, Verizon will not help, etc, etc. Blinko is committing fraud. If anyone knows of a class action lawsuit against Blinko, please let me know (donohue at paonline dot com). I have filed a complaint with the FTC and will file one with the FCC this week. I am also sending a letter to Verizon's Executive Relations people, asking for them to remove the charges. Their address is: Verizon Wireless Attn: Executive Relations 777 Big Timber Road Elgin IL 60123 Hopefully this will be of some help to you all with the Jamster problem also. If you are a victim of the Blinko scam, here is the contact info for the company's "US President": Burton Katz burton.katz@buongiorno.com 305-450-7515.
Brian
[ April 4, 2006 ]
Teens Being Scammed
I would like to point out first that Jamster targets young teens and seem to get away with it ALOT. Nearly three years ago now (when I was 12) a Jamster add came on that said you could receive celebrity gossip for free to your phone (being 12 I thought that getting gossip on celebrities was really cool) so I sent them my mobile number and sure enough I received test messages about the latest gossip. (At this time I had not told my parents about my situation) After a few days I was still getting gossip sent to my phone that I wasn't reading because I became bored of it. Now I'm on a pre-pay account as it is easier for a teen, I started to see that something was wrong when I checked my credit balance and found I had none when my dad had recently bought me $20 credit a few days before. I couldn't understand what was happening and my parents began to be upset with me thinking that I was sending lots of messages to my friends and wasting credit. It was then that I started to realize what had happened but it was at least another week before I confessed to my parents that Jamster was sending me messages and taking money from my balance every day. We didn't know how to stop the messages so I had to get a new phone number so to this day I always read the fine print and have NEVER subscribed to any tv add.
Marisa
[ 31 March 2006 ]
I've Been Scammed
I have charges on my Cingular bill every month I cant seem to get removed. Cingular doesn't help.They said I need to get in touch with Mqube but I cant seem to get in touch with them. If anyone can tell me how please email me at gail6418@hotmail.com.
Gail
[ March 27, 2006 ]
m-Qube inc Scam
I have received 2 monthly bills from Cingular showing a $9.99 monthly charge from m-Qube inc. That no one at my house is aware of ordering. The phone being charged is not authorized for text messaging,or internet access. Cingular removed the charges. I have filed complaints with the BBB and PUC against m-Qube and would encourage others to file complaints as well. Maybe someone will pay attention and do something to stop all of these rip off artists.
Tim
[
March 24, 2006 ]
M-Qube / Jamster
I too have been a victim of the Jamster scam (M-Qube & Cingular). I purchased a phone for my daughter from Cingular for Christmas. We never subscribed or even had text services or web services on her phone, yet I still get over 40 $.99 charges on her bill every month. I have argued repeatedly with Cingular about this & they stated that we subscribed to this service (which is just ridiculous since there's no texting or web services on the phone) and to call M-Qube to unsubscribe. I did that after I received my December bill, January bill, February bill, & now again in March. All I can say is this sucks & I'm very displeased with both companies.
James
[ March 22, 2006 ]
M-Qube & Media
I purchased a ringtone from Cingular's (or what I thought was Cingular's) MediaNet site. If I hadn't been over charged for data @ the tune of 138.00 I wouldn't have even noticed that M-Qube signed me up for a 9.99 and taxes a month subscription to ringtones. I called the customer service line and I did get all the erroneous charges removed. I couldn't believe it and tried it again. What do you know? I purchased the same ringtone from my handset and I was charged for M-Qube again. This is illegal slamming. I'm sure people don't know that this is happening and they are making MILLIONS. This has got to stop!!!
Xultar
[ March 21, 2006 ]
We Are Getting the Boot in the $%@ too!
We are getting these bogus charges on my daughters phone as well. Nextel couldn't even give me a phone number. Only an email address customer_service@m-qube.com I have emailed them to ask for the service to be cancelled. Yeah right!! I want to do something about this how to I get Nextel to cooperate with me? Any ideas?
Screwed in Alabama
[ March 16, 2006 ]
Blinko/Spicy Mint, aka 42222 to Unsubscribe
This is the worst scheme ever. Honestly. Little fine print, anyone can sign you up and mess you up on this, it just goes to your phone without confirmation. I was signed up for some bull for 5.99 a month, which I don't want. I quickly unsubscribed but found out I was already charged. Called boost and filled an escalation form, and now I'm spreading the word. If I don't get my money back this will go to the Better Business Bureau, and Federal Trade Commission for consumer fraud. There was absolutely no agreement on my phone, I did not agree to this service. Furthermore, when I call the 800 number I get nothing, an answering machine that sends me to a web site to sign up for more crap. Show yourselves, M-*#$&ers. There's nobody behind those lines, just a machine that gives you the same answer. This is clearly a scam and there must be thousands, who fall under the same scam, we're being cheated out of our money. Stay clear of Blinko, or SpicyMint, there's a few others. Just stay clear if you see any pop up or scam that says text to 42222 to unsubscribe. Just delete, close, cancel, hopefully someone will represent us, these A-@%#es are rackin' up easy money at our expense.
Rob
[ March 16, 2006 ]
Jamster Sucks
As well as a lot of other people that submitted stories, I had a situation with Jamster where they would charge me money for ringtones and texts that I never received/ordered. I remember one day I saw an advertisement for Jamster. It claimed that if I typed in my phone number I would receive a free ringtone automatically. It worked, and I never thought of ordering ringtones ever again. I never went back to that site or tried to contact Jamster. However, not even an hour ago my dad opened my cell phone bill and I had up to $16 dollars in charges from Jamster. They continue to send me text messages that I never reply to and just delete. I get these text messages at ridiculous times of the day. I get most of them in the middle of the night while I'm sleeping and even one while school was in session, and they never stop. Reading other stories there doesn't seem to be a solution. I can't find a way to unsubscribe from Jamster and I really don't know what to do.
Jen
[ March 14, 2006 ]
F***ers
I think that summarizes my experience. Can someone explain to me how the hell they manage to get away with this and why no one has done anything legally? How do they get hold of the phone numbers?
Ale
[08 March 2006 ]
The Story of 3rd Party Companies
I was a customer service representative for Cingular Wireless between January 2005 to December 2005. To my understanding the 3rd party companies Jamster, M-Qube, M-Blox to name a few offered ring tones that Cingular did not offer through their own service called Infospace. Within these companies there are numerous vendors such as Dirtyhippo, they provide jokes, graphics, IM chat, dating connection, premium services sports scores & weather results. Their is an agreement with the major carriers meaning the carriers profit from those companies. When the mess started Cingular was rather strict with credits, we were advised to tell the customer to contest charges on Cingular.com or call, e-mail, text the 3rd party company for a credit. Our systems only let us contest/credit up to around 8.00 per 30 days—the same capability the customer had on Cingular.com.
Anyway, what happened was too many customers were upset because there were numerous charges for ring tones, and most of the time there were not ring tones even on the phone. What happened was some reps misinformed the customer because there was limited info. Our sales portal did not have detailed info about canceling or blocking downloads up until around March 2005. Some reps told customers that they can block text and mms as well as wix and the charges will not incur. This was not true because the 3rd party companies are based on subscription, which their systems automatically send out the ring tone, graphic or joke. That company has no way of knowing if it was ever received, therefore it would show up on the billing statement. After several upset customers and cancellations Cingular then upped our credit potential were we had to credit each individual charge and it would show up on the next billing statement. We had some contact info on most 3rd party companies but those companies kept on expanding their vendors and changing phone #'s and we did not have a complete list of 100% accurate contact info. For the most part those companies were manipulative Jamster paved the way. Their commercials had in small print that it was subscription based. Everything is legal; it was just too easy if I wanted to I can send a sms on my friends phone and sign them up for their services without their knowledge. Many customers stated that one day they received a text from that company and that is how it started. This is untrue, those companies do not automatically start charging for service unless it was signed up for such as through text, home computer, or by calling. It is binding if a minor starts the service I think they have to be 13 and over. Cingular Wireless acknowledged the problem and made it easier for their customers to receive credits and to give the customer info on how to cancel. At the time Cingular's systems could cancel a few services, sometimes Jamster and Mobile TV.
The only way you can be charged from a 3rd party service without contacting them is if you receive a new # and the previous customer did not cancel that service. This is a major issue, Cingular will credit in full if this is evident. This is not just a Cingular phenomenon or problem. No scam it was done legally all info is on commercials and their web sites. It took advantage of youth and people that did not want to read. However I don't think the service should be so easy to start by sending a text from the cell. I know the record companies rebounded nicely because of the sales of ring tones. Cingular has made giant strides to resolve those issues and if you speak with a rep that will not give you all the info, call back. I worked for a few cell companies and Cingular has the best information on all issues. There are over 30 locations for customer service and yes there is a possibility that you would reach a bad rep. Cingular is a very good company with written policies and procedures that can be accessed by a regular rep.
Anonymous
[ March 7, 2006 ]
M-Qube Business Practice
I got rid of any internet service on my phone from Cingular wireless. Then M-Qube started texting me. I or my son deleted the first message. This is acceptable to M-Qube business practice that they must of learn in prison. Cingular gave me a bill for over $80 in ringtones that I never ordered.
Another Victim
[ February 26, 2006 ]
Charged $86.48 in 1 Day by m-Qube Inc.!!!!
I noticed that something has been wrong with my bills for the past couple of months. When I received my Cingular bill on Feb. 25, 2006. I notice that the Total Amount Due was way to much. After long search in my bill, I came to the DirectBill Download Detail. There was 8 charges on Jan 25th with a total charge of $10.81 each.. So that's $86.48 charged in 1 day from a merchant name m-Qube Inc. with a description under Ringtones or Image!! I then looked at my last bill from December. I notice the same name m-Qube Inc. they had charged me $11.63 for a ringtone or image. The Merchant Contact that showed was a spetrofsky@m-qube.com. but that contact only showed in my december bill from Cingular and not my current bill I received on Feb. 25th. The current bill I received had a Merchant Contact 1-866-CINGULAR. I do not want to pay the $86.48 that was charged to me, and want that stopped!!
Robert
[February 25, 2006 ]
Crammed & Scammed in Arkansas
For Christmas this past year we got our 12 year old daughter a cell phone. We use Cingular as our provider. My husband and I don't use texting, but it's huge with kids. We gave her the phone, and the first night she shows me some sort of recurring text message she keeps getting saying to Text some # and get unlimited downloads for only 5.99/ month. I told her to just delete the messages. Jump to January and my first bill with partial month charges. I had over $52 in unauthorized "downloads". After some investigation, it seems that just by reading the text message from whomever, you get billed 5.99, 6.99, or 9.99, sometimes 2 or 3 times in one day. I contacted Cingular who was very helpful and reversed all charges and gave me the phone # for m-Qube, the biller. m-Qube apparently has a policy of only handling any sort of issue through e-mail and e-mail only. My February bill has charges on it, totaling $12.98, and m-Qube has informed me it's not their fault. I finally got through to one of the companies they say is responsible, and she told me it MUST be that whomever had the phone # prior to us must have subscribed and it was just a huge mistake.(yeah, right). I told her that it didn't make sense to read a text message and get billed a download. Oh yes, their company just sees that you read the message but they don't deal with your internet service on the phone, so they can't tell you didn't download it(bull****)... I ended up e-mailing m-Qube back for the 3rd time and telling them that I'm sending them bills for the last 3 e-mails they've read of mine for 12.99 each, since it's essentially the same principle. I fully expect a reversal of my current charges, since I refuse to pay them and I will happily join any Class Action going involving m-Qube. They can't keep passing the buck from one to the other. Someone is getting the money, apparently m-Qube, although to hear them talk they are completely innocent. Real cute. Also, it really sucks that I have to completely block texting from all of our cell phones because of this scam. It really is a shame that blocking a service is the only way to stop unsolicited texting that they can just automatically bill you for a non-provided service. Sounds a lot like those phone scams where people would call the number back to see what prize they won and get a $1000 charge on their phone bill because they called some bogus shell company in the Virgin Islands, doesn't it? Thanks for letting me vent my frustrations!
Rebecca
[ February 23, 2006 ]
Fees on Phone Bill—Cingular
Ringtone/Image, Verisign --Jamster.com 3 times charge on a phone that had a code on it so none could be place and everything taken off the phone so no texting could be done. I have been charged $26.63 and I want may money back. Everything was taken off in December 2005. How do I go about getting my money back and stopping these charges???????
Johnnie Brown
[ February 22, 2006 ]
Get a refund from Cingular for EWallet
This just happened to me as well. I got charged $39.27 for the last three months for this E-wallet Service that I never heard of. I told Cingular that they should be responsible for the charges. They are the ones billing me directly. I never received any solicitation or email confirmation for this service. If one would apply for this service then certainly one should receive some sort of confirmation email in order to take action right away just in case the transaction is fraudulent. In which this case it was, since I never applied for such a service. Anyway I contacted Cingular and they told me that they couldn't do anything, for me, to contact the 3rd party providers... in this case M-Qube and M-Blox. After unsuccessfully trying to contact them I called Cingular up a second time and insisted they refund my money because I should not be held responsible for fraudulent charges on my cell phone account through Cingular. They don't have any type confirmation protocol or anything like it in place to combat these fraudulent charges whatsoever. Funny part was that I canceled my Moto internet account about 5 months ago. Why would I join a service like this not having internet access? Anyway I did get Cingular to refund the money to my account. This should never happen to anyone. I sincerely don't think this is an isolated incident, I think it is large scale. I suggest everyone check their phone bills for these erroneous charges that they may be getting billed for without their knowledge. Someone with clout should contact the State Attorney General's Office of their state to take action.
Tino
[ February 20, 2006 ]
m-qube and Cingular
Last June I added a second phone to my Cingular account. The phone was for my SO. Each month since then I have received between $10-$20 worth of charges for "downloads" all on the second cell phone. My story is the same as everyone else's. The company adding the charges to my bill is m-Qube. When I call Cingular or m-Qube I get no help. The Cingular rep says that I have to call m-Qube. When I call m-Qube they tell me to call Cingular. When my SO calls it is a different story. When HE calls Cingular credits the account! Each month we go through this. Each month Cingular is told to disable the text messaging and download functions on the phone. We only want to use it as a phone we don't want anything else. But it continues to happen EVERY month!
Cheryl W.
[ February 20, 2006 ]
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