(no subject)
Mar. 29th, 2006 03:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
badstarFor the last 2 months, I've been getting charged ridiculous amounts for text messaging. Yes I use text messaging...and I have an add-on bundle on my plan for that purpose. But I don't use it enough to use up the messages that are included, let alone what I'm gettign charged for.
Last month, I had something like $40 in text messages. When I called in to discuss it, I realized that it mght have been because there were times that the phone was signed in for AOL text messaging when I was using it on the computer and that the two were somehow connected. They dropped half the text messaging charges and I have been psychotic about making sure that my phone is signed off if I use AIM on the computer. This month I have about $63 in charges for text messaging on my bill.
I took a closer look..I'm getting charges every day of the month, usually in time blocks- they're almost all incoming messages! ...but what's really bizarre is that they're showing up as me recieving multiple messages within the same minute....my bill is showing 3, 4, 5, 6,....at one point- 12 messages within the *same minute*!
My first call to Cingular got me nowhere. The guy I talked to was really obnoxious and patronizing. "Obviously Miss, you are using this feature a lot more than you care to admit and there's nothing I can do but block future use of text messaging on your phone" This was AFTER he volunteered that my phone does not have the capacity to recieve so much data in the time blocks as it's showing up. When I asked to speak to someone else, he hung up on me.
So after I got to work, I called back...it took a few minutes, but she finally pulled up my statement and took a look at the message pattern...after some questions like "how often do you restart the phone?", the agent told me she was going to check with someone else. A few minutes later, she came back and informed me that after consulting with three other people, they determined this: the messages are coming from someone's computer using AOL instant messenger, they're bombarding me with messages. Completely ignoring the fact that I'm telling her...I don't recieve these messages, my phone doesn't even have this sort of capacity...and if they were doing what she said, they'd have to live at their computer. Her answer was...1. She doesn't know why I'm not getting the messages, but someone is very deliberately and very methodically sending them. And 2. Someone with the knowledge could have written a program to make that happen, but they have no way to trace it because it isn't coming from a phone. They can remove all of my text message charges for the month, but unless I were to completely block instant messaging to my phone, I would have to pay for it in the future. Oh...and the messages are being sent to my phone number- not to the AOL IM screen name that I use with the phone.
She says that there's NO WAY that ANYTHING else could have happened, and I'm supposed to think very carefully about the people that I know who have my number and who might do such a thing. I say that's vaguely possible- anyhitng is possible, but utterly ridiculous.
So unless someone wants to fess up, cease and desist...I need to call back and talk to their tech people.
Last month, I had something like $40 in text messages. When I called in to discuss it, I realized that it mght have been because there were times that the phone was signed in for AOL text messaging when I was using it on the computer and that the two were somehow connected. They dropped half the text messaging charges and I have been psychotic about making sure that my phone is signed off if I use AIM on the computer. This month I have about $63 in charges for text messaging on my bill.
I took a closer look..I'm getting charges every day of the month, usually in time blocks- they're almost all incoming messages! ...but what's really bizarre is that they're showing up as me recieving multiple messages within the same minute....my bill is showing 3, 4, 5, 6,....at one point- 12 messages within the *same minute*!
My first call to Cingular got me nowhere. The guy I talked to was really obnoxious and patronizing. "Obviously Miss, you are using this feature a lot more than you care to admit and there's nothing I can do but block future use of text messaging on your phone" This was AFTER he volunteered that my phone does not have the capacity to recieve so much data in the time blocks as it's showing up. When I asked to speak to someone else, he hung up on me.
So after I got to work, I called back...it took a few minutes, but she finally pulled up my statement and took a look at the message pattern...after some questions like "how often do you restart the phone?", the agent told me she was going to check with someone else. A few minutes later, she came back and informed me that after consulting with three other people, they determined this: the messages are coming from someone's computer using AOL instant messenger, they're bombarding me with messages. Completely ignoring the fact that I'm telling her...I don't recieve these messages, my phone doesn't even have this sort of capacity...and if they were doing what she said, they'd have to live at their computer. Her answer was...1. She doesn't know why I'm not getting the messages, but someone is very deliberately and very methodically sending them. And 2. Someone with the knowledge could have written a program to make that happen, but they have no way to trace it because it isn't coming from a phone. They can remove all of my text message charges for the month, but unless I were to completely block instant messaging to my phone, I would have to pay for it in the future. Oh...and the messages are being sent to my phone number- not to the AOL IM screen name that I use with the phone.
She says that there's NO WAY that ANYTHING else could have happened, and I'm supposed to think very carefully about the people that I know who have my number and who might do such a thing. I say that's vaguely possible- anyhitng is possible, but utterly ridiculous.
So unless someone wants to fess up, cease and desist...I need to call back and talk to their tech people.
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no subject
Date: 2006-03-29 09:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-29 09:05 pm (UTC)this is REALLY sounding like an issue with them.
no subject
Date: 2006-03-29 09:24 pm (UTC)i talked wayyy too much
no subject
Date: 2006-03-29 09:41 pm (UTC)they're saying that someone is purposefully bombarding my phone number- NOT the AIM name with messages that i'm not recieving. sorry...i say that's bull.
no subject
Date: 2006-03-29 09:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-29 11:48 pm (UTC)If you ever logged in using 4646 then that's why you are getting all these SMS to your phone.
no subject
Date: 2006-03-30 12:04 am (UTC)they're trying to tell me that someone on AIM a computer is bombarding my phone number with messages- not the AIM screen name on my phone.
no subject
Date: 2006-03-30 01:50 am (UTC)There is spyware and virus for cell phones
Date: 2006-03-30 03:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-30 04:19 am (UTC):P
Re: There is spyware and virus for cell phones
Date: 2006-03-30 04:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-30 04:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-31 01:55 pm (UTC)