RWG Technical Posted September 1, 2006 Report Share Posted September 1, 2006 How I got scammed by a phone company on my travels in Europe… I’ll try and give you the short version, but if your traveling anywhere, beware of this scam…it cost me some money… In France calls to Canada were about 0.10 euros per minute, in Germany and Austria, the calls were running 1.00 euro per minute. I am in Reutte Austria, and the pay phone does not take cash, nor does it take phone cards…but on the phone there is a placard (official looking one at that) with a phone number and instructions for placing calls, and it will take your Visa (I know, I know…believe me I have beaten myself up over being so stupid…). The phone number you dial is 0800 0008 016, and then your asked the language 1 English, then the country 2 Canada, and you enter your Visa and make the call…so far so good… Being the type of person that bases what happens today on what happened yesterday or when I did the same thing before, I figured the calls would run about 1 euro per minute. Why not? That had been the charges so far in Austria… So I make 2 calls, each for about 1 minute (no one was home, I left a voice message…). Next day, I called from Reutte to Fussen (12 miles, 15 Km away) to book castle tours…it’s early morning, I am not fully awake, and when I do what I did yesterday, someone comes on the line and says “International Operator, can I help you?” I am confused, I called the same number as yesterday, and the calls went through direct…who is this person… “Why am I talking to you, I want to call Germany, can you tell me how to dial it…” “No I can’t, but I can put the call through for you…” “What do you mean you can’t tell me how to dial it, it’s only a call from Austria to Germany, aren’t you a Austrian operator.. what is the numbers I dial, 001, or 011 or whatever…” “I am in the USA, and I have no idea what you should dial, but I can put the call through for you…” Now normally, I would stop right there and think really hard before I agreed to this, or at least ask if there was a fee, but early morning, pressure to get tickets, all messed up my brain…so I said “Well if this is the only way I can make the call, go ahead and place it…” Which he did, total time on the phone when I got through to the ticket office, 2 minutes or less (remember this for later…) Later the same day, I place another call, being more awake this time, the operator came on again, and I asked if there were any fees…answer: “If I place the call for you, the cost is $15 for the first 5 minutes, and about $1 for every minute after this…” “Hmmm, let me think about this, NO, thanks anyway…” and I hung up. Now this was the first time I was told any fees, and based on what she said, I figured that the three calls I made would be no more than $15 each, for a total of $45…expensive, but I could live with it…my mistake. Note that at no time was I told what the charges would be from the first operator, and when I dialed the numbers myself, with no operator, I was not given the chance to even know the rate they would charge, and the placard (official looking on above phone) did not have any rates listed… Normally you (me the customer) has to be informed of the costs, BEFORE you decide if your willing to pay the charges… Ok, still with me, it gets better… Get home, go on line, check my Visa statement. Well, well, well, what do we have here… I check my Visa, I was billed for 4 calls (only made 3 that went through), and 3 of the calls were $38 EACH, and the fourth call was $43…WOW… Remember my call from Reutte to Fussen, that is the $43 call for 2 minutes of talking…for a distance of 15 km… To make a long story longer, I called Visa, filled a complaint and they are investigating…I filled a complaint with the FCC against the company (as they are based in the USA) and then call the company to ask some questions… They have a 1 800 number you can call, note this, 1 800 576 5402 if you want to give them a shout… I called and asked for their website (wanted to download their policy and charges…) “The website is www.sattellitecommunicationscompany.com, all one word…” I try it, no website…so I call back…getting a bit annoyed… “Sorry we don’t have a web site, I can answer all your questions verbally…” “What are the fees” “$10-$15 connection fee, then $3.99-$5.99 per minute after this…” “Strange, I was not told this by your operator before…so I need a copy of your policy, how you inform people of the charges BEFORE they make the call, and what is your agreement and terms with the FCC…” “I can answer your questions verbally, we don’t have anything in print, we only deal in verbal answers, now if you give me your VISA number, I can have a look for you and explain everything and answer your questions…” Needless to say, the conversation did not get any better after this, and NO I did not give them my Visa number, I may be dumb, but not stupid… So my message is simple, don’t ever ever use your Visa overseas for phone calls…it’s a rip off… Not sure if I will get any of my money back, Visa will do what they can in their investigation, but for reference, these 3 calls, totaling about 3-4 minutes cost me $160…highway robbery, especially in today’s long distance world… So if anyone lives close to Reutte, go to the campground next to the sportsplatz, and the payphone at the entrance to the campgroung, tear off the placard to help stop others getting ripped off as I was…hard lesson learned, but that was my only scam in 3 weeks, not bad… Note those numbers, NEVER call 0800 0008 016 for long distance calls, and if you are in a bad mood and want to vent and scream at someone, please call 1 800 576 5402 and tell them they ripped you off for phone calls and that you have filled with the FCC to shut them down… Hopefully this will save someone else from this scam… Thanks for reading… RG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gran Posted September 1, 2006 Report Share Posted September 1, 2006 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugwash Posted September 1, 2006 Report Share Posted September 1, 2006 This is why I get a pay-as-you-go SIM for my mobile if I'm in a country for more than a few days. You get humped, but you get humped in advance. There are a lot of dodgy scams, even including phonecard scams. Good luck with your credit card company. I hope you get it resolved quickly and cheaply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddhead Posted September 1, 2006 Report Share Posted September 1, 2006 How I got scammed by a phone company on my travels in Europe… I’ll try and give you the short version, but if your traveling anywhere, beware of this scam…it cost me some money… In France calls to Canada were about 0.10 euros per minute, in Germany and Austria, the calls were running 1.00 euro per minute. I am in Reutte Austria, and the pay phone does not take cash, nor does it take phone cards…but on the phone there is a placard (official looking one at that) with a phone number and instructions for placing calls, and it will take your Visa (I know, I know…believe me I have beaten myself up over being so stupid…). The phone number you dial is 0800 0008 016, and then your asked the language 1 English, then the country 2 Canada, and you enter your Visa and make the call…so far so good… Being the type of person that bases what happens today on what happened yesterday or when I did the same thing before, I figured the calls would run about 1 euro per minute. Why not? That had been the charges so far in Austria… So I make 2 calls, each for about 1 minute (no one was home, I left a voice message…). Next day, I called from Reutte to Fussen (12 miles, 15 Km away) to book castle tours…it’s early morning, I am not fully awake, and when I do what I did yesterday, someone comes on the line and says “International Operator, can I help you?” I am confused, I called the same number as yesterday, and the calls went through direct…who is this person… “Why am I talking to you, I want to call Germany, can you tell me how to dial it…” “No I can’t, but I can put the call through for you…” “What do you mean you can’t tell me how to dial it, it’s only a call from Austria to Germany, aren’t you a Austrian operator.. what is the numbers I dial, 001, or 011 or whatever…” “I am in the USA, and I have no idea what you should dial, but I can put the call through for you…” Now normally, I would stop right there and think really hard before I agreed to this, or at least ask if there was a fee, but early morning, pressure to get tickets, all messed up my brain…so I said “Well if this is the only way I can make the call, go ahead and place it…” Which he did, total time on the phone when I got through to the ticket office, 2 minutes or less (remember this for later…) Later the same day, I place another call, being more awake this time, the operator came on again, and I asked if there were any fees…answer: “If I place the call for you, the cost is $15 for the first 5 minutes, and about $1 for every minute after this…” “Hmmm, let me think about this, NO, thanks anyway…” and I hung up. Now this was the first time I was told any fees, and based on what she said, I figured that the three calls I made would be no more than $15 each, for a total of $45…expensive, but I could live with it…my mistake. Note that at no time was I told what the charges would be from the first operator, and when I dialed the numbers myself, with no operator, I was not given the chance to even know the rate they would charge, and the placard (official looking on above phone) did not have any rates listed… Normally you (me the customer) has to be informed of the costs, BEFORE you decide if your willing to pay the charges… Ok, still with me, it gets better… Get home, go on line, check my Visa statement. Well, well, well, what do we have here… I check my Visa, I was billed for 4 calls (only made 3 that went through), and 3 of the calls were $38 EACH, and the fourth call was $43…WOW… Remember my call from Reutte to Fussen, that is the $43 call for 2 minutes of talking…for a distance of 15 km… To make a long story longer, I called Visa, filled a complaint and they are investigating…I filled a complaint with the FCC against the company (as they are based in the USA) and then call the company to ask some questions… They have a 1 800 number you can call, note this, 1 800 576 5402 if you want to give them a shout… I called and asked for their website (wanted to download their policy and charges…) “The website is www.sattellitecommunicationscompany.com, all one word…” I try it, no website…so I call back…getting a bit annoyed… “Sorry we don’t have a web site, I can answer all your questions verbally…” “What are the fees” “$10-$15 connection fee, then $3.99-$5.99 per minute after this…” “Strange, I was not told this by your operator before…so I need a copy of your policy, how you inform people of the charges BEFORE they make the call, and what is your agreement and terms with the FCC…” “I can answer your questions verbally, we don’t have anything in print, we only deal in verbal answers, now if you give me your VISA number, I can have a look for you and explain everything and answer your questions…” Needless to say, the conversation did not get any better after this, and NO I did not give them my Visa number, I may be dumb, but not stupid… So my message is simple, don’t ever ever use your Visa overseas for phone calls…it’s a rip off… Not sure if I will get any of my money back, Visa will do what they can in their investigation, but for reference, these 3 calls, totaling about 3-4 minutes cost me $160…highway robbery, especially in today’s long distance world… So if anyone lives close to Reutte, go to the campground next to the sportsplatz, and the payphone at the entrance to the campgroung, tear off the placard to help stop others getting ripped off as I was…hard lesson learned, but that was my only scam in 3 weeks, not bad… Note those numbers, NEVER call 0800 0008 016 for long distance calls, and if you are in a bad mood and want to vent and scream at someone, please call 1 800 576 5402 and tell them they ripped you off for phone calls and that you have filled with the FCC to shut them down… Hopefully this will save someone else from this scam… Thanks for reading… RG Wow. I have a feeling that the same thing almost happened to me in Rome last year. Similar placard and process but the call would not go thru so I hung up before the call could be completed. Thanks for sharing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archibald Posted September 1, 2006 Report Share Posted September 1, 2006 I have some bad news for you, The Zigmeister. I don't know if that scam was run out of the US and subject to US law, but if it was it's probably 100% legal. You see, our country is currently being run by people (of both parties so don't get your panties in a bunch, Republicans) who sell legislation, agency rulings, and commission decisions to the highest bidder. Without boring you with the details, During my last years in politics, I worked on 2 communications bills, passed in 1999, one of which was amended to continue regulation of "connection charges" under a veto threat president clinton. In 2001 another bill-- one of those "deregulation to increase competition" bills was passed and promptly signed by president bush. Isn't it funny how the existing Telco's and wireless companies fall over themselves to send politicians money to get these bills passed that, you know, will create more competitors for them and force them to charge less? Funny. Till you get a $100 phone bill for 3 calls. The problem is that the only competition created by deregulation is between which slimeballs can find a better and easier way to rip off consumers. You see, there is no Association of Guys Who Just Want to Have Fun in Europe and Place a Couplle Calls. But there is an Association of Wireless Service Providers and an Association of Communications Network Providers, both of whom spent hundreds of millions to pass the law that removed restrictions on what third parties who rent networks from the big telcos and wireless companies can charge to put your calls through. The most common legal "scam" here in the US is people buying rights to calls from pay phones that may be marked "verzizon" or "bell south" or whatever. Then, when you dial 0 plus a number to place a credit card LD call, thinking you are getting a verizon operator (they are no longer required to identify themselves) you get someone from Bob's Phone Company (who no longer has to tell you what the charges are unless you ask). Bob can charge you whatever he wants, as long as he gives Verizon their cut. So if someone wants to route a call through the US and charge 100 bucks to connect you, it's fine w/ the FCC--'cause it's perfectly legal. BTW, make sure you pay those credit card charges, especially if your card was issued by an American bank--the last banking deregulation bill passed removes restrictions on the changes to interest rates they can make (your other credit card companies can now raise your rates if you're late on a different credit card's payments, even if you've followed their contract to the letter) and the % of wages they can garnish(raised from 15% to 40%) if you default on your payments. Just remember, deregulation is designed to increase competition and save, you, the consumer, a lot of money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotoman Posted September 2, 2006 Report Share Posted September 2, 2006 jesus thats crazy. You should check with your cell provider sometimes they have decent international rates - the real deal though, is VOIP. if you have a laptop you can talk to people for basically free. And other persons for .10 or .20 cents a minute Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryyannon Posted September 2, 2006 Report Share Posted September 2, 2006 The killer app: eliminate the laptop. Skype is coming out with a line of Phillips and Netgear handsets that will connect either by WiFi or standard Broadband, permitting the user to use the Skype network without a computer.... http://news.com.com/Skype+phones+without+t..._3-6111521.html Cool, no? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fotoman Posted September 2, 2006 Report Share Posted September 2, 2006 The killer app: eliminate the laptop. Skype is coming out with a line of Phillips and Netgear handsets that will connect either by WiFi or standard Broadband, permitting the user to use the Skype network without a computer.... http://news.com.com/Skype+phones+without+t..._3-6111521.html Cool, no? Yeah, actually there are several apps out there that can do it over your cellphone. I have one on my blackberry but i never got around to using it. I can get data in europe for cheap, so thats a great solution. There are even java apps for like moto razers and such for other VOIP services. I forgot about that, good point Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linder Posted September 2, 2006 Report Share Posted September 2, 2006 In July, I had to make a call from Dallas, TX to Arkansas using a pay phone in the Galleria mall with my American Express. I hit 0, was transferred to an operator who took my CC number. A 4 minute call later, I was billed twenty-something dollars. This is crazy.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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