I’ve had issues with WRAL TV (Raleigh, NC) in the past over their “consumer advocate” articles.  A decade ago, WRAL’s 5 On Your Side crew once came after a company I worked for when a consumer complained about a product that was sold to them. A preliminary article was created and aired. After they actually looked at the facts, it turned out the consumer had installed his product entirely against the company’s recommendation, the manufacturer’s instructions, and common practice. Was the article ever amended to indicate it was not the company’s fault? No.

It looks to me like WRAL TV’s 5 On Your Side is still at it.  The linked article was first teased on Facebook as “Hidden Fees on Your Cell Phone Bill.”  After reading the article, it turns out the original title wasn’t entirely correct.  If anything, it was a traditional TV news teaser meant to get people excited about complaining about their cell phone bill.

I assure you, based on my own long experience on this, “cramming” is nothing new, nor is it your service provider’s fault.

The article posted on in this link on Facebook stated the article was about “Hidden Fees On Your Cell Phone Bill,” which certainly sounded like the cell phone companies were raking people over the coals for money. Instead, the article is about third-party billing, which has been an entirely legal system for decades. The same system that first allowed people to make collect calls allows companies - some of them scams, but none of them actual cellular or landline carriers, make a collect charge on your bill. Your link title seems to be a bit sensationalized, as this system was already in place before cell phones came into common use.

The most common of these practices, these days, is in premium text messaging. A premium text comes from a non-cell phone - a five or six digit number instead of the common ten-digit phone number. Some premium texts are entirely benign, such as voting on something or requesting a song with your local radio station, or Google’s 411 search via text program. Others, usually “ads” you see on popular social networking sites, are designed to be deceptive, though you’re almost always given the “fine print” to agree to before hand.

A couple years ago my mother had a $9.99 fee on her cell phone bill for a subscription she didn’t knowingly request.  The charge most likely came from the Facebook site, where she saw an IQ test or something interesting advertised on the right side of the screen. After taking the quiz, the company conducting it needs your cell phone number to give you your results. If you read the fine print, you’ll find the $9.99 reoccurring charge that you’re to by providing the link they need to your cell phone carrier - your wireless number.  It’s very easy to quickly fall into their scheme.

Traditional cramming has been around since before cell phones and the Internet. Cramming companies simply used to bill your home phone, instead. Their practices are much more deceptive than premium texting companies. But in all, this type of scam isn’t as wide-spread as it used to be, thanks to decades of litigation, consumer complaints, and credit escalations with the landlines and wireless carriers.

The most common cramming scam involved your legal right to switch long-distance carriers with your landline service, known as long distance slamming. Back when everything was limited to your local phone utility company, laws were changed to allow you to select the utility which handles your calls outside of the local area. In 2010, many of the traditional long-distance companies (such as MCI), no longer exist. Wires are now fiberoptic or satelite radio based, and your local phone company is probably now a multi-state or multi-national business. The laws that were set up to protect the consumer don’t make much sense these days, but they’re still there, and now the few companies using these “loopholes” in the legal system use the law to covertly rip you off.

So what’s the fix for all this? The WRAL article grazes the true answer. Asking your landline company to block cramming usually means having them lock your long distance carrier. Additionally, they need to set it up where only chosen people are authorized to make changes to your account. These days, I’m not sure if people working for the landline company know the term cramming, so you may need to be specific about what you’re requesting.

On your wireless bill, your carrier is usually locked on your long distance provider. If your wireless provider is a national company, your carrier is also your wireless long distance company. If you’re using a smaller, regional carrier, you may want to know who they use for long distance, and if possible, ask them to lock you into a known and reputable company. This should avoid the cramming that the article speaks about.

As for the other incidents that the article said little to nothing about, namely third-party charges to your cell phone bill, also request a block on premium texting, request to lock your account to allow changes only from specifically authorized people, and you can usually ask to remove the ability for third-party billing. These specific requests will protect you from typical “extra charges” on your cell phone bill, but in most cases, the scam that 5 On Your Side is talking about traditionally effects landline companies. If you still have a home phone, be sure to protect it. If you have a cell phone, you may have already run into some charges that don’t make much sense.

Lastly, contact your local utility commission with issues your phone company will not work with you on. Keep in mind, the charge wasn’t from your phone carrier, so they are losing money by crediting you for charges (they lose millions to these companies, just like consumers do). But if they’re unwilling to work with you at all, the only organization set up to handle complaints is the utility commission or utility board. Even the FCC can’t help you.

Ultimately, if you want the problem fixed, you have to go through your elected representation. Congress has had bills fixing these issues bouncing around Washington for years, but they never seem to get anywhere. Ultimately, a law must be changed to fix the loophole. Changing the law is your representative or senator’s responsibility. Contacting them to let them know you’re tired of scam charges on your home or cellular phone bills is YOUR responsibility.

And remember, if you don’t like the fees, charges, and taxes on your phone bill, that is also the responsibility of your elected official. On your bill, you should see your local city, county, state, and 911 system getting all sorts of taxes or charges. You should also see a local municipality charge, which is the fee paying the landline company for handling the transfer of calls between brands of carriers (the government protects your local landline, even if you’re not their customer). You will also see fees that are used to pay for rural phone systems, so people out in the middle of rural areas aren’t solely footing the bill for telephone poles, wires, and switching centers. And on top of all that, you should see as much as a couple dollars in fees the government allows the carriers to charge to recoup overhead - the fee actually going to your provider. This is standard practice, at least until the law changes.

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