Beware - unauthorized charges on at & t bill (others also)

[Cathy_H]

I have an unauthorized charge on my at&t bill this month "billed on behalf of My Billing Guys" for $8.94....... After looking over the following website this is a widespread & common problem. Reading some of the comments from people on this site how can a business get away with practices like this..................... I will be calling at@t tomorrow but from the experiences posted this is not going to be taken care of in one call.. Several people have been told that they will not receive full credit.................... . Unbelievable loopholes. Thieves!!!!!!

................. Folks check your bills - this is apparently widespread! .... I've seen Verizon, Windstream & others mentioned on the site..... Anyone know who to contact to stop these illegal & thieving practices???????????

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/cell_phones/ild.html

And what might this be? As the complaints in this section show, ILD Teleservices is the name that appears next to mysterious charges on consumer phone bills. That's because ILD, among other things, is a "billing clearinghouse" for companies that bill for their services by placing charges on local phone bills.
ILD Teleservices

• Collect Calls

• Calling Card Calls

• Directory Assistance Charges

• Internet Services

• Long Distance

• Payphone Charges

• Voicemail

• Yellow Pages/Web Sites

Since its inception, this has been an area that has been open to abuse. There have been thousands of complaints about billing clearinghouses passing on phony and inflated charges for everything from collect calls to psychic readings, a practice known in the industry as "cramming."

ILD's Web site provides no clue to consumers as to how they might dispute inaccurate charges. However, it is one of seven clearinghouses that belong to something called CERB, the Coalition to Ensure Responsible Billing. CERB members subscribe to "stringent, pro-consumer policies for ensuring that only legitimate charges appear on consumers� bills."

Someof the comments

did not authorize this on my bill nor subscribe to the service. Third-party billings nested 3 deep in my Verizon statement

I get my monthly bill from AT&T, I noticed that there is an unauthorized charge on the bill. It is charged by ILD Teleservice on behalf of MyBillinguys LLC. Apparently, neither ILD Teleservice nor MyBillinguys bothered to contact me before they charge me. A call to my telephone company is fruitless. The operator refuses to put a block on third-party charges and refuse to verify the authenticity of third party charges, citing congressional barriers. At the end the operator hang up on me without the traditional farewell. Maybe keeping their partners honest is not in their script.

IDL Teleservices has billed me $27.00, ESBI has billed me $15.70, and USBI has billed me $16.77 through AT&T for services not asked for (Aug. 2008). As I roam the internet I see hundreds, if not thousands of Americans complaining about these same companies doing the same exact thing to them