If you’re a U.S. customer with either Verizon or Sprint, then you must ask for your “cramming” refund before the end of the year.
Cramming is the practice of billing customers fees for services they never asked for, such as an automatic subscription to horoscopes via text messages, which usually cost $9.99 a month. While that sounds a lot like fraud, the practice has become widespread in the wireless industry, which is why the Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission fined Verizon and Sprint and ordered them to pay substantial refunds to eligible customers.
Both companies agreed to settle the allegations where customers were charged for unauthorized third-party services on their bills such as ringtones, horoscopes, and celebrity gossip. Customers are eligible for full refunds of any unapproved charges.
Websites have been set up for Sprint and Verizon customers seeking restitution; claims can be made online or via mail. The deadline to apply for a refund is December 31, 2015.
Several consumers were targeted online through ads that when clicked on, brought them to websites requesting their mobile numbers. Most merchants tricked consumers into providing their numbers to receive “free” digital content, which they later found out that they would be charged for, according to the bureau. In other cases, sellers contrived charges without actually delivering any goods or communications to customers.
Verizon and Sprint received as much as a 40 percent cut of the gross revenue from these charges that occurred from 2004 through until 2013, the CFPB said.
“Well before any government action, Verizon Wireless stopped allowing companies to place charges for premium text message services on customers' bills,” spokeswoman Debra Lewis said in a statement. “Customers who believe they were billed improperly for these services may seek a refund.”
Sprint “returned tens of millions of dollars long before the government initiated its investigation of our industry,” the company said in a statement.
If either Verizon or Sprint is your carrier, be sure to seek your refund before the end of the year. Verizon customers can submit claims for refunds at http://www.cfpbsettlementverizon.com/ or ask questions by calling 888-726-7063. Sprint customers can submit claims at https://www.sprintrefundpsms.com/Home.aspx or call 877-389-8787.
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