it pays to watch your bills. in the last two weeks i have noticed some strange charges on my credit card bill, my checking account, and on my t-mobile phone bill. each charge was ten dollars. not something one really notice. the first one was on my checking account, it was for 10 dollars. i had noticed a month before, but i didn't do anything about it, i wasn't sure what i had purchased, but i let it go. then it happened again. so, i did a little research. the company's name on the charge wli*reservations. i didn't have the foggiest as to what that was. luckily, there was what appeared to be a phone number next to the charge, so i called the number and low and behold it was a company. after going through an electronic operator i was able to get the charge taken off. the problem was i hadn't the foggiest how it got started. i bought something online, a cd i think, and i have a feeling that there was an "offer" that i didn't say no to.
yesterday, i was checking an account of a card i don't use any more and had cut up and thrown away. i've been trying to pay it down. i noticed a 9.99 charge for something i know i hadn't authorized. i called the credit card company and they told me who it was. i told them that i hadn't authorized said charge, they gave me a number and i called. i was pretty livid, actually. i talked to this girl on the phone and told her that i hadn't authorized, nor even knew what the company was. i had gone back and checked old credit card statements and they'd been charging me 9.99 for almost six months. SIX MONTHS! for what? i haven't a clue. i got that charge taken off. however, i didn't feel very good about it, so i called back the credit card company and had them cancel the credit card number and issue me another. i'll be watching that statement very closely for the time being.
today, i was looking at my cell phone bill and i noticed a 9.99 charge. it had been there last month, too. it was from a company called "thumbplay." i called t-mobile and asked what it was for. i had downloaded one, just one ringtone from thumbplay to my cellphone (rl burnside tune, sounds very cool when it goes off). it turns out that tumbplay had been charging me 9.99 a month for essentially nothing. if i had seen the charge of 9.99 for anything from thumbplay i would of said "hell nah" when i downloaded the song. i got a guy at t-mobile who was either over caffinated or just really high on life, but he was able to stop the charges AND he credited me 9.99 on my next bill. i will be watching that bill closely, too.
these three experiences have left me a little shaken. and made me a bit angry, a lot angry, truth be told, but it just goes to show that you have to watch your bills very closely. check those statements and be oh so careful when buying anything on line. one of those charges got attached to my credit card after purchasing a dvd from either dvdplanet.com or deepdiscountdvd.com. either way, just be aware.
* originally posted at opendiary.com
3 comments:
Why is everything in life so difficult? We all have a right to be angry.
Well, I went to Italy rented a car and paid a monthly charge for it four months after getting back! Crazy! I had to cancel the card to make them stop! Augh! :P
24 hour fitness did the same to me, and many people. When you quit, they keep charging you. Just telling them over the phone isn't good enough, you have to bake them a cake or something.
I decided last year to make things more simple, and not buy (almost) anything on the internet, or anything non-essential. This not only saved me money, but it helped me keep track of things.
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