I was contacted by my parents whose monthly phone bill was inflated by $43.75 (more than doubled) for a 2 minute phone call to 900-444-0358.
The item appeared on their phone bill as a 3rd Party Information Service billed via The Billing Resource Center. 1-888-296-8079 was given as the contact number for "billing inquiries". When my mother called she was on hold for 15 minutes and was eventually connected with a Customer Service Rep who could barely speak english. My mother had a difficult time communicating with this individual and was simply told "You download software, you download software" repeatedly until she became frustrated and hung up.
When I called on her behalf, I was connected with another individual who also spoke in very broken english. This person used the same tactic with me. When I asked what software was downloaded, the rep could not tell me. I further explained that I found numerous references to "Atlantic Management" on many consumer web sites which indicated that this was a fraud,
I indicated that I called The Billing Resource Center hoping they would remove this charge and that this call was the first of many I planned to make. If The Billing Resource Center couldn't help me, I told them my next step was to contact the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, then the Ohio Attorney General.
At this point, the rep apologized for any inconvenience/misunderstanding and said the account would be credited in the next 1 to 2 billing cycles.
In the meantime I contacted the phone company (EMBARQ) which noted the dispute and said they would apply all payments to the local phone account and not to any 3rd party services.
These companies make the process very inconvenient and frustrating but DO NOT give up. Fight them, but remain calm and polite throughout the process.indicate to them that this is a known scam and that you plan to contact other consumer advocate organizations within your state.
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