I have been charged $13.27 on my Embarq phone bill by a third party company ESBI for the past 4 months for voicemail service I did not order, authorize or recieve. When called Embarq about it I was told the charges could only be removed by ESBI. I called ESBI and was told that I had signed up for this service on the computer. I don't always have the best memory but I know I did not and would not have signed up for any such service. After I argued with the service rep at ESBI about this for a considerable time, he agreed to credit my Embarq bill for the charges. We shall see if that really happens. I also e-mailed Embarq Customer Service to inquire as to how they could add charges to my account without requiring proof as to the validity and authorization of the charges. Their response was that they are "required" by the FCC to charge accounts when requested by a third party. I have e-mailed the FCC to find out if this is true and to suggest that they require phone companies to request proof of authorization from such companies. I encourage anyone who has had this problem to do the same. Maybe if the FCC gets enough complaints they will do something about this practice of scamming the public. This is nothing more than legalized robbery!
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