OAN Services review: manipulate phone calls to get you into charges 85

I had a $12.95 charge show up on my AT&T bill for OAN services Inc. DBA TravelersVmail.com. I have never heard of these people nor done business with them. I have submitted complaints to the FCC and FTC. Because it is Sunday night AT&T is not available so I can scream at someone there. If I get anything less than removing this charge from my bill from AT&T, I will demand that they cancel my phone service. After all there are other providers out there even if its VOIP service. F these guys!

Hello I was scamed by OAN services as well. I am looking for 15-20 people who are whilling to apear in court in Tampa Fl. I spoke to my Lawer and he said that the best posible way to nail these guys is to have at least 15 witnesses. Those who are whilling will get an equal share of the pay out.
Thank you
Please eamil me at lvngawsm@aim.com
thanks again

OAN Services. Verizon has teamed up with OAN, a company that will use the Verizon billing Department to add an extra charge on the Landline Service charges, unbeknown to their customers who are unaware of such service/charge untill they are asked to pay for it by Verizon, without explanation whatsoever (a phantom service).OAN lists [protected] for inquirees. Shame on OAS.

I been charged $12.95 for the voice mail service, and this is a service thad I don't ORDER on my telephone bill with AT&T, and is an ABUSE for part of these companys to charge any amount without my authorization. Pleas remove from my bill this amount.

I have a minimal landline from AT&T that exists solely for 911 call usage. We have never made a call on this line, but on the latest bill find a charge for $16.07 for "new services provided and billed". I will call AT&T tomorrow morning to dispute this charge. While at it I will cancel my line because when we started it they "forgot" to send us a bill for the first two months and then hit us up with a late fee. I refuse to support such shoddy practices.

I just noticed OAN charges on my phone bill... it's 14.95 monthly charge for directory assistance... I am the only adult in my home... I did not in any way authorize this crap. I'm calling AT&T first thing tomorrow morning and getting this crap off of my bill. I'm a disabled single mom and 14.95 a month would definitly add up. We barely even use our home phone and rarely answer it due to telemarketers.. I'm even on the national do not call list! The only time we use it is if we need to make a local call... the cell is used for everything else... anyway.. hopefully I'm not stuck paying for something I never even asked for.. OAN sucks ###!

I noticed the charges on my VERIZON bill last month. They go back to September 2008.VERIZON would not help at all. I called OAN and got a run around as well, so I demanded to talk to a supervisor. This guy said they can only go back 6 months!, but I have to wait another 2 months to get reimbursed! Would love to find a way to nail these guys! I am in AUBURN, NY. Any suggestions, contact me at KENNETHSMOMINNY60@YAHOO.COM

I just had a run in with OAN. I was looking at my phone bill and noticed a $15.32 charge on my Verizon Phone Bill under subtitle OAN service charges.

I called the toll free number on my bill. They began to "Welcome " me for subscribing to the services (off of a script). I told them that I was calling because this number randomly appeared on my phone bill. The began explaining the "Benefits' (off off a script).

I told the Rep to STOP talking. I did not care about the Company or the Benefits. I care that it showed up on my phone bill without my pemission or any other person authorized to change services on my Verizon account.

She said that she was sorry and that they will credit my account for the next month (May 2009 for $14.95) since it has already been billed & that they will close the account. I told her that they should be creditting for this bill as well since I never signed up for this.

She asked if she could further verify some information (name, email, phone #) and expressed that I signed up via the internet! I explained that I did no such thing. All that information I 'verified' could be retreived by the telephone company itself!

She said she was sorry but that nothing could be done about the current charges currently on my phone bill. I told her that I will most certainly will get credited either today through her or through my attorneys. She put me on hold to 'speak to her 'supervisor' for about 10 seconds! She returned saying that they will credit my account $29.90. I asked her about the taxes & fees & she indicated Verizon would provide the credit for those (amounting to .74).

I hung up and called Verizon who indicated that on my phone bill I could see that the taxes & fees was under Subtitle of charges billed by OAN Services and that Verizon taxes & fees are seperated.

I called OAN back to inform them that Verizon said they are responsible for crediting the taxes & fees. I get placed on hold for about a minute and upon return the 'supervisor' is tending to another matter & they were referring my issue to 'Corporate' and someone would return my call.

I told them to contact my attorneys because I am utterly frustrated by the whole thing. I gave them the attorneys phone number. I immediately call my Pre-Paid legal attorneys and the are writing, not one but 2 letters on my behalf - one to Verizon & one to OAN Services.

I love Pre-Paid Legal Attorneys! www.prepaidlegal.com/hub/bontzolakesk

https://www22.verizon.com/ForYourHome/BillView/mybillnew.aspx?billarea=DW&ref=BV&strPage=OAN%20Services%20Charges&bcpage=OAN%20Services%20Charges&P2=F&BP=BillProfile&BI=0

My bill!

https://www22.verizon.com/ForYourHome/BillView/mybillnew.aspx?billarea=DW&ref=BV&strPage=OAN%20Services%20Charges&bcpage=OAN%20Services%20Charges&P2=F&BP=BillProfile&BI=0

OMG! I believed that I was the only one with this problem. I had called and was all nice to them and told them, "I will pay for this month, but it shouldn't be there the next". And they were all like "ok, you won't be billed from us anymore". Guess who I yelled right now? I cannot believe them! I am so mad, and I can't even call them anymore because it is after hours. What can I do, I cannot be paying them every bill I get. I don't even know who they are, what they are, and how did I get to have them. Man, this is frustrating. Any body have any sugestions as to what I should do?

Maribel, they are scam artists is what they are... You really can't be nice with them AND you should get credit for both months of sevices they charged you for. The rep had the nerve to say I signed up on-line... yeah right!

I called my Pre-Paid Legal attorneys & they are writing a letter to Verizon & OAN... I am going to get my FULL credit & they won't try this scam on me anymore!

I BET YOU BOTH VERIZON & OAN will put me on a DO NOT MESS WITH LIST! forget the DO NOT CALL REGISTRY!

Hope this is helpful... email me what happened.

I was charged $ 13.02 on my verizon account by OAN for 2 calls on march 19 when no one was home. I was told by OAN that they will credit me and I put a block on my number . This outfit should be closed down by the FCC or FBI or someone . this is outrageous

I did not ask for voicemail services from OAN

First of all, under no circumstances should you agree to pay for any charges related to OAN, including the taxes and other government surcharges. Unfortunately, I think OAN is actually making quite a lot of money from people who either don't care about a 'small' charge or people who think maybe they actually did make such a call (no you didn't! :) )

According to a Verizon rep, OAN (and also USBI) are already under federal investigation for their business practices (read scams). However, Verizon cannot just remove the charges from your bill without your calling OAN first. The best way to proceed is as follows:

1) Call Verizon to complain about the charge
2) When Verizon insists that you have to deal with OAN directly, tell them you have trouble getting to OAN customer support ... or that you get an automated message telling you to call the [protected] number (which happened to me when I called after 9pm)
3) Once Verizon connects you with the OAN customer rep, interrupt the OAN customer support script about their amazing service and call them out on their scam -- tell them about this website and the tons of complaints they get on similar websites. They insist that their service tells you that it'll charge you $5.99 or whatever per minute prior to connecting. Throw the question back at them ... would you knowingly pay $5.99 per minute for directory assistance? (My OAN rep actually said 'No, I wouldn't')
4) Once OAN agrees to credit you in full (make sure it is the full amount including tax and other charges), call Verizon back and make sure they make a note of that on your account so when you pay less than your bill, you won't get hit with any late penalties.

That's it. Don't be intimated by Verizon or OAN. You don't need to hire a lawyer or anything (although you can always threaten OAN). You got the truth on your side so you got nothing to worry about.

I filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission against OAN and INFORCALL today.
They started billing me in May and today I believe I have finally gotten rid of them.
I called them, [protected], when I saw the May phone bill with a charge from them for 15.99.
I also called the telephone company (AT&T).

They said they'd issued a credit but it'd take 2 to 3 months for it "to process."
Incredible! They can bill instantly but take 90 days to issue credits?

I, nor anyone in my family, did not sign up for their so called "services", directory assistance.
Didn't even know I had it.

Everyone needs to file a complaint with the FTC immediatly. AT&T stated that due to FEDERAL LAW they were required to process and accept billing from 3rd party companies. This needs to be changed!

My dad recently switched to FIOS received our phone bill and it came out for 400 dollars for a few calls made to Europe. I Called Verizon said I have to Call OAN Services. They guy told me my dad verbally agreed to this service 4 yrs ago and he canceled my service before I could finish telling my story to him. He said a supervisor will call us back. My dad has made called to Europe this past year and those charges were not there so they must have took his number and added him to their scam operation recently and the guy lied to me saying it was agreed 4 years ago because we never seem this before. Guy (jose) tried to make me look stupid saying oh you never checked you bill in 4 yrs sorry you have 30 days to cancel and we keep our voice recordings for only 2 yrs sorry you got to pay. THIS IS A SCAMMMM!

I wrote this for DMC customers- it works for this situation as well- especially make sure to request the 'contract'. That is the only legally binding instrument available. You can then try a small claims case to recover funds. Make sure to get the state involved. They can bring the heat down very quiclky, and a call to some news stations may get things rolling there as well. Once businesses get the hint that society will not tolerate them and hold them accountable- things change.

Here are some steps to take- pass them along!
1. Send a complaint to the State agency that handles these complaints- Attorney General, etc. Send a copy of your complaint form to DMC as well, with a letter that you are attempting to resolve the situation and cancle the membership- cite the decpetiveness and misleading information, and the contact issues. Send these letters with confirmation of delivery from the USPS. THIS CONFIRMATION IS VERY IMPORTANT! This next step is the most important: DEMAND A COPY OF YOUR AGREEMENT. It must be in writing or dictated written form. The dictiation MUST be by a legally authorized individual (ie: court reporter) for the tape to be used as evidence.
2. Call the bank and tell them of the issue; ask to get a different card. If DMC does not have your information, then you cannot be charged. IF they attempt to push the charge by using the new card, then they are commiting larceny or theft and fraud. BE AWARE- your bank cards are usually only 4 numbers different, and a simple 40 line program can be made to scan through the number series in less than 30 seconds when trying to commit fraud.
3. Follow through with your complaints. This means documenting everything.
4. You will get a 'bad credit' letter from a collection agency. Send a copy of everything. DO NOT SEND ORIGIONALS! Dispute the charges and any bad listing on your credit. Save the letter from the debt collector- send a copy to the state agency.
5. Make an offer to settle for one movie, or offer to return the movies you got for immediate resolution of the issue. You must include the 'deceptive and misleading' portion of the complaints. YOU NEED TO BE REASONABLE. YOU GOT YOURSELF HERE. If they cannot produce the required documents, including the origional order, then you have a valid claim for sure.
6. Continue to dispute until they settle. Make noise. Lots of noise. Send copies of complaints to your lawmakers- state representatives, etc. THIS IS HOW LAWS CHANGE! I send a copy to the local news as well- this really brings bad press, and can shut a company down in less than a month. I will and have spent over $50 in mail to save and raise awareness of bad companies, and have activley lead to the termination of over $19, 000 in debt from various collections, etc because they violated the laws. (IL)
7. THE FOLLW THROUGH- We made reservations at Disney in Orlando, then called a month later to cancle based on the problems with the DMC. Less than 2 hours later, they called back and 'resolved' our complaint by canceling the last 3 movies, and even offering a free meal package at the resort.
8. This gets you additional copies of your credit report- take a copy of the complaint, and send them to the credit reporting agencies- make sure DMC is not there.

This charge showed up on my mothers phone bill also. I called and they told me the charge was for an online storage locker... where you could store files etc. WTF?! They also told me the charge was added by me! Little do they know I have legal experience and am more than happy to pursue this legally. The rep I spoke to "Sherri" said she would be happy to cancel my service as of today. I informed her that was not good enough, I wanted to be credited for every month I was charged (back to Jan 09). She told me I had to talk to a supervisor. As she was transferring me I heard on the line "This call can not be" then all of a sudden I get a voice mail box. The message on the voice mail box was generic so I have no idea where she actually transferred me. I left a detailed message stating that I expected a call by no later than this time tomorrow. First thing I am going to ask this "Supervisor" is to fax me a copy of the request for service... and he had better have one.

I ran across this website as I was calling the company. Will be doing more research on this and will post anything I find that will be helpful to everyone else. Don't know about everyone else, but I make a okay living. The charge added to the phone bill isn't that much... but when you add up all the months you have paid for, for nothing... hey I could have gone drinking for the evening!

This is not a threat... but take it how ever it sits... They pissed off the wrong ### this time! Whether it be via phone, fax, or I'm standing in front of your desk... this will be resolved... and to my satisfaction!

I just received a $22.95 charge on my AT&T bill from OAN Services. After contacting AT&T they told me I would have to deal with the company directly and gave me their telephone number: [protected]. They had signed me up for VOIP. They claimed they had telephoned me. If they had, I never answered it. I have caller id and never answer calls from telemarketers. Plus, I am on the Do Not Call list. They also had an e-mail address that I never use. I called them and they said they would credit my account and gave me a confirmation number. We'll see how that goes next month.

I would advise everyone to check their phone bills.

Yes this happened to me once and my bf. We are still trying to get it off his credit report he dosnt owe them money on an expired contract. They say the contract is renewed AUTOMATICALY. HA he has to sign it to renew it! Its a cell phone and hes not with them and hasnt been for 3 years.

We are a company not a person. They have gotten us for the last 3 bills! We called it in today and this is what happned. Called OAN they told us to call ATT. ATT said call OAN again bc they couldnt cxl. Called OAN who hung up on us twice but then said call Info Dial.

Info dial gave a fictional name of a supposed employee named Courtney T who authorized We dont have anyone by that name as we are only 20 ppl in office.

Got a cancel notice from info dial. they got us for the last 3 months.

This is so wrong! how can someone be charged for things that were not authorized? I in no way, shape, or form authorized an additional $12.95 a month charge on my phone bill. OAN was putting charges on my AT&T home phone bill for web hosting services! I don't even know what that is! Who is to blame? OAN or AT&T for allowing it to go on for so long? How does this happen? it needs to stop! I see I am not alone in this distress and frustration. I called the OAN services number to remove my name and I did not even get to speak to a real person. It was a recording. Chickens! I hope this stops soon!

Well, let me ask you, have you ever signed up for or purchased anything on the internet and instead of using your real home phone number put your work phone number? Or maybe the other person simply made up the number. When services are signed up for over the internet it is possible that the people signing them up might be less that truthful. If they gave you a name of a person who signed this up I would think that your company would want to pursue finding out who that person was and why they had a service billed to your business phone. I've managed several companies and have been responsible for the AR/AP and to read that you allowed this charge to continue not only the first month but for 3 months makes me wonder what kind of book keeping system you have where you only review bills once every three months. That's exactly why bills are printed with all the details of the account, for one to check the charges and either pay what is owed or dispute the charges. If you were to have called my company and demanded a refund of charges you claim were fraudulent after you had been billed for three months of service, I would tell you that should have been something that was addressed when the charges first appeared. Sound like your business needs a new AP system, or person.

I did not ask for service and I don't even know what they are and who they are and they have charged me.

OAN Services
Fraud and Cheating

They charged and I don't even know what they are

Never signed up for this service or ordered it, when I called to cancel, the agent was a total snot!

Called my phone company and had them put a block on my account so future charges like this false one will not be added to my account without my authorization, the block was free and the company I do business with was VERY helpful.

Call as soon as you see the charge on your account and be sure to write EVERYTHING down, including the date, person you spoke with and any confirmation information they give you then follow thru because the charge may still be there next month!

This company started billing me through my verizon bill a few months ago. Immediately i called them to ask why they charged me when i never ordered this service, they told me my father, who passed away almost 4 years ago, ordered the service online. Ok, so know i new this was a scam, told the rep to cancel this service and credit my verizon bill. I was assured the account was closed and given a confirmation number. Now months later i am still being charged. I have also complained to verizon, who put a block on my account but somehow the charges keep showing up. I am at my wits end. I refuse to pay any of these charges. This fraudulent company needs to be shut down!

Very displeased to see unauthorized accruing charges.. contacted last month, and takes 3 billing cycles to clear.. which means it is still being charged to date.

Then another OAN email stock service bill hit the verizon acct, in addition to the voice mail that is currently contested and disputed.

Will call again tomorrow...

I don't really understand why Verizon allows this OAN to use their company to include this type of charges in the same statement as verizon is.

Is Verizon receiving commission for billing this to rip-off customer? It is definitely not right to treat their loyal customer...

These scams are made up of a pyramid of sleazy businesses in order to make it difficult for consumers to complain. I found a $53.74 cram on my last AT&T bill. The original charge is from Digital Services, Inc. for a bogus "webhosting setup fee". Digital Services, Inc. used OAN Services, Inc. to bill me on their behalf. OAN is supposedly located in New Jersey, the phone cram capital of the world. However, OAN is simply a DBA for BSG Clearing Solutions, which is located in San Antonio, TX. You can find more details on each business name by simply checking out the BBB reports for either business name in New Jersey or Texas. If you file a complaint with the FCC, be sure to include all business names and locations. While I have always found the FCC to be pretty useless in addressing these scams, the more complaints they get with the same business names should encourage them to get off their lazy taxpayer-funded butts and do something about this. Also, call your phone company and demand that they block third party billing. Verizon is the only phone company I know that will block third party billing without giving you the run around. AT&T will flat out refuse to block third party billing unless you continue to escalate the matter. AT&T can in fact block third party billing, it's just a matter of getting through to somebody willing to do it for you.

I started having a bill from OAN; I figured they were something that CenturyLink used. Today, I read everything a little closer. I was billed $8.23 for a service fee for 0 (zero) minutes of service. I used a search engine and found many links about fraud and class action suits. I called CenturyLink who said, "Thank you" and transfered to OAN. Boy, was I mad. I hung up and called CenturyLink again; this time the rep told me, "We can block their service". "Yes, I want their service blocked. Now, I understand that you have blocked their service?" She replied, "Yes, it is blocked; now you have to tell OAN that you don't want their services." So I did. OAN claimed that a relative had ordered a toll-free number. I asked this relative about it and got a big, "No". So I will wait until next month and see. OAN said they would refund the money. After reading the experiences here, I doubt it.

OAN is a billing clearing house. My OAN charge was for a company called TRAVELERSVMAIL.COM, with a 12.95 monthly fee. I talked with Travelersvmail [protected]) and was told that I signed up online for their service (did not). The rep was very snippy, but agreed to credit my phone bill for the charges.
I then contacted ATT and had them put a stop to any 3rd party billing, which they were happy to do. They also agreed to "put aside" the disputed amount until they receive a credit from the 3rd party, OAN.
CALL YOUR PHONE CARRIER AND HAVE THEM STOP ALL 3RD PARTY BILLING ON YOUR ACCOUNT.

Have your elderly relatives check their bills! The internet is great but there may be too much information available to these companies with unscrupulous business practices that they can identify an elderly person who may be an easy target.
My 80+ year old mother got a new $14.95 charge to her bill. I checked with AT&T first who was most helpful explaining that federal law protects these companies who send them charges but, also helping me with exactly what to say when I made my call to OAN. The representative at OAN explained that the charge was for directory services and had been ordered on-line by my mother. My mother has no internet, or computer for that matter, wouldn't know what to do with it if you sat her in front of one and hasn't been out of the house! After our discussion of the facts, the rep agreed to cancel the service, gave me a cancellation number and said they would refund the charge in two billing cycles.
I called AT&T back who put a "hold" on the charge so she would not receive late fees for not paying the extra $14.95 and also put a "block" on her phone for additional services. They explained the block is not always fool proof so, we should still review each bill.
How do we get the federal laws changed so these companies can be stopped?

I never order any service from any second or third party i call them to complain about it and stop it they say they will and that was in december and now i got a bill in february and they still billing me why why when i have no idea what the service is for, i have unlimited long distance serivice with my phone company why will order another, do i look or sound like i am f...ing dumb Oan is a big rip off company well now they have to deal with the phone company and i will call consumer to report it.

Oan-kooltelecom tried to get $19.00 by 3rd party billing our at&t phone bill. I thought at&t was a reputable company!

Tried the better business bureau, that website of theirs is a joke. What ever happened to customer service? I wonder, can you report the bbb to the bbb?

At&t was no help, they think oan is a great fcc regulated business. The good news is, AT&T is not the only game in town, we have choices now! There are other phone companies that do not 3rd party bill. We are switching to one of them asap.

I was billed for a service that I never signed up for.

I was scammed by OAN and Kool Telecon, I called them and they said they would credit my account.

I called Verizon and they added me to their complaint list.

Verizon said they could do nothing about this. What a great country.

At OAN i talked to "Curtis" At Verizon I taled to "

Ms. Barnes" both acted like this was a normal thing.

Do you realize how many people this goes unoticed ?

The cost is probaly in the millions, and we have to close our State Parks because of budget shortfall. This date is April 12th, 2010.

I am very pissed, the amount was $17.76.

Horrible...Horrible companies. OAN and ILD have been hitting my business AT&T bills for several months. Shame on me for not paying more attention to my bills but like all single proprietorships, I am busy. When I caught on to the scam, I called AT&T and was told that they just do the billing and that I would have to call these firms direct. I called both firms and tried to cancel my service with both of them. When I mentioned to both companies that I did not authorize these charges to my account they played a message where a foreigner with an impossible to understand accent explained to me that I was going to get a free listing on www.search local.com. I sounded distracted on the call and agreed to this "free" listing. This free listing has been costing me $49.95 a month from ILD and $29.95 from OAN. Even though I called both companies last month to cancel my services, they didn't. In fact, ILD double billed me this month ($99.99) and when I called they told me it was going to take 2 or 3 billing cycles to get my money back. OAN acted like they had never heard from me before. Why would AT&T allow anyone other then themselves hit my bill. I have this trust that my service providers are only billing me for my services. Horrible ...awful companies! Oh, I forgot to mention that AT&T had been charging me to be my web host as well. They argued with me that they were not my web host. From this point forward, I will watch my phone bill like a hawk.

I JUST GOT A CHARGE OF $14.95 ON MY VERIZON BILL. MAKES ME WANT TO CONVERT TO CELL PHONE COMPLETELY!

OAN is a complete scam. Third party charge to my verizon bill. When I called the toll free number, after being on hold for almost 20 minutes they insisted that I had requested the service. I did no such thing. Refused to credit the account. Even provided me with a phony "contract" where I had signed up for the service. However, it would be impossible for me to sign up for the service on the date they provided as I was nowhere near a computer on the date/time in question. How can Verizon allow people to just charge things to your accoutn.

I've tried to phone them to ask that they get off my phone service, they put me on hold for hours. They have no right to get on a persons bill without there say-so.I just want them off my phone bill thats all. OAN charges me for e-mail service when I don't need them. My e-mail service is from Frontier and Yahoo. They can add there service to any bill and it's almost impossibe to get them off. It's just not fair to the consumer. We need a way out. Thank You.