The billing system conversion (P2K to Ensemble) that others speak of
in this thread *may* have something to do with it. My questions for
you are:

1. How long have you had this phone number (not phone, not service,
the actual phone number)?

2. Have you recently sold, lost, or otherwise parted ways with an old
phone that was once active on this line/account?

The reason I ask is that "premium content" comes from two different
places: the Sprint Vision Content Vending Machine (the "Downloads"
area on PCS Vision) and from third-party vendors who peddle their
goods via text messaging-- the stuff you see advertised on TV "send
xxxxx to xxxxx to get x ringtone").

We'll look first at purchases from the Vision Content Vending Machine.
Errors in these purchase records are very rare, but they do happen for
a couple of reasons, which I'll get to in a minute. Every handset with
3G data capability is authenticated on Sprint's network through an NAI
which contains a username (somebody@sprintpcs.com) and a password.
This information is usually provisioned over-the-air, automatically,
when the handset is activated on the line. It's also possible to
program this information manually if the owner knows the Master
Subsidy Lock code (MSL), which Sprint isn't in a habit of giving out--
except when they have to, like during the phone programming process.

If someone were to program their handset with your Vision NAI, they
could very well purchase and bill things to your account. Your default
Vision password is just a bunch of gibberish, but someone in-the-know
who has access to your phone can fetch the information they need right
from the handset and plug it into theirs-- and in some early Vision
phones, they don't even need that lock code to get to it (a problem
which was fixed via software updates in pretty much all affected
models). If this has happened, logging in to your account at
Sprint.com and modifying your Vision password will block the offender
from future access.

A more common way people gain access to another person's Vision
account is through the use of an old handset which hasn't been
properly cleared of the old programming and loaded with new Vision NAI
details over the air. This can happen if you sell a phone, lose one
(and don't report it lost/stolen), etc. As I mentioned earlier, NAI
programming is supposed to happen automatically, but there's nothing
stopping the user from canceling it as soon as it starts, leaving the
old username and password in place. There are also times that the
information simply doesn't come down over the air, though that doesn't
happen often. The phone will need to be active on another account to
access the network, but if the Vision username and password that's
programmed in is still associated with YOUR account, YOU get billed
for purchases.

If you have recently parted ways with an old phone from your account,
let Customer Care know that it's likely it was still programmed with
your account information. They should be able to credit it back and
change your Vision password for you.

Now, as far as those third-party services go, it's true that Sprint,
like most carriers, has a policy of not refunding those charges. Think
of them as the modern cell phone equivalent of 900 numbers. Someone
else is billing you, Sprint's just passing along the bill. Many of the
services you see advertised on TV where you send a certain code to a
specific number to get a game or ringtone tell you in the (very) fine
print at the bottom of the screen that you're signing up for a
subscription or that they'll send you a text message once a day for
the next fifty years at three bucks a pop. If you have been receiving
these messages, even if you're not opening them, you're being billed.

If you didn't sign up, just about the only way you could be getting
bills for these is if it's an error at the service provider, or if you
recently got a new phone number and the previous owner was signed up
for something like this. If that's the case, it's almost easiest to
change your phone number. Explain the situation to Customer Care and
they'll typically have a supervisor approve a credit for the charges.

Those are really about the only ways I've ever seen truly erroneous
content charges wind up on customers' bills in my six years selling
and servicing the Sprint product.



On May 13, 2:45 pm, James <J...@noone-nowhere.com> wrote:
> In reviewing my recent Sprint bill I found $40 is charges for "Premium
> Services" (ringtone and game downloads) that I did not make.
>
> Sprint "Customer Service" keeps saying that these were done by me
> since they were charged to my phone. Catch 22 here: I didn't do it,
> but I must have since they are on my bill, and since they are on my
> bill I must have done it. They did tell me that most of the downloads
> occurred in the middle of the night when the phone was in my house and
> I was asleep.
>
> I talked to several people at Customer Service for over an hour,
> including a supervisor, all of whom told me that they couldn't or more
> accurately, wouldn't do anything to reverse the charges.
>
> Since it appears that the downloads were made through their website,
> does anyone know if Sprint keeps the IP address of the downloader?
> Customer Service doesn't know or won't tell me.
>
> Has anyone else had this problem with Sprint? How did you resolve it,
> it at all?
>
> Tomorrow I call Sprint Corporate and try there.
>
> So a WARNING to all: Check your bills carefully!
>
> James