Spectrum Store — Local services in Fontana

Spectrum Mobile's Billing Scam: Are You Paying for a Phone You No Longer Own?

I am writing to bring attention to a serious and widespread issue with Spectrum Mobile's billing practices, which are not only deceptive but potentially fraudulent, violating both state and federal laws.

Recently, my 82-year-old widowed mother visited the Spectrum store in Fontana, CA because her phone powered off despite having a full charge. She called me in a panic from the store after being told her line did not have insurance. I asked the representative to check again, and it was confirmed that there was no insurance on her phone. To my astonishment, I discovered that I have been paying $12.99 a month for insurance on a Galaxy S10 Ultra, a phone I traded in April 2022 when I purchased a Galaxy S22 Ultra.

The billing statement showed the insurance charge under my phone number without any IMEI number or other identifying details. This made it impossible to know that I had been paying for insurance on a phone I no longer owned for over two years. When I brought this to Spectrum’s attention and asked for the issue to be escalated, I was met with refusal and told nothing could be done. Spectrum’s response was to blame me for not reviewing my bill more closely.

While I accept that I should have reviewed my bill, the fact remains that the bill did not provide sufficient information to realize I was paying for insurance on a device no longer in my possession. This practice is not only unfair but deceptive, akin to the incorrect overdraft fees charged by banks in the past. There could be thousands of people like me unknowingly paying insurance on devices they no longer own. If this scenario affects just 1,000 people, Spectrum is potentially collecting nearly $159,000 per year through these deceptive practices.

Let me break down why this is both unfair and deceptive: Unfair Practices: Spectrum continued to charge me for insurance on a phone I no longer owned, without providing enough information on the bill for me to realize this was happening. This lack of transparency is a classic example of an unfair business practice. Deceptive Practices: By not clearly stating which device was insured, Spectrum made it impossible for me to know I was being overcharged. This kind of deception is similar to how banks once incorrectly charged overdraft fees, leading to widespread consumer harm.

This is a clear violation of California's Unfair Competition Law (Business and Professions Code § 17200), which prohibits any unlawful, unfair, or fraudulent business act or practice. It also violates the federal Consumer Financial Protection Act, which is designed to protect consumers from unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices. Spectrum’s actions amount to defrauding customers, and they must be held accountable.

I demand immediate action to: Investigate this issue thoroughly. Refund the insurance charges for the device I no longer own. Ensure that other customers are not subjected to similar deceptive practices.

Furthermore, I intend to escalate this matter to the appropriate federal regulatory authorities and consumer protection agencies. Spectrum must be held accountable for these deceptive practices, which amount to defrauding customers.

If you or anyone you know has experienced similar issues with Spectrum Mobile, I urge you to speak up. Together, we can hold Spectrum accountable and stop these...

First of all I would like to apologize for my behavior to Christopher and Samy at the Spectrum Sierra Lakes Store in Rialto. My behavior was unacceptable. That being said, let’s get to the root of the problem. I called Spectrum customer care to pay my bill. While paying my bill, I asked the representative “why was my bill so high.” I was told I was also being charged for a land line. I stated to the representative, “I never requested a land line. I have a land line through AT &T since 2001, why would I need another land line.” The representative went on to say that I had been paying on it for 1yr and they couldn’t refund my money back. I ask to speak with his manager. The manager name was Ryan S. he refused to give me his full name or his identification number. I told Ryan, “I had been scammed by Spectrum. I was only supposed to be paying for internet, someone from their department added a land line without my permission.” The “manager” stated there was nothing he could do. As if I was going to allow Spectrum to just take my money, and that was it. I have to admit, I was very, very angry. So my thoughts were, “you’re not just going to take my money. I’ll go up to an actual Spectrum store so, they could tell me they were not giving me my money back to my face.” Let’s just say, when I arrived to Spectrum, I wasn’t in a good mood. Christopher calmly came out the back due to the commotion I had raised. He spoke to me very professionally, he let me know my behavior was inappropriate, and for me to respect the process of his store. He then proceeded to refund me back the money for the land line. I have to tell you, I felt very small. This is for you Spectrum- when you hire and have unprofessional people claiming to be the manager of customer service and representing Spectrum, you should make sure they are representing the company to a high standard. Telling an individual that you took their money, and there is nothing the customer can do about it, is a recipe for disaster. Fortunately, you hired someone with incredible customer service skills like Christopher who could de-escalate this situation. In my opinion, I believe Christopher should be regional manager, so nothing like this happens again. Thank you...

First let me start by prefacing this complaint with why I was there in the first place. Att, my current internet provider, has had an outage in my area for the last 2 weeks. With that said I was looking elsewhere for more reliable service and Spectrum is within my area. I stopped by the store to start the process and was instantly asked in a demeaning tone "did you sign in"? I responded with "no I did not" which the Spectrum service rep Humberto responded with "Go sign in". .....alright already off to a rocky start as his demeanor, tone, and choice of words was not customer savvy. I tried to use the sign in tablet but unfortunately it was extremely unresponsive and it took me 6 taps and 15 seconds to get past the English or Spanish screen. After trying to type my name in multiple times and the tablet being unresponsive I then told Humberto that he would have to sign me in as the tablet is not working. He replied with "I am not going to sign you in"......after that I told him "well screw this I guess you don't want customers" and walked out. I returned later and asked him for his name, which he provided, and then followed it up with calling me crazy after scoffing. I also found out that the customer he was helping during this whole ordeal did not have a social security # and your rep told him to borrow someone else's. I am extremely dissapointed with your customer service and shady business practices. All he had to say was no problem I will get you setup in a minute and you would have had a new customer without this review. I will also be following this up with the CPUCs Customer Affairs Branch with the details...