Esbi-Verizon Charges added to phone bill Internet

I too have received a charge on my Verizon bill for ESBI services. It was for a voice mail inbox service for $15.62. I had not ordered it nor had anyone in my home. I called the 1-888 number for ESBI, got on in right after punching all the computer requests. I explained the situation to the ESBI rep on the other end of the phone. She said the charge was done on July 22 by someone named "Bob Swack" and they gave my phone number. I said it was a mistake and she said she would remove the service and notify Verizon about the $15.62 overcharge. She said they did not deal with Verizon about the charge then, but would credit me. I asked why should I pay the $15.62? She said that it was my decision to pay or not to pay, but if I paid it, I would see the refund in 2-3 billing cycles, and if I didn't, then I could end up with a collection agency on my account. I thanked her then called Verizon. The phone rep there told me they had many complaints about ESBI in the past and that I should contact the FCC about this incident. I asked how I could keep this from happening again, he said a block on my service would stop this in the future. He also said I should have gotten a confirmation number from ESBI on the stop service and refund. I did not get it the first time I called ESBI. So....I called ESBI again. It took 10 minutes to get through this time. I again explained that I had called just previously and the ESBI rep looked me up in their data banks and found my cancellation and gave me my confirmation number. I copied it on my phone bill and put it away. I expect to see the $15.62 in the next two months. I immediately let my 80 year old in-laws know to check their bills closely. This sounds like a huge rip-off that may be affecting a lot of people.

Rico
Richland, Washington
U.S.A.