Verizon Wireless I received an unsolicited sms premium text that I did not open and was billed $9.99 for it on my Verizon phone. This happen to me a couple of years ago three or four times and I complained to Verizon. The Verizon spokesperson said that there was nothing they could do, which meant I had to pay the twenty or thirty dollars worth of sms premium texts messages that I did not want or ask for. Springfield Massachusetts

I understand extra charges on your bill can be frustrating, especially in this economy. The ability to block prem sms has only been available for little over a year now, so if you have not had any prem sms charges in that time frame then the block would not have been verbally offered to you. We have listened to the customers' complaints about premium messages and that's why we made an investment in our network to offer you the ability to block these services for free.

As far as the $9.99 goes, you actually may be able to recuperate that fee. You can contact the actual company that charged the premium message (mobile messenger, dadamobile, etc.). Many of these companies have websites and toll-free 1-800 lines. To get the contact info, you can view your detailed bill and obtain the five-digit shortcode from your text/data details and do a search or you can even contact customer service who will be able to provide the contact information. Once you contact the premium company, you can dispute the charges by asking them to provide proof that you actually opted-in and agreed to the services. If they are not able to provide you with the time/date and method you used to agree to the services, then you have the right to ask them for a refund and they may be able to send it to you in the form of a check in the mail (you may have to provide them a copy of your cell phone bill). If that doesn't work, then you may want to contact your attorney general's office and file a complaint on the premium company that charged you.

And I wrote a letter to the president of Verizon (check www.hoovers.com for info) and to the New York State Attorney General and the state office that regulates telephone service (you can check for that with Google). Verizon called and took the $9.99 charge off my bill and also removed various other text messages that were not solicited by me. Good luck