BBG Communications Phone Scam
In the News, Reviews, Thoughts & Rants April 26th, 2007
I got scammed by calling home from Costa Rica (off my Resort) for $200 bucks for 3 calls!! They were all under 5-10 minutes long, don’t get scammed on your next vacation. Read up a little, trust me! Its such a pain now trying to fight this company to get a refund for this. Never EVER use a Credit Card to call home, even from a 5 star Resort!
[ digg story ]
I made 3 calls from my Resort – Occidental Grand Papagayo:
CALL FROM C RICA MAR27 8005765402 39.80 (answering machine < 1minute)
CALL FROM C RICA MAR30 8005765402 89.52 (called my gf < 10 minutes)
CALL FROM C RICA MAR27 8005765402 66.27 (called home < 8 minutes)
For those 3 calls I got a grand total of $ 195.59 in charges!
Moral of this story is? There are companies out there that are ready to scam you, NEVER use your credit card because it allows them to KEEP charging you, and you have no way to stop it!
I am now filing complaints with the BBB (California), FCC & FTC against this company. They don’t even return any emails or phone calls.
After a great trip this is the only problem that I run into, its always something on a trip ain’t it?
How I got my money back
I’ve had a bunch of you post here seeking help, I fought my charges and got almost all my money back. Basically I lost money in the end on the US -> Canadian exchange.
What I did, was call them up ( 8005765402 ) place a complaint, tried to talk to customer service (they seem very well trained to handle this type of call). Basically she offered me a $15 dollar credit (yeah right!? I obviously didn’t take it, as accepting anything here would nullify you from further refunds). After searching like many of you have, I found a couple sites with ‘some’ info. And using that info I emailed:
Noemi Olmos => noemi@bbgcomm.com OR phone: +619 671 0199 [might work]
submitted a BBB complaint in the local operating area of BBG Communications.
In my email, I explained my next steps, BBB complain / writing local senator in the area / etc.
It took roughly 2-3 weeks, but she replied, I explained my situation (like many of us) we were not told of the charges, and that I felt like I was being scammed, she offered me a FULL (one time) refund.
Hope this helps many of you that are trying to find what to do after being scammed by this company.
What we could all do for others
I’ve had some thoughts on what we could do collectively (short of some kind of multi-national lawsuit) to curtail BBG or at least warn others, and my best idea is that we contact a local TV station in the area that does that kind of ‘local scams” reporting, and have them corner someone from BBG seeking information. Anyone have any other ideas? I feel too many people are getting burned on this.
Submit complaints at these sites:
BBB history and filing complaints:
http://sandiego.bbb.org/WWWRoot/Report.aspx?site=26&bbb=1186&firm=1040993
FCC filing complaints page (form 2000B):
https://esupport.fcc.gov/sform2000/formB!input.action?form_page=2000B
FTC filing complaints assistant:
https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/FTC_Wizard.aspx?Lang=en
They hide under the following company names:
BBG Communications
BBG International
Call International
Call To International
Farecall Corporation
International Calling Services
International Communications
International Satellite Communications
National Telephone Collection Services
Network Opr Services
NTCS
US Satellite Communications
Their address [thanks Google Maps!]
BBG Communications Address
Map & Contact Info
Welcome to
I found this link trying to find info on this company! I have 2 charges pf $41 each for answering machines under 1 minute! Both of the charges are billed on days I was not even at the resort so maybe I will win my credit dispute I am going to file.
How do I get a hold of this company? I do not even know their name beside Call from C Rica. If you have any information for me please contact me: berrybunches@cinci.rr.com
Let me know if you have had any success also!
Thanks so much
On 16 Sept this year I tried to phone from Bangkok International airport to my sick mother in Warsaw Poland.
Three times I couldn’t get connection and three times I was charged 11.93 Australian Dollars for not connected calls.
Finally I was connected and after few minutes talk I paid 41.99 Australian dollars – super expensive phone call.
I had a similar experience when i called my girlfriend in India from a phone from Brussels Airport.
Call From Blgium Sep17 8005765402 $35.95
This is complete swindling. I hope some one bring these companies to account for this.
I have been trying to get ahold of this company for 2 weeks now and they will not give me any infomation. They chatged me double what they said they were going to.
I just got back from Mexico and made three calls, two of them were under 2 minutes and the third call was to a voicemail, which I just hung up on. I was charged $41 for each call. I immediately contacted my bank and they got a hold of a BBG customer service person, who explained to me that I was charged $16 for connection and $5.99/min for min 5 min (regardless of call length) for each call. He then offered by a $56.85 credit, which I stupidly took. I found out after that I could have gotten all of my money back because I wasn’t informed of the cost for calling before I made the call. Since I accepted the $57 credit, I can’t dispute anything else.
The moral of the story is, if you get a live operator, ask how much you will be charged. Never, Ever use your credit card to make an international call, and always remember, that you can dispute the charges and will more than likely get most of it back.
The worst part is that this is an American company and it’s ridiculous that they get away with this obvious misuse of a monopoly market. I too am complaining to the FCC, the BBB, and the FTC. If I had the money, I would sue their pants off.
I recently got ripped off as well, looking for a class action suit to join.
I experienced BBG communication at London Heathrow last December. I have been charged 80 USD for 10 min of phone call in Germany !!!
I sent a complaint to the airport and they directed me to BBG comm. I have been in contact with Noemi Olmos.
She replied that before to make a phone call I should check the rates but this person accepted to refund 65 USD in the next 2 weeks…I am still waiting for the refund. Noemi Olmos does not reply to my emails neither to my phone calls…..I wonder if I will really receive this money back.
I have also been cheated. Two calls from Frankfurt Airport – one to Israel and one to the US. Each call was for less than 5 minutes. I was charged for 9 min on each call to give a total of $156. I lodged a complaint with the Better Business Bureau in San Diego. I also complained directly to Frankfurt airport and was put in touch with a Mr Ferdinand von Klocke (Ferdinand.Klocke@bbgcomm.com) who apparently is in charge of BBG in Germany. I have complained and asked for a refund. After reading a little more, I have learned that probably the best way to deal with excessive charges such as these is to contact your credit card company and dispute the charges. The CC company will remove the charges while they investigate. They then send you a form with which to explain the reasons you believe you have been cheated. In general CC companies tend to side with the customer and the onus is on the merchant to prove the charges are valid. In addition, each time a CC charge is removed the merchant is billed between $20 to $50 – this is called chargeback in the industry (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chargeback). Companies definitely want to avoid chargeback, as even if in the end they argue successfully, they may not recoup the chargeback. When communicating with BBG it is worthwhile mentioning that you are prepared to dispute the charges with your credit card. It might make them deal with your complaint a little faster.
Good luck to all in getting your money back from these crooks
I recently went on a cruise which stopped in Cozumel, Mexico. At the port there are pay phones which only accept credit/debit cards spaced very close together, making it appear that there are few other options. The cheapest phone card that was available for purchase was $10 US. I only needed to make a one minute call back to the US so even this, I thought, was more than I needed. First I tried to use a prepaid gift card which had $9.00 US on it, to which an operator responded that a billing zip code was needed and gift cards do not have this. I finally gave in and used my debit card, got through and left a voicemail. I am now facing charges of $41.91 as well. This is outrageous – I have contacted my bank and they will be offering me a provisional credit while they investigate the situation – it does appear that the best thing to do is to contact your CC company or your bank’s disputed charge department.
Hi friends,
Yes, it is happening every day it seems. I was waiting for my next flight at Brussels Airport and got scammed.Two short calls to Sweden SEK 400 total,about EUR 45.Brussels Airport is not acting very actively. just sending out an e-mail to the company. Will put pressure on my creditcard company and also go to the Police here in Sweden. I’m not accepting this!!!
Bjorn Svensson
Stockholm
I too had a problem with BBG. I called from Germany to Austria at the Frankfurt airport. I ended up being charged almost $300 for 5 calls (only one of which was actually answered). It came out to about $56 per phone call. Well, I placed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and recently had a phone conversation with BBG (I think; it could have been the BBB, but I don’t think so) and was told that all of my money would be refunded.
I have to wait one to two billing cycles (1-2 months) to find out if that will happen, but it sound good so far.
Note that all said and done, this has taken about 4 months, from when I made the calls to when I got my money back (I placed the complaint a month after the calls as I had been in Europe).
Good luck!
I too had a problem with BBG.
I tried to call from London Heathrow to St.Petersburg, Russia several times. It didn’t connect at all.
I contacted the operator – he said my credit card was rejected (worked perfectly all the time).
My credit card was eventually charged over $92 for NOTHING plus I have $60 in temporary authorizations.
Then I used my debit card to call and they charged me near $30 for approximately one minute (well, maybe two)!
Cant believe it! A similar thing has just happened to me! I am disputing the charges via my cc company so fingers crossed somthing good comes out of it!
Me too. I was in Uk at a Hotel called The Herons nest in Birmingham. I made 4 calls some of which did not go through, and two that were disconnected halfway through the call ???? Of course I called back.
So far I have been billed $ 375. Like everyone else I am complaining to various agencies.
Better yet, I plan to start a website that will have email groups of the various agencies, pre written letters, Media letters, Hotel review web sites, class action attorneys, and much much more. This will help folks like us to fight back. It is only a matter of time that these guys are forced to shut down, and hopefully pay damages.
The Hotels that do business with this company (many of the major chains)are just as responsible, and should suffer from lost business. The obviously make money from this as well. The Hotel review sites are very important to them, and often the first stop for travelers. I would urge everyone to call the hotel, and write as many bad reviews explaining the scam to their potential customers.
A search for BBG will bring up my ad in Yahoo and Google adwords. Keep you eyes open for it. This isn’t about getting my money back anymore.
Relentless
Yes i was interested in your BBG Communications scam at Heathrow,i had to call a hire car company after just getting off flight from Austalia i was charged 15.50 Aust Dollars for a 30 second call,as of course you have no change for a call which was a free call anyway??
I am outraged by this company,even being very careful with using credit cards,i even thought about not using the card because of such companies but had no other way of getting my car at the time.
Be careful out there.
Yep… BBG Communications charged me $14AUD for a 1-2 minute call to Australia from Heathrow. RIPOFF!!!
I too have been scammed by this company. I found their service is on offer in France Telecom call boxes throughout the country – dial *808 or something. Their how to call information is on display along with other legitimate information so I thought I would face a reasonable fee for the service. I placed three calls to Australia, in one of which the person on the other end could not hear me and I made the call again. The two successful calls were no longer than 10 minutes each. I have been charged a total of $A227.13, equivalent to about $US215.00 for these calls. I intend to dispute this at every possible level and expose this company as a thief from unsuspecting travellers.
Have been a victim of this same scam. I travelled through Frankfurt airport back in Oct 2007. Called home (Seattle USA)from a pay phone in the United Airlines Red Carpet lounge using my Amex credit card. The charge for a 4 or 5 minute call was about USD $6. Very reasonable.
Travelled through Frankfurt again this month on June 12th, 2008. Based on past experience did not hesitate at all to go to the nearest pay phone in the terminal (unfortunately this time wasn’t travelling Business Class – so used a pay phone in the general area of the terminal). I returned back to Seattle yesterday (June 24th, 2008) afternoon and when I checked my online statement noticed that I was charged USD $71.00 for the call – couldn’t believe it. Called the telephone # for the merchant (BBG) and talked to a person who tried to convince me that there is nothing wrong with the charge. Immediately called Amex. Was told that they would begin a disputed charge investigation and in the meantime give me a credit for USD $60 temporarily.
I made two more calls (second call because the first one got disconnected prematurely) on my return journey on June 24, 2008. The charges for these have not yet appeared on my credit card yet.
Seems like this scam has been going on for a long time and innocent victims like us will tend to read this information only after the fact. We need to do something more so that the general public is aware of this and some proactive action taken to avoid the pain that each one has to go through.
Get used to it.
This company is an international company so it doesnt run or follow the FCC rules neither the BBB rules on the US neither on any country, so theres nothing we can do about it.
So dont waste your time disputing or making complaints to the FCC or the BBB or FCT cause it will not work trust me.
By the way, and if everyone posting here has money to travel to parts like cancun, the caribbean or europe you have money to pay these charges.
Us having money to pay isn’t the point. BBG doing this is daylight robbery. I fully intend to dispute the charges and get a refund.
Charly or what ever your name is, do you happen to work at BBG?
fellow rip-offees!! i have just checked my credit card account to find an astonishing charge of 45 australia dollars for a 4 minute phone call from heathrow!! at first i thought it must have been incorrect but have since discovered that yes this is their true (extortionist) charges. I find this disgusting and hold both the company and BAA (operator of heathrow) to be b oth equally culpable. i have now set the wheels in motion with a lengthy complaint process to both BAA and BGG ,incidentally , BAA find this a little embarassing as well. Hopefully with a little help from my lawyer colleagues we can get this company punished or at least reviewed and in addition with a little pressure we can get airport operators to remove them as a providor for all telecommunication services within their operations.
I can add myself to the list of victims. Although I didn’t verify rates, the front desk at the resort I stayed in in Rocky Point Mex assured me that it was about $1.50-$2.00 per Min. I made Two calls, one was 4 min, the other a voice mail and my bill is just under $80.00. I probably will not fight it (4 months of aggravation is just not worth it). It is just a shame that company’s like this are allowed to operate in the U.S. with no repurcussions.
Not using my my real name, as I currently have a dispute with this company, as well. Charly, you apparently have a vested interest in this company, if you don’t actually work for them, and I resent your statement that we can obviously afford getting ripped off in a major way, if we can afford to travel to Europe. Many of us work a long time to scrape together the funds for a trip overseas, and are using every method possible to make it affordable (staying at youth hostels, couch surfing, scouring the web for deals that make travel possible), so to be taken by such an obvious predator is ridiculous. I saw this company’s stickers on all the pay phones I ran across in Austria and Switzerland, and I’m going to do whatever I can to get those taken off because they’re posing as an extension of the federal phone company and refusing to make connections with any reasonably priced method of connection. I argued with them when they wouldn’t connect with my bank’s collect number or any of my int’l calling cards. I thought I was using an federal company and wasn’t told of the full extent of the per-minute charge and certainly wasn’t told of the connection fee. I had a SIM card sold by a major mobile carrier that I was told would work in Austria but wasn’t told the card couldn’t be recharged there. Had I known that a short call to convey rendezvous information with a friend was going to cost the amount it would for 2 nights at a hostile, I would’ve left my friend wondering.
This company is clearly a wolf in sheep’s clothing that deserves to be put down, consoling itself in the belief that it’s simply taking advantage of foolish Americans on holiday, who have plenty of cash to burn. Plenty of us live on fixed incomes, are backpacking and living like hobos (literally slept in the train station twice during a nine-day trip when I couldn’t find affordable housing) when confronted with the amounts required to make it through the Swiss economy, as things there literally cost 2-300% more than they do here. A phone call that costs 800-1000% of what it should and occupies 5-10% of your total trip expenses, especially when levied by a company posing as anything other than a boutique carrier posing to provide basic communication services at beyond-luxury rates.
I was in Frankfurt Airport after being separated from my friend on our way to our hotel, alone in a foreign country, I found a telephone booth, of course I had no change so I called using my debit card, I called my mom who didn’t answer and then I called my sister which lasted 1 minute (promise!) I have been charged 119.55 american dollars for about 2 minutes of use. I have just contacted my bank and will hopefully have the charges cleared up in 2-3 weeks!
Well why don’t you just add my name to this list… I was in Costa Rica from June 25th through July 2nd 2008. I used my debit card one time, oblivious to these ridiculous charges, and I settled for the one charge of $41.94 USD. That came through to my account on 7/7/2008. Fine with me… One crazy high charge for a very short phone call to the parents to tell them I was sick. (Whole different story) I wake up this morning, July 15th, to three new charges…41.89, 41.91, and 42.13… All USD. I almost threw a brick through the window. All three of these charges caused 3 overdraft charges on my account…each $36 USD to equal $108 USD. Wow… Now I’m almost $200 in the hole. I called my bank and thought it was fraud. They told me the company that the charges belonged to was, of course, BBG. I just did research and found this site. I find it completely ridiculous that no rates were presented to me. I am marching into my bank tomorrow, and I WILL figure this out!! NEVER USE CREDIT/ DEBIT CARDS INTERNATIONALLY!!!!
In Australia, called Japan twice. Neither call went through. Two charges for 40 USD each and a third random charge for 1 USD. Total scam. I studied the phone from which I called and did not see a reference to 40 dollar charges for calls that didn’t go through. It’s a scam – am hoping to successfully dispute the charges through my cc company.
Its a shocker!! I made one phonecall of two minutes from Oslo to Italy, and was charged $33AUD. The phone didnt even accept change, so I had no other option except to use credit card. Thanks for the information regarding complaints – Ill definitely follow this up. If only 10% of people don’t complain and get refunded, the company would still make a lot of money…
I found a charge on my bank statement from BBG Communications and could not think what it could be for, so I naturally searched. Now, I feel that I got off lightly compared to the experiences of others. Be warned that the international arrivals terminal at Melbourne Airport also uses BBG for credit/debit card phone calls. From Melbourne to New York State, a call of 2 minutes to notify family of my safe arrival – AUD$13. From my home phone, using my usual service, it would have been less than AUD$3.
I had the same experience while traveling through Frankfurt Airport recently. Got hit with a $60 charge for a 2 minute phonecall from Germany to the Czech Republic. Under NO circumstances should one use this company BBG. I have complained to the credit card company and will try other venues.
Does anyone know if this company makes other fraudulent charges once the first one is placed ? I will try and keep alert to this.
I too used this company for two calls, because the phones would not take coins and for one call per country (one from Stockholm and one from Glasgow) it wasn’t worth (or so I thought) buying a phone card. Total cost of $160 for those two calls.
Both were from hostels, who displayed these calling options. Such rip-offs shouldn’t be promoted.
I too got ripped off by one of those *808 numbers that appear on France Telecom booths everywhere. And I’d like to make it clear that I got to France under my professor’s funding for a conference. I definitely could not have paid for the trip on my own so neither can I afford those ridiculous fees.
I arrived in Paris and the hostel’s (expensive) internet was either down or would not work function with my laptop, try as they might to make it. It was around 11:30pm and I really needed to let concerned persons in Canada know that I was alright. The receptionist pointed me to a Tabac across the street which turned out to be closed. As it was pitch-black everywhere I finally settled for calling to Canada using a nearby phone booth. France Telecom booths allows for the use of credit cards to make calls and I already expected to be slammed with something like $15 for a 6-8 minute call. That would have been fine for an urgent call like this for me. Unfortunately my credit card would not work with that machine (French cards have chips now). When I saw that official-looking sticker on the phone to Dial *808 for calls to USA, Canada etc, I thought it was the option that France Telecom has for people in my same predicament. I know I should have thought it over more but that doesn’t mean a company that takes advantage of people like that should be allowed to keep on making money. They charged me $85.19 for that call. And they didn’t post the charges until a long time later. By then I had the stupid idea to make a two more 1-minute urgent phone calls through them costing $39.80 each.
The company involved here is called International Satellite Communications. Add the words “phone call” or “rip-off” to find a lot of other complaints regarding them. This is their phone number
1-800-606-0486
I have called them and they offered me some credit that would not constitute even half of the total cost of my phone call. When I didn’t accept this and asked to talk to someone else the man on the phone gave me his well-practiced
“I know it is expensive, it is an expensive service. But you made the calls. Whoever you speak to here will give you the same answer.”
I want to get my money back but more than that, I want this company exposed. I am writing a full article-style complaint against this company that I will send to them, magazines and newspapers. I’m also sending it to France Telecom and the locations where I found the *808 stickets: CDG airport and Centre Commercial Montparnasse. I’ll even send it to my credit card company because they advised me to just accept the credit since apparently “that company wins complaints like this all the time.” They certainly will if we keep letting them.
If you have any ideas to help or have anything to add to my research please email me at:
complaints.against.isc@gmail.com
I have exactly the same experience. I also called my family in Sydney on 3 Aug from Changi Airport, Singapore. I did not buy the phone card thinking that that might be expensive as I might not have used up all the credits in the phone card. So preferred to use my Gold Visa Card. Just checked the account and to my surprise the total bill charged to my account is about A$140. Talk time would have been hardly 15-20 minutes. These telephone companies donot display the calling rate, so you will never be able to know how much they are going to charge. Airport authorities should make it mandatory for the telecom companies to display their calling rates otherwise many more passengers will be ripped off in future like us.
Dear All
I too have been a recent victim of BBG Communications. It is (nearly) impossible to find their website, which is suspicious. Can anyone give me their URL?
I made a very short call, off peak charges, from a public phone in Ireland to Australia last month and have been charged more than AUD$64 – a thorough rip-off! A reasonable fee would have been about AUD$10.
I have reported them to my card card company VISA International and also regulatory authorities.
More than that, someone, some organistion, needs to expose BBG – whoever they are.
D J Gleeson
Sydney, Australia
I just returned from Ireland and found myself in the same situation!
I tried making a phone call from a hotel I was staying at by pressing *22 or something like that. They didn’t connect me! It was dead air. So imagine my suprise when I got a call from BOA today saying that I had three charges for $41.90 on my account. I filed a dispute but I don’t think I’ll ever get my money back : ( which stinks, because that’s gas money to me at this point!
Does anyone know if banks in general give refunds for this kind of thing?
I, too, have just returned from Australia and found a suspicious BBG charge of $75.96 on my debit card statement. I made one call that lasted 6 or 7 minutes from Sydney Int. Airport to the US. Can’t believe this many people have had the same problem.
Put my name in the list. I, too, got scammed by this company. Flying from Atlanta to Surabaya (Indonesia)last summer (with my 2 children, 6 and 4) with layover in JFK,Frankfurt and Changi. Arrived in Frankfurt only to find out that the flight would be delayed for about 7 hours.
After 36 hours since we left Atlanta, arrived safely in Singapore and missed the connecting flight to Surabaya. Got the new boarding passes and called my mom when to pick us up. Of course without having local currencies, my last hope was using my credit card. Trying to call several times, 3 maybe, never got connected. Few days later I found out there were 2 charges, $31 each, from this company on my credit card, for unconnected call. Call my husband in the US to sort this out. He called the credit card company who suggested to call BBG, and he did. The BBG guy offered 50% discount which my husband refused and so they wanted 2 months to infestigate this matter. I called them several days ago only to find out that according to their record at least 1 call went to answering machine, which I doubted since my mother never had that gadget. Thus, he offered me a discount which I declined again. Called my bank to dispute the charges (this was in the mid morning). After doing some research, I called BBG again in the evening. Another person answered the phone and refused to return my money, but I kept pushing her and annoyed her a lot probably so she put me on hold. When she returned she promised me to open an investigation on this case, which I refused as there was already an investigation. I asked about the result of the investigation, which she couldn’t tell me. I told her that I called this morning asking about the answer and now I wanted to hear about the result of their investigation again. What she told me was completely different from what the other guy had said. She didn’t mention anything about answering machine. It means when they promise you to investigate it, they are just lying and hope that you never call back.
After some argument with her, she put me on hold again and then she told me that they would refund all the charges and that I should have seen the money back when I got my next statement. Well, after 2 or 3 days, when I checked my statement online, the money was there.
So I think you guys should do some research first before contacting them and get ready for some arguement. If it’s not working, maybe you can try to threaten them to dispute the charges with your bank and ask the bank to chargeback BBG. Because for every chargeback, the bank usually charges between $20 to $50. Good luck.
Well I’m glad that my blog entry is getting so much feedback and that my scam can help the rest of you get your money back and somehow stick it to the company!
I guess this BBG Comm thing is a “once you get burned” you will remember for life. Pass it on to all your friends!
Thanks again for all the comments.
So I’m disputing the charge with my bank. I actually emailed them back and forth – they offered to refund me $92.00 of the $120.00 that they had stolen from me if I did not start a fraud investigation with my bank. Talk about shady. I refused – why should I have to pay for a call that was not connected? My bank agrees – they call it “services not rendered”. So, they issued me a temporary credit and I’m going to send all my info to the bank.
I was charged over $100 for four calls from LAX to Arizona (just a state away).. I was talking for probably 40 minutes all up but that is just RIDICULOUS since it was in the same country!!
i’m contesting it! these guys are running a global scam and raking in millions!
I just checked my bank statement. I got burned for 3 charges for $36.00 / call. I checked my wife’s cell phone statement and it showed only 1 call. I made 2 calls I remember. The first was to her voicemail, under 1 minute. The second was a (3) minute call. I got hit in Frankfurt’s airport on the T-mobile public phones. They had rates posted on them, but they obviously weren’t adhered to. After reading all the above posts, I am just going to start w/ my CC company and dispute the charges. I wish I would have taken a picture of the phone rates, but who knew I would have needed to. BBG is definately a bottom feeder.
It’s curious how the chamber of commerce of Otay Mesa near San Diego borders allows BBG Communications’s and Rafael Galicot the G.M of the company to be based in the San Diego area and keep cheating all of us.
http://www.otaymesa.org/memb_dir/53_Telecom.html
I have also been ripped off. I made a call from KL Airport to China (admittedly to a mobile) and when I got back to Australia, I found 2 charges of $51.43 & $51.46 on my credit card.
I can’t remember exactly how long the call was, but I am sure it wasn’t that long, because I was aware that the call costs might be more expensive than from my home phone, but I never expected THAT much more!
I am also sure I only made 1 call but I been charged for 2. I am also going to start by disputing the cost with my CC company.
I am heading back to China (this time through Singapore) next week so will check out the phones at the airport and if they are BBG, I will check to see if the rates are actually displayed and take a picture, as I can’t remember if they were!
My husband and I was scammed in Changi airport Singapore.Two calls from Singapore to China. Each call were under 1 min. For those 2 calls, we got a grand total of 82 USD in charges ?! What a rip-off !
This is very serious case of mis-selling since we could not find any display of calling rate before using BBG. Such criminal behavior has exposed thousands of customers to a higher risk of financial loss than they are willing to accept.
So lucky to share stories and get good advices from you above. Now we are doing whatever we can to strive for a refund. Last but not least, we will let more people know BBG to avoid such trap.
I too have just been stung by this company!!! I was in the Bahamas and made a call to a usa number, Like others have said the line kept cutting off after a minute or so and of course i kept swiping my card to continue my call a total of 6 times!!!! The result a bill for $310 US dollars for approx 9 minutes talk time,, These robbing bastards should be closed down there were NO call charge rates on display and no contact numbers for the service provider!!! I have disputed all transactions via my credit card company.
Add me to the list as well! My wife was in England and called me collect from a friends home, for 18 minutes I was charged by International Satellite Comm $95.64 and then two additional charges from BBG Comm for “non-subscriber fee”…$3.41 and “set use fee”….$3.83 The total amount for 18 minutes was $102.88, about $5.31 per minute!!! When I spoke to customer service they had no idea of how or what to subscribe to!
I sent them a letter today and a check for $20.00 to cover the cost of the calls at .99 cents per minute and $2.18 to cover the connection fee, they can sue me for the rest!!! We need to put a stop to this, if anyone wants to start a Class Action law suite count me in. My suggestion is to make a fair offer to them, never ever use a credit card, ask for rates in advance. We need to stop ripoffs like this every chance we can.
Good Luck Everybody
Just got ripped off myself after making two phone calls and 3 unconnected calls from Hotel Lindbergh in Paris to America – almost $300.00 worth. Watching my bank account dwindle from charge after charge. Have been in hysterics over it. Sent an email to Neomi and waiting for a response. After that I will call my bank and file a fraud complaint.
Just another sad story. I was just hit for $100 AUD for a 20 minute call from Prague to Switzerland. No upfront information, just an urgency to call after a problem at the airport. I could live with this, as long as they don´t charge my account again for calls I didn´t make.
Lesson Learned!
Hi again,
Don´t give up and you will get money back!
The Better Business Bureau of San Diego has done a great job in getting me 70% back. That is: http://www.sandiego.bbb.org
In the end the big problem except for BBG are all the airports that lease out their space to BBG. If everyone ripped of also give the airport management a call then we can start changing things around.
Best of luck,
Bjorn Svensson
This is insane. At least I got a fraud report from my bank card right away for $60 worth of one call to a phone that was out of service. I will pursue this as well!
Count me as another of BBGs
ripoffs. I made a 5 min call from
an Eircom booth in Trim,Ireland to
Dublin and I ended up with 2
charges on my MC for about 14 USD
each. I actually got a fraud call
from MC asking about these 2
charges and then they took them
off my account. It seems like BBG
is well known to the card companies
The public officials who permit
this crap to happen are doing
their airports and hotels a great
disservice.
Nothing has changed.!!! I tried to phone Australia twice from the Singapore airport in September 2008 using my credit card in a public phone and was unable to get through either time. My credit card statement has arrived with debits for $A 51.46 & $A 51.43. At least they are consistent with their rip off. Glad I did’nt get through as I haven’t any idea what a genuine charge would have been.
To any of you who find this page looking for BBG: my debit card was charged $100 for calls from Costa Rica. I disputed the charges with my bank – no detailed explanation, just said I didn’t recognize these charges. My bank contacted BBG, but it seems they never replied to the dispute so after the required 3 month wait I was told the credits (which my bank issued as soon as I disputed) should be considered final. I got 100% of the charges reversed. Don’t let them rip you off, dispute the charges with your bank!
Be careful!
My wife recently called me from a public phone booth in the center of London using her credit card.
For a call less than 5 minutes our dear friends charged her 32 US dollars.
So they are not only at the airports. Probably depends on phone companies how they utilize them.
Just started disputing the cost. Just wonder what the outcome will be.
Count me in on this stupid scam!! I was in Cabo San Lucas this past week for a work conference. Unfortunately my cellphone did not have service. Soooo, I thought it was a good idea to call my family to let them know I made it to Mexico safely. Boy was that a mistake. I had used the phone from my hotel room to make the international call. I tried to use my credit card but “conveniently” it was declined. So, I quickly grabbed my debit card so I could complete the call. Before I was even able to ask the question of how much the call would cost, I was already connected. My phone call went straight to an answering machine. I left message saying “hey it’s me,im here safely. my cell doesnt work so ill talk to you soon.” which probably took all of 10 seconds. Today, I checked my bank account and I have 4 different charges from BBG totaling $75.00 (thats just what I know of, there are still charges pending on my bank account) How is that possible since I only called once? That’s one expensive message! I called my bank today and cancelled my debit card. However, the charges that are still pending are for unknown amounts and will still be withdrawn from my account. This company is such a scam and I wish I could get my hands on the people that are doing this. I will attempt to dispute these charges but dont know how far that will take me. I am a hard worker, as we all are, and just dont understand how others can possibly feel good about working for this company! Karma’s a B***H and I hope they get what they deserve…
Charly, u must be part of the scam or else you would not be making such rude remarks. People “having enough money to travel to these places” has nothing to do with the fact that we are being robbed! I was there for a nursing conference. So, Reguardless if people have money or not has no reference to what this is all about!
count me in
travelling through Frankfurt airport on october 8th, gate change went unnoticed, so we had to call our destination to alert the driver that we wouldnt be there at the scheduled time, called from payphone, couldnt get through, tried another number couldnt get through, finally tried a third number, got through, but person on the other end couldn’t hear us, had to hang up, called from the payphone beside it, and of course this guy wasnt answering another call from a similar number if nobody is going to pick up right? try other numbers again, never went to voicemail any of the times, finally got through to somebody, spoke on the phone for about 2 minutes.
charges begin to appear on Oct 20/2008 (all in CDN)
Oct 20, 2008 CALL FROM GERMNY OCT8 800 608 05 41.94
Oct 20, 2008 CALL FROM GERMNY OCT8 800 608 05 41.91
Oct 30, 2008 CALL FROM GERMNY OCT8 800 608 05 70.60
Oct 30, 2008 CALL FROM GERMNY OCT8 800 608 05 83.42
then today i notice my credit card has yet again been charged (not yet posted online, but i noticed the balance difference, called bank to investigate) Guess who???
BBG London for the amounts of $85.46, and $72.32
The Visa guy on the phone told me i will have to wait until the charges are posted to file a dispute, so on monday or tuesday when the charges are posted, i will be doing just that.
I did not see any rates on the phone itself, nor was i told of the rates by the operator who connected me. also, when we inquired about a collect call she said we could not call collect
so, until i see future charges, this is almost $400 CDN for 1 successful call. on my way through frankfurt next week, i will be further examining the phone and speaking with the operator, then following up with Visa.
hopefully i get at least some of this money back, if not all of it.
ridiculous!
just to clarify, those charges are $41.94, $41.91, $70.60, $83.42
I amn not sure if the same company ripped me off, but they did it the same way as all the above. My daughter was stranded at the airport in France on her way home to Canada. The airlines went bancrupt the next day, but they kept them at the terminal for 24 hours, so she called collect after first 5 hours to let us know that she is still relativly ok. All together she called 4 times, desperate, hungry, not knowing when she is coming home. Bell Canada billed me $68 for each call, not even 2 min. each. The company they had to pay is called International Call – their number is 1-877-252-9222. Has anyone delt with them yet??? could use advice on how to best handle the call (I am expecting a call back from supervisor, will see….)
This is rediculos, it’s like handing someone in the disaster zone a bottle of water and saying… two months later… by the way ..that will be $250.00
Dear Charly Johnson,
My husband didn’t get scammed by BBG from some 5 star resort somewhere in the tropics, we can’t afford that. He is a US Marine, coming home from Iraq after being deployed for 1 year. He called home from a pay phone during a layover in Germany, and we got charged 108 USD for a 10 minute phone call. Do you think we deserved to be charged that much?
He was not the only one using those pay phones to call home either. His whole unit, which consists of over 150 Marines, were there as well, and according to him, half of them were using those pay phones to call home. Some of them were on the phones longer than 10 minutes. I am sick to my stomach thinking about how much money this company has taken from all those Marines. And trust me, they don’t make millions, and 95 percent of them can’t afford vacations to the tropics.
I am Also a US Marine and half our unit used this stupid phone were all disputing it to our Banks, i hate that company.
I too used their service just want to let everyone know how good their customer service is. If you are a first time user you will be credited back in full in my case $67.11 CAD. No need to freak out. The number provided on my Mastecard statement was 1-800-608-0855. Of course I had to call LD from Mexico but you have to fax a request to dispute a charge with Mastercard anyways which would have cost me the same. Also I got a free 10 minute call to Canada out of it as well
cheers all
For real
CALL FROM MEXICO NOV4 – 800 608 0855 — 11/17/2008 11/15/2008 8605 $67.11
CALL FROM MEXICO NOV4 – 800 608 0855 — 11/26/2008 11/15/2008 2302 -$67.11
hola,
more or less same story here…
So couple of months back, I made 4 phone calls from Frankfurt airport to Croatia. 260 $. I called the company’s customer service, and they told me since I am a mastercard holder and a first time customer they will return me the full amount. It takes 30-60 business days to get that money. Well 60 business days have passed, I called them again, and they were well it should be on your next credit card statement. Well I can see my statement online, and no money jet. So their supervisor after me yelling will start the internal investigation that will take from (try to guess) 30 – 60 business days.
I will write to Frankfurt airport, and as somebody mentioned above, try to contact the San Diego Chamber of Commerce.
I already posted something on the http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-666527.html website.
They can be also found as
BBG Communications Inc
BBG International
Call International
Call To International
Farecall Corporation
International Calling Services
International Communications
International Satelite Communications
National Telephone Collection Services
Network Opr Services
NTCS
US Satellite Communications
(check out the http://www.amcostarica.com/022806.htm )
Also check out their rating on San Diego Better Business Bureau
http://sandiego.bbb.org/WWWRoot/Report.aspx?site=26&bbb=1186&firm=1040993#rating
To add on top of everything, these are bad people. I just read the posts above how they took the money from the marines. Well I am a student. A graduate student in US, came here from Croatia. I managed to scrape the money last summer to go home, and i missed my connection in Frankfurt, just called my parents to tell them what’s happening with me, and here we go – a 260 $ charge! They feed on the misery and misfortune of other people and they should be stopped. No meter they give me the money back or not, they are bad bad people. The funny thing that I find, that in here if I park my car wrong, I get a parking ticket and have !!! to pay it. And as I can see on this website and many many others, nobody is doing anything to stop them.
I was ripped off too,luckely I got my money back.
What everyone can do file a complain with FTC,here is their website
http://www.ftc.gov/
and hopefully they will shut down the MONSTER.
I was travelling from Colombo to Perth on the 16th October 2008 and was on transit in Changi Airport Singapore.When it was announced that my Qantas flight to Perth was being delayed by over an hour I rang my wife in Perth from a Telephone booth in the Airport to infornm her about this.
Just spoke for about 3 minutes .. My God, it had cost me Australian $ 39.49 for this. This is atrocious as one gets to know about this only after checking the credit card acc. and people get exploited. I trust Singapore Air Port Authorities wii take immediate steps to close down this booth and cancel the license of this company called BBG Communications..There was no information provided about the call charges at the Booth.Had I known I would have used Singpore currency or a phone card which is much cheaper and reasonable.Singapore Government must not allow this to happen in Singapore.This kind of ruthless exploitation should not be allowed.This has happened to so many unsuspecting passengers.This company should be punished
Just got ripped off by these guys. My husband is in Germany and called me with this company since his calling card would not work. It was a 20 min call and it cost $107 US. I am disputing it with my credit card company. UNBELIEVABLE
Same story. My girlfriend travelled from Australia to Hungary through Frankfurt and made a 1-2 min phonecall to Hungary with her family just to be sure they will wait for her at Hungarian airport. Charge on credit card 55 AUS dollar. This is really unbeliavable.
Is there anything we can do??? We should stop this somehow! I am very pissed off. Dodgie bastards!
5 calls from Cancun to Toronto in December 08 – maybe 30 minutes total talk time. $370 CAD. First complaint they cut it down to $255. I thought about accepting that, until I found this site….the battle rages.
My story is the same. I am in the National Guard and my unit was deployed to the Middle East with a refeuling stop in Germany. We didn’t want to be there. were didn’t ask to be there. I only had $20 in my account. I was charged $50 twice for one phone call. My next check went directly to rent and bills before I could even touch it. When I caught up, I have $400 in overdraft fees. Imagine your Platoon Sergeant having to order another soldier to give you money for shaving cream. I was the first to notice, but over 50 soldiers from my compnay alone were also ripped off by this company. When I called the service number they told me I should have know to speak to the operator to find out about the hidden fees. I said nothing was posted, nor did it give me the option to speak to an operator. He said that you have to know to press 0 when it tells you to press 1 for credit card calls. I sais “So the only way to not get ripped off by this is to either have been ripped of before, or know you’re about to get ripped off”. He said it was something along those lines (they can’t agree with you). Now I’m $400 shorter than I should have been for sending Christmas presents back home. If I fly back through that airport on my way home I’m cutting every single wire they got.
ditto to all the above. Military travelling through Frankfurt Airport and tried to use one of the phones to call home. Only got a voicemail and left a less than one minute message. Ended up costing $54. Only thing my bank statement said was call from Germany. It did not even show up on the bank statement until a week after the call. I urge all military personnel to let their leadership know and put out a warning about this. I am disapointed that I was not warned about this prior to PCSing. I can afford to eat it but a junior Soldier could put himself in real trouble by just making an innocent phone call home. I will ensure that I contact my fellow officers put this info out.
Same story here, I travelled back to UK for Christmas but after flight delays etc landed at London Heathrow when I should have been 300 miles away. Had to call Car rental co (UK call), my mother (2 UK calls as first went to answering machine) and wife in US. I used 2 different credit cards in a payphone (didn’t want to risk maxing one out as they’re pretty near the max already).
I’m a Brit so I know what regular telephone charges are in the UK so was shocked when I saw the charges – almost $40 for the UK calls – regular UK charges (from a BT payphone using cash) would have been less than 2GBP (about $3) for those calls, charge for the US call was $81.95, using a BT payphone with cash this would have cost no more than 10GBP ($15 max), I know cos that’s how my wife and I communicated for almost a year UK-US before we were married.
I challenged the charges with British Airports Authority and they must have passed my email address to BBG. Now I just received an email from someone called Noemi Olmos, she says (her exact words) she “is the person in charge of customer service for the company providing the telephone service at Heathrow Airport”. She gave her telephone number and asked me to call her or email her and give the first 6 and last 4 numbers of my credit card so she could investigate. I challenged her as her email didn’t look legit and she replied giving more info to ‘prove’ she is who she says she is. It looks like she thinks I am in the UK and is not counting on me actually calling her, as she gave her number in the format it would be used if I was dialling from the UK, I live in SC so will give her a call tomorrow and she what she has to say.
I was pretty sure it’s illegal not to clearly post phone charges next to payphones in the UK so that’s something I need to check.
Anyway, if any of you want to contact Ms Olmos, here’s her email address Noemi@bbgcomm.com and what she says is her direct line 619 498 9003. BBG Communications Office in San Diego CA is 619 661 6661
If I get any more info I’ll post here.
OK, update on my LHR payphone ‘problem’.
I had complained to the British Airport Authority and it appears they passed my email address to the company who runs the payphones at LHR (and just about every other major airport in the world) – BGG Communications.
I also challenged the charge with my credit card co – Chase Mastercard – but they said they could do nothing without documentation (tried explaining that it’s not that common to actually get a receipt from a payphone…..but they didn’t understand my ‘humour’).
I received an email from Noemi Olmos, ‘Customer Service Manager’ (not that they know anything about customer service!) at BGG Communications in San Diego CA and called her on her office number. At first she wanted my credit card number but I refused, she then asked for the number I had called in the USA and from that was able to bring up their record of the call, the next bit was pretty amazing. She told me that Mastercard had called BBG enquiring about the charge and then said that BBG were “working in conjunction with Mastercard and would be refunding the total charge…..in this case”
I have a feeling that the cc companies are getting sick of BBG, after at least 7 years of customer complaints it sounds like they are putting some pressure on them to sort things out. It’s probably only 10% of people who get ripped off like this that actually follow through on a complaint, with the ridiculous profit margins BBG are making they can afford to appease complainants by refunding their charge (probably also prevents more ‘hits’ on the BBB).
Anyway, here is the contact information needed for anyone who has been ripped off like this -
For London Heathrow :
Kam Dhaliwal
Account Manager – Commercial Telecoms
World Business Center 2
Newall Rd
Heathrow Airport
TW6 2RG
cellphone (+44) (0)7824 547399
BBG Communications :
Noemi Olmos
Customer Service Manager
BBG Communications
email Noemi@bbgcomm.com
Tel (direct) (+1) 619-498-9003
I guess I can count myself on the list for the expensive calls. I was thankful to be able to make a call in the Franfurt Airport last September when I missed my flight and my wallet was left in a taxi. I was screwed! However, I was able to call collect and sort things out. When I got home I was suprised with the bill and called the customer service the same day. I recieved a credit back for 50% the same week. I guess I am at fault to some extent as we all are. I would never purchase something in a store that did not have a price tag; i would ask for the price first. I should have done this first. Customer be aware of making purchases in a panic without knowing what you bought first.
I was staying in the Marriott Residence Inn in Mt. Tremblant, Quebec. I made a few calls from my hotel room to the States on Christmas Day. There were no notices of the cost of the calls, and I found out later my credit card was billed almost $300.00. I am disputing this with my credit card company and with the hotel chain.
The name of this fraudulent phone company is: International Satellite Communications and it is located in Los Angeles, California, USA, with the phone number #1-800-608-0855. Call them and dispute the charges! Be firm about it and let them know you are going to contact your credit card company.
Good luck.
I CALLED FROM GERMANY AIRPORT ( FRANKFURT) USING MY VISA CARD TO MILANO (ITALY ) FOR 2-3 MINUTES
WAS CHARGED US $ 51.03 OR 65.05 CANADIAN.
CALL WAS PLACED ON NOV. 14,2008.
IT’S KILLER TO USE CREDIT CARD TO MAKE A CALL.
CHECK THE CHARGES BEFORE YOU SHUB YOUR CARD IN THAT
PAY PHONE. EMAILED THE PHONE COMPANY STILL WAITING.
NEVER MAKE A CALL USING YOUR CREDIT CARD
I used my CC at a pay phone in Narita, Japan and the company’s name is BBG LONDON COMMUNICATIONS. I made one call and talked for 2 minutes and I am being charged $46. WTF. I called my CC company and they said nothing can be done until the charges go through since it is temporarily authorized at the moment. They didn’t even charge me for the day that I used my card. Hopefully, that is to my advantage. I will fight this to the end. motherf’s. Airports should not allow these scamming companies to operate. I will never use my CC at the airport again. cash only. unfortunately, many do not accept coins anymore. SCAMs. the airports probably take a piece of the profits too.
i called from london heathrow to new york city for about a minute or two just to let my parents know i arrived fine.. when i got back my card was charged about $46… WTF?
i complained to my bank and made a dispute..and then i just found out that my bank cancelled the dispute.. i dont know what to do. i am going to call them up and see if i can get a refund now. this is ridiculous. i called them before they said you shouldve called the operator to get the rates. WTF is that?
also i think we should definitely start a class action lawsuit? any lawyers here that got screwed over by BBG?
update: I just called my bank and they said that because my call went through they are unable to credit me the charge because i used i agreed to their services once the call went through. They put me through to a representative at BBG and told me I had to speak to them. I know some people here said they only offer 50% of your money back but I spoke to a guy named Michael and he offered me a one time credit of the amount because I was unaware of the charges. I took it because I will NEVER use my CC at the airport again and forever i will tell everyone i know never to do the same. He said i should receive the credit in 15 business days. All CC companies are well aware of these scammers. It’s better to go through your cc then to BBG or else if you directly call BBG they’ll offer you shit. i also asked the BBG rep for a direct number instead of them funneling you through multiple times. best of luck to all in getting their money back.
Next time, for those that call to notify their loved ones of a delay or whatnot. Give your family the flight number and tell them to check online. That way you don’t have to call.
Unfortunately i have to be added to this list. My husband and I do not have a cell phone, so we stopped at a local mall to call and check up on our hospitalized 7 month old and to call family to let them know how he was doing. We used the only change we could find (had no cash on us) but had to call back when the call wouldn’t go through and wouldn’t refund our change. Since we had no more cash, we used our credit card. The only charges posted on the payphone were 50 cents for local calls. We were charged over 50 dollars for 6 calls: 2 that were under 5 minutes, and 4 that were less than a minute (left voicemails). Now the credit card company is saying we can’t dispute it until it goes through, but they closed our card anyways “to prevent further charges”. What a crock! I will definitely be calling the numbers posted here.
I am in total schock!! And I feel raped!! I just took a look at my mastercard card bill after my Christmas trip return from the US to Poland through London Heathrow.
$58.63, $8.82, $32.03, $79.04, $65.44, $31.42. Total=$275.38-were the charges for 6 calls, most of them less than 1 mins, to the US after missing my connecting flight to Poland (due to British airway delay from New York). British Airways left me in the lurch with 2 kids including an infant thus I had to call my husband in the US to make further flight arrangements for new.
The payphones advertise 49p per call. I doubt it is legal for the payphone companies not to specify cash and credit card charges clearly on their equipment.
I would appreciate any further advise from anyone on what else to do to recover some of the money.
Anybody have the email to this Kam Dhaliwal guy? I am reluctant to incur any further phone bills for making international calls
I am yet another person who has experienced this same scam. I made two separate phone calls to the U.S. from a Frankfurt airport pay phone. Each call that I placed was roughly 5 minutes in length. So far I have been charged $75. There was no indication on the phone about the rates. Thank you for sharing your experiences & getting this info. out to the public. I have already contacted BBG and am planning to dispute these charges with my credit card company.
The same thing happened to me as well. I can’t believe this!!! $41.99 for a minute call from Rome airport to Cyprus. I have yet to file a complaint. Has anyone been successful in getting thier money back? Please let me know: zalina49@hotmail.com I would gladly join any group complaint against them.
Does anyone actually read the post? Half the people lately keep re-asking the same question of “Has anyone been successful in getting their money back”. And I’ve stated that it took me 2-3 weeks and the process is above. Come on people, read!
same here hubby made a call from Germany on his way home from the “sand box” already working with the bank on this one. Everyone else that’s military remember to go to ACS ( consumer services) and let them know whats going on. As well as the FTC has a special unit that only deals with military complaints.
Hopefully the bank will side with us.
I contacted their company rep and got a full refund $275.00 for calls I made at Heathrow on new years day. Her name is Neomi Olmos and she was very helpful.
B’lala
I have just received my credit card bill and see over $225 for three phone calls made from an NH hotel in Netherlands. There are stickers/ cards next to the phone for “cheap calls to Canada-US” so of course not wanting to use the hotels’ phone fees….thought I was being smart. I just called my cc company and they advised me first to get in touch with the company and then if that was not successful to try them. The company has offered me $80 back. Cal lme crazy but I’m thinking that $145 for a half hour chatting with my boyfriend (in three attempts as it hung up on me twice) is still a bit excessive so I will keep on trying!!
Also very interesting that their website has NO information about their business/ services, just contact information and advice on how to submit your request/ question about their charges. http://internationalsatellitecom.com/
Hi everyone,
one week ago I returned home from my trip to Paris. I had to use the BBG booth at the hotel’s hall (IBIS, Porte de Clichy) and called home to the Far East (Sakhalin island, near Japan) and talked about 10 minutes. There was no any clear information about the rates on the sticker, just something like “other – 1,80 €”. I thought it would be not that much for calling on such a distance. Later I called from CDG airport from the same BBG booth (approx. 5 min). I had a connection in Frankfourt and called from there using some Deutsche booth – actually I don’t know which company did it belong. $3 have been pended on my account and in 4-5 days there was no charging from my card. I found through google and yahoo all these complaints about BBG communications and really got nervous because there was no money on my account and I didn’t want to get into an overdraft. I called to my CC support centre and they told me that May 12 there had been 2 requests from BBG San Diego for $71 and $0.95 for the calls (as I understand) made in (attention!) LUXEMBOURG! The payment didn’t occur as there wasno money on my account. They advised me to block and the reissue my card. I’ve asked if they would fulfil the request of BBG as soon as I put some money on the account but they told me no, they wouldn’t.
I highly recommend everybody who used BBG TO REISSUE THEIR CARDS!!! Here’s a link for an article written by their ex-employee, she says they steal data from your card in order to charge it whenever they like.
I hope I’ve put an end to this story because it seems to me that BBG is making their money thanks to those who do not complain. Personally I’m going to write some complaints to ACCOR management and CDG customer service.
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/445/RipOff0445598.htm
Thanks everyone who doesn’t keep silence! Be careful and never use your credit cards for international calls.
Seems that $41,91 is their usual amount. My card was debited for this amount for less-than-a-minute call from Fiumichino (Rome) to Moscow and after I immediately cancelled my card, there was an attempt to debit my card for the same amount. I filed a complaint to FCC and disputing the transaction with my bank.
We just got back from Mexico on Friday. We stayed at a horrible resort called the Catalonia Riviera Maya . . . and the bad vacation just won’t go away!!!! Like most people we work very hard for our money and look forward to our vacation. I am very annoyed that some jerk above wrote that people that go to the Caribbean must have money to pay these charges. That is just so ridiculous! I have the same story as most of you . . .when we got from Mexico, we realized that our cell phones did not work. They worked on previous trips, but for some reason not on this trip. At the resort the Catalonia Riviera Maya there was a hard gray plastic instruction stand-up podium thing by the telephone. It looks very official like it is from the resort. It tells you to dial 4 numbers and press the star to make an international call. It says that you can pay with a calling card or a credit card and it is $2.90 a minute. I tried to reach my mother on her cell to let her know that we made it to Mexico okay. I got her voicemail. I left a very brief message saying that we are here. I thought that $2.90 a minute was outrageous, so I just left a very quick message! Later in the week, I tried to call her two more times in the evening to check on our pets. Each time I got her voicemail, I just hung up. I didn’t even leave a message in hopes that I would be charged less then $2.90. For two of the phone calls I used our Chase Visa Card and another time I used our Target Visa card. When we got home from Mexico we had several messages from the Chase Fraud Department. I got on line and saw two charges that said “Mexico Phone”. Each charge was for a little over $41.00. I called Chase and they put me on the phone with the merchant. I chewed him out and asked him how he can work for such a disreputable company? He was a big time loser! I don’t think anything I said to him fazed him at all. I am a kindergarten teacher and I consider myself to be pretty calm and patient but I wanted to jump through the phone and kill him! I never even talked to anyone and they want me to pay over $120! I was on the phone for 5 seconds each call. We are disputing the charges with Chase and Target Visa. I spent all day reading all of yours and other complaints on the internet. The disreputable company that the Catalonia Riviera Maya and other resorts promotes for their international phone calls hides under lots of different names the ones that I have read the most about are the International Satellite Communications and BGG Communications supposedly located in Los Angeles, California, USA. I wonder if the Catalonia Riviera Maya receives money from this Telephone scam? I have no proof of that, but why would they have these instructions by the phone in their resort? One review said that the owner of the company was some Mexican dishonorable business man. I could see these resorts getting some kick-back for promoting the scam. Did you know that Better Business Bureau has given them an “F” rating and has 596 complaints filed against this company? Why has nothing been done? Some of the complaints that I have read go back to 2006? I am thinking about compiling all of the complaints I have read and sending it to 60 minutes or Dateline or something.
I had the same thing recently happen to my son during his deployment. He stopped over in Germany and called just to let us know he was ok. Being young, first deployment, and unware of this scam he fell for $150.97 phone bill. Well, I have written to everyone you suggested and I will not sit back and watch our servicemen fight for our country and receive this type of repayment for this services. More people need to step up and write their senators, etc. and let them put an end to this fradulent scam.
I made 4 calls from a Holiday in Express in Cancun Mexico … and was charged $240.70 for it.
I called the 1-800-606-0486 and here is what I found ….
- $15USD connection fee regardless of length of time connected.
- 5 Min Minimum charge regardless of length of time connected. ( They can give you the rate they charged. Mine was $5.83USD/min (highway robbery in this day and age))
- They can tell you length of time charged and rates applied, but not under the 5 min minimum.
- First refund offer was 36% of the total charged.
- Max refund supervisors are allowed to authorize is 50% of your total charged.
- To get what I felt I was owed they have to launch an investigation into the charges. This would take 30 -60 days.
- Stay on hold as long as it takes, be nice and keep waiting for their best “offer” to recoup at least some money. Ask to speak to the supervisor about your problem and have what you feel you are owed and why firmly in mind.
So my story is … I used the phone in my Holiday Inn Express hotel room a total of 4 times. I was connected to my girlfriend for 20 mins during one of those times. That charge was $15 connection fee and $3.88/min. Way more than I think any company should be charging these days, but thats a different argument for me. The other 3 times I used the phone I got busy signals. For those I was charged $15 connection fee and paid $5.83/min for a minimum of 5 mins, totaling $41.90 per phone usage. This is what I have a serious problem with.
I admit I did use a service that I didnt research. I simply assumed that the rates were competitive, and I paid a hefty price for that assumption. But $120+ in charges for services I didn’t use is theft in my eyes.
I took the 50% refund, as the difference would have been an extra $16.45 that I feel I was owed and a 30 day wait with the possibility that I wouldn’t get anything back after the “investigation”. After reading the above comments and talking with this company, I truly beleive they would find a way to refuse what I feel is a reasonable refund request.
I hope what little info I learned in dealing with this company so obviously devoid of any ethical business practices helps a few people navigate towards getting what was wrongfully and knowingly taken from them.
@Crazy Chester, you should have just followed the steps that I’ve outlined, not sure why people fall for the ‘we will investigate and only give you 50%’ bit, they will refund your money, I got all of mine back, and only got burnt on the US to CDN exchange…
BBG Communications are running all the phones for Protea Hotels in South Africa. Be careful — if you make a call from their hotels in 2010 during the World Cup Soccer you will be charged a $41 connection fee.
Another one bites the dust. Brussels Airport 3 calls about one minute each. Will follow Jakubs advice and complain to the company. Will also complain to Brussels Airport.
I too was ripped off by this company just a couple days ago. My husband and I were coming back from Italy and had a lay-over in Frankfurt International Airport where we called home. Six attempts to connect to my sister at home in Maryland were done on my CC. Three attempts to connect were done on my husband’s CC and a final call that got through was on his as well. I was charged $31.77 for EACH of the six calls that NEVER connected. I made SURE I hung up before the answering machine picked up. The three calls that didn’t connect on my husband’s CC were also charged $31.77. The one call that did go through and lasted for approximately 15 minutes only cost pennies under $17.00. I will NEVER again make an international call from a pay phone using my credit card… ever again. I am following the advice of the initial blogger and am attempting to get the charges removed. As it is New Year’s Day, I cannot get in touch with my bank, but will do so first thing tomorrow to dispute the charges and report them as fraud. I am amazed at how many people have been scammed by this particular company and that nothing is being done to prevent them from these fraudulent acts.
i have just been riipped of by these scamming b*****d’s. i made a phone call which lasted under 20seconds and have been charged $59 my phone call went like this, ” hello could you please come and pick me up from the shops my mobile battery is dead, thanks” then i hung up and disconnected the call.
mother f¿¿¿??=((&/%&$%·”·!·$”·%s i was on my online bank acount and saw a $49.95 charge o my debit card from a luxemburg crap company i just made a less than a minute phone call ,my husband and i never cary cash specially when we go to Baja so for my bad luck my mobile battery died so i used on of those public phones that claimed to just charge a dollar for international calls ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaa im so angry im guessing im gonna have to get a new debit card .
I just got back from the BVI’s to find $300 in charges on my card for six phone calls. Three were successful connections less then 3 min, and the other three just voicemail… and all the same $49.10 charge. There was no signage around the phone and nobody working in the area knew the fees… someone said “the operator” would tell me the charges before connecting but no such luck. It makes no sense and i no longer have the cushion i need back home until the next paycheck. I’m so frustrated.
File a complaint with the BBB of San Diego. Takes a few minutes but they will contact BBG for you a couple of times. They successfully got me a full refund of $85 for my two one minute phone calls!