Trump Mobile Keeps Charging My Credit Card And I Have No Idea Why

Last month I put down $100 to pre-order the Trump Organization’s forthcoming mobile phone, the T1. Or, I tried to. As I wrote at the time, the website went to an error page, charged my credit card the wrong amount of $64.70, and sent a confirmation email saying I would receive another confirmation email when my order had been shipped, but I hadn’t provided a shipping address.

I was surprised then to see another two charges on my card from Trump Mobile on Thursday, for $100 and $64.70 respectively. I did not expect or authorize these charges and will be trying to get my money back, if they go through (they’re currently pending). I don’t know when I will get my phone. I also don’t know how to make the charges to my credit card stop because other parts of the (since updated) website also return errors and the customer service number I called on the website couldn’t help either.

At first, the Trump Mobile phone pre-order process was bumbling. The company is now charging my card again and I have no idea why.

The two charges, which happened a couple of hours apart, are listed as coming from “Trump Mobile (888) Trump 888-8786745 FL.”

In an attempt to find out why I was issued these charges, and to make them stop, I logged into my account on Trump Mobile’s website. This wasn’t possible when I first ordered the phone because the site kept erroring. On Thursday, I updated my password, logged in, and was greeted with the following message:

“We’re glad to have you here. You can activate your line, port in your number, add another line, or check your account using the menu on the left.”

Maybe the charges were because Trump Mobile also signed me up for its cellphone plan? I clicked an “Activate Line” button on the left hand side of the screen to check. That returned an error page. Another button gave instructions on how to activate your Trump Mobile SIM card, if you did sign up to the service. I have not received any such SIM card in the mail.

On its website, Trump Mobile describes The 47 Plan as an unlimited talk, text, and data bundle for $47.45 a month. The deal also includes telehealth access and requires “no contract,” according to the website.

Some readers might notice $47.45, the price of the plan, is a different number to $64.70, one of the charges on my card, indicating I am, maybe, not being charged for this cellphone plan. Meaning I am no closer to knowing why the Trump Organization is trying to take my money.

I then went to the settings inside my account to see if I could cancel the recurring charge. There, next to my email address, was a phone number. I have never seen this phone number before in my life. I did not choose it, and I have never used it. I presume Trump Mobile assigned it to me. But again, I paid only to pre-order the T1 Phone, not for the company’s cellphone plan.

I then called the “Customer Service team” number listed on the Trump Mobile website under the “Support” section to ask them what these charges were. They said they couldn’t help. Instead I had to contact the “customer support team,” which is not the same thing apparently. The “Customer Service team” I had phoned could only answer questions about the service and not discuss my charges. I then emailed the “customer support team” and am waiting to hear back.

Here is what the T1 Phone page looked like when I ordered the phone. It doesn’t say anything about people pre-ordering the phone also being signed up to the cellphone plan. It does, however, say “By checking this box, you authorize Trumpmobile.com to charge your card on a recurring basis.” But provides no indication of what this charge might be. I certainly didn’t expect one.

That webpage has since changed. It now says you can “be the first” to get the phone “when you pay for your first month of Trump Mobile service and shipping and handling fee.” But it adds “you’ll only be charged $100 today.” It is not at all clear what people will be charged, what exactly for, or when. I am still yet to receive any sort of email indicating my phone is on the way, and still haven’t been asked to provide a shipping address.

This sort of deceptive behaviour is usually something the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) might investigate. The Trump administration fired nearly 1,500 CFPB employees after coming into power. In April a judge ordered a halt to those planned firings. The Supreme Court ruled this week that President Trump can broadly move forward with mass firings across the government.

The Trump Organization did not respond to a request for comment asking about the charges and whether it will give me my money back if the charges do go through.

When announcing the phone, the Trump Organization said the T1 Phone will be made in America. The site now says the T1 Phone features an “American-Proud Design.”