UCAN

It's funny how phone companies that lobby regulators for "pricing flexibility" only seem to move their prices in one direction: up. "Flexibility" implies the ability to flex in multiple directions, and while I recognize it's just another fancy lobby-speak term, it's time to call it what it really is: "price increasing flexibility." It's certainly flexible, because the respective company may decide to raise a particular rate 3% or 300%, but make no mistake, there will be no downward flexing.

As if it were a surprise, the phone giants are raising rates again, some by as much as 300%. This USA Today story points to a growing source of criticism. While the largest telecom companies continue to lobby for decreased regulatory oversight on the basis of increased competition, their phone service rates are rising. In California, phone companies have been largely deregulated since late 2006, but as this chart from TURN shows, major service providers such as AT&T and Verizon have increased rates over and over again. Basic economics tells you that in a competitive marketplace prices should fall...so what can you do? Ditch your landline phone. Internet phones can provide a wider variety of services at a fraction of the cost of traditional landline phones. Using your cell phone as your primary phone can also be cheaper than maintaining a landline phone.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the Government Accounting Office says the FCC is giving inside information to major phone companies. When corporate moguls inside the "beltway" are given private information, it provides an unfair advantage to pitch what they want to legislators who unknowlingly are lead to believe the companies are smart enough to read their minds. The crime is that it gives consumers no advantage. It's as if a powerful person in a lawsuit has access to the judge to learn what he/she is thinking and to take this unique opportunity to establish a decision before the "common person" and his/her counsel have a chance to present the case. In the case of the FCC, lobbyists working with any FCC officials in secret discussions result in both the FCC and the lobbyists cheating the system. The article relates a couple of instances where an FCC staff person was fired in 2000 for leaking documents to a lobbyist. There's a legal time for discussion and a time where all parties are to keep their mouths, meeting notes and other means of communications on an issue totally silent.

Can the common person or the major company provide the most money in contributions and other special events? This question needs no answer in words because this answer is crystal-clear in almost all decisions made over the past few years where rulings are in favor of big industry and not the rest of us.

Have you been receiving debt collection phone calls and messages from 800-684-8429? If so, you are not alone. A UCAN member recently filed a complaint regarding incessant phone calls and messages she had received about someone else's debt from the number 800-684-8429. The calls appear to be made on behalf of HSBC Bank, or Orchard Bank, a banking and credit provider. Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, debt collectors must honor any request to cease telephone communication and contact you only in writing.

• Tell HSBC to quit calling you and Stop Debt Collection Harassment using our sample letter.

• If HSBC is calling you about a debt that you do not owe, send them a Collection Agency Debt Dispute letter.

On July 19th, VOIP provider Sun Rocket (www.sunrocket.com) announced it was terminating its service. Consumers fumed.....especially those that had plunked down up to $200 for a prepaid annual contract of low-cost VOIP service.

To the company's credit, it arranged deals with other VOIP companies to take over the contracts of its customers. While some customers reported losing VOIP service, the majority appeared not to have suffered loss of phone service. However, quite a few customers reported that they'd prepaid for an annual contract and these new service providers were not honoring those contracts. They were angry and felt ripped off.

The closure came without any warning. Even people working at the company report being surprised by the news. Many didn't find out until the day they reported to work and noticed that the phones weren't ringing at their office: the company's call center had been shut down but the CSRs weren't told! Yet, people in the industry knew that Sunrocket was struggling to find a buyer and had been repeatedly failing.....in part because of the liabilities posed by the annual contracts that had been prepaid.

The good news is that for those customers who paid the annual fee and now have nothing to show for it, some credit card companies are agreeing to refund the money for the unused service. Chase, in particular, is reported to be crediting customers' account. It is likely others will as well. There's some good information about what former Sunrocket customers can do to get their money back and/or switch to other VOIP providers. In particular, check out:

http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/r18686213-SR-Bankrupt-Recap-What-T...