Billing Disputes and Scams

Let the world hear your voice.  Tell everyone about disputed charges or scams specifically involving local and long-distance service providers.  If you are a resident of California, you can contact the Fraud Squad to get help resolving your problem.

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Free Choice Phone Call

I just did what most of the people did. They called my office and asked to speak with the person in charge of the phone bill. I said that was me. He proceeded to tell me that they could lower my phone bill from $300 per month to $100 per month. I said that sounds great! He also said I would get a month free. That's when I asked why? If you are telling me you can lower my bill from $300 to $100, why would you offer a free month? He didn't know what to say so I googled them and found this. That's when I hung up. He proceeded to call 3 more times and I just didn't answer.

I can't say they are a scam for sure, but come on, $300 to $100 per month for the same service, plus a free month. Way too good to be ture.

YOUR COMPANY SUCKS F*C%K FREE CHOICE!!!!

WELL AM THE SME WAY ASS ALL OF U I WAS SUPPOSE TO BE PAYING MY BILL 20 A MONTH NOW AM MAD BECAUSE I RCEIVED A CALL YESTERDAY WHICH WAS 8/28/09 SAYING THAT IF I DIDNT PAY 85 DOLLERS BY THIS WEEKEND MY PHONE WOULD B DISCONIECTED BY MONDAY SO I HAD NO OUTHER CHOICE BUT 2 GO PAY AND I CANT EVEN CALL TO LET THEM KNOW I PAYED ALREADY AND I WAS TRYING TO SEND AN EMAIL AND THIS POP OUT CANT BELIVE IT BUT OH WELL IT IS WHAT IT IS U JUST CANT TRUST NO COMPANY THIS DAYS DAM NOW ALL I CAN DO IS WAIT TILL MONDAY HOPING MY SERVICE WONT B DISSCONIECTED CUSE IF IT IS OH HELL NA I WILL GET SO MAD I WILL FIND A WAY TO SHUT THEM DOWN CUSE I AM PAYING RIGHT EVERY MONTH AND FOR THEM TO ACT DUM LIKE THAT HELL NA NOT WITH ME BUT 2 EVERY 1 ELSE B CAREFUL AND DONT GET COUGHT UP IN THIS LIKE THE REST OF US WELL GOT 2 GO TAKE CARE

Free Choice

I have been receiving approximately 2-3 calls per week at my office for the past year, from this company. They always ask for the "person in charge of the AT&T phone account." Instead of transferring the call, I like to let the person go through their entire spiel and then explain (yet again, for the umpteenth time) that our company is NOT interested, and to remove us from the To-Call list...which they never have.I have no doubt that tomorrow or the day after, they will call again. Invariably, whomever called will get indignant and say something exceedingly silly like "I don't understand - you don't WANT to save money??"

631 288-0092 is the number that came up on our caller ID.

Free Choice SUCKS! Beware!!!

My company has been using Free Choice (PCS1) for several years now (not my choice). I have never been involved with a company that has worse customer service than Free Choice. It is absolutely mind boggling....and they could care less about their terrible reputation. I have spent countless HOURS holding on the line for their customer service department, only to have so many promises made to me that they would take care of certain problems. They NEVER follow through on their promises, they will tell you anything to get you off the phone. Several times they have billed us for lines that are not ours, they have raised our rates without any notification, we have had technical trouble with our phone lines and it took me 2 months to finally get them to agree to send somebody out here to look at it. One time the switchboard operator hung right up on me when I asked her for the name of a supervisor I could file a complaint with. The supervisors are just as useless and rude at the other phone operators. I would be here all day listing all the problems and aggravation this company has caused me. Now, the most recent issue is our email address that they provided to us just one day stopped working about 3 months ago. We get our internet service through Free Choice and to make a very long story short - the email address stopped working and Free Choice said had no idea why. Finally, 3 months later they tell me they no longer provide email addresses so it will never work again. They never even bothered to tell us in advance that we would no longer have an email address and we use that address for our company business!!!! We keep saying we are going to get rid of them and switch over to AT&T - but never seem to get around to it. I guarantee that tomorrow I will be making a call to AT&T - I'VE HAD IT WITH FREE CHOICE.

Free Choice rip-off

I wouldn't bother with AT&T, they cost a bomb. Ring Ma Bell and check out their costs as well as their terms and conditions.

Free Choice rip-off

I wouldn't bother with AT&T, they cost a bomb. Ring Ma Bell and check out their costs as well as their terms and conditions.

Free Choice Communications, aka/PCS1

Same story as so many of the others here. Super-slick guy with a great sales pitch got me to switch our company phones from AT&T back in April of '08.
What a disaster! Of course he lied about being with AT&T. Lied about taking care of the disconnection fee with AT&T as we had a contract with them...cost $400.00 to disconnect early. Said we could keep our current numbers butt they changed all our company numbers, which we've had in place for over 20 years. Got a huge bill from them, over $5000.00, called to find out what was going on. Told we had made calls to India, the Phillipines etc. We never call outside the country so I asked when were the calls made. They said on a Saturday. We're only open Mon-Fri. They didn't care, saidmaybe someone in our company made them on Saturday. Only 3 of us in the company, me, my son and 1 employee who does not have a key. We don't even know anyone in a foreign country! They didn't care.
I didn't wait. I called AT&T at once told them our phones had been "hacked" and asked them to please take us back as a customer. You know what, because we'd been with them for over 12 years, they did just that. They helped me get out of the "deal" I'd made with Free Choice and got our old
telephone numbers back before they were discontinued. Wonder of wonders, they actually listened when I told the about the $5000.00 in "hacked"
charges. They looked at our company bills for years back and agreed we were telling the truth. All I had to do was file out a statement form they sent and they credited back the over $5000.00 in charges. Amazing!
God knows AT&T isn't perfect, but what other gigantic business is? All I know is they came to our rescue in our Free Choice fiasco.
So, even if we might be paying a little more than the cheapest telephone out there, we're going to stay with them.
Free Choice just proves, "Buyer Beware", "If it's to good to be true it isn't." and "There ain't no such thing as a "Free Lunch".
God Bless America!

free choice communications rip-off

I am a senior citizen and disabled person. I have been a consumer of free choice communication for 6 years. This company is robbing the people. I need you to join me in a legal action to shut them down. For the last 5 years I have been over charged. I get my bill and find that I am being charged three months in advanced. If you are a customer and recieve your bill, in the mid right you will see a charge with the graft. I haVE LOST MONEY ON BUSINESS AND FRINANCIAL CUSTOMERS. I requested the forms for universal life-line for the last two years and finally recieved the conformation after my services were cut off. Please send your complaints to bornbarefashions@yahoo.com. I am filing legal action. Please join me if you are unhappy with this company. WITH BLESSINGS AND VICTORY. i AM SIMPLY MADDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Free Choice - I knew I shouldn't have switched! But did. Igh!

I own a small busines and receive over 200 phone calls per day.
Today in the middle of an important business call my phone went dead. I called AT&T and they told me that Free Choice now owns my line.
Free Choice PROMISED ME A SEEMLESS TRANSFER, meaning that I would have no interuption of service. I have spoken to 12 people at Free Choice and no one has an answer of why I do not have a dial tone. It has been 14 hours and still no service on Internet or Phone line.
IF I RAN MY BUSINESS THE WAY FREE CHOICE DOES, I WOULD NOT STILL BE IN BUSINESS!

FURIOUS!!!

WHAT THE !??!@

My boss had forwarded me the call and said it was from AT&T and told me to take care of it.
I didn't question it and went forward with listening to the "sales/customer svc" rep at Free Choice, little did I know then... I was in the middle of a scam!

I, unknowingly, agreed to make the switch.

Couple hours later, I looked over the notes I was taking per my conversation with Free Choice and decided to check their info. There's not even a website for these bastards! And after reading all the comments here..... I am deeply regretting

Now the question is,
WHAT DO I DO NOW?

Regarding everyones response

I just wanted to say... all these emails you guys have been writing about free choice communications is sad. I have been with this company for 3 years now and I have NEVER had a problem with them or there phone lines. They have given my business excellent service and anytime I have needed help with anything, I have gotten quick response. They are not a fraudulent company, if you do your research, they are a branch of AT&T. They are another choice because of the high cost of ATT. They are a growing company, and a lot of my business friends have been using them with no problems at all.

they are NOT a branch of AT&T.

This is clearly posted from Free Choice. They are NOT a branch of AT&T and never have been. It's a lie. I challenge you to reveal the name of your company or at the very least the name of your friends companies. Otherwise me and everyone else will assume you're a Free Choice employee.

Actually, Free Choice is NOT

Actually, Free Choice is NOT a branch of AT&T. They use the same lines that are owned by AT&T and pay AT&T a fee.

RESPONSE

lol They are... call att and ask them, they use there network and everything... CUSTOM TOOL REPAIR everybody that is the name of my company you can feel free to call me at any time 408-225-0333....

The Telecom maze

Hi Mel;
I am a telecom consultant with 30 years in the industry. I was researching freeChoice as I have been asked to propose an alternative to a client and have never heard of them. Yes, the LEC's like AT&T own the central offices and the local wiring so yes, in essense, all carriers are part of them. They are not part of the AT&T umbrella however, they are a competitor. They are in fact, a reseller. They buy AT&T services at wholesale and resell them. I don't think they have a network of their own. There are hundreds of companies like this; some good, some bad. My suggestion; change can be a challenge without the right advocate to help you out and interface with these carriers. In the end, it's all about service. If you ever need assistance I'd be happy to help.

Free Choice NOT AT&T

Free Choice is not part of AT&T. They compete against them. Ask if they are AT&T or a branch of AT&T. They will say no. If Free Choice tries to sign you up, tell them you plan on researching them before committing to anything. They will hang up on you. DO NOT sign with Free Choice.

Phone down, no service, business ruined

Go back to AT&T! I've been waiting for 15 hours for a service call to get returned and nothing. I've called every 15 minutes with no avail. The lifeline of my pizza business are phone calls! Phone line failed on Friday at 3pm! Friday! Now its Saturday morning and I still don't have service. I DESPISE FREE CHOICE! How I regret switching from AT&T last year.

AT&T sales practices

Got a cold call from someone claiming to be a rep from AT&T saying they could save me a ton of money. Claimed "the government is once again saying AT&T is a monopoly so we have to offer wholesale costs to businesses". They gave me some ridiculous to-good-to-be-true rate and finally, at the end of our conversation, they revealed they were actually PCS1 or Free Choice Communication. I was hesitant. My company relies heavily on our phones and I wouldn't trust our phone numbers with some half rate company even if they were cheaper. I asked the woman to call me back and did some research online. Low and behold this is a common scam they try and pull to gain business and they have been using similar lies about monopolies and regulations for years. Surprisingly she actually called me back. I asked "What company are you with?" and she said "AT&T". I said "No you aren't". She was adamant but then I said "What's PCS1 and Free Choice Communications". She continued on that she was with AT&T. No dice. I was pissed that I was being so blatantly lied to and we got into a shouting match. She ended up hanging up on me.

BTW, that post below from anonymous on Oct 7, 2008 is clearly posted from the company. Don't believe the lies.

OMG. WORST COMPANY EVER!

So, back in June i was contacted by a rep stating he was from AT&T and they were in a Monopoly and giving their customers to other small companies. Said that I would be getting my phone service for $34.95 per month. That included 100 long distance minutes and all the features..call waiting, caller id, zone 3, etc. Great! I was paying $60 at AT&T for this!!!
Wow. Was I wrong.
I got a letter from Life Line saying that I was enrolled and needed to fill out an application for discounted phone service. I tossed it out thinking it was a mistake as i have never even heard of them before. In August i MOVED. Disconnected my service. In Sept i got a bill as if i never disconnected it. I called and of course they had no record of me disconnecting it. Fine. So, as of Sept it was disconnected. I was sent a bill for $95. WHAT? So, i didnt pay it. I eventualy got another letter from life line saying i refused to submit the application and they are going to BACK BILL ME. I called, I told them I never enrolled. They said Free Choice automatically enrolls you when you sign up with their service, and you get the "discounted rate". So, the $34.95 I was promised was the "discount rate". FREE CHOICE NEVER TOLD ME THIS!
So, I called them, they said i wont be charged any back bill amount and that LifeLine was incorrect. So, i asked why my bill was $95. They said the service was disconnected Sept 9. And these charges are for all the long distance calls that were billed in Oct. Huh? I moved in AUGUST. DIDNT USE THE PHONE! ACCORDING TO THEIR RECORDS, IT WAS DISCONNECTED ON SEPT 9. HOW WERE LONG DISTANCE CALLS MADE IN OCT??????? He didnt answer me. Said to hold. Then came back on saying he would take the charges off. Um, ya think?! So, i asked again...HOW were calls made on a phone, in my name AFTER the line was disconnected. He said he didnt know. I told him that was BULLSHIT. So, he gave me the new amt owed. $60. Ok...still not the $34.95, but whatever. Send me anew bill with the new amt on it. "no, we dont do that." I said ok send me proof of some sort. " i can not send you a fax, email, OR letter stating this information" WHAT? WHY? I demanded a manager. This woman said the same thing. I eventually threatened to contact the BBB and she said she would fax me a new bill. And she did. Well, it was the old bill wtih crossed out amts on it. And said that my account would be credited $34.95 after i paid the $60.
THEY ARE SCAMMERS! LIARS! DONT SIGN UP FOR THEIR SERVICE!!!!! OH! And you can never log in online...for some reason my pw and username fell off their system and I couldnt access any previous bills. SCAMMERS! SCAMMERS! BAD, HORRIBLE COMPANY! THEY MUST BE SHUT DOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
OH!!!! Another thing, i asked how i can get proof of the conversations and they said "by my name and extenstion. That is your proof" Nice. Nice customer service people.

total b.s from scammers saying they are from att

I get the same kind of calls several times a week (at my business)

Its easy to spot the phone room scam, I usually answer on the first ring and there is a puase before they come on the line ( and usually I can hear background sounds of of other "sales persons" in the background.

they usually ask if they can talk to the manager of my business, or the person in charge of telecomm.

thats as far as they get, I say no and hang up ( afterall, I did answer their question)

filed a claim with the FTC

Hopefully they'll be thrown in jail.

followup

BTW, the caller-ID for the sales rep that spoke with me is 702-597-3446 which is out of Nevada. The original call I received had a toll free number on caller-ID. I'll post that number when I get back to my office.

Followup

The original call came from caller-ID 877-507-9471. The return phone number they gave me was from 877-747-3733. I'm providing these numbers so people will find this page if they Google these phone numbers.

Followup

I just got a call from caller ID 877-507-9471. The lady said they were from Free Choice and was the wholesale provider to AT&T. Tried to tell me that new regulations allows AT&T to increase my bill and Free Choice can give me a standard $25 per line. I tried to ask her a few question and she got more impatient and frustrated with me. I asked her if I can call her back and she said she was calling me from a computer. Finally I said this seems strange that I can't call you back. She rudely said "Then enjoy your rate increase!" and hung up on me. I'm glad I google'd while I was on the phone and saw everyones comments.

Followup

I remember once being on the with a customer services rep who made similar claims about his company's charges. When I asked if I could ring back after considering the offer, he said the same thing about the line being channeled through a computer. I said, "That's a bunch of crap!" He asked what I meant and I explained that I had no problems ringing my bank and that they, like other major businesses, ran their phone lines through their computers. He said, "Oh," and the line went dead. I've not heard from that company since.

Free choice

I have been using Free Choice for the last two years. Can't imagine anyone who has previously posted that can even compare to the savings they offer vs At&T. For a business, savings is everything. My bill went from $300+ to an monthly average of $197.00 per month. Guess I am the only person who seems satisfied with the service and they have lived up to their end of the agreement.

Let's talk about At&t. I've had my share of problems with them and they certainly make their fair share of erros.

thanks for preventing me from going with free choice

they followed the exact same routine. Pretended to be At&t and then said my bill would come from Free Choice, a whole seller. Offered both our Business lines for 49.99 when we pay 130 with att. They say they are a branch of at&t. I began to suspect it was a bad move so i googled it while on the phone and came upon this site. Thanks For the heads up! I hope more people save themselves the headaches.

FreeChoice TRIED but failed...

I got a call from a FreeChoice salesman trying to push his service on me - he didn't make a lick of sense - kept rambling on about laws & regulations & policies that were changing.

When I asked him to clarify, he started to get impatient. Finally (when I got a word in edge-wise) I said, "I'm happy with AT&T." He actually got mad! "What?! You're happy with paying an extra $30 a month? And... blah blah blah...."

I said, "You know... I'm at work right now..." and before I could finish, he HUNG UP on ME!! Didn't even give me the satisfaction of doing the same to him. LOL.

My instinct "warning bells" went off with this guy immediately after he opened his mouth. Based on this website, it looks like I was right on the money.

Did a Google Search while on the phone...

...And found all of your posts. Thank God for Google!

Google search while on the phone with Free Choice Sales Rep...

I just did the same thing, and boy didn't like what I saw, got off the phone right away...

Freechoice telephone aka California Telephone Service

I saw an add and it sounded real good, so I called them to start services today. They are sending a contract? although they assure me the services are month to month. I just saw all the comments on this site/// Thank God. Please let me know if there is anyone that as a favorable comment about them. I'm serching for a phone company with lower rates for phone and internet that AT @T Thank you much in advance

Free Choice Communications

Whatever you do, DON"T change your phone service to Free Choice! You'll be sorry you did.

They promise you everything under the sun, but they don't dleiver on any of their promises.

They promised me a free month, but I got a bill from them within days of starting service with them.

They promised to pay the cancellation fee that AT&T would charge for cancelling the balance of my agreement with them. I called them when I got the bill From AT&T, and they said they'd pay it. I found out they didn't when a collection agency called me. that was a year and a half ago, and I'm still trying to get it straightened out.

As a result of that fiasco, I cancelled them immediately and went back to AT&T (a decision I've never regretted), but Free Choice held my phone number hostage until I paid them a month's service in advance (for service I was never going to use) before they'd release my phone number back to AT&T.

Thursday afternoon, and service wasn't restored for almost a week. And when a service tech showed up it was a guy from AT&T!!!

These people are just reselling AT&T service, but not providing any customer support. That recording about commitment to quality, yada, yada, yada, that you have to listen to while you wait (forever, it seems) for an operator is a pack of lies.

BTW, AT&T gave me a better deal than I got from Free Choice when I switched back. Sometimes you just have to ask...

FREE CHOICE IS A FREAKIN RIP OFF...

ALRIGHT NOW I JUST GOT MY DOSE OF FREE CHOICE COMMUNICATIONS...I WISH I WOULD HAVE READ ALL THESE FIRST BEFORE I AGREED TO ANYTHING THE HAD TO OFFER...THEY CALLED ME UP 3 WEEKS AGOAND SOLD ME ON SWITCHING MY SERVICE FRM AT&T WITH THEM..THE BILL WOULD HAVE BEEN 37.00...BUT SINCE I HAD LIFE LINE ON MY PREVIOUS PHONE IT WOULD BE 19.99...WHICH WAS EVEN BETTER...IN THOSE 3 WEEKS I MOVED TO A DIFFERENT ADDRESS...I TOLD THEM ABOUT THE MOVE AND THEY SAID THEY NEED TO VALIDATE THE ADREESS FOR THE TRANSFER...OK NOW I CALLED THEM LAST WEEKS AND THEY LOOKED IN THE COMPUTER TO SEE WHATTHE HOLD UP WAS AND THEY SEEN WHERE I CALLED IT IN BUT THEY HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING YET SO THE LADY TOLD ME SHE WAS GONNA PUT A RUSH ON IT BECAUSE I DNT HAVE A PHONE AND TOLD ME THEY WOULD CALL ME...HELLO! I DNT HAVE A PHONE STUPID...I GAVE THEM MY SISTER'S NUMBER BUT THEY NEVER CALLED HER PHONE NOT ONCE. THEN I JUST CALLED AGIAN TODAY AND TALKED TO ANUTHER LADY AND OF COURSE IM PISSED AND AGGRAVATED BECAUSE I ALREADY PAID MY BILL FOR THE MONTH AHEAD OF TIME...THE LADY SAYS SHE STILL CAN'T VALIDATE MY ADDRESS. AND SAID EITHER THE ADDRESS IS NOT RIGHT OR THEY DON'T SERVICE THAT AREA...WTF! I KNW MY DARN ADDRESS...AND IF I WAS WITH AT&T AND THEN CALLED ME THEN THEY WOULD HAVE SERVICED THE AREA THEN..THEY ARE SO FULL OF DOO DOO...I THEN ASKED FOR MY REFUND FOR THE SERVICE I DIDN'T USE.. THE LADY TOLD ME THAT IS THE CHARGE FOR THE DIAL TONE. OK NOW I REALLY MAD AS HECK..SHE TALKIN LIKE SHE DNT WANNA REFUND MY MONEY...OH NO..DATS NOT WHATS GONNA HAPPEN...AFTER ALL THESE POSTS FREE CHOICE IS GONNA BE HISTORY....I SAT AND WAITED TWO DARN WEEKS FOR A PHONE THEY KEEP PROMISING ME THEY WERE GONNA GET ACTIVE FOR ME...I CANT LIVE WITH OUT A PHONE AND I HAVE BEEN FOR TWO WEEKS...

Free Choice

I was contacted by Free Choice today3/21/08. I was led to believe they were the whole sale carrier for AT&T and wanted to reduce my rate to $37.00 a month and next month would be free. this was being done because of some new government regulation. I was all set to go for it until the switch when they wanted the last four digets of my SS #
and by that time it was just something to gopod about it so I hung up Machele called back and I told her I did not want it. They are very slick. Does AT&T know about them?

Free Choice Communications, aka PCS1

I was contacted by Free Choice in July of this year, offering dramatic savings on phone service. They said there was no long-term contract, and they would cover any cancellation fees charged by my current phone service provider. I made the switch, and that's when my troubles began.

Not long after that, one of my 2 business lines, as well as my home phone line went dead. I called Free Choice right away. The repair office was closed, and I left a message about the problem. I didn't hear from anyone the next day, so I called again, and was told there was no record of a call. In the end, it took them almost a week to get them up and running again!

When I got a bill from my old phone company for cancellation fees, I contacted Free Choice, and was told by 'Elizabeth T.' to fax the bill to her, and she'd take care of it. It didn't happen, and eventually I got a call from a collection agency.

On top of the service issues, the promised savings were a myth, The phone bills were virtually the same as they were under the old company for my home line, and marginal less for my business lines.

I decided then to switch back to my old company, and that was the beginning of another nightmare. They held my phone numbers hostage by forcing me to pay for service in advance when they received the cancellation order, and they delayed the execution of the transfer twice. When they finally did allow the transfer, they didn't completely release the numbers, which caused another 2 days of service outage.

On the closing bill for my home phone service they tried to charge me almost $51 for 8 days of service! I was told by Michelle, a billing department supervisor, that it’s their company policy to bill for a full month’s service on a closed account, regardless of the number of actual days service provided. She said they will prorate the charges, but only if asked to do so.

Remember that old saying 'If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is'?

BUYER BEWARE!

FREE CHOICE COMMUNICATIONS

I called to see why my phone would not call out on 11/12/07 at 11.00 am… I talked to a woman by the name of Nancy. She informed me that I was suspended due to non-payment. I told her that I did make a payment. She told me that the last payment received was on 10/01/07. I told her that I made a payment also on 10/29/07 for $70.00 at 4:44 pm. by swift pay costing and extra $6.00. She responded back with we do not show that. I asked her if she could track it with my MTCN number to show proof that I did pay the bill. She said no, that I would have to fax it to her. She knows that I can't fax due to my service being suspended but, if I would of called in and made arrangements to extend my service from being disrupted I wouldn't be running into this problem. I need to go find a place that can have it faxed off. I told her that was a stupid response. I had no idea that my phone was going to be suspended. I figured it was paid so why would I do something like that. I then asked to speak to a supervisor or manager. She told me no, just hurry up and fax it so we can restore your service today.
I stood in line at Western Union for 45 minutes while we were trying to get a hold of this phone company Free Choice so we could let them know that the money has been sitting there for 14 days and no one has bothered to retrieve it and that they need to turn on their fax machine. Apparently, the fax number she gave me 888 727 0111 is no good. I gave up and went back home while the woman at Western Union worked on it for me.
When I got back home I called again and talked to a nice man named Arthur and asked me what the MTCN number is. I then got very upset because Nancy said they do not do that. When he pulled up the number, I gave him he found that the bill was paid on 10/29/07 and that he was sorry that this has happened and they were going to put in a rush on getting my service turned back on. I told him thank you. At 4:45 pm no phone, called again said it should be turned on anytime now. I asked for a supervisor again. I was told that she is on the phone with another customer and cannot speak to me. Therefore, I told this woman well, I guess you people have screwed someone else over too and hung up.
The next day around 11:30, I called to see what is taking so long and to let them know I need my phone for work. The woman told me it should be on by 2:30 today if not call back. I asked to speak to a supervisor again and was told well they will just tell me the same thing.
Here comes 2:45 pm. still nothing and I had called again and got Arthur. He said I remember talking to you yesterday. He told me it would take 24 to 48 hrs to have it restored. I told him this is not right. Just to let you know I am so unhappy with losing work over no phone and standing in a line for a long period. Not to mention wasting gas and my time. The damn thing should have never been turned off in the first place. I have been with this phone company for a least 5 years or longer and cannot understand the runaround that I have been getting. This is so unprofessional. Here it is now 3 days without phone when this month was paid in full. NOT RIGHT! He said They’ll make it right with discounting me for all my trouble when they get my line back up, but nothing against him I am sure once again I will get yet another lie.
My bill started out being $53.00 with tax making a total of $60.00 a month and now this year it has gone up to $70.00. When I asked why has my bill gone up? They respond with it is still $53.00 plus tax. This company is not only full of lies but, they are also rip-offs.

Not yet, but...

I have none experience whit Free Choice but i get angry every because my e-mail is hunted by some freaks that announce me to be the winner of a big prize. I am sick of it and they are getting pathetic. So you see the world is full of scams...Leasing

vartec charging extra on my lifeline service

i am a lifeline customer and vartec is trying once again to charge me $9.50 for the federal primary line charge and other taxes and surcharges, when i am supposed to be either not charged or credited. my last two bills showed these extra charges after i cancelled my voice mail and call waiting service, so i dont know if this is why they want to tack on extra charges to my bills. my taxes and surcharges went from a total of $3 to $12, when my lifeline charge is only $5.35

they also charged me these extra taxes and surcharges from the months of may 2004-feb. 2005 and then suddenly stopped the charges until these last two months.
i decided to not do anything about it until the problem came back these past few months.
i would like to be credited at least for the last two bills, but also for the months of may 2004- feb. 2005 if possible.

ive tried calling the company, but they outsource to india and the representatives always say the same thing, that all customers are charged these fees, which is not true. they then give you a fax # or address to the customer relations in texas to address your problem, but no phone # to talk to anyone directly. i had originally tried to write them when i first had this problem in the year 04/05, but i never received any response.

AT&T charging federal tax on my local-only line

Just read your complaint against MCI for unauthorized charges for federal taxes applied to local-only lines.

I am in exact same situation with AT&T, which imposes Federal takes and surcharges (FUSF, Subscriber line charge, etc.) even though the line is local only and has no long-distance access.

I have spoken to two AT&T customer service reps. They both insisted that the Federal charges apply to all lines, refused to issue credit and advised me to take this issue to CPUC.

MCI, Lifeline, and cramming

I have, in a sense, resolved the matter with MCI but I did want to bring this to UCAN's attention considering the complaint brought against MCI I discovered on this site. I had a similar, concurrent problem with MCI as did Jack Duclo, but I think I have Duclo beat.

I signed up for MCI Lifeline service with toll blocking in September, 2006. When I was put through to the third-party verifying agent, I was asked if I was signing up for MCI as my local and long-distance carrier. There had been no discussion with MCI regarding long-distance, since I had requested toll blocking. I said I was signing up for local service only. The verifying agent told me it was a "yes or no" question. I had no phone at the time and was using a payphone. This was my second attempt to acquire Lifeline service (AT&T had demanded a deposit equivalent to eight months of service charges before activation, contrary to CPUC policy). I had the choice of accepting MCI as my long-distance carrier or shouting my personal information into a payphone yet again. I do not use direct-dialed wireline long-distance and had requested toll blocking, so I expected no long-distance billing in any event.

The first bill (October 24, 2006) was quite a surprise. In addition to the CPUC-capped Lifeline ($10) installation charge, there was a $50 "New Telephone Number Charge". The bill did not include the Lifeline flat rate for service, but did include $6.01 in government fees and taxes and $3.25 in surcharges. Page 3, "Local Service Summary", under the heading "Government Fees and Taxes", subheading "MCI Local Service" were the following improper charges (in addition to the $50 noted above): CA 911 (Lifleline-exempt, per Board of Equalization) $0.40, CA Teleconnect Fund (Reimbursible from Lifeline) $0.08, CA High Cost Fund - B Surcharge (Reimbursible from Lifeline) $1.20, CA Universal Lifeline Tel Serv Surcharge (Reimbursible from Lifeline) $0.77. CA Relay Service and Commun Devices Fund (Reimbursible from Lifeline) $0.03, CA High Cost Fund - A Surcharge (Reimbursible from Lifeline) $0.13, CA State & Local Utility Taxes (No state or county tax, city tax is Lifeline-exempt, per City of Eureka Finance Department) $1.80, Federal Excise Tax (Exempt for Installation charges, per U.S. Internal Revenue Service) $1.56, Federal, State, & Local Surcharges (???) $0.04. Also on the "Local Service Summary" (page 3) under the heading "Surcharges", subheading "MCI Local Service" were the following charges: Federal, State, & Local Surcharges (???) $0.07, Federal Universal Service Fee $0.27, and Carrier Access Charge - B $2.91.

Page 4 of the bill says, "The charges for your basic local service are $60.40. This is the total of your monthly recurring charges for local service, your local usage, and the government mandated fees and taxes calculated on these services. Failure to pay these charges may result in disconnection of your basic local service and loss of dial tone. . . ." I was expecting a bill for about $16 with recurring charges around $6, based on published Lifeline installation and monthly service rates. I spoke to Raciel Dlouhy of MCI's Agency Relations, who asserted every right to demand payment since the computer said that all of the above was correct. When I pointed out that the installation charge for Lifeline is capped at $10, she asked me to cite the law.

I was credited the entire amount, without explanation on the November 24, 2006 bill, including the appropriate $10 installation charge, leaving me with a partial and a full month charged at the correct Lifeline rate. I had notified the City of Eureka Finance Department regarding the UUT charges, and this is the last bill on which the charge appeared. Now everything, but the surcharges looked about right. The CAC-B, now raised to $3.49, was of more concern than the FUSF at only $0.32. The CAC-B alone was a full 65% of the Lifeline monthly rate. Unfortunately, no one at MCI would explain the CAC-B as anything other than something they were unquestionably allowed to charge my account. I filed a complaint with the CPUC-Consumer Affairs Branch through a state legislator's office and switched carriers in January, 2007.

I received a letter from Dlouhy dated March 12, 2007, but sent to my old address with an incorrect name (could not be forwarded). Dlouhy simply re-states what can be found on MCI's web site, "The Carrier Access Charge - B is the method the industry uses to offset increased costs associated with leasing certain network components. This fee is not a tax or surcharge required by the government." Since the CAC-B appears on my MCI "Local Service Summary" as a surcharge for "MCI Local Service" and I have no access to network components that are not elements of Lifeline, I thought it was the End User Common Line charge (Federal Subscriber Line Charge in AT&T-speak). The EUCL is also reimbursible from Lifeline, as it would make no sense to have telephone service without access to the local exchange.
I sent Dlouhy a money order on March 30, 2007 with a notice over the endorsement line acknowledging that the debt is paid in full and the account is closed. The money order was for the amount I owed according to the charges explicitly allowed by the CPUC for the period I had not yet paid (including the $10 installation charge MCI had inadvertently credited). I advised Dlouhy to accept this as payment in full and not attempt efforts to collect any difference in our respective accountings. I also suggested that MCI (still thinking the CAC-B was the EUCL) aggregate the CAC-B with the Lifeline rate and submit future costs associated with providing Lifeline service to the CPUC for reimbursment rather than sticking it to low-income, senior, and disabled Californians.

On April 4, 2007, I received an e-mail from the state legislator's office telling me that, according to the CPUC, the CAC-B is a "federally mandated charge", "imposed by the Federal Communications Commission", "applies to all customers", and "not under the jurisdiction of the PUC", and I was told to take my complaint to the FCC. The reference to the FCC and a little research into the FUSF cleared it up finally.

The CAC-B is not the EUCL, which MCI calls the Network Access Surcharge, but some sort of surcharge for interstate network access. As I said, I don't use direct-dialed wireline long-distance, so I don't know what kind of surcharges apply. More importantly, I did not use use direct-dialed long-distance while I had local service with MCI. I requested toll blocking and I have toll blocking according to the terms of my service agreement. I never placed, attempted, nor allowed to be placed or attempted any direct-dialed interexchange/interstate calls from that line. There are no charges for calls placed under this "MCI Local Service"--only the CAC-B and the FUSF, which is applied to nothing but the CAC-B itself.

I am not out anything, nor particularly worried that MCI will pursue the small amount ($4-$14 depending on whether they count the installation charge) they claim I owe. I have filed a cramming complaint with the CPUC and requested clarification of their description of the CAC-B and their position on jurisdiction for intrastate billing disputes. I will be filing a cramming complaint with the FCC as well as notifying the Attorneys General of California and New York (the laws of which govern the service agreement).

Feel free to e-mail if this is of any interest. I will be following the case you have going against MCI and keeping an eye on my credit reports. Thanks for having this form available so I could lay all of this out chronologically for the first time.

Tom

Similarly

I got a call from Free Choice today, making their service try to sound like a regular update that the phone company was sanctioning. Before I knew it I was being sold on a whole new plan. Say no to FreeChoice!

FreeChoice scam

On 1/10/07 I received a solicitation from FreeChoice. The tactic was misleading, leading me to believe at first that they were with AT&T. The sales person, Tracie Carter #2009, told me that the exact same service for both my phone numbers 858 676-0888 and 858 673-4433 that I currently had with AT&T would cost me a total (including tax) of $49.90/month and the first month would be free. I agreed to switch at that time.

On 1/25/07 I received my first bill dated 1/19/07 in the amount of $70.49 for service covering the period 2/10/07-3/9/07. The amount billed was much higher that what I was quoted on 1/10/07. I called the customer service line and spoke with someone regarding the over billing. The person said that I must have misunderstood and what I was billed was correct. I disagreed and told her I planned on going back to AT&T. She said that I did not have to pay the current bill if my phone service was switched prior to 2/10. I called AT&T and requested that I be switched back.

Towards the end of February I received another bill from FreeChoice with new current charges (3/10-4/9/07) and a late fee. I was surprised that I had not already been switched back to AT&T. I just assumed that it took awhile to process the change.
On 3/5 my phone service was disconnected. Not knowing what happened, I called AT&T to ask why there was a mix up. They said that FreeChoice failed to release the phone numbers to them when first contacted because there was a balance on the account. I then went online and paid the full amount owned on the account and contacted customer service. I expressed my disappointment that no one attempted to call me inquiring about the past due balance or to tell me the plans to disconnect my service. My service through FreeChoice was reconnected that day and within 10 days I was back with AT&T.

Since then I have received yet another from FreeChoice for a “reconnect charge” in the amount of $60.00. I believe I should not have to pay it. Had FreeChoice released the lines when AT&T initially requested, I would not have owed then for the service from 2/10-3/9/07. On top of that, I was completely deceived about the how much the monthly bill was going to be. I called FreeChoice’s customer service on 3/26 to request that the $60.00 be reversed. The woman I spoke with denied my request. When I asked to speak with a supervisor, she said that she was the supervisor that there was no one else for me to speak with regarding this matter. I said I would not pay the fee, and she replied that they would send me to collection.

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